Michael Cherney Foundation Sponsors Israel and Uncontrolled Territories - Staying or Leaving?

By Monique Lester
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem --- February 13, 2009...... Michael Cherney (Mikhail Chernoy) Foundation is sponsoring the publishing of a new book - Israel and (Un)Controlled Territories – Staying or Leaving? The book is being published by Culture Bridges Gesharim Publishing house in Moscow. The book is authored by Dr. Alec D. Epstein, a historian of Arab - Israel conflict.

The resounding Israel victory of 1967 Six Day War became a turning point in Israel history and guaranted Israel's security and domestic peace for a long time. Yet in reality Israel's international standing has drastically deteroriated. At the same time Israel's leadership failed to develop a consistent policy regarding Judea, Samaria and Gaza which came under Israel's control after the war. Were these lands "liberated" or "occupied"? As time went by, they became less controlled and turned into a burden. Israel felt remorse about giving any land up, especially since there was no (and still there is no one in sight) a reliable partner for peace. At the same time, controlling a large Arab population was not working out, either. The very issue of the territories' status became a factor of a sharp internal rift in Israeli society.

This book is the first and only work that, bases its conclusions on a multitude of documents and witnesses' testimony. Israel and (Un)Controlled Territories – Staying or Leaving? provides an answer to the question: how could politicians turn a brilliant military success of the Six Day War into a Pyrrhic victory?

While containing many facts and archive materials, heretofore unknown, the book reads like a documentary thriller that one cannot put down.

Michael Cherney (Mikhail Chernoy) Foundation views its main overall objective as helping democratic nations in their war on terrorism as well as realization of the intellectual potential of the post-Soviet emigres to Israel and their integration into the Israeli society.

The Fund was born on June 1, 2001, on the night of the heinous terrorist bombing outside the Dolphinarium Disco in Tel Aviv. When Michael Cherney learned the number of victims - twenty one dead and over 150 wounded - he realized that rendering assistance required a systematic organized effort. Prior to 2001, Mr. Cherney was engaged in charity work in Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, Bulgaria, the US - wherever he did business. He made especially valuable contribution into Jewish philanthropy in Russia.

Following the Dolphinarium tragedy, the Cherney Fund became the helping hand for all the victims. In a misfortune like this, emigres from the former Soviet countries are even worse off than the Israeli-born: they don't have a support system or savings. The Cherney Fund, therefore, renders help mostly to the new arrivals, victims of catastrophes and terrorist acts that continue to bleed Israel, as well as to the low-income victims of terror in other countries.

Another equally important task assumed by the Cherney Foundation is the media effort in war on terror. Shortly after the Dolphinarium attack, the Foundation published a book called Dolphinarium: Terror Targets the Young. The book is an oral history, a representation of the voices of the parents who lost their children and the teenager victims themselves. It was published in three languages and met with acclaim in Israel, the United States, and Russia.

Willy Lindwer, a famous Dutch documentary filmmaker, used the book as the basis for his film Empty Rooms. The film, already acclaimed internationally, was also financed by the Michael Cherney Foundation.

The Fund's contribution into conveying the truth about the war of terror against the Jewish people has met with high appreciation from the media, public organizations, and the Israeli government.

The Cherney (Chernoy) Fund also actively participates in various children- and youth-oriented programs, in the human rights and counter-anti-Semitism projects, as well in various athletic programs.

 

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