Dear Friends,

We are sorry to report that one of the soldiers from our neighborhood in Haifa died last night while fighting in Gaza, from a friendly fire incident.  Yousef Muadi was from a very integrated Druze family in the area, who live just 10 houses down from Or Hadash.  The entire Or Hadash community, as well as the children who studied with him in the Reali School, are all mourning this great loss. Please see the article written in the online English language newspaper for the details of his passing:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3651165,00.html

I want to say thank you to all of you who have been in touch with us, to check in and to send your daily thoughts and prayers.  At Or Hadash we are also trying to coordinate a prayer session together with the Foccolare group for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim populations in Israel.  We will be praying for the Hamas rockets to stop, and for the innocent civilians who have been hurt or killed on both sides. 

In addition to this, we are also organizing a trip with all faiths to bring aid to the citizens in the south of Israel. . For this, we will take a group of volunteers on Monday to the southern town of Sderot, which has taken the brunt of Hamas rocket fire for years.  Also, we will help to bring toys and medical supplies to Palestinian children in Gaza.  This kind of cooperation is very important to us as a community, and we hope that it will be received with equal enthusiasm.  Thank you for taking the time to read about what we are doing to try and better the situation here in Israel. Please keep thinking of us in this time of war.

In Friendship,

Edgar