Good news about Israel just a click away

By Donald H. Harrison

SAN DIEGO — Michael Ordman, a British expatriate now living in Netanya, Israel, contends that the worldwide media gives a false impression of Israel, focusing mainly on the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians and paying scant attention to the many positive contributions Israel makes towards a better world.

He says he decided to stop complaining about it and to do something.  He created Good News from Israel,  a website devoted to rounding up “good news” stories about Israel and making them available to anyone who would like to have a clearer picture of Israeli society.

San Diego Jewish World has decided to partner with Ordman in his pursuit by making available on our site a public service advertisement that will link readers who click on it to Ordman’s weekly summaries of Israel’s positive accomplishments.  Featuring a beautiful scene from Israel, as shown above,  it’s hard to miss as it rotates through our schedule of advertisements.

Ordman, now in his 50’s, and his wife have two married daughters who are teachers in England as well as a son who is a paramedic working for the London Ambulance.  The son will be on Olympics duty over the next several weeks.  Additionally, the Ordmans’ three grandchildren and parents live in England, so they make trips there frequently.

Before 2007, when Ordman immigrated to Israel, he used to become quite upset–and frequently complained in letters to the editor — about the coverage of Israel he watched in the BBC or read in The Times.

Subsequently, he said, he was inspired by the book co-authored by Dan Senor and Saul Singer,  Start Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle.  “This was inspirational,” Ordman wrote on his website.  “I wanted to shout about Israel’s achievements to the world. And then I thought–hang on, this could also be the way to stifle growing attempts to de-legitimize the Jewish State.  Instead of always having to defend Israel, why not change the conversation? ”

In 2010, “I started sifting through the week’s news and saving those stories that highlighted the best aspects of the Jewish State,” Ordman said.  Today he culls through approximately 200 websites on a regular basis, and this stash is supplemented by stories sent in by friends and subscribers.

“It’s difficult to know the impact,” he concedes.  “Dozens of lovers of Israel tell me that the newsletter and the blogs are terrific.  The website gets hits from all over the world — Muslim and Arab states included.  There is a Christian pastor in the Netherlands who translates the newsletter into Dutch once every couple of months.  It was also translated into Spanish once … WIZO uses the material in their newsletter…”

Ordman asserts that Israel is “like a candle in the dark.  Those willing to extinguish the Jewish State are the forces of darkness but the forces for “good” are the light.

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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World.  He may be contacted at donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com