Ein Gedi Botanic Garden

Ein Gedi Botanic Garden
Seek the serenity of a Judean Desert sky in Autumn at the Ein Gedi Botanic Garden

Sunday, April 20, 2014

2014 Technion Valedictorian is Israeli Arab Woman

This year’s valedictorian at Haifa’s Technion University – the “MIT” of Israel – is an Israeli Arab Muslim woman.

So much for the “apartheid state” claim of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

Mais Ali-Saleh grew up speaking Arabic in her small village outside of Nazareth in the Galilee.

She learned Hebrew at elementary school and high school, in the same way that many Israeli Jews learn Arabic as a second language in their public schools.

Ali-Saleh, currently an obstetrics-gynecology resident at Carmel Hospital in Haifa, says she went into the field because she knows many Arab women prefer female doctors.

She told Diana Bletter at The Huffington Post that Arabs, and in particular Arab women, have more freedom, liberties and academic opportunities in Israel than in any Arab country.

She suggested that the BDS movement switch from pursuing an academic boycott to encouraging academic life in the Palestinian Authority. She also encouraged those interested in peace to focus their energies on pressuring Arab nations to emulate Israel’s academic freedoms and democracy, and support more success stories like her own.