JEWISH WORLD

unmet need in cancer treatment. Schroeder was raised with four siblings in a Jerusalem family steeped in science, medicine and the Jewish value of tikkun olam, repairing the world. His father, physicist and lecturer Gerald Schroeder, has written such books as The Science of God: The Convergence of Scientific and Biblical Wisdom . His mother, Barbara Sofer, is an award-win- ning author as well as Israeli direc- tor of public relations for Hadassah. Ever since completing graduate studies in chemical engineering at Ben-Gurion and Hebrew universi- ties and a postdoc at the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology in 2012, Schroeder has looked for innovations that “you can invent in a lab and really change people’s lives.” In addition to his lab and the four startups, and now advising the Home Front Command, Schroeder teaches chemical engineering and nanobiotechnology at the Technion. And he is raising five children with his educator wife, Hadas. With only 24 hours in a day, how does he do it all? “I surround myself with great people. I learned that when you grow teams of great people around you, you can do great things and be more meaningful with your time,” Schroeder tells ISRAEL21c . “Good science has to be con- nected to the real world, so in addi- tion to scientists we also need peo- ple who understand the medical reality and the business around the science — how the product should look, which patients would benefit most, and how to navigate the reg- ulatory space.” Schroeder’s lab is “a great place to invent disruptive technologies,” he says. “Companies come in to talk to our students; we have WhatsApp groups with the CEOs. I’m excited about all our products and I believe they all can make a big difference.” Abigail Klein Leichman is a writer and associate editor at Israel21c. Humans continued from page 6 30 JEWISH WORLD • APRIL 24-30, 2020 himself admits that Jewish students feel “invidious discrimination,” even as he dismisses these students’ com- plaints as “assertions by outsiders.” Columbia insiders have identified systemic bigotry at the university, and their concerns re-main unad- dressed. Bollinger has finally spoken, but it is disingenuous for him to say that he has “become concerned about anti-Semitism” while at the same time dismissing the complaints and concerns of the Columbia University community. Words are not enough — action is needed. Admitting that anti-Semitism exists is a good first step, but Bollinger needs to commit the university to providing a discrimination-free environment for its Jewish and Israeli students and faculty. Gerard Filitti is Senior Counsel at The Lawfare Project, a U.S. non- profit thinkthank and litigation fund advocating for Jewish and pro- Israel communities worldwide. Words continued from page 13 American Jewish leaders” and neo- conservatives for supporting “a co- lonial Israeli occupation.” Fried- man reminded readers: “One should never forget just how crazy some of Israel’s Jewish settlers are. They assassinated Prime Minister Yit- zhak Rabin when he tried to cede part of the West Bank for peace.” Rabin’s assassin, Yigal Amir, lived in the Israeli city of Herzliya. Friedman seldom missed an opportunity to highlight criticism of the Jewish state, especially from Israelis who insisted that its “occu- pation” (of Biblical Judea and Samaria) was immoral. He dis- missed waves of devastating Palest- inian terrorist attacks as merely “a continual poke in the ribs” to Israeli civilians. The murderous Palest- inian intifada, for Friedman, paral- leled the American civil-rights movement. As a relentless chroni- cler of Israel’s failings, he claimed that he was helping to preserve its moral integrity. For Friedman, Israeli settlement building was “sheer madness.” He predicted that without a two-state solution, “Israel will be stuck with an apartheid-like, democracy-sap- ping, permanent occupation of the West Bank.” How Israel could “occupy” its Biblical homeland was not explained. He seemed surprised that “Palestinian” and “terrorist” were “fused together in the minds of people the world over.” E namored of former U.S. President Barack Obama, whose hostility to Israel was pal- pable, Friedman preposterously claimed that the only question was whether he was “the most pro-Israel president in history or just one of the most.” The answer, to be sure, was neither; in fact, Obama was the least friendly towards the Jewish state. During his first official visit to Israel, the Times gushed a chorus of praise for his peace effort. Obama, Friedman wrote, “embraced Israelis with both understanding and hon- esty” by suggesting that Israel “col- laborate with Palestinians to build a West Bank state that is modern, sec- ular and Westernizing.” Otherwise, “scary religious nationalist zealots” might lead Israel into the “dark cor- ner” of a “South African future,” or a binational state “controlled by Jewish extremists.” It long ago became evident that Friedman’s “insufferable” boyhood identification with Israel had faded away. Indeed, unbeknown to him, his path closely followed that of Joseph Levy, hired by the Times in 1928 as its first “Palestine corre- spondent.” A year later, when Arab riots erupted, Levy participated in covert discussions with H. St. John Philby, a former British civil servant who had denounced the Balfour Declaration as “an act of betrayal for whose parallel … we have to go back to the Garden of Geth- semane”; Judah Magnes, Hebrew University Chancellor who advocat- ed a binational state in Palestine; and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem Haj Amin al-Husseini, convicted of inciting the 1921 riots. Levy fun- neled lengthy statements by Magnes and Philby into the Times . Guided by Levy, it became a welcoming platform for anti-Zionist critics. If Joseph Levy sought to under- mine the Zionist pursuit of Jewish statehood, Thomas Friedman has relentlessly lacerated its Israeli real- ity. Perhaps the only consolation is that he did not propose Ocasio- Cortez as ambassador to Israel. Jerold S. Auerbach is the author of “Print to Fit: The New York Times, Zionism and Israel 1896- 2016.” JNS.org Fantasy continued from page 14 He dismissed waves of devastating Palestinian terrorist attacks “a continual poke in the ribs” to Israelis. ravaging countries’ populations and quality of life, and threatening to decimate the world’s economy. U nlike the pandemics in the 14th or early 20th centuries, the coronavirus is spreading to all parts of the globe with alarming speed. The nature and ubiquity of such a universal attack requires a unified and coordinated global response. With national govern- ments, understandably, focusing inward, it is the United Nations that must lead this international effort. As Rome, Beijing, Jerusalem, Washington and capitals around the world barely look beyond their own national borders, the United Nations is already positioned to view the entire playing field, which transcends national boundaries. From Turtle Bay and the WHO offices in Geneva, the United Nations can assess the spread of the virus, allocate resources and issue guidance above national considera- tions as it adheres to its stated pur- pose of “harmonizing actions of nations in the attainment of the common ends” of international peace and security. On the diplomatic front, the rela- tionships that U.N. diplomats develop through our regular work can help grease the wheels of gov- ernmental action and cut through bureaucratic red tape, ensuring online sharing of data and medical expertise. If a company in one country develops a promising treat- ment, the United Nations and its diplomatic network can help bring that medicine to at-risk populations in other countries. In short, this global crisis requires a global response. We must leverage the capabilities of the United Nations, including the rela- tionships between diplomatic col- leagues, to ensure that everyone gets the help they need. The most important value in Judaism is pikuach nefesh, “saving a life.” If the United Nations is best positioned to pursue that value today, when it is needed most, then Israel will stand behind it. The rest, as they say, is just commen- tary. Danny Danon is Israel’s ambas- sador to the United Nations. JNS.org Front continued from page 23 The virus is on every populated continent; soon, no region or country will be unaffected. Neither has Mr. Chachere. Last year, the Asthma Free Housing Act, which Matthew drafted as staff attorney at the Northern Manhattan Improvement Corporation, went into effect in New York City. It requires land- lords to remove hazards that can trigger asthma attacks including mold, rodents and roaches, and leaks and pathways for vermin infestation. If only the virus that causes COVID-19 could be removed!!! Hopefully — so hopefully — there’ll be a vaccine and a treat- ment to do that. But, meanwhile, this deadly plague continues. Karl Grossman, professor of journalism at the State University of New York/College at Old Westbury, has covered Long Island politics for 50 years. Covid-19 continued from page 24 “My stepfather and my mother. Each, sadly, alone and in isolation in hospital from us and each other.”