Many people are doing marvelous things

USUALLY without much fuss, there are people devoting a few hours a week − sometimes much more − working alone or as part of an organization, improving the quality of life here and strengthening Israeli society in every way. Here are some of the fields in which people volunteer. They will be very happy if you call them to volunteer or just to be an inactive member. The country will definitely benefit.

ISRAELI SOCIETY

LAOR: concerned with the negative trends in society and government, working to combat corruption in the political system, the decline in the standard of leadership, and values in general. www.astal.com/laor

HOPEWAYS: an independent forum, fostering innovative socio-political models for a better future in Israel and beyond. Promotes tolerance, pluralism and peace among all ethnic, religious, cultural and ideological communities. HopeWays holds that "ordinary people" are the key to a better future. www.hopeways.org

QUALITY GOVERNMENT

THE MOVEMENT FOR QUALITY GOVERNMENT IN ISRAEL: combatting corruption in the public sector. Working for the protection of democracy, the rule of law, and basic rights. Encourages reliable public administration and ethical standards in the public sectors. Phone 02-5000073, www.mqg.org.il e-mail: mqg@mqg.org.il

SHELANU: Direct Representation for Israel: Promotes a more sensible system for elections and government structure, based on direct, regional, representational selection of Knesset Members. Phone 04-6398160, www.directrepisrael.org e-mail: info@directrepisrael.org

ISRAEL ADVOCACY AND INFORMATION

ISRAEL RESOURCE REVIEW: News items and analyses, presented by officially-accredited Israeli and Arab journalists, and aiming at honest professionalism. Founded in 1987 by David Bedein. One of the first voices to set the record straight. www.israelbehindthenews.com

ISRAEL ACADEMIA MONITOR: monitors abuses of academic freedom and politicalization of Israeli campuses by radicals who collaborate with enemies of Israel from around the world. www.israel-academia-monitor.com

ISRAPUNDIT: Articles, information, facts and figures about almost every aspect of Israel, from a wide diversity of sources. Articles on the Israel-Arab conflict by excellent writers. Also newspaper articles. Think tanks, as well as Arab, Muslim and anti-Israel writings. Also information on aliya and Israeli organizations dealing with health, education and society. www.israpundit.com

MIDDLE EAST FACTS: Dedicated to spreading the truth about Israel and the Arabs. Deals with every aspect of the confrontation and its background, including in-depth articles, statistics, maps, quotations from the Koran and U.N. Resolutions. www.middleeastfacts.com

ISRAEL HASBARA COMMITTEE: A comprehensive, user-friendly website with source material by and for academics, journalists, political experts, historians and laypersons. Learn what's really happening in Israel and the region, including the gross falsehoods propagated against Israel, which pose a threat to its existence. www.infoisrael.net

PALESTINIAN MEDIA WATCH: monitors Palestinian Arabic language media and schoolbooks, documenting the contradictions between the image the Palestinians present to the world in English and the messages to their own people in Arabic. www.pmw.org.il

YOUTH THAT NEEDS HELP

ELEM - YOUTH IN DISTRESS IN ISRAEL: helps youth-at-risk overcome personal problems and become productive citizens. Tens of thousands of youngsters are helped every year. It's a vital undertaking. www.elem.org.il

GENERAL WELFARE

JOINT ISRAEL: the JDC provides assistance to the State of Israel, as well as in the Diaspora. Addresses the needs of its most vulnerable communities: children-at-risk, struggling immigrant populations, the elderly and the disabled. www.jdc.org

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

ISRAEL UNION FOR ENVIRONMENTAL DEFENSE (Adam Teva Vadin): dedicated to safeguard Israel's environment, by using the legal system to combat government-imposed development policies and corporate practices that damage natural resources, public health and quality of life. Pursues a vigorous agenda in four key areas: air pollution prevention, drinking water safety, solid waste management, and accessible open spaces. www.yarok.org.il

RADIO

ISRAEL SEEN: online radio dealing with peace, Jewish revival and culture in an open-minded, good-natured and sober manner. www.israelseen.com

A lot of personal satisfaction

Many people say that giving of their time and energy to an important cause offers them a great sense of personal satisfaction, and sometimes is even envigorating. Many lasting friendships are formed in these activities.

We are in the process of enlarging this webpage to make it as comprehensive and useful as possible. If you are connected to any organization that you think should be mentioned here and given a link in this site, please let us know. Click here.

There are many other fields.

• Various aspects of education
• Cultural activities
• Sport
• Community work
• Workers' rights
• Combatting abuse of foreign workers
• Consumer protection
• Helping victims of violence
• Drug abuse
• Aiding the elderly
• Helping immigrants get settled
• Working with handicapped people
• Assisting in hospitals
• Ethnic harmony ... and more