Amiram Goldblum

Amiram Goldblum (Hebrew: עמירם גולדבלום‎; born 22 December 1945) is an Israeli chemist and activist in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. He is Professor Emeritus of Computational Medicinal Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem School of Pharmacy. He holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the Hebrew University. He is the head of the Molecular Modelling and Drug Design unit at the university's Institute for Drug Research.[2]

Amiram Goldblum
Born1945 (age 74–75)
Rosh Pinna, British Mandate of Palestine
Spouse(s)
Israela Weinstien
​
(
m. 1967; died 2006)
;[1]
Idit Amihai
(
m. after 2012)
ChildrenDan Goldblum, Maya Goldblum

Goldblum was a leader of Peace Now, served as its spokesperson for 20 years, and constructed the Settlements Watch activities of Peace Now.[3] Until 2020, he was on the board of the international council of the New Israel Fund.[4]

Biography

Amiram Goldblum was born in Rosh Pinna in 1945. He is the son of Professor Natan Goldblum, a senior officer in the Medical Corps of the IDF until 1956 and an Israel Prize recipient (1988) for his lifetime efforts to eradicate viral diseases in Israel, in particular, polimyellitis [5] a. The family was evacuated to Haifa during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Goldblum's mother Tamar (née Toren) was a member of the Irgun and had been in the Beitar youth movement, being instructed by Eliyahu Meridor (father of Israeli politician and Minister Dan Meridor). Goldblum studied chemistry and physics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, as a student of Ernst David Bergmann and of Raphael Mechoulam, and continued postdoc studies in Paris with Bernard Pullman and Alberte Pullman and with Corwin Hansch in Pomona College (California).[6] During the years 1970-1979 he served as a news announcer in Kol Yisrael and as an anchor of classical and jazz music programs on the Israeli Radio. Goldblum joined the Hebrew University in 1979 and became associate professor of Medicinal Chemistry in 1989 and full professor in 2010 and retired in 2015, becoming Professor Emeritus.[7] Goldblum is a member of the Supreme Academic Council of the Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance and member of the Supreme Academic Council of the AlQasemi Academy in Baka El Gharbieh [8]

Goldblum was married to Israela Weinstein from 1967 until her death in 2006.[1] Goldblum is married to Idit Amihai, head of Museums and Public Galleries departments of Israel's Ministry of Culture and Sports.[9]

Goldblum's son, Dan Goldblum, who served in the Israeli Commando Unit, Sayeret Matkal, was badly wounded in the commando's preparative operation (Operation Bramble Bush) to kill Saddam Hussein, on 5 November 1992.[10] Goldblum's daughter Maya[1] served in Sayeret Matkal following her brother.

Goldblum fought in the Yom Kippur war, October 1973, as part of battalion 86 which was attached to armoured Division 460. Goldblum fought with his unit over the Suez Canal, where his unit was fighting inside the Egyptian city of Suez toward the end of the war Battle of Suez. The story of some of Goldblum's actions during that war was published in 2014.[11]

Scientific career

Goldblum invented an algorithm for solving extremely complex combinatorial problems, called Iterative Stochastic Elimination (ISE). [12][13].

Goldblum's ISE algorithm is the basis for two Hebrew University science-related companies that expand on his research and discovery of drug candidates, Pepticom[14], and RebioticsRX, focusing on nanomedicine [15] He won first prize in the contest of the American Chemical Society Computers in Chemistry Division in the ACS meeting, Washington D.C. 2000 for his new algorithm, which was developed together with PhD student Meir Glick.[16]. Goldblum was awarded the Kaye Innovation Prize in 2017 for "dramatic improvements in drug discovery methods"[17]. Fraunhofer Institute, the leading European Application oriented research center [18] opened one of its two first project centers, "Fraunhofer Project center on Drug discovery and delivery" in the labs of Profs. Golomb (drug delivery) and Goldblum (Drug Discovery) at the Institute for Drug Research [19].

Goldblum's research is focused on the discovery of new drugs against SARS-CoV-2, on Cannabinoids [20] and the CNS, obesity[21], bacterial infections, diabetes and Alzheimer's disease and other research in his lab is focused on PCSK9 inhibitors for lowering LDL, on physiology, on Sugar Substitutes and on new fragrances. Goldblum leads a large theoretical research group at Hebrew University Institute for Drug Research. Among many scientific activities, he organized the first meeting to probe the idea of Israel's participation in SESAME[22] between Professor Joel Sussman from the Weizmann Institute and Professor Herman Winick[23] from Stanford University, who initiated the construction of the International Centre for Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Science Applications in the Middle East, which includes Israel, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, Jordan, Bahrain, Egypt, Cyprus and the Palestinian Authority, among others.

Political activism

Goldblum was the spokesperson of Peace Now from 1980 to 2000.[24] He was in the front line of the demonstration when Peace Now protester Emil Grunzweig was murdered. He later identified the incident as a "catalyst" for greater political activism.[25] Goldblum initiated the Settlements Watch[26] activities of Peace Now in 1990.[27][28] In 1995, Goldblum, referring to the Israeli cabinet decision to expand the settlements, said, "We believe that this decision is going to bring a tremendous clash with the Palestinians."[29]

In a 2001 interview after the beginning of the second intifada, Goldblum discussed the name of the organization Peace Now, saying "The name is very problematic. Today I would not choose the same name for the movement, but we can't change it now. I find this name extremely difficult and it is even a source of embarrassment for me. I can't even put the movement's sticker on my car."[30]

Regarding achieving a long term peace agreement, Goldblum suggested "pulling out of the territories unilaterally and begin peace negotiations at a point where occupation no longer exists", though he did concede that he would allow for "annexing 50% of the settlers" including those neighborhoods of Jerusalem over the Green Line such as Gilo and Har Homa. In addition, Goldblum said he was opposed to the right of return.[30]

In discussing Israel's security, he recommended "an airtight security closure, a creation of a 310-kilometer security fence along the Green Line, an airtight closing of the border between Jordan and the Palestinian territory, between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, and of the Mediterranean. This closure would be so complete that is would allow us to inspect every mouse entering Israel".[30]

Among other issues, Goldblum said "... What is really important to me is that this should be the state of the Jews, not a mixed state and not a state of all its citizens...."[31]

In October 2012, Goldblum and his family foundation, the Yisraela Fund[32] paid for and were involved (along with other Israeli academics) in commissioning a controversial poll regarding Israeli attitudes towards prejudice, along with Mordechai Bar-On, Ilan Baruch, Alon Liel, and Michael Sfard.[33] In a press release of the commissioning group, sent by Goldblum, it was stated, "a large part of the Jewish population (58%) accepts the application of the term 'apartheid' to the current state of affairs in Israel. It is, however, not clear what these respondents understand by the term as this question did not require clarification." Goldblum also acknowledged there were problems with a question used on the poll. Israeli statistician Camil Fuchs, who supervised the company that conducted the poll, told The Times of Israel that the questions in the poll were fine and did not need changing by the Dialog team.[34]

In January 2013 Goldblum was #87 on the candidates list of Meretz, for the Knesset elections.[35]

In February 2013, Goldblum was one of the organizers of a gathering at the Van Leer Institute in Jerusalem which discussed apartheid in the Israeli context. A new NGO, 'The Organization for the Prevention of Apartheid in Israel', was established to expose and fight against trends of racism and apartheid in Israel.[36][37][38]


Goldblum writes frequently articles to the press, mainly to Haaretz and has a blog named "Knockout from the left" [39].

Goldblum is a strong critic of the right wing and of the Jewish settlers on the West Bank and of their Evangelical supporters in the U.S.[40] .

Goldblum accuses Benjamin Netanyahu of being the main public figure who incited to murder Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin[41] and believes that Israel has two Jewish people who only have the Hebrew language in common and nothing else [42].

Goldblum believes that Yitzhak Rabin could be saved had he expelled the settlers of Hebron immediately after the Cave of the Patriarchs massacre[43][44].

Goldblum is one of the main opponents of Ariel University and calls it an "apartheid university" [45]

Due to his political views, Goldblum decided in April 2020 to leave the International Council of the New Israel Fund saying that he "left in order to be free and independent, in order not to attribute to NIF anything that I say which is different than what NIF says". New Israel Fund denied a report on Makor Rishon claiming that "NIF dissociated itself from Goldblum in the wake of his derogatory remarks about Israeli settlers and right wing figures". NIF reacted by declaring that "Contrary to what is said in this report, NIF did not take any steps against Prof. Goldblum, Goldblum was not rejected from the International Council, NIF did not dissociate itself from him and did not request to do so. As Goldblum said, he requested to leave on his own will. Prof. Goldblum is a person of countless virtues who devoted all his life to voluntary activism for the sake of Peace and Equality, for the sake of the State of Israel, The Israeli Society and for the New Israel Fund and we thank him for that" [46].

gollark: What are you talking about? It was fine*!
gollark: Releasing bees into apiomemetic mainframe... now.
gollark: Thus, Gibson is 998242295.
gollark: `parseInt("gibson", 36)` → 998242295.
gollark: No, that's wrong.

References
  1. Uri Daromi (23 January 2007). סביב שולחן האוכל שלה נולדה "שלום עכשיו" [Peace Now started around her table]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  2. "Prof. Amiram Goldblum". The Faculty of Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  3. "Settlers willing to leave West Bank, Gaza – survey". CBC News. 25 July 2002. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  4. "People". New Israel Fund. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  5. Blum, N.; Katz, E.; Fee, E. (2010). "Professor Natan Goldblum: The Pioneer Producer of the Inactivated Poliomyelitis Vaccine in Israel". American Journal of Public Health. NIH. 100 (11): 2074–2075. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2010.192922. PMC 2951960. PMID 20864699.
  6. "Amiram Goldblum". Biotrends. 2010. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  7. "Prof. Amiram Goldblum". Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  8. "Academic College of Education". Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  9. Dan Balilty; Daniel Estrin (19 November 2012). "Israel museums hide art to protect it from rockets". Associated Press. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  10. עמרי אסנהיים (2012). צאלים הטראומה של סיירת מטכ"ל [Tze'elim, The Trauma of Sayeret Matkal] (in Hebrew). Kinneret. p. 8. ASIN B00AP1IV0A..
  11. דבורי בורגר (June 2014). "טופס האפסנאות נשמר בתנאים של בית מרקחת 40 שנה". "shirion" no. 45 - בטאון עמותת יד לשריון: 84. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  12. Rayan, A.; Marcus, D.; Goldblum, A. (22 March 2010). "Predicting oral druglikeness by iterative stochastic elimination". Journal of Chemical Information and Modeling. 50 (3): 437–45. doi:10.1021/ci9004354. PMID 20170135. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  13. "Prof. Amiram Goldblum". Hebrew University. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  14. "board of directors". Pepticom. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  15. "Inventors". Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  16. "Symposium on Emerging Computational Technologies August 2000, Washington D.C." Computers in Chemistry - A Program Division of the American Chemical Society. 1 July 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  17. "Algorithm leads to dramatic improvement in drug discovery methods; Prof. Amiram Goldblum wins 2017 Kaye Innovation Award". The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. 22 June 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  18. "Jobs and Career". Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  19. "Fraunhofer Project Center for Drug Discovery and Delivery @ Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel". Fraunhofer Gesellschaft. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  20. "home/researchers". The Hebrew University cannabinoids research Multidisciplinary center. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  21. "Algorithm leads to dramatic improvement in drug discovery methods; Prof. Amiram Goldblum wins 2017 Kaye Innovation Award". The Hebrew University. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  22. "Sesame". Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  23. "Herman Winick, Professor (Emeritus)". Photon Science, SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  24. "On Opposite Sides Inside the Same Frame". Americans for Peace Now. 1 February 2005. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  25. Galili, Lily (8 August 2002). "Avrushmi's parole sparks memories, anger and resignation". Haaretz. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  26. "What is Settlement Watch Team?". Peace Now. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  27. Mordechai Bar-On (1996). In Pursuit of Peace: A History of the Israeli Peace Movement. United States Institute of Peace. ISBN 978-1878379535.
  28. Tzali Reshef. שלום עכשיו [Peace Now] (in Hebrew).
  29. Barton Gellman (26 January 1995). "Israeli Cabinet Panel Approves Major Expansion of Settlements". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on 11 June 2014. Retrieved December 3, 2012. – via HighBeam Research (subscription required)
  30. Giora Eilon (20 July 2001). "Peach [sic] Now Leader 'People Think I'm An Idiot'". The Jewish Press. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  31. Giora Eilon (8 June 2001). "Iton Yerushalayim". 'אל נא תאמר לי שלום' [Do not say to me "peace"] (in Hebrew). pp. 16–18.
  32. פרס ישראלה גולדבלום [Israela Goldblum Prize] (in Hebrew). New Israel Fund. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  33. Jenni, Frazer (25 October 2012). "Shock findings of 'apartheid' poll questioned". Jewish Chronicle. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
  34. Miller, Elhanan (30 October 2012). "Haaretz changes tack on major story that alleged widespread 'apartheid' attitudes in Israel". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 3 December 2012. Miller adds: "It is, however, not clear what these respondents understand by the term as this question did not require clarification."
  35. מרצ - השמאל של ישראל [Meretz – The Left of Israel] (in Hebrew). Knesset 19th Election Central Board. Retrieved 2 March 2014. Goldblum no. 87 on the MERETZ list to the 19th Knesset
  36. Amiram Goldblum (20 February 2013). מדוע צריך ארגון למניעת אפרטהייד בישראל [Why we need an organization to prevent Apartheid in Israel] (in Hebrew). On the Left Side. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  37. Raphael Ahren (21 February 2013). "A night of apartheid". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  38. Akiva Eldar (12 April 2013). "Is Israel Heading Toward Apartheid?". Israel Pulse. Retrieved 2 March 2014.
  39. שמאלית מוחצת [Knockout from the left] (in Hebrew). Haaretz. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  40. האוונגליזם והמשיחיות היהודית: כסף עכשיו, דם בעתיד [Evangelism and Jewish Messianism: Money now, blood in the future] (in Hebrew). Haaretz. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  41. בדרך לקלפי, זיכרו את החמורה שבעבירות נתניהו [On your way to the polls, remember the most severe crime by Netanyahu] (in Hebrew). Haaretz. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  42. [https:www.haaretz.co.il/blogs/amiramgoldblum/BLOG-1.8224949/ חוץ משפה, לא נותר ליהודים כאן מהמשותף] [Nothing in common for Jews here except the language] (in Hebrew). Haaretz. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  43. "What if Israel had decided to expel the settlers of Hebron?". +972 Magazine. 13 November 2019. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  44. "We Neither Forgive nor Forget". Haaretz. 6 November 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  45. "Silence as Israel Destroys Academia". Haaretz. 14 January 2018. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  46. בגלל התבטאויותיו הבוטות: הקרן החדשה מתנתקת מעמירם גולדבלום
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