Nostalgia Sunday – Lebanon 1982
Filed under: General, History and Culture, Life, Nostalgia Sunday, War
They’re not happy memories. However, it seems appropriate, on the eve of Waltz With Bashir’s possible Oscar win, to glean the National Photo Collection for photos of the 1982 Lebanon War that capture something of the movie’s essence.
Sidon – IDF soldier on patrol near Ferris wheel. Photo: Shmuel Rahmany
Zaharani area – burning fuel depot. Photo: Beni Tel-Or
Tyre – Ancient Roman ruins with modern buildings in background. Photo: Yaacov Saar
Sidon – Returning to the marketplace. Photo: Yaacov Saar
Central Lebanon – Two Israeli soldiers take a forbidden dip in a stream. Photo: Yossi Roth
Tel Aviv Fairgrounds – Israeli citizens visit a display of a captured PLO arsenal. Photo: Avraham Zaslavski
Tel Aviv – Minister of Defense Ariel Sharon presents objectives at a press conference. Photo: Yaacov Saar
Sidon – Movie poster: “The Land That Time Forgot“. Photo: Yoel Kantor
Waiting to see if Bashir wins
Filed under: Art, General, History and Culture, Movies, Pop Culture, War
Anticipation is already building in Israel today, as people across the country wait to discover if the Israeli movie Waltz with Bashir will win an Oscar at tonight’s ceremony in Los Angeles.
Certainly things look pretty good for the critically acclaimed movie by Ari Folman. It’s already won a string of prestigious awards – from a Golden Globe to an award for the best documentary from the Writers Guild of America, and gambling Web sites are predicting that the Israeli contender for the best foreign film is the most likely of all the entries to win the award.
Critics have also indicated that the movie, which deals with Israel’s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, is their favorite for the prize as – aside from its moving and powerful story – it also breaks new cinematic ground. Critic David Carr, from The New York Times, urged readers to “Put a nickel on Bashir, and keep it there.”
We all love it here when an Israeli film (musician, artist, model etc. etc.) makes good. Last year hopes were high for Beaufort, another moving anti-war film also set in Lebanon, but it was pipped at the post.
For all the success of Folman’s movie, however, there are rumblings of discontent amongst certain sectors of society who feel this, the eighth Israeli Oscar contender, but the one most likely to win, is an anti-Israeli movie.
Folman’s effort to piece together his memories as a combat soldier of the Lebanon War, and particularly the massacre at the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camp in Beirut, are regarded as unjustly demonizing Israel.
Stung by the criticism, one of the film’s backers, the US Foundation for Jewish Culture and Makom, has put out a study guide explaining why the film isn’t unfair. The guide is based on Israel’s own investigation into Sabra and Shatilla, gives the history of the battle, and charts its aftermath.
But why does criticism of Israel’s actions or behavior in a war have to be anti-Israeli? Folman’s film, like Joseph Cedar’s Beaufort before it, is a profound attempt by a soldier to examine a very painful part of his own history and that of his country. It’s soul-searching at its deepest level. And what it reveals about Israel is that this soul searching, doubt and regret is a fundamental part of who we are.
In the media, particularly during the Gaza war, but in many wars and conflicts, Israel is often portrayed as a militaristic nation that doesn’t really give a damn about who gets hurt. Films like Beaufort, and Waltz with Bashir, may not be easy viewing, but they show a completely different truth.
Golden Globe for Waltz with Bashir
Bashir still dancing
Walking the walk in Israel
David Sussman gets ready to walk Israel.
Sussman’s mission is to raise awareness and financial support for the All the Kids charity. All for the Kids is a non-profit organization committed to feeding and educating children in some of the poorest communities in the world. In addition, All for the Kids runs a series of programs in Northern India to encourasge Israeli backpackers on their post-army trip to participate volunteer work with Indian children.
Last year, All the Kids Founder/Director, Bradley Cohen walked the route in the opposite direction, raising $18,000 toward food, education, clothing and dental treatment for over 200 children in Israel and India.
According to Ynet, Sussman has raised $2,500 in sponsorship that’s earmarked for children in Dharamasala, Northern India, including sponsorship and support from the Dancing Camel Brewery in Tel Aviv, and Israeli touring company VITS Travel. The immigrant to Israel from Boston hopes to raise a grand total of $25,000.
Sussman was a bartender at Mike’s Place in Tel Aviv in 2003, when a suicide bombing killed three people. The incident prompted him to chang his status and claim Israeli citizenship. A year later he joined the army and served in an artillery unit in the 2006 war in Lebanon, where he survived a Hizbullah ambush of his unit
Sussman, now a certified Israeli tour guide, who will document his 100-day trek with day-by-day photo, video, diary entry, and interview uploads to his website.
“I’m doing this first because I can’t think of a worthier cause than this one. The ‘All for the Kids’ fund does great work. Unlike many bureaucratic charities, it gives kids direct help, really making a difference in their lives, and in the lives of the volunteers,” Sussman told Ynet.
“My second reason is to feed the minds and hearts of people around the world about Israel; to attract awareness and provide education to the world about one of the most misunderstood and misrepresented places on the planet. I hope this initiative will serve to inform people about both the history and present of this beautiful country that does so many good things for the world and that is so close to my heart.”
For more information on All for the Kids, contact Bradley Cohen at bradley@allforthekids.org or +972-(0)-54-971-7842
Foto Friday – Post-Election Fun
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, Israeliness, Politics, Pop Culture
This just in: President Shimon Peres has tasked Benjamin Netanyahu with forming the government. And so, the coalition-building process begins. Against the background of political posturing, jockeying for positions and a moment before disillusionment sets in, Tomeriko, photographer, photo editor and informal archivist of Israeli press photographers, has posted a new series of images on his Israel Press Flickr photostream. Entitled Elections 2009, it provides a humorous behind-the-scenes peek at the recent elections.
Photo by Koko, courtesy of Israel Press
The series, contributed by any number of Israeli press photographers working for various media outlets, deals with the run-up to election day, including things that people living outside Israel might not have known about.
Photo by Koko, courtesy of Israel Press
For example, Kadima party head Tzipi Livni on the cover of womens magazine La’Isha. When she was a little girl, could she ever have imagined this day would come?
Photo by Idan Kenan, courtesy of Israel Press
Inevitably, there are instances of campaign poster abuse…
Photo by Aviad Herman, courtesy of Israel Press
With some enthusiastic party workers perhaps taking the “green” message a tad to far…
Photo by Tamar Matsafi, courtesy of Israel Press
There are those who use election day to promote their own personal agenda…
Photo by Adi Yisrael, courtesy of Israel Press
And some who just tag along…
Photo by Alex Kolomoisky, courtesy of Israel Press
But the big question remains: do we know which way we’re actually going?
Photo by Adi Yisrael, courtesy of Israel Press
Friday, Friday in Israel
Things seem to be going from bad to worse on this Friday, as we head into Shabbat.
Or, at least back to the way things were just a couple months ago, before Operation Cast Lead.
According to news reports this morning, at least 10 mortar shells have fallen on the Western Negev. At the same time, Israel’s chief negotiator in trying to get Gilad Schalit freed, Amos Gilad, has cancelled a planned meeting in Cairo, following the Israeli cabinet decision to tie a cease-fire arrangement with Hamas to the release of Schalit.
And it looks like we’re headed for a narrow Right-wing coalition under Binyamin Netanyahu, following reports in the papers this morning that Kadima leader Tzipi Livni said she wouldn’t let her party be the token centrists to make the coalition more palatable to the world.
Maybe a Right-wing government is what is needed, since we haven’t accomplished much in the last 10 years or so under various moderate leadership. Who knows?
That’s why I’m dealing with the Friday errands that we all surround ourselves with here, to take our minds off the mess. It’s a red-letter day in our household as our 14-year-old son has relented to getting his first haircut in a couple years. So hurray for that!
And then we’re going to bring our puppy to the vet for a third round of shots (hopefully one that will inject him with a going outside to the bathroom ethic).
But the highlight of the day is that our oldest daughter just returned home from her last day of her army service. She’s sleeping it off now, but tonight over Shabbat dinner, we’ll celebrate, and I’m making a Pillsbury chocolate cake with my own secret recipe homemade frosting. And a secondary celebration will take place for daughter # 2 who just received a letter from the army that she’s been accepted for an elite combat track when she’s inducted later this year. Great for her, that’s going to be three years of no sleep for her worried parents.
So, we take our happiness where we can, even as the news around us looks bleak. After all, those everyday treasures are the real reasons we’re living here anyway. Shabbat Shalom.
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