A tranquil calm in the North, war in the South

August 21, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, Israeliness, Life, News, War 

Wading in the Zaki River in the Golan while rockets rain down on the South.

It wouldn’t be summer without a military skirmish in Israel. And this one looks like it could blossom into a doozy.

Funny thing is, that while one part of the country is under siege with rockets raining down, and buses being shot up, other areas are full of tranquility. We had just started a four-day vacation in the North on Thursday, just east of the Kinneret in a beautiful bed & breakfast chalet inside a Golan moshav. Late in the afternoon, we got a call from a friend just checking if our daughter (serving in the IDF along the Egyptian border) was alright.

A little perplexed, I thanked the friend for his concern, then asked why he was interested. He then explained about the terror attacks near Eilat, which we were oblivious to. We quickly got off the call and tried to contact our daughter, but only got her voice mail.

Nothing to get alarmed about, we said, she’s usually on exercises in areas that don’t get cell phone reception. Meanwhile, we tuned into the news on the radio, detailing the awful events of Thursday, getting brought up to date during a time we were supposed to be getting away from it all.

A couple hours later, soldier daughter called to say she was fine, nowhere’s near the violence and leading her recruits in various exercises. We spent the next few days – while the rockets were landing on Beersheva, and other southern points, rafting in the Jordan River, take a jeep trip through the trails and rivers of the Golan and chilling at the amazing pool of Moshav Ramot, with a breathtaking view of the Kinneret and surrounding mountains.

Unless you deliberately tuned into the news, you wouldn’t have known that people were losing their lives a couple hundred kilometers away. That’s Israel for you.

I’m not sure how what’s unfolding down south is being portrayed in the world media ( likely something like “Both Israel and Palestinian actions are escalating the situation along the Israeli borders with Gaza and Egypt”), but anyone with half a mind should and does realize that there’s no equivalency here – moral or otherwise.

Terrorists started this thing all by themselves with no provocation (other than Israel’s existence) and Israel is only doing what any sovereign country would do to protect its citizens. But for some reason, we always end up sharing half – if not more – of the blame for the violence. Returning from the Golan to the reality of another war-filled August in Israel, it was a stark wake up call that the vacation was over.

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Foto Friday – Jerusalem to the IMAX

August 19, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: Art, coexistence, education, Entertainment, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Picture of the Week, Religion, Travel, tv 

Sometimes, someone sends you an email containing a video link. In fact, this happens quite often, at least ten times a day. And sometimes, in fact very often, you hit the “Delete” button without even clicking on the link. Occasionally, however, you immediately regret the decision and hit “Undo”. Especially if you’re looking for something to distract your troubled mind from the day’s bad news.

Which is how I came to watch, nay, to be transfixed, by the preview for the film JERUSALEM, an aerial tour of the Holy Land and the Holy City filmed in IMAX 3D. Scheduled for worldwide release in 2013, the clip was posted by the production company, Arcane/Cosmic Pictures, and it is well worth not only taking 7 minutes out of your busy schedule to view it, but even watching it in “Full Screen” mode.

Jerusalem | Filmed in Imax 3D from JerusalemGiantScreen on Vimeo.

The production newsletter yields some good information about the process — and the difficulties — in creating such amazing imagery. Writer and co-producer Daniel Ferguson states, “Very few films ever get permission to fly over Jerusalem. This is the first time in nearly 20 years an aerial camera has been allowed this close to the holy sites and certainly the first 65mm aerials ever filmed of Jerusalem.”

The production worked with aerial photography company Albatross, whose founders, two former Israeli Air Force helicopter pilots, Duby Tal and Moni Haramati, are veterans in the field. Co-producer George Duffield noted that, “The crew was a complete mix of people. They came from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Bethlehem and Ramallah (both in the West Bank), and Amman, Jordan. They were Jews and Arabs, Muslims, Christians… an incredible cross-section. We also benefited from the expertise of consultants all around the world, including Canada, the US, the UK and Australia.”

According to Taran Davies, one of the film’s producers. “We want audiences to experience the city from multiple perspectives to better understand its historical, archeological, cultural and spiritual importance.”

Can’t wait to see how the rest of the country looks like in through their lens.

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El Al – just like home (and with the nomination to prove it)

August 19, 2011 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Israeliness, News 

Airline Passenger Experience Association

Earlier in the week, I wrote about dropping my youngest son at the airport to fly as an “unaccompanied minor” to Los Angeles. We could have chosen many different airlines – Delta, Continental, US Air, or a flight routed via Europe – but we opted for El Al. For many Israelis and Jews, it’s sort of a gut reaction – of course, we’ll choose El Al, they’re the safest. And we’re supporting the Zionist endeavor.

Then, those of us who are old enough to remember, will shudder with memories of surly stewardesses and a seating configuration in coach that packed twice the number of rows into the same space as a comparable transatlantic flight, resulting in a situation where, if the guy in front of you leans back while you’re eating, you don’t need a spoon to eat your yogurt. And then there was El Al’s well deserved nickname “Every Landing Always Late.”

But, as Mr. D. would intone, the times they are a-changin.

El Al has been nominated for six awards from the Airline Passenger Experience Association in Overall Flight Experience, Best In-Flight Magazine, Best Ground Experience, Outstanding Safety Video, Best Cabin Ambiance and the Middle East regional category.

APEX includes as members most of the world’s regular airlines, as well as media corporations, marketing companies, and plane and flight equipment manufacturers. The award ceremony will be held next month during the APEX 2011 EXPO in Seattle, Washington.

Other than the best magazine and safety video (which are mere distractions from the main show), the other nominations are quite impressive. They will of course be no surprise for travelers flying El Al in recent years. The flight attendants are delightfully Israeli (meaning both brash and willing to overlook the rules – “you want to store that oversized duffle bag in the aisle – no problem”) and the hot bagels and pita are pretty tasty, especially compared with the half frozen kosher TV dinner option on Czech Air (really, don’t get me started).

The category for Best Cabin Ambience makes me smile – I wonder who the voters are? Probably weighted heavily with other Israelis. Because if there’s one thing you can say with certainty, it’s that from the moment you board an El Al flight, you’ll feel like you’re visiting long lost family from Holon: lots of talking (at all hours of the night), heavy gesticulation (“sorry, was that your drink?”), and unrepentant hogging of the arm rests if you’re lucky (downright snoozing on your shoulder if you’re particularly prone to snagging snorers).

Some 60,000 passengers from all over the world took part in this year’s survey, which included about 70 airlines from 37 countries. Go team blue and white!

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Platform to wedge

August 19, 2011 by · 3 Comments
Filed under: Art, design, General, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness 

The 'wedge'

At long last, the European fashion market has tapped into a long-loved Israeli style: Wedges. Technically, what Israeli women are still wearing, years after the style long passed, are called platforms (as pointed out in a comment by reader Marjorie). But there is a certain similarity between the wedge and the platform, in the thick, raised heels of both.

A comical platform from designer Kobi Levi

According to IHT fashion writer Jessica Michault, it’s the summer of the wedge, showing up on catwalks in summer sandals with cork heels, lightweight wood or ropey espadrille bottoms. But they’re bound to come around again in the winter on boots and heels. The wedge appeals, says Michault, because designers get to play with more surface area on the shoe, working with different fabrics, stacking materials and embellishments.

And according to shoe designer Christian Louboutin, who’s usually about his sexy red-soled stilettos,

“The wedge is not too serious. There is a playful mood to the wedge. You get the height but also have great balance so they are both easy to walk and stand in.”

A 'bad' platform

Platforms, those thick-soled shoes that raise both the toe- and heel-end of shoes, never actually left some parts of the Israeli fashion scene. They have, sometimes unfortunately, stuck around, often for certain customers of the flowy layered look, who pair their layered frocks with fabric covered plaform Mary Janes. But they’re also seen in more restrained versions, such as the Teva-Naot slides, that are often raised in a certain hint of platform, or in the cheap and popular Gazith shoes, which will harken back to platforms here and there.

So we welcome the wedge, if it brings a certain acceptability and trendier tone to the beloved Israeli platform. Alternatively, maybe we started the trend…

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Love and solar power in the Negev

August 18, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, Environment, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Technology 

YouTube Preview Image
This week, Israel celebrated Tu Be’Av – which in the days of the Temple, marked the beginning of the grape harvest – but which today has morphed into ‘chag ha’ahava’ or the ‘festival of love.’ It’s a prime time for weddings, and legend has it that it’s not a bad day for matchmaking.

I’m not exactly sure what the connection to our own Valentines Day is with solar energy, but Israeli solar energy group, The Arava Power Company, which is has built the first commercial solar panel field in Israel, apparently sees some parallels there.

They decided to use the holiday and the current social justice protests as a backdrop to lobby the government to allow more solar power fields to be built. Filmed at their headquarters at the Ketura Sun solar field at Kibbutz Ketura, 50 km. north of Eilat. the video uses some loving couples to highlight that electricity bills would be lower if government decided to allow the building of additional solar facilities more quickly.

I think I’m beginning to get the connection now – after all, when two people get together in a loving way, they can sure make some heat.

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