Eiffel Tower in Jerusalem
You’d think that Jerusalem has enough unique tourist attractions, wouldn’t you? But no….ze citizens of gay Paris think that ze Eiffel Tower would make a fine addition to the Holy City !?!?!
To mark the 40th anniversary of Jerusalem’s unification, the Paris Municipality will grant Jerusalem a smaller version of the tower, which will be erected on Paris Square in the Israeli capital.
French cities have a tradition of offering presents to sister cities across the world. In 1885, the French presented the Statue of Liberty to the United States as a gesture of friendship between the two nations.
We could all think of some alternative gifts we’d rather have from the French, like maybe a little more support in the United Nations? But a gift is a gift, so I guess we have to do the polite thing and say “Merci, beaucoup.”
When It Comes to Bowling Etiquette, Israelis Strike Out
As Herb Keinon explains in the Jerusalem Post, it all comes down to a society where there is minimal respect for personal space and other people’s need to concentrate.
Translated into the bowling alley, that means:
There is not a whole lot of consideration for what the guy is doing over in the other lane.
It’s not as if the Israeli bowler is intentionally trying to disturb his neighbor’s game; it’s just that he gets so wrapped up in his own activities – laughing with the hevra, grandstanding for his girlfriend – that it doesn’t even dawn on him that he may actually be disturbing his neighbor by straying into his lane. It’s less malicious, more thoughtless.
And if a neighbor complains, the less than considerate bowler – not without merit – will ask what the big deal is; argue that this is only a game and not exactly brain surgery; and that there is a need to put things in proper perspective. Call it the “we survived Pharaoh, we shall survive this as well” syndrome.
Hava Nagila Like You’ve Never Seen It Before
With love, and some funky transliteration, from Thailand (Via Dave Bender)
Chatting with the Neighbors
If you haven’t yet discovered Yael’s impressive new effort — Good Neighbours – you must go and check it out now.
She’s got bloggers from Israel and the Arab world trying their best to have a civilized conversation.
The blog is “dedicated to increasing dialogue and understanding between Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Lebanese, Egyptians, Saudis, Iranians, Iraqis, Libyans, Sudanese, and Syrians on a cross-country level, as well as to increase understanding, respect and dialogue among the various strata of society within our individual countries.”
Good luck, Yael! Maybe you can prove that good blogs make good neighbors.
Reporting from Sderot
She may look like a sweet young thing, but Rinat views herself as a tough hardened journalist. The last time she cried reporting a story was nine years ago in her native Brazil. Until she recently visited a school in Sderot to do a story for her Brazilian newspaper.
The school is tiny and quite humble. At the yard, no park for the kids, nor toys. Just two huge concrete boxes. If there’s a Qassam rocket alert, everyone should run inside the boxes. A siren rang. Thank God, it was just the sign telling the kids it was lunch time. Instead of running towards the yard, everyone just opened up their “mum made” boxes and started eating inside the classrooms. Due to security measures, they are forbidden to play outside.
I was taken by the manager to talk to kids from the 3rd year. They were about 8-9 years old. I walked inside the class and, to my surprise, all the kids stood up. The manager told them that Sderot was now known all over the globe because of the Qassam rockets and that a journalist from Brazil wanted to talk to them. “Brazil?” “Woooowww!” As they were eating, the manager told them they had two options: or ask me to come back again in five minutes or to hide the food under the table for some minutes as “the journalist cannot think that in Israel they only eat in class”. Some laughs and immediately they agreed with the second option. Incredibly unanimously. I smiled and thanked them. I asked them if anyone wanted to talk about the fear they felt because of the rockets. Heard many of the kids and was amazed by their maturity and their conscience of the “situation”.
Nowadays at least 50% of Sderot’s kids don’t go to school because of fear. The ones who still attend classes have their daily schedule changed. The teachers explained that mainly the youngest groups are going through serious lack of concentration, anxiety and panic. Instead of regular classes, teachers and psychologists are giving them different creative activities that might help them release their fears. My problem really happened with a single story, the last one I heard. You can think that a silly one, but it broke my heart. Little Opher, 8, immediately raised his hand to tell his personal story. Big eyes, trembling voice…
“It’s scary. Who says he doesn’t fear, is a big liar. I came to school because my parents have to work. However we had some experiences in which mum decided not to bring me to school because of the Qassam. Thefore I was home. I was alone, heard the “Red Color” (the alert Qassam siren) and I didn’t know what to do, where to hide. It was very scary. I feel afraid even of talking about it”.
And his eyes were flowing. And so were mine… … Again…
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