Nostalgia Sunday – Arye Deri is back
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, News, Nostalgia Sunday, Politics, Pop Culture, Profiles, Religion
Arye Deri is making his long-awaited return to the political arena which makes this the perfect time for the following exercise. Say it together with me: “Prime Minister Arye Deri… Prime Minister Arye Deri”. Rolls nicely off the tongue, doesn’t it? I’m not saying I like this prognostication. I’m just saying, get used to it.
Of course, I’m not the first person to predict Deri’s future. That was done a long time ago when Deri first burst on the scene to take the reins of the Shas Party, becoming the youngest minister in the State’s history. Legend has it that party elders said, “That young man will either go to jail or become Prime Minister.”
Well, he’s done the jail part — convicted in 2000 of bribe-taking, served a jail sentence and lived under sanction from political activity — and now he’s back, still the darling of the secular population for his perceived ability to unite factions, and a divisive element among the religious for approximately the same reason.
And he’s about to do it again. There’s been some buzz about his running for mayor of Jerusalem where he recently made the local Time Out’s “50 Sexiest Jerusalemites” list, (though that may say more about Jerusalem than Deri).
In an interview with Maariv on Friday, Deri said that he was “working on establishing a new socio-economic party that would bridge between religious and secular, Right and Left, Ashkenazi and Sephardi and rich and poor.”
In previous go-rounds, he was able to capture a great many former Labor and Likud party voters, including voters from the Arab sector who appreciated the fairness he displayed as Minister of the Interior.
To mark the return of Deri, we’ve gone back to the archives of Yom HaShishi, a now-defunct weekly newspaper for the religious sector. Yom HaShishi made waves back in the 1990s for its bold use of photo-illustrated political cartoons on its covers — something that hadn’t been seen before. The artworks were executed by Jonathan Sierra of Icons, a studio that pioneered the use of Photoshop, photo-montage and multimedia in Israel.
Sierra notes that Yom HaShishi was very, very literal in its humor. So, if Deri’s was breaking bonds with Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, then that was shown.
And if Deri and fellow Shas party leader Shlmo Benizri were “tailoring a suit for someone” (the phrase also means, “to frame someone”), then they were shown tailoring a suit!
(Benizri is, by the way, currently serving a jail sentence also for taking bribes).
In the early nineties, the protracted investigation into Deri’s financial affairs and consequent trial had a profound effect on Israeli society. “Hu zakai” (“he is innocent” or “free from guilt”) became a famous pro-Deri catchphrase, particularly among Shas voters who saw the whole matter as the Israeli establishment’s persecution of their party, the religious sector and Sephardic Jews in general.
The topsy-turvy atmosphere of the day is reflected in this Purim holiday cartoon from 1993. According to Jewish tradition, on Purim, everything is upside-down. Therefore, Deri was shown as a policeman while Police Commissioner Yaakov Terner was shown in religious garb. Twirling a noisemaker in the background: Moshe Shahal, then Minister of Police.
At the time, Deri’s popularity was such that people said the harder you hit him, the stronger Shas became. Imagine, then, what he can do now with a broad-based party.
Let’s face it, Arye Deri is the only politician on the Israeli scene with genuine charisma. So do your exercises and get ready for what’s coming next.
Foto Friday – Church Gates of Jerusalem
Filed under: Art, coexistence, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Life, Picture of the Week, Religion, Travel
Today’s weather was sunny, crisp and clear — not your classic Christmas Eve weather but prefect for pilgrims to wander through Jerusalem’s Christian Quarter. As in all other parts of the Old City, the Quarter takes travelers on a winding trail from site to site to holy site. For those living far away, here is a virtual tour of the city’s church gates — all will be open tonight for worshipers to celebrate the Midnight Mass.
Entrance to the Christian Quarter
© RomKri
Church of the Holy Sepulcher
This historic church shelters the holiest site in the Christian faith: the tomb where Christ was buried and rose from the dead. It is shared by several denominations.
© Gennadi Zimmerman
Church of the Redeemer
The Lutheran Church of the Redeemer is the only Protestant church in the Old City of Jerusalem. It was commissioned by Prussian Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm, who was given the site by the Turkish Sultan upon his visit to Jerusalem.in 1869.
© RomKri
Notre Dame Pilgrim Center of Jerusalem
Dating back to 1885 when its cornerstone was first laid, the building was heavily damaged during Israel’s War of Independence in 1948, rendering it partially uninhabitable. For years it served as an Israeli guard post but in 1972 was restored to its original status and the chapel rededicated to public worship in 1978. The mission entrusted to it by Pope John Paul II: “Dedicated to Our Lady of Jerusalem, Queen of Peace… as a place of fruitful spiritual development.”
© RomKri
Church of the Pater Noster
Built on the place where tradition says Jesus instructed his disciples in prayer. The walls of this convent church are inscribed with the Lord’s Prayer in 44 languages.
© RomKri
Church of All Nations
Built in 1924 and funded by several nations, this church stands over the site where tradition has it that Jesus prayed on the night of his betrayal.
© pmos_nmos
Information about Jerusalem’s churches comes mainly from the Sacred Destinations website. All photos courtesy of Jerusalem Shots where there are hundreds more to enjoy.
Nostalgia Sunday – Al Bano Carrisi
Filed under: Art, Entertainment, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Music, News, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture, Profiles
Israeli culture is made up of subcultures that coexist but are not necessarily aware of one another. For example: this past weekend, a very famous singer packed not one but two auditoriums with adoring fans and the story went completely unreported by the mainstream Israeli press, Hebrew and English alike.
No matter. For the record, Al Bano Carrisi was in Israel and if the name doesn’t ring a bell, then you either aren’t 1. a survivor of the Europop Seventies, 2. Italian, or 3. Russian.
But if you are one of the aforementioned three, then the name Al Bano elicits cries of joy and sighs of nostalgia.
Without going into the details of how it happened, last night I found myself a member of Al Bano’s backstage entourage at the concert in Tel Aviv’s Mann Auditorium. The night before, he had packed ‘em in at the Haifa Auditorium. This was not his first trip to Israel. He’s toured here before and — due to popular demand — will likely be here again.
This is why: Russians love Al Bano’s singing and Al Bano loves singing. In the Sixties and Seventies, Al Bano was a crowd-pleasing singer of sentimental songs, so famous in his home country that he opened for the Rolling Stones on their 1967 Italian tour. He participated in the San Remo Music Festival and Eurovision Song Contest and together with wife Romina Powell (daugher of actor Tyrone Powell) won both competitions in the Eighties. In the Nineties he turned to opera and even stood in for Luciano Pavarotti, singing alongside Plácido Domingo and José Carreras in their Three Tenors performance.
He also sued Michael Jackson for plagiarism. He didn’t win but still, how great is that? You can read about that and more about his storied career here.
Somehow during his career, Al Bano’s music managed to slip through a chink in the Iron Curtain. And so, although today he lives the life of a gentleman farmer and vintner, a few times a year Al Bano ventures out on tour, performing in countries with large Russian emigre populations who are wild for Al Bano.
Yesterday’s audience turned out in all their lacquered, manicured, hair-sprayed, sequined and fur-trimmed finery (PETA has no place at a Russian event). The majority were middle aged and up but that doesn’t mean they were tame. Not by a long shot. Between almost every song, women climbed, bounded or hobbled onto the stage with bouquets for their idol, as is the Russian tradition. And once on stage, they serenaded him, got his autograph and even had the backup singers take their picture.
Al Bano reveled in every moment he had with his audience — he loves connecting with the crowd by talking directly to them — and they responded with waves of affection. He opened with a few transliterated words in Hebrew and Russian. Before singing the song “Nostalgia” he explained that he’d had a long-standing songwriting collaboration with journalist and lyricist Willy Molcho, a Jew whose daughter now lives in Israel. And for his third ovation — “Chorus of the Hebrew Slaves” from Verdi’s Nabucco — he dedicated it to the audience. They wept.
And that’s the thing about seeing a master showman with four-and-a-half decades of performing experience, a true creature of the stage — his music might not be to my taste but just watching him command the crowd was an unforgettable experience.
Standing backstage after the show, it turned out that in addition to the Russian-Israeli majority, (and the Italian-Israeli minority) there were also members of another subculture present: sabra Israeli doctors who had studied medicine in Italy and — as one M.D. put it to us — spent their nights burning the midnight oil with Al Bano’s music on the radio, playing in the background.
The good doctors wanted express their gratitude by taking him out to dinner. He wasn’t able to but clearly, given the love his Israeli fans have him, Al Bano Carrisi could dine out every night this week in Tel Aviv if he wanted to.
Here’s Al Bano and Romina Powell singing their 1981 hit Felicita.
Foto Friday – Local Testimony 2010
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, coexistence, design, education, Entertainment, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, News, Picture of the Week, Politics, Pop Culture, Travel, War
Local Testimony, the country’s largest and most prestigious annual exhibition of international and Israeli press photography, opened this month at the Eretz Israel Museum.
Photo: Mohammed Muheisen, Daily Life category
The exhibit presents images from the past year of war and peace, politics and society, culture and art, nature and the environment, sports, portraiture, multimedia presentations and more.
Photo: Shlomi Nissim, Nature category
The exhibit also includes a special focus on the work of its curator, photographer Galia Gur-Zeev, who notes, “As the curator of Local Testimony 2010, I regard this as a chance to compare this year’s photos with those of previous years that deal with the same topic.”
Photo: Rina Castelnovo, Politics category
“Press photos always appear together with a mediating text which imposes meaning and interpretation that are not free of manipulation. Separating a photo from the text enables freedom from verbal linearity and a transition to the photograph’s timelessness.”
Photo: Amir Cohen, Daily Life category
“Now, the documentary photo is open to new observation, new interpretation, and the suspension of our gaze.”
Photo: Moti Milrod, Portrait category
Local Testimony runs through January 15, 2011, and is open till 10:00pm on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Nostalgia Sunday – Foto Rachel
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Life, Nostalgia Sunday, Picture of the Week, Profiles
A new exhibition opened this month at the Eretz Israel Museum in Tel Aviv: Foto Rachel – Photographs from the Cyprus detention camps. It presents a wealth of photographs taken by now-84 year old Rachel Fisher who, as a young woman, documented her experience and those of her fellow detainees.
A bit of background: following the end of the Second World War, detention camps on the island of Cyprus were set up and operated by the British for the internment of Jews who attempted to enter to Mandatory Palestine in violation of immigration quotas set for Jews.
The Cyprus camps were used between August 1946 and February 1949. During this period some 52,000 immigrants were housed in two kinds of camps: tent encampments for summer and “Nissen” huts for winter.
According to exhibit curator Guy Raz, “Rachel Fisher…was born Edith Kornhauser in the Transylvanian city of Kolozsvár (today Cluj, Romania). She studied photography with her aunt and bought a Kodak camera with her own savings.
“‘This camera has been with me since I was 14 years old,” Fisher says, “I bought it in the city and began to snap photographs immediately, everywhere. At first it was a hobby, and later it turned into my profession.’”
Raz writes, “In 1944 the Jews of Transylvania were deported to Auschwitz where Fisher lost most of her family and friends. She and her mother survived; after the war they returned to Cluj, where Rachel was reunited with her childhood sweetheart, Yehudah Fisher and they got married.”
Together with Rachel’s mother, the young couple left for Palestine in December 1947 on an illegal ship that was intercepted by the British and its passengers sent to Cyprus. It was at the Karaolos summer camp where Rachel set up shop.
A young Cypriot friend smuggled photographic paper and chemicals into the camp. Fisher explains: “‘I needed a dark room. Within days we put up a darkroom in the adjacent tent. Foto Rachel. That’s where I developed my photos. I painted a kerosene lamp red, and by opening and closing the tent flap I set the exposure.”
Despite the makeshift darkroom, her professional eye captured images of people rebuilding shattered lives in temporary surroundings. “People made an attempt to live a routine life. They had children, there were weddings, and even art exhibits. Among the people were artists, architects, painters, and I worked in photography. I made some money and that was an advantage. But every day we waited to be released, so we could go to Palestine.”
Eventually, Rachel and her family did arrive but the photos, many of them only negatives, stayed in a box for 60 years. It was her grandson who convinced her to make them public. The result is a unique glimpse into a world gone by.
Foto Rachel runs through March 30, 2011.
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