Anti-Israelity in New York

April 30, 2012 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, Life, Religion 

You meet them in the strangest of places. Or maybe it’s not so strange.
In New York today for The Jerusalem Post Conference, I left my hotel in the early evening to walk around Times Square and ran smack into a group of haredim on the corner holding signs calling Israel’s existence a blasphemy.

They were singing and chanting and attracting quite a crowd. A couple of young, female Japanese tourists stopped and took some photos. A hot dog vendor asked them if they were going to join the protesters. And the girls responded, “No, we’re not Jewish.”

After watching the sickening display outside the hotel, I almost wished I could say the same. But in the end, I said, “no, I’m Israeli.”

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Turning lemons into lemonade in Pe’ekin

April 3, 2012 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Profiles, Travel 

Margalit Zanati on the porch of her house in Pe'ekin.

We stopped off in the Druse town of Pe’ekin last week on a trip to the Galilee because we had read there was one Jewish family that lived there. It turned out to be a full afternoon, including climbing a rickety ladder to pick a seemingly endless supply of lemons off of a particularly potent tree and being hosted by 81-year-old Margalit Zanati, the last Jew left in Pe’ekin.

She’s the caretaker of the ancient synagogue in Pe’ekin which dates back to the time of the Second Temple period (and which is featured on the back of the hundred shekel note). And according to Zanini, Pe’ekin is the only place in Israel where Jews have lived constantly throughout the period of the Diaspora.

That presence was threatened in 1936 when Arab riots forced the Jews of Pe’ekin to leave. One of the only families that returned was Zanati’s parents, and after they died, Zanini, who never married, took it upon herself to keep the Jewish presence alive in the village of 5,000.

Margalit showing a visitor some of the photos and artifacts at the visitor's center.

While the modern, villa-filled town of Peki’in Hahadasha was established in 1955 and boast modern villas and a comfortable suburban life, old Pe’ekin looks pretty much like it did a century ago.

Parking on the side of one of the village’s narrow streets, we started walking around, following not informative signs indicating points of tourist interest. Deciding to take a turn off the main road, we suddenly saw a big Jewish star on an old building, and a small sign explaining that it was the Zanati house. Opposite it was the synagogue.

An elderly woman emerged from the second floor of the ramshackle house, carrying a bucket and started walking down the stairs. I asked her if she knew whether the Jewish family in Pe’ekin was home, and she said gruffly, “I’m the Jewish family.”

A fraction of the lemon bounty.


Margalit took us around the to the corner to the visitor’s center – a big open room with lots of artifacts and photos from the previous decades, including many of her parents with some of Israel’s founding fathers.

Margalit began to warm to us, and asked if we wanted to see the film about the family and the house in the show room next door. After helping her get the DVD and projector to work, we enjoyed the film, and learned that Margalit also gives musical performances to visitors and school kids who come to the home for arranged visits.

Afterwards we walked into a courtyard, which was home to an immense lemon tree, brimming with ripe lemons. “That’s why I have this bucket,” she said, and started picking the low-lying fruit. Realizing it would take her hours on end, we decided to pitch in, and before I knew it, I was on the top rung of a 25-foot ladder pitching huge lemons down into the buckets below.

An hour later, we climbed up to Margalit’s humble living quarters for some tea with nana. It was an afternoon that we received surely more than we bargained for, including a huge bag of lemons.

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Northern exposure in Israel

March 28, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, coexistence, General, Israeliness, Life, Travel 

A picturesque scene from Kibbutz Tuval.

Since moving here, my family and I have gone on many vacations and camping trips to the beautiful North of Israel – but it always seemed like we ended up concentrating our time in the hills overlooking the west side of the Kinneret, where a friend of ours owns a small cottage in Poriya, or in the gorgeous, mountainous Misgav region south of Carmiel, home to many yishuvim including Kibbutz Hanaton.

But this time, my wife and I traveled to uncharted territory, courtesy of a two-day coupon we bid for and won on one of those group buy sites. It was for two nights at a tzimmer (B&B) in Kibbutz Tuval, a tiny kibbutz 10 kilometers north of Carmiel, on the way up to the Tefen industrial park and Kfar Vradim.

It turned out that this area might just be the most beautiful of all in our country. The kibbutz lodgings themselves were picturesque, rustic and comfortable – and the location was amazing.

Leaving the site after a hearty continental breakfast, we drove less than 15 minutes to Parod, a hiking trail along a rushing stream that led to a robust waterfall. Our hostess at the kibbutz said that this had been an exceptional winter, and that some years, there’s no water at all. But this week, the waters were roaring, and the school kids we encountered on the trail took advantage of the spring-like weather and dove into the icy stream.

Next were stops at Gush Halav, (Jish in Arabic), a village populated mostly by Christian Maronites from Lebanon, which 2,000 years ago, was a thriving Jewish center and still displays many remnants of that era. After walking and driving through the village, we stopped for some authentic Lebanese hummous.


We ended our day in the Druze town of Yirca, only three kilometers from Tuval, where our hostess tipped us off about the amazing shopping there. There are two side by side department stories – gigantic places with the adorable names of “Shopping Center” and “Amsh Star” – with every kind of clothing available at the trendy stories in the malls, but at greatly discounted prices. We were like kids in a candy store.

Even though we looked more than we bought, the experience of walking around the undeveloped town with its massively developed shopping area was a blast. Our hostess told us that she and her fellow kibbutzniks go there regularly to stock up on shoes and sneakers for the kids and clothes for the whole family. Sounds like the seeds of coexistence in the North has taken full bloom.

After another day of similar touring, we decided that this area of Israel might just be its unmined treasure. So, please ignore all of this and don’t go to visit there. There’s really nothing to see.

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The Negev turns red, white and blue

March 25, 2012 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, education, General, Israeliness, Life, Social Justice 

The Rennie Harris Puremovement dance troupe.

It’s been a long time since I’ve hung out on a university campus, and most of that hanging was done in Boston, not Israel.

But after watching this slick promo for Ben-Gurion University of the Negev’s ‘America Day’ sponsored by the US Embassy in Israel, I’m ready to head back to college.

The Negev university’s Zlotowski Student Center was splashed red, white and blue last week as the close ties between the US and Israel were on full display. In addition to a talk by US Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro, the day featured information booths into everything from USAID to study abroad options.

But perhaps the highlight was the guest appearance of the Rennie Harris Puremovement dance troupe which gave a number of half hour shows throughout the day. Based out of Philadelphia, PA, the troupe offered an historical glimpse into the evolution of hip-hop dance from funk, through b-boy to house and more. Check out the rapt attention of the students in this clip, and start packing your bags for the Negev.

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We love Iran

March 19, 2012 by · 4 Comments
Filed under: Blogging, coexistence, design, education, General, Israeliness, Life, News, Politics, War 

Ah, those crazy art students. Wouldn’tcha know it, but it took a couple of graphic designers to reach the Iranian public — through the web and Facebook – and let them know that we’re really just people, and not all that interested in a major war. The couple, Ronny Edry and his wife, Michal Tamir, created several simple, graphic posters depicting regular Israelis and the words, “Iranians We Will Never Bomb Your Country,” and within hours, began receiving hundreds of responses from Israelis and then Iranians.

On their Facebook page, people are sharing music links — Stevie Wonder’s We Can Work It Out — messages about their appreciation for the campaign, wishes for a happy Iranian new year and Iranian versions of the Israeli poster. If you were just reading this site, you’d think there’s no chance for a nuclear war.

Read this comment:

Just in from Iran:

miscommunication is a funny thing . when i saw the original blog and first comment was why so cocky why u say u dont bomb us like u want to but u dont and few hours later i saw one israeli said why they dont said it back that we dont bomb u either. u see? something its good thing in Your country and its bad thing in mine . because we dont know each other. they never let us to know each other. they afraid we became united and realize we got played and they cant control us any more (they are : government of both countries ) . i dont know about u guys but here they keep saying israel is bad . israel its evil and all that crap and its going into your subconscious and u start believe a lie that deep down u know thats not true at least not all of them but u know what, when i see pictures specially family ones its like i know u guys and i never met any of u .any one with a little bit knowledge knows innocent people gonna get kill in wars .people who dont deserve it and people who do deserve it they going to sit in their office and write a apology note . love and respect to every irani or israeli or american or what ever countries that say no to war . some people said this is start of a friendship between two countries but i say (base on two countries history ) this is reunion of brothers and sisters who lost each other over time and finally find each other .

B. Tehran – IRAN

It helps to have a ‘place’ to go where you can regain a sense of sanity about people and war and the general desire to vote for peace rather than warfare. The question is whether pink and green posters can make any kind of difference in this global disaster.

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