Nostalgia Sunday – 9/11: The international view

September 11, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: coexistence, General, History and Culture, Life, Nostalgia Sunday, Politics, War 

Often, I write with seeming fondness about the days when Israel had only one television station, or the days when radio and newspapers were the primary news delivery systems.

Now, it is true that there was a certain charm in being able to walk down the street at 9:00pm on a sultry summer night, listening to the sounds of the news broadcast emanating from the open balconies and never missing a story. Nonetheless, when all is said and done, the situation today leaves us better informed. In addition to channels 1, 2 and 10, 23, 24, and the Knesset Channel, we also have a variety of radio stations, cable television, satellite television as well as, digital terrestrial television, (which I’ve complained about at length on another occasion). And the Internet, of course.

All these forms of communications media have served have made us more worldly, brought us in line with Western trends in music, fashion and popular culture. In addition, they lay out a smorgasbord of news broadcasts from all over the world to watch — if you’ve got the stomach for it.

Since I firmly believe that knowledge is power and that people should know about things they don’t agree with, or even like, I took a look at how the media in other countries was reporting the story of the day: a look back at the decade following 9/11. (Sad to say, the weekend attack on the Israeli embassy in Cairo was only a blip on the international news radar).

Some outlets were unsurprising, like Russia Today, with headlines like “American aggression breeds terrorism”, “Post-9/11 crusade created more enemies” and “US war on terror: the longest-ever knee-jerk reaction”. One of the milder reports, almost sweet in a way, was entitled, “What’s this ‘nineleven’ you conquered us for?” Take a look.

Britan’s Sky News’ interview with Dan Rather is a rather depressing outlook on the declining quality of news reporting over the past 10 years.

Given Israel’s strong identification with the events of 9/11, the Israeli news networks presented stories that were similar to their US counterparts: interviews with families and preparations for 9/11 memorial ceremonies. France 24 created an excellent timeline chronicling key events since 2001. China’s CCTV International went for a slide show of the new memorial, Tribute in Lights.

But I must say that the most impressive item comes from Al-Jazeera in English. Their 47 minute-long documentary, The Image War, essentially pits al-Qaeda’s media and public relations skills against those of the United States, and is truly worth watching, if not enjoying.
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Remembering 9/11

September 11, 2011 by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Art, education, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, War 

The past week has been full of conversations and discussions about the events of September 11, 2001. Where were we that day, what were our thoughts when we heard the news, the fact that children born since then or even right before 9/11, are too young to remember the day and what it was like for all of us living through it.

Here in Israel, as Rachel writes in Foto Friday, there have been a number of memorial sites established as Israelis strongly identify with the thoughts, feelings and experiences of New Yorkers from that period. And yet, with the day here, marking ten years since that terrible period in time, it can feel strange to be so far from the place where it all happened.

My sister and brother-in-law, who at the time worked a few blocks away and lived just over the Brooklyn Bridge, both say they find it hard to see images from the day. The experience is just too raw for them. But for some, it can be helpful to look at images from that time, and recollect how it all took place. Here in Jerusalem, local entrepreneur Robby Berman has installed an exhibit of his photos from that day that will be opening this evening. He was a journalist at the time, living in Israel but visiting in New York and found himself near the Twin Towers at the time of the attacks.

His photos aren’t those of a professional, but rather of someone who couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing, and simply snapped shots of everything that was happening around him. Here’s an account of his story from the weekend’s Ha’aretz. There will be a ceremony today at the exhibit, including the sounding of a a siren — in Israeli memorial style — to commemorate those who perished in the 9/11 tragedy.

The exhibit is being held at the Jerusalem House of Quality, across from the Jerusalem Cinematheque, 4 pm — 11 pm, until September 30.

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Foto Friday – The 9/11 Memorials

September 9, 2011 by · 5 Comments
Filed under: Art, design, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Life, News, Picture of the Week, Politics, War 

The horrific events of September 11, 2001 resonated strongly with Israelis. Firstly, because Israel is no stranger to terrorism. Secondly, because Israelis feel a close kinship to New York City — for many, New York is America. Israelis also understood immediately that the 9/11 attacks were directed not only at the United States but also at her allies.

In 2003, the Israel Postal Authority (now the Israel Postal Company) commissioned artist and Israel Prize laureate Michael Gross to create a commemorative stamp. The Postal Authority described the stamp as having an “X image, a symbol of erasure and cancellation, with the yellow and black lines, marks the towers and the airplane in red is seen hitting the towers. The work is therefore seemingly simple, but is actually very complex connecting between the artist’s personal agony to that of America and the entire world.”

I’ve written previously about my personal experience as a 9/11 refugee (really!), and find it hard to believe that it has been ten years. The world has changed a great deal over this time and we have little idea of what will happen tomorrow — hopefully things will be peaceful. Probably they will not. But at this moment, right now, today is a quiet day and it seems right to revisit the 9/11 Living Memorial in Jerusalem.

The 9/11 Living Memorial, located in Jerusalem’s Arazim Park, commemorates the victims of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks and stands as a reminder of shared loss and a call for collective understanding.

The monument, which includes a metal beam from the wreckage of the Twin Towers, was dedicated by Jewish National Fund (JNF) in 2009. It was designed by award-winning Israeli artist Eliezer Weishoff and was one of the first major international memorials to the victims of the attacks. It is also the only site (outside of New York) that lists the names of those who lost their lives in New York, Washington DC and Pennsylvania. The Postal Company last year issued a new 9/11 Living Memorial stamp.

Israel’s Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, has expressed the Israel-US connection very beautifully in an essay published in The Jewish Forward, calling the monument a ‘Testament to the Shared Pain’”.

Oren also notes the link between the 9/11 Living Memorial and the new Reflecting Absence memorial that will be inaugurated on Sunday at the World Trade Centre site.

“Fittingly, this solemn masterpiece was designed by Israeli architect Michael Arad, a veteran of an IDF commando squad and son of a former Israeli ambassador to the United States. Two countries, two memorials, inextricably linked by the same sorrows, strengths and hopes.”

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The agony and the ecstasy in Jerusalem’s excavations

September 5, 2011 by · 2 Comments
Filed under: History and Culture, Holidays, Travel 

by Yossi Yeinan, Keshet

Stairs to the Second Temple

Ancient stairs uncovered in City of David

It’s been 50 years since Irving Stone wrote his popular biography of Michelangelo, “The Agony and the Ecstasy”. If not for copyright restrictions, The Agony and the Ecstasy might be the title for a new history of Jerusalem.

Life here is like that – exciting and intense – and every so often there is a news story or a new discovery that captures that intensity perfectly and encapsulates what life in Jerusalem is all about.

I experienced a moment like that just recently when I toured not-yet opened areas of the City of David National Park. Over the last five years, archeologists have uncovered a monumental staircase nearly half a mile long that ran – in Second Temple times – from the Shiloach (or Siloam) Pool at the southern end of ancient Jerusalem up to the Temple.

A drainage channel lined with beautifully dressed stone runs directly underneath the staircase along its entire length and will be opened to the public later this year.

Flavius Josephus and the rabbis of the Talmud describe these stairs in Temple times at Succot – the harvest festival. Imagine the scene: the granaries and storehouses were overflowing with the bounty of the summer harvest and tens of thousands of pilgrims – men, women, and children – would come to Jerusalem and ascend these stairs festooned with bright torches and jugglers for the festive occasion. The Jewish people would give thanks and pray for the fall rains before returning home to plant the winter crops.

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The unity of temple times gave way to infighting (will we ever learn?), the Romans destroyed the Temple, and some of the surviving Jews hid in the drainage tunnel underneath the stairs – only to be smoked out and murdered by the Roman conquerors.

We know the story because Josephus recorded it, and because in the last few years we’ve found the cooking vessels and household items left behind by the Jews who lived and died here more than 1,900 years ago.

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Nostalgia Sunday – Beer, beer and more beer

September 4, 2011 by · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, Business, coexistence, Entertainment, Food, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture, Travel 

Summer closed last Wednesday night in the Holy City with the Jerusalem Beer Festival, a nighttime event having nothing to do with holiness, social justice protests, regional unrest, looming diplomatic crises or the decline of Western Civilization as we know it. Well, it might have had something to do with the decline of Western Civilization… but I left before that part started.

As a card-carrying member of the Hash House Harriers, an international running and drinking disorganization (we don’t really have cards), it was only fitting that some of our number visit the Festival to sample the wares. The festival did not disappoint — it is a showcase for imported beers ranging from well known brands like Stella Artois to lesser knowns such as Chang of Thailand — but more importantly, today, there are many quality local micro-breweries in Israel, producing beverages that are both tasty and interesting. That is a great comfort after a half-century of drinking piss-water.

A bit of history, courtesy of Wikipedia: “Beer in Israel is manufactured primarily by two major brewers in Israel: Tempo Beer Industries Ltd. of Netanya, and the newer Israel Beer Breweries, of Ashkelon, a subsidiary of the local Coca-Cola Company.”

Actually, it’s a bit more complicated. There used to be more breweries in Israel but, as befits the centralized mentality that ruled our economy for many decades, one company gradually came to dominate the market: Tempo, brewer of Maccabee, Goldstar and Nesher malt .

Smaller companies like Abir — which my father liked because, as an aficionado of bilingual puns, he could order ‘a-beer, please’ — fell by the wayside. Others, like Nesher, (marketed in pre-State Land of Israel by the “Palestine Brewery Ltd.”) were taken over.

In any case, alcohol consumption in Israel was slight until the Russian aliya of the early 1990s which is around when Israel Beer Breweries, part of the Carlsberg Group, opened a major plant and began manufacturing Carlsberg and Tuborg for the local market.

But Tempo is still the behemoth to beat. According to the Euromonitor market report entitled Beer in Israel, “Tempo continued to lead sales in 2010 with a 45% total volume sales share. 2010 was a good year for Tempo within beer in general as the vast majority of its leading brands witnessed actual sales growth between 2009 and 2010.

“One of the most outstanding activities of Tempo within beer was the repositioning of Maccabee standard lager. In addition, during 2010 Tempo witnessed a lot of success within the on-trade with its unique premium beers Samuel Adams and Paulaner. During 2010 the demand for such unique premium beers was on the rise, raising the sales of Tempo both within the on-trade and off-trade channels.”

And the premiums brands begat high-end local brews. As with all trends, microbreweries came to Israel late — only in the past decade — but, as with all trends in Israel, was adopted with vigor. The Tel Aviv Brewhouse was soon joined by the Golan Brewery in Katzrin, Salara Brewery in Yizrael Valley; Dancing Camel Brewing Company in Tel Aviv, Jems Beer Factory in Petach Tikva, Taybeh Brewery near Ramallah and others.

Almost all of the above-mentioned were present at Wednesday’s festival, along with a few others — Zichron Yaakov’s Pavo (“Brewed by good people”), http://www.pavo.co.il/en/, Laughing Buddha with ginger and spice beer, the Negev Brewery from Kiryat Gat, which had passion-fruit beer on tap, red ale from Herzl Beer of Anatot and my personal favorite of the evening, Lone Tree of Gush Etzion offering, among its seven brews, an outstanding dark, rich Oatmeal Stout.

The Taybeh Brewery wasn’t represented at the festival which is unfortunate because their beer is really good and is also a favorite of the Holyland Hash House Harriers.

The future is bright for our local microbreweries, according to Euromonitor: “Despite their small overall sales size and low contribution to total beer growth in Israel, unique premium beers and boutique beers continued to witness a lot of attention in 2010 and to grow healthily. Sales of premium beer were up 9% in volume and 13% in current value terms as the Israeli consumer looks for more refined products, especially within on-trade channels.”

“Premiumisation is expected to continue to be a strong influencing trend within beer over the forecast period both within the on-trade and off-trade channels. Niche beers such as boutique beers and imported premium beers are expected to continue to drive sales within this small niche. The range of premium unique beers will continue to expand as the demand among Israeli consumers will continue to rise.”

So, let’s raise a glass to the small, independent microbreweries, who make products that increase the variety and raise quality of choices presented to the consumer. Here’s hoping the dairy industry will one day be able to follow in their footsteps.

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