Foto Friday – Ashdod Ahoy
Filed under: Business, education, Environment, Foto Friday, General, Life, Picture of the Week, Travel
Ashdod, the New York Times noted in a recent article, is a Mediterranean city “that is shunned by most guidebooks”.
But, as the NYT discovered, Israel’s unglamorous port to the south has, in recent years, gained cachet among Israelis of Russian origin who have infused the once-drab city with color, culture and a lively night-life. It’s still not glamorous but there’s a lot to do, particularly if you like eating seafood and drinking vodka on the seaside, surfing or fishing.
The Port of Ashdod, calls itself “Israel’s Economic Gateway”, and that it probably true. Here are some facts: Just 40 km. from Tel Aviv, it is the closest to the country’s major commercial centers and highways. The Ashdod Port has been operating since 1965 and is one of the few ports in the world built on open sea.
The Port’s website is chock-full of the sort of information that shipping groupies love, such as timetables. cargo routes, wave measurements, and descriptions of facilities as well as videos and a 360 degree virtual tour that is really fun to play with. Oh, and of course, a photo gallery.
During 2005,the Ashdod Port inaugurated the Eitan Port, the country’s first fully computerized container port, following an investment of around NIS 3 billion. One of the largest infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Israel, the Eitan is a deep water port that includes a 1,150 m. extension to the main breakwater and 1,700 m. of new quays with a water depth up to 15.5 m.
The Ashdod Port Company handled about 827,916 containers in 2008, compared with 808,697 during 2007 in terms of TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit, a measure used for capacity in container transportation). More statistical information is available here.
The company also engages in community outreach and educational programs, including the Green Submarine project, which integrates ecological teaching with artistic activity, a school educational program together with IMMRAC – the Israel Marine Mammal Research & Assistance Center, and an Ornithology Center on the banks of the Lachish Stream adjacent to the port, together with SPNI – the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel.
Foto Friday – Israel Independence Day is Coming
Filed under: A New Reality, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Picture of the Week, Pop Culture, Travel
Israel’s 62nd Day of Independence is coming and the country is bedecked with flags.
© Michael Freilich
All over Israel, the holiday will be celebrated with fireworks…
© Dudi.
And more flags…
© RomKri
As the citizenry continues its peculiar custom of showering friends and complete strangers with shaving foam. Well, that’s better than the other custom of hitting one another over the head with squeaky plastic hammers. And no, I’m not kidding about that.
© RomKri
And of course, Independence Day would be nowhere without its most important tradition, the outdoor barbecue!
© Пётр Рогов
Nostalgia Sunday – The Holy Land in Stereo
Filed under: Art, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Nostalgia Sunday, Picture of the Week, Religion, Technology, Travel
Back before Avatar, kiddies, there was stereoscopy. The technology today seems fairly simple — two separate images printed side-by-side and peered at through the lens of a stereoscope viewer — but the invention was groundbreaking and it was the virtual reality of its day.
The difficult part was providing the public with new and different pictures of faraway places that they could only dream of visiting. Intrepid photographers ventured forth to gather images from such places and, as was to be expected, the Holy Land proved a popular subject.
Take, for example, this glimpse of an “Easter procession of Greek Patriarch, entering the Church of Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem”.
Each Stereoview image came with a descriptive text, such as: “Pilgrims on the Via Dolorosa – the route to Calvary – Jerusalem”.
“Baptising in the Jordan, Palestine”.
These images are gleaned from the World of Stereoviews, an informative website and reasonably priced online shop featuring over 14,000 stereoscopic images dating from the 1850s onwards by well known photographers of the day such as the 1850s views by Francis Frith, B.L. Singley’s Fine Art Photographers’ Publishing Co. and Keystone Views (1890s up until the mid 20th century), the Underwood Company, and M.E. Wright’s Excelsior Publishing (1900s).
“Barley harvest near Bethlehem, Palestine”.
“Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem, from outside”.
The site’s owners, Jenny and Ray Norman note that Wright “was a quirky publisher who either stole or bought images from others… He is known to have produced Middle East views by dressing up his family and taking them in Lancashire – saved the trouble of the journey.” However, these fellows seem to be the real thing!
“Bedouin robbers, wilderness of Judea, near the road to Jericho, Palestine”.
Foto Friday – Camel Model 2010
Filed under: coexistence, education, Foto Friday, General, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Picture of the Week, Travel
The Joe Alon Center is an institute with a unique combination of museum, research center,and field school – all dedicated to the promotion of regional studies. The center devotes its activity to the geographical area between Mount Hebron in the east to the Coastal Plain in the west, Lachish Region in the north and Be’er-Sheva Valley in the south.
The Museum of Bedouin Culture at the Center is a collection of artifacts documenting Bedouin ways of life in different parts of the Negev and Sinai.
This Passover, the museum was host to The Camel Project, a collection of 10 life-sized statues decorated by artists, five Jews and five Bedouins, all of them residents of Israel’s southern regions.
The Camel Project was initiated by The Tent Volunteer Center at AJEEC, the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation. The project’s goal is to promote Arab-Jewish dialogue through art and, in particular, to provide a platform for artists from the Gaza border region and the towns of Segev Shalom and Lakiyya.
The event also included activities about the desert way of life, including workshops and family activities – not to mention matza-pizza making and rides on the real thing!
Foto Friday – The Face of Passover
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Picture of the Week, Pop Culture, Religion
Passover is almost here! The supermarkets are bustling and there isn’t a cart to be had as people load them to the brim with Kosher for Pesach foodstuffs to replace the leavened ones, new cleaning products in closed containers to replace the open ones and perhaps a new electric kettle or microwave, just because appliances are cheaper than food nowadays.
Most people think that Passover in Israel looks like this…
Or this…
And they’re right. But Passover in Israel also looks like this…
And this…
And this…
And this…
If you’re not one of the 240,000 Israelis traveling abroad during the Passover holiday, there are dozens of activities to enjoy at home. (We’ll be buying the top half of our summer wardrobe at the T-Market in Tel Aviv next weekend). For ideas, in addition to the usual sources, check out the listings on The Big Falafel and Green Prophet.
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