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On the road again to Ma’aleh Adumim

The debate over whether settlements are at the crux of the Israeli-Arab conflict goes on and on, without definitive results. In the meantime, due to natural growth, the residents of the settlements require expanded infrastructure to carry on their every day lives.

Thus this week witnessed the opening of a new entrance to the city of Ma’aleh Adumim, the city east of Jerusalem on the way to the Dead Sea – a road that actually benefits the Palestinians in the neighboring town of Ezeriya.

Until now, residents of both locations used the same traffic circle that fed the entrances to both towns, causing traffic jams, and long delays for the Palestinians in particular. While that entrance will remain open, the traffic into Ma’aleh Adumim is going to decrease significantly because of the new entrance. It bypasses the main road and takes motorists through a picturesque incline, past a new Keren Kayamet man-made lake and park (with a Caffit restaurant) and into the heart of the city.

At the official ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, Mayor Benny Kashriel was joined by Housing Minister Ariel Attias and other officials, touting the improvement to the quality of life of the area’s residents. Kashriel noted that for the last six months or so, he hadn’t failed to meet someone from Ma’aleh Adumim without being asked when the new road was going to open.

A few minutes after the modest ceremony, the orange cones were taken away, and the new road saw its first motorist. Attendees grabbed the last rugelach and drinks and made their own way back up the hill into the city. And life in a settlement goes on.

Foto Friday – Travels to Yemen with Naftali Hilger

Travel almost anywhere and you’re bound to find an Israeli. Yet there are still some places where Israelis do not tread. Most Arab countries, of course, where Israelis are barred from entry. And then there’s Jerusalem, our capital city, which many an Israeli doesn’t bother to see in person (e.g., the Google StreetView review in Ha’aretz).

Even within Jerusalem, there are places that go unvisited for years on end. It was with that thought in mind that I took myself to the LA Meyer Museum of Islamic Art yesterday. After all, museum entry was free-of-charge in honor of Israel Independence day, I live a 5 minute walk away and I hadn’t been there in 20 years.

Through art and artifacts, LA Meyer Museum presents the history of Islam; the styles that characterized the different ruling dynasties from the first Umayyad caliphs through to the Ottoman period and the end of the Muslim Empire.

There is a unique collection of antique watches and clocks — including timepieces made for customers in the Ottoman empire — that was stolen and missing for many years, then subsequently recovered. (The theft is a great story on it’s own, so more on that another day).

There is also Travels to Yemen 1987-2008, an exhibit of contemporary photos by photo-journalist Naftali Hilger…

Hilger’s reports combine vibrant photographs, personal experiences and in-depth information about places generally inaccessible to the Israeli tourist: Libya, Syria, Lebanon, Dubai, Pakistan, Tunisia and of course, Yemen…

Hilger is among the few Israelis to document the Jewish community still there…

The Internet makes Hilger’s photo-essay accessible to all…

Hilger, a member of photo agency LAIF, been a photo-journalist since 1990, working for leading Israeli and European publications such as Financial Times, GEO, National Geographic, Spiegel, Focus, Zeit, Welt, Bild, BamS, Cicero, Wirtschafts Woche, Masa Acher, Yedioth Aharonot, Ma’ariv,Globes and others.

Visit his website to view more photos from his expeditions to Yemen and other countries. There are riveting images documenting weapons traders — each man with a huge chaw of narcotic qat (gat) leaf tucked in his cheek — Sana’a, the capital city, with its beautifully decorated buildings and its few remaining Jews.

Nostalgia Sunday – Canaan canines

Right off the winding road leading up to Jerusalem are the Shaar Hagai Kennels, home to the Canaan dog, a semi-feral dog that is Israel’s national breed. The history of these dogs and the modern State of Israel are intertwined as today’s Canaan was bred by request of the Haganah, the forerunner of today’s Israel Defense Forces.

According to an essay on the Shaar Hagai website, having decided to set up a canine unit, Haganah commanders turned to Dr. Professor Rudolphina Menzel, “a noted cynologist with a considerable reputation in her native Austria in the field of animal behavior… She quickly discovered that the European breeds with which she was accustomed to working, German Shepherds, Boxers, Dobermans, suffered greatly from the severe climate and difficult terrain and had a hard time functioning effectively.

“She began to observe the local pariah dogs living on the outskirts of settlements and with the Bedouin in desert and wilderness areas, and decided that this was a true breed of dog that had adapted to the conditions. She began a program of re-domestication, collecting puppies and adults from the pariah groups.”

“The Canaan Dog has survived for thousands of years on its own, living by its wits, and surviving in the wild and on the fringes of civilization by hunting and scavenging. Often puppies were captured, raised and used, especially by the Bedouin tribesmen, as guardians of the flocks and the tents. Like other wild or feral residents of the area, only the strongest, healthiest, cleverest, and most fit survived to breed and pass on their characteristics.”

Prof. Menzel called the breed the Canaan Dog after the Biblical Land of Canaan. Canaans have been part of the local landscape since time immemorial. The American Kennel Club history of the breed cites “Drawings found on the tombs at Beni-Hassan, dating from 2200 to 2000 B.C., depict[ing] dogs that show an unmistakable resemblance to the Canaan Dog of today.”

An essay posted by the Canaan Dog Club of America states, “As a breed the Canaan Dog proved highly intelligent and easily trainable, serving as sentry dogs, messengers, Red Cross helpers and land mine locators. During World War II, Dr. Menzel recruited and trained over 400 of the best dogs for the Middle East Forces as land mine detectors, and they proved superior to the mechanical detectors.”

“The Canaan is also one of the very few breeds known that has successfully adapted to a desert environment,” the Shaar Hagai essay notes. “Studies done at Tel Aviv University and Ben Gurion University of the Negev have shown an astonishing ability in this breed to adapt to extremes of temperature and lack of water. The breed has developed physiological adaptations to prevent waste of fluids and overheating.”

Prof. Menzel was responsible for gaining recognition for the breed; her breed standard was accepted by the La Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI) in 1966, where it is classified in FCI Group 5, a subgroup of primitive dogs. She exported the first Canaans to the US in 1965 and to Germany shortly after. (An interview with Prof. Menzel about her work by noted naturalist Dvora Ben Shaul makes for fascinating reading). In 1970, Shaar Hagai Kennels joined in the development and breeding of the dogs, carrying on Prof. Menzel’s work after her death in 1973.

Over the years, urbanization and cultivation have led to the gradual disappearance of the Canaan’s natural habitat and there is a danger that the wild dog, which is the original breeding stock, could disappear. Added to that is a new threat: after 42 years, the Shaar Hagai Kennels have received a notice of eviction by the Israel Lands Administration (ILA), which holds title to the property. Such a move could mean the end of their breeding program and consequently endanger the breed overall.

Myrna Shiboleth, who has run the Kennels for 42 years, now finds herself in an unusual plight and has been actively lobbying for public support. She has successfully recruited 38,505 signatures (so far) on an online petition that will be submitted to the ILA. 50,000 signatures are needed, so sign the petition, join the Facebook page, and pass the word on.

I should mention my personal interest in this story; when we adopted her two years ago, we couldn’t figure out our dog Nili until we learned about Canaan dogs. Then it all made sense: she may be part Canaan in breed (check out those giant ears) but she’s all Canaan in ‘tude: highly intelligent, very loyal but never blindly obedient. All in all, a true Israeli sabra.

Foto Friday – A street view of Israel with Google StreetView

Earlier this week, Google let it be known that it would be launching the long-awaited StreetView application for Israel. The official launch date is this Sunday, April 22, but the soft launch apparently happened yesterday and seems to be working on Google Maps Netherlands at this point.

StreetView, which is part of Google Maps, lets users explore places around the world through 360-degree panoramic 3D imagery of city streets, public spaces, museums, national parks and more. (Here’s a quick video on how to use it).

Google accomplishes this by deploying a fleet of cars topped by a 15 lens camera taking 360 degrees of photos as it drives along. The car also also has motion sensors to track its position, a hard drive to store data, a small computer running the system, and lasers to capture 3D data to determine distances within the Street View imagery.

Google provides a nice explanation of how its done. And last year, this fellow posted a video of himself following the Google car down Tel Aviv’s Ben Yehuda street, writing “Look how lucky I am to capture the car that is capturing me.”

Given that Israel is a major R&D center for Google, the launch took longer than expected. This was due to concerns over security — not unjustified as Palestinian militants have stated that Google Earth satellite images have been used to identify targets in rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip on Israel. Similarly, there were concerns about Google StreetView possibly being used by terrorists to attack critical locations and/or important personages. Privacy concerns were less of an issue — in Israel, security trumps privacy every time. Plus, we are the kind of people who feel “lucky” if we’re captured by a Google cam!

The Google Map of Israel…

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So far, StreetView has covered neighborhoods, universities and museums in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Be’er Sheva, plus a few smaller towns and tourist sites around the country.

The Jerusalem Theater…
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The Harp Bridge at the entrance to Jerusalem…
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The Knesset…
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Western Wall…
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And here’s where my running group, the Holyland Hash House Harriers, will be meeting tomorrow afternoon at 4:00 PM, right in the Valley of the Cross. All are invited and beer will be served.

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Foto Friday – T-Market Tel Aviv 2012

We are back from the T:Market Tel-Aviv Passover 2012 and are now all kitted out for summer. The event, which has been going strong for almost a decade, gathers the city’s independent t-shirt designers together under one roof (it’s more of a tent, really) for a 3-day long festival of fashion, accessories and music.

T-shirts, according to a lengthy Wikipedia entry, are a form of personal expression. Fortunately, for those who have difficulty in expressing themselves, (or perhaps, in forming coherent thoughts), since the 1950s there have been manufacturers willing to fill the echoing gap and Israel has long been a part of that trend (check out my Entebbe Raid tee from 1976). Over the past few years, however, there has been an explosion in underground manufacturers using the t-shirt as a canvas to post artistic, social and/or political commentary and/or humor.

Their messages aren’t everyone’s cup of tea (or is that tee?) and the humor of today’s Israeli youth might not be accessible to all. For example, last year I did not get why a picture of a jihadist Smurf caused gales of laughter among the 12 year-old set, and you have to know who Uza the duck from Educational TV is to understand the Rambo-like image of “Uza and Uzi”. Similarly, you must be familiar with the wandering boy Marco from the children’s cartoon series The Heart to understand why he’s searching Google for “mother”.

This year, Passover was the theme for the T:Market’s promotional photo shoot, with matza anad gefilte fish playing an important part of the styling.

Photo by Ben Palhov

This karate chopping matza-mauling cutie sports a top by TwentyFourSeven…
Photo by Ben Palhov

Fashion house Chop Shop offers more conventional wares in an unconventional setting…

Haifa-based GhosTown were selling off their Winter 2012 collection, featuring designs by Broken Fingaz Crew…

Hand to Hand, based in Paris and Tel Aviv, offer a glimpse into their screen-printing process and, if you visit their Facebook page, into the ink drawing process as well.

Gelada Studio express their Russian origins with a nod and wink to Soviet realism…
Photo by Ben Palhov

And judging from the many Press & TV clips on their Facebook page, their Socialist-styled themes have resonated with the Israeli celebrity set!

There are another 30-odd exhibitors at the T:Market, which continues running through the weekend, with a full exhibitor list available at Dice Marketing. If you can, get on over there and if not, check out the T:Market page on Facebook.

I’m posting early as today (Thursday) is the eve of Passover’s second holiday. Chag Sameach to all!

 

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