Foto Friday – Viewing Israel with Rafael Ben-Ari
Filed under: Art, design, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Picture of the Week, Travel
Rafael Ben-Ari is a noted Israeli photographer and educator with over 20 years experience. He’s worked for Israeli and international newspapers and magazines, traveled extensively and his photographs has been presented at exhibitions and countries around the world.
Ben-Ari also runs Israel Photo Tours, which offers one-on-one private photography workshops and lessons in Israel. These are day tours, says Ben-Ari, “for photographers on all levels who are serious about their craft and wish to improve their skills while seeing Israel.”
Ben-Ari’s experience with cameras ranges from analog 35mm, digital, and SLR to panoramic and underwater cameras. Light is essential to his work and on location, he makes use of both artificial and available light and light. His students, he states, “learn the art of using light to capture the true essence of Israel”.
He suggests various tour itineraries, such as the ancient, sun-washed city of Acre for those who love the picturesque…
© Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye
The dusty Negev desert for those interested in archeology and nature…
© Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye
Jerusalem, the city central to Judaism…
© Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye
The places holy to three monotheistic religions…
© Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye
And for a change of pace, the beaches, sun and fun of Tel Aviv.
© Rafael Ben-Ari/Chameleons Eye
There are a lot more wonderful pictures to view on the Israel Photo Tours website, along with contact information, itineraries and testimonials.
Nostalgia Sunday – Prison Service History
Filed under: A New Reality, Crime, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, News, Nostalgia Sunday, Politics, Profiles, Social Justice, War
The Israel Prison Service isn’t the most popular or glamorous of the country’s defense and security forces. But the important work that it does was brought into sharp focus this past weekend with the Carmel forest fires and the human tragedy of 41 persons, of which 37 were prison guards whose lives were lost when their transport bus was engulfed by flames.
It seems only appropriate to present a short history of this unsung service, whose roots may be found, (often quite literally) in the jails cells of British Mandatory Palestine.
We will be like other nations, goes the saying attributed to national poet Haim Nahman Bialik, “When the first Hebrew policeman brings the first Hebrew prostitute before the first Hebrew judge.” The Zionists who envisioned the modern State of Israel were Utopians who believed they would be able to create a moral society without crime or criminals.
For this reason, Israel Prison Service (IPS) historian Naama Telem writes, “…prisons were not built for many years and old and inappropriate buildings, some dating to the British Mandate, were refurbished and used as detention centers… Prison conditions were harsh and very crowded. So much so, in the early 50s of the last century [the authorities] were forced to release a hundred prisoners, because there was not enough room for them.”
Israel’s first prison, called Ayalon, was built in the city of Ramle – also in a refurbished Mandatory structure – and was intended to house 450 prisoners. A second prison, Shata, was opened in 1952. “But it was on July 31, 1958 that the rules of the game changed. A prisoner revolt broke out, led by a group of Arab prisoners. The rebels took control of the weapons room and waged battle with prison wardens.
Two guards, Sergeant Joseph Shevach and First Sergeant Alexander Jaeger were killed [the funeral is pictured at left - RN]. Prison guards were injured. The exchange of fire killed 11 prisoners and 66 other prisoners managed to escape.”
“The Shata uprising caused a shift in the organization’s priorities. If, prior to the rebellion, rehabilitation and treatment of prisoners was the central issue, security was now awarded a place of honor. More and more funds were allocated to reinforce prison walls along with other security measures. The Age of Innocence, which began with the founding of Israel, ended.”
Two years later in May 1960, the IPS took part in another significant event in young State’s life: the capture and arrest of one of the most wanted Nazi criminals, Adolf Eichmann. The country was in an uproar over the arrest and vigilantism was feared. There’s no little irony in the fact that the IPS was called on to provide special protection so that Eichmann could be brought to trial unharmed. And once Eichmann was sentenced, it was the IPS that carried out the hanging – the first and last official prisoner execution in Israel’s history.
The Six Day War in June 1967 forced the IPS to conform to new realities once again, with thousands of Arab detainees suspected of belonging to organizations hostile to Israel entering the prison system. ”This new and problematic population meant the IPS had to deal with problems not previously recognized as well as a growing mass of prisoners.”
“The situation was becoming complex…. following the first and second intifadas… more and more terrorists were behind bars… The IPS had to find more and more detention facilities to meet the needs of the State of Israel. In 2006, handling of all security prisoners was transferred to the IPS and all IDF detainees held since the Six Day War were transferred to IPS permanent facilities. The tent camps that characterized the military prisons are disappearing and a new law allows soldiers to fulfill their military service prison guards.”
Foto Friday – Discovering Acco with Elena Comens
Filed under: Art, coexistence, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Life, Picture of the Week, Travel
Acco (Acre) is a city that no one thinks about throughout the year — until the annual fringe theater festival comes around. It’s a shame because the old city of Acco hides hidden treasures like the Bahai gardens, (more beautiful yet less famous than their Haifa counterpart), that frame the Shrine of Baha’ U’ llah, founder of this secretive religion. Acco’s Crusader Era walls and the seaport are picturesque, and the fish restaurants serve generous and tasty portions.
One person who has picked up on the city’s charms is Elena Comens. New York-based Comens is an award-winning artist who began as a portrait painter, specializing in character study portraits. She picked up a camera after a photographer visited one of her art exhibitions, “and encouraged me to see my world through a viewfinder.”
The scope of Comens’ documentary photographic work “covers elements of poverty or wealth, social change, environmental locations, age relationships and how people communicate within their cultures.”
“Some have used the phrase visual anthropology to describe my work. Documenting people and places along my journey provided me with the opportunity to embrace the relationship of humanity within our environment.”
Comens’ online portfolio entitled, The Spirit of the Land, The Spirit of the People, Israel is a celebration of all areas of our tiny country. She writes, “Although small, Israel has welcomed immigrants from all over the world and consequently has a multi-national flavor, curious in its blend of east and west, remarkably diverse in its people and strikingly beautiful.” Acco, an city with both Arab and Jewish populations, is a good example of what Comens means.
“My primary focus is to capture the essence of a people within their cultural environment. This endeavor is even more rewarding when I can share my vision with others.” More images by Elena Comens, color and black and white, can be viewed at her online gallery.
NOTE: All images supplied by, and courtesy of, the models and/or photographer and are not public domain.
Coexistence Exists
Filed under: Blogging, coexistence, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Politics, Religion
It’s no surprise that main stream news is focusing on the current situation in Gaza and southern Israel. Watching CNN’s coverage Israel looks like a battlefield right out of any epic war movie. The images are constantly played over and over again—which means I get worried phone calls from America, over and over again.
But there is more to life than the images on the news. In Jerusalem, all is pretty much quiet. Yes, tensions are high and I feel the added stress, but life is still not the media’s picture of Israel. In fact there is more coexistence happening on a daily basis than most people are aware of.
Here is Jerusalem Jews and Arabs work together building fancy new high rises or the new light rail train across the city. Today I spoke with an Arab-Israeli who was taking a five-minute-break from his moving job. He sat drinking coffee with his co-workers, both Arabs and Jews, and spoke about the weather (the very cold Jerusalem winter) and my dog’s funny looking sweater (I though he might be cold, but the dog clothing thing is just not for me). The point is that small talk still exists—talking still exists and not all forms of communication are from one rocket to another.
On a larger scale, I think back to the recent coexistence projects I filmed in the Israeli mixed cities of Acre and Lod. Again, the news’s projection is all about violence and crime in these areas, rather than focusing on the positive stories taking place.
Most people now think of Acre as that city that had riots this past Yom Kippur. But Acre quickly recovered from the fighting and both sides remain relatively calm during the current military operations. When I was there in November, I didn’t feel tensions, but rather found the coexistence projects’ efforts really taking effect. The Israel21c video below shows some of the projects, sponsored by the Jewish Agency, that are taking place in Acre.
Last month, I filmed a story about a new coexistence project in Lod. Aviv Wasserman, a native Israeli, founded The Lod Community Foundation about six months ago with the goal of getting this poverty-stricken city back on its feet. Aviv is hardcore, and now lives in Lod where he has set up shop in his apartment. From his office-apartment to monthly meetings, he has built a network of concerned citizens that want to rebuild the city together. Lod is a very diverse city (Jews, Arabs, Russians, Ethiopians, Bedouins, Christians, etc.), but Aviv has managed to have representatives from each community take part in the committees and meetings. Again, you can watch the video below to learn more about his incredible project.
So, there you have it, the other side of conflict. It does exist, even if it doesn’t make the news.
A tenuous coexistence
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, History and Culture, Holidays, Religion
The Yom Kippur shutdown usually works. Whether you’re a secular Jews or a non-Jewish resident of Israel, you know that on Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, you don’t drive or play music in public out of respect to those who are observing the holiday.
But one man in the northern coastal mixed Jewish-Arab city of Acre didn’t abide by the unwritten societal rule – and as a result, all hell broke loose.
According to The Jerusalem Post’s report,
Tawfik Jamal – a resident of Acre’s Old City – made his way to the predominantly Jewish Ben-Gurion neighborhood in the eastern part of the city, blasting loud music from his vehicle., Jamal denied he had intended to provoke local residents, saying he had driven with his 18-year-old son and the son’s 20-year-old friend carefully and quietly from the Old City to the Ben-Gurion neighborhood, three kilometers away, to pick up his daughter from her fiancée’s home.
But police dismissed Jamal’s claims.
“This was a provocation. An Arab driver arrived in a Jewish neighborhood on Yom Kippur with blaring music, and refused to leave when asked to by local residents. We believe he was intoxicated. This was a deliberate act,” Galilee Police spokesman Ch.-Supt. Eran Shaked said.The verbal confrontation between Jamal and the local residents quickly deteriorated into violence, as rocks and bottles were thrown at Jamal’s vehicle.
According to Jamal, he and his two passengers fled the car. The three were taken to hospital where they were treated for light wounds and discharged.
And then, to show you how rumors can spread faster than reason, false reports that Arabs were seriously harmed or killed by Jews reached the Old City, and then things began escalating.
Responding to the rumors, hundreds of Arabs set out from the Old City toward the Ben-Gurion neighborhood, walking down a main road, smashing store windows and cars along the way. Reports said the mob shouted “Kill the Jews,” “Allahu Akbar,” and “If you come out of your homes, you will die.”
At the same time, a few hundred Jews had congregated in the streets of the Ben-Gurion neighborhood. Fearing a deadly clash, police acted quickly, mobilizing “a very large force” to prevent the two groups from confronting one another, police said.
So, was it a deliberate provocation from an Acre Arab? An overreaction from the Acre Jews? And was the escalation simply the culmination of animosity that’s been built up between the two sides over years of living near each other?
Let’s not forget that in the scores of other areas in the country – in Haifa and the Galilee and in Jerusalem – there weren’t any similar reports. Let’s hope this was an aberration, and not a sign of a deterioration in relations between Israel’s Jews and Arabs.
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