Austrians forget how Hatikva goes

November 16, 2009 - 10:21 AM by · 11 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Politics, Sports 

fencingPeople wonder why Israel is always on the defensive, when things like this explain it perfectly.
At an international fencing competition over the weekend in Austria, two Israeli teens – Dana Stralinkov, 14, and Alona Komarov, 13 – won the gold and bronze medals respectively.

However, at the ceremonies awarding them the medals, instead of playing the national anthem – Hatikva – as is the custom with every other winning athlete, there was only silence.

After standing in shocked silence for a few seconds, the two teens along with the entire Israeli delegation of 22 people, burst in to song and sung Hatikva, the teenagers’ coach Yaakov Friedman told Yediot Aharonot.

“It was a very moving moment,” Freidman said, adding that a similar incident occurred five months ago at a competition in Sweden. According to the report, the Austrian official in charge of playing the national anthems of countries of the winning participants, explained he was unable to find a recording of the Israeli anthem.

Yeah, sure. And we believe that Nidal Malik Hasan wasn’t an Islamic jihadist, but suffering from PTSD. These occurences, which someone with paranoid tendencies might attribute to European snobbish digs at Israel’s legitimacy, is becoming a bit tiresome.

Yossi Harari, chairman of the Israel Fencing Association told Yediot that he intended to submit a complaint to the European Union. Harari also advised supplying every Israeli delegation participating in competitions abroad, with a recorded disc of Israel’s national anthem.

If the Hatikva snub had happened to Yuri Foreman, he might have come out swinging. Foreman, an aspiring rabbi who mixes religious studies with work in the gym, made history in Las Vegas on Saturday night when he became the first Israeli boxer to win a major world title, outpointed Daniel Santos over 12 rounds to claim the WBA super welterweight crown.

The 29-year-old, who was born in Belarus but lived in Haifa from the ages of 10 to 19. Foreman, who remained unbeaten in 28 fights, emigrated from Israel to Brooklyn and began studying to become a rabbi three years ago.

Maybe we should send Foreman to Austria next to teach them Hatikva.

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I’m sorry Bruno, you’re no Borat

July 9, 2009 - 11:28 AM by · 3 Comments
Filed under: General, Movies, Pop Culture 

brunoMaybe because it’s been universally panned or ignored since its release, the Israeli premiere today of Bruno, the latest film by Sacha Baron Cohen isn’t ruffling feathers or making waves the way that Borat did.

Cohen filmed some of the scenes for Bruno, based on his gay, Austrian fashion photographer TV character in Israel – in one, he’s chased through Mea Shearim by a haredi mob, and of course, there’s Yossi Alpher, the co-editor of BitterLemons.org and a former Mossad agent, who has a minor role in the film.

Alpher and his BitterLemons counterpart, former Palestinian Authority Labor Minister Ghassan Khatib, were duped by Bruno into sitting down for an interview about the Israel-Palestine conflict. They were dumbfounded when Cohen asked questions like why there was so much hatred for “humous,” confusing the food with Hamas. Alpher told The Jerusalem Post this week that he wasn’t planning on seeing the film.

But, about the only controversy surrounding the film’s release here took place a couple weeks ago when Israel Railways banned a poster on their trains and depots advertising Bruno because of what it calls controversial content.

The poster showed Bruno naked in a field of flowers. Following the Israel Railways refusal, the campaign switched to pictures in which Bruno is shown in the field wearing shorts and a shirt.

Aside from Alpher, the other targets of Bruno’s humor are taking things in stride. A spokesman for the Austrian Embassy told the Post, that despite attempting to do for Austria what Borat did for Kazhakstan, the film was being taken lightly in Vienna.

“If it’s something which attracts people to this movie then it’s fine with us,” said Arad Benko, spokesman for the embassy. “Austria in terms of tourism in absolute numbers is in the top 10 in the world… There is no reason for us to be mad.”

In Bruno, Cohen states that he wants “to be the biggest Austrian superstar since Hitler.” Despite ruminations about the Austrian connection to Hitler, Benko said he is “totally cool” with the movie.

Likewise, members of the gay community in Israel said they had no problem with Cohen’s over-the-top portrayal of Bruno.

“It’s the same way that Borat didn’t represent anyone for real,” said Amit Lev, spokesman for the Jerusalem Open House for Pride and Tolerance. “It’s a comedy show, it’s a movie. We don’t have to take everything so seriously. It’s funny, that’s it.”

“They should grow a sense of humor,” Lev said of people deriding Cohen for his caricature of a gay man. “It’s nothing but a character. It’s overly exaggerated just to be funny. People have to laugh – it’s only human.”

Unfortunately, according to the critics, there’s not that much to laugh at in Bruno.

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Tel Aviv to open new beach – In Vienna

April 7, 2009 - 11:00 PM by · 3 Comments
Filed under: Pop Culture, Travel 

tel_aviv_beach_viennaAt first glance in what can be interpreted as an odd PR move, the Israeli Embassy in Vienna will open a “beach” in the center of the city along the banks of the Danube River. Yes, a beach. In Vienna. Initially the idea sounds kind of stupid but it goes further than just setting up a gimmick-y beach in the center of a large European city. The unique yet temporary structure will have a huge screen (streaming video of the ocean perhaps?) on one side and on the other side beach chairs which will help integrate the feeling of “chilling out” at the beach. But wait, there’s more! The structure will host film nights and other cultural activities such as concerts. There will also be “quiet” nights where yoga workshops will be held as recordings of the surf breaking in the backgrounds plays.

Initiatives such as this are becoming more and more popular in promoting Israel abroad. Israeli is certainly becoming more and more proactive in promoting Israel as a cultural capital rather than being in a consistent position of constant defense of criticism. A good play for sure, but it will be interesting to see how these initiatives play out in the increasingly anti-Israel environs in Europe.

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