RepORTs from the teens

January 9, 2009 - 12:32 PM by Harry · 2 Comments
Filed under: General

Ashkelon A network of high schools across Israel that emphasizes high-tech vocational training, ORT is an educational powerhouse, its 100,000-strong student body representing about one tenth of all Israeli high school students.

With six branches within rocket range in southern Israel, ORT estimates that 7000 of its pupils are currently under high risk of Hamas attacks.

ORT’s Ronson School in Ashkelon, which educates some 1800 students, has temporarily closed its doors due to this situation, necessitating special tutoring and commuting arrangements so that the 12th graders don’t fall too far behind.

In the meantime, the school’s Eye 2 Israel / Yama and student blogging (informational site in Hebrew only) projects have encouraged students to use their tech bent to help foment a positive image of Israelis in the blogosphere – a motivation close to Israelity’s heart.

One of their bloggers, 14-year-old Rebeca Mayer, is an immigrant from Cuba. Although her English isn’t the most polished, Mayer’s accounts of her day-to-day life are a poignant reminder that there are real people behind every headline. As she puts it in her blog, “I decided to open this blog so all of you out there will understand what we’re going threw here in Ashkelon.”

Writing from inside a bomb shelter, where she and her family have been spending lots of time lately, Mayer wrote on December 28:

I’m really board here cause there’s nothing to do, my little bro is playing with my grandma with a train.

….I wanted to go out today and buy some shoes, but I guess this plan would have to wait, it really sucks to live in this kind of reality I just hope everything will be ok.

More recently, this past Tuesday, she wrote about her feelings of personal connection to the IDF soldiers who had recently been killed in combat in Gaza:

I feel so responsible for there death, cause I know they died to defend me.

They were supposed to come home as heroes but they come back in a coffin.

Now nothing could change, I just hope they will be happy up there in heaven.

As of yesterday, Mayer was planning on going to Eilat for the weekend for some escape and fun. We hope she finds what she’s looking for.

Image Ashkelon courtesy Jason Turner from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

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Tags: ashkelon, blog, blogosphere, bomb shelter, Cuba, education, Gaza, hamas, hebrew, high school, IDF, Israel, ORT, Rebeca Mayer, ronson, shelter, south, student, tech, teen, yama

The Israeli blogosphere on Obama

November 6, 2008 - 4:05 PM by Harry · 11 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, Politics

Yes we can! There exists a world of English writing bloggers – native born as well as immigrants – here in Israel and like everyone else in the world are thinking about President-elect Obama. Here is a sample of what the English writing Israeli blogosphere is saying:

• Native Israeli Shachar over at frgdr.com was the first to create Obama posters in Hebrew which were spotted all over America. He’s elated and says “As someone who is not a US citizen and could not vote in the elections, I can still say I have done my part, however small, and proudly announce that I helped elect Barack Obama. Like millions of others, I, too, was inspired by the man and the campaign he ran. The Hebrew graphics I designed were viewed thousands of times and the files I made available were downloaded hundreds and hundreds of times.”

• Gershom Gorenberg over at South Jerusalem has what he calls “hope envy.” He laments: “Yesterday was a rare moment that I wished I was over there – standing in an unexpected line to vote, celebrating afterward with friends in the streets of Washington, New York or Chicago, getting up this morning wondering what special blessing a religious Jews should say for such an event.

• Rock of Galilee isn’t an Obama fan but at least he has a sense of humor about it. He’s having a few computer problems and blaming Obama.

• Amir Mizroch of the Jerusalem Post talks about a speculative Q&A going on in the Israeli government right now.

• Dave at Israellycool wrote a song all about Obama to the tune of the theme to Transformers (robotrickim in Hebrew). It’s horrible and he should be punished.

• Sarah stayed up all night live blogging and her shplikes has gotten the best of her I’m afraid. She has not been heard from since.

• Occidental Israeli is worried about Rahm Emanuel’s appointment and hopes that some of the Irgun blood running through his veins has some weight. Don’t hold your breath.

• Niv Calerdon is jumping on the Obama bandwagon and hopes to use the momentum to get more people using Firefox. What?

• Gila of My Shrapnel, despite being eligible to vote sat this one out believing that since she no longer lives in America she shouldn’t have a say in their elections. Her argument is a compelling one and can be read in it’s entirety here.

• And finally Shy of Total Eclipse was up all night feeling nervous about the outcome of the election. He’s relieved and completely jealous that he was unable to be part of the process.

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