A news-from-Israel blackout
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Travel
Being an Israeli who hears the news on the radio sometimes 10 or 15 times a day, reads two newspapers daily and usually watches one of the nightly news, vacationing in the US is like moving behind the Iron Curtain.
Sure, it’s possible to do all of those same things in America, but it’s sooo easy not to. I don’t even know where you can find news on the radio anymore aside from NPR – we’ve been much to busy fighting between the adult alternative music station (for me) and the modern music ie headbanging rock channels (for the kids), usually compromising on the classic rock station. it’s a far cry from the pop droolings of Galgalatz and the sophistication of 88 FM.
And the TV news isn’t on when we’re accustomed to it – at 8 pm or 9 pm at night, when things are settling down for the day. Heck, does anybody still watch the nightly news in the US anymore, or know when it’s on, what with CNN, FOX and the 24-hour news channels.
And the daily papers? Forget it, unless you want to know about the school board scandals and snow plow routes. If you’re an Israeli news junkie here, it’s best to go cold turkey. Of course, there’s the beloved Internet and the plethora of choices in English and Hebrew for up to the second updates. But, this being a vacation outside of the country, why retain my old habits?
I was happily detoxing after three days here, and enjoying a day in Boston with the boys and my brother’s family at the New England Aquarium. Slowly replacing the excellerated pace of like in Israel with the cold-induced gait of winter in the North, I was contemplating the life of seals, when I was blasted out of my head dream by a voice. It was the dulcet tones of a woman speaking in Hebrew, telling her two young children, “let’s go to the hotel and call your father in Tel Aviv.”
In Israel, I’m sensitive to hearing English spoken on the streets and usually look to see if I know the person. Here in the US, it’s exactly the opposite. I immediately turned to catch a glimpse of the family in the the hopes of recognizing the mahkolet man’s family, or my bank teller.
While I didn’t ID her, I felt the temptation to strike up a conversation, and ask “Nu, what do you hear from home?” I’ll be back soon enough.
A year with CNN
Filed under: coexistence, Environment, General, health
Late last year, ISRAEL21c began working with CNN to produce video material for its highly successful and long-running program, CNN World Report.
Since our first video went up at the start of this year, we’ve had 10 feature stories appearing on the thrice-weekly program hosted by Guillermo Aduino and on the CNN website.
We don’t often toot our horn – in fact we’re so busy we barely even raise our heads long enough to chart our achievements – but, sometimes we really have to stop and say “wow”.
Ten of our stories showing the other side of Israel – the innovation, creativity, and culture – have gone out through CNN, to millions of viewers worldwide. This is a vital step in showing people everywhere about the unique value that Israel brings to the world.
In our last video feature for CNN, about Windows of Peace – a coexistence project bringing Jewish and Palestinian teenagers together to make a music video – CNN made a special effort to interview Nitsana, the reporter, about the project and about what it means to her and to the children taking part.
Nitsana makes some interesting comments about peace, not least that what surprised her the most was how she couldn’t tell these children apart. Something I’ve thought about often since moving here goodness knows how many years ago.
Below, you can also find some of our other CNN videos. They’re well worth watching. You can also see more on our YouTube site.
Fat is fabulous – re-educating the fashion industry.
Saving the bees.
And the birds too.
CNN scents ISRAEL21c flower story
CNN World Report this week broadcast Molly Livingstone’s excellent piece for ISRAEL21c on floral scent research at Hebrew University.
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.
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