Picture of the week: Finding friendship in the ruins of war
Israel is a country of contradictions. While the world outside sees the conflict in the clean crisp black and white of headlines, here in Israel we tend to see things in myriad shades of grey.
Take these two kids for example. Maria Aman (in the wheelchair) is a Palestinian girl from Gaza who was hit by an Israeli rocket during operation Cast Lead. Orel Ilizrov, is an Israeli child from Beersheva who was left with severe brain damage after he was hit by a grad missile fired from Gaza in the same conflict.
Against all the odds, they are best friends.
Maria was left paralyzed when her house suffered a direct hit. Four of her family were killed. Orel, an only child, is lucky to be alive. His mother threw herself on top of him in an attempt to protect him from the missile.
The children were hospitalized at the Alin Rehabilitative Center in Jerusalem and were given neighboring beds. Despite the traumas that both suffered, they ignored the conflict – as kids so rightly do – and formed a deep friendship based on everything they have in common, and not everything that keeps them apart.
Photo by Nati Shohat/Flash90
Galilee Circus wins our Rosh HaShana competition
The Galilee Circus performing in the US.
We asked readers to choose their top charity, and to explain why they felt this charity should receive a $25 gift voucher from JGooders.
Out of a choice of eight, David picked the Galilee Circus, a troupe set up in the Galilee to bring Jewish and Arab children together to learn circus skills and put on performances.
In his comment, David said:
“The Galilee Circus – the effort brings many smiles to folks who could use it, while working on reducing stereotypes – key for a peaceful co-existence.”
We’ve featured Galilee Circus a couple of times on ISRAEL21c. You can see our features here:
Youth circus troupes build a pyramid of hope in Israel
Jewish and Arab children learn cooperation in the Galilee circus
Many thanks to everyone who took part in the competition. The final word goes to Tova, one of our readers who said:
“These are all amazing causes – and even if you don’t win, you can think about making a small gift in honor of the new year…..I personally did so.”
The Simpsons to bring peace to Israel
Filed under: A New Reality, History and Culture, Politics, Pop Culture, Travel, coexistence
Like most existential quarrels, the Arab-Israeli conflict is a nuanced and tricky beast. Those on the outside often take a paternalistic, “Oh, those silly Middle Easterners, why can’t they just realize that coexistence is the way to go, put their weapons down and start getting along?” attitude.
In the minds of most Israelis, I’d wager, this perspective is naïve and can lead to disaster. Many have argued that Bill Clinton’s personal need to end his presidency on a positive note led to over-simplified tactics at Camp David, which in the end backfired and brought about the Second Intifada.
I’m not sure that that thesis is itself sufficiently nuanced, but diplomacy analysis aside, a similarly paternalistic outsider’s view that has informed many tongue-in-cheek pop culture Mideast peace comments. And these comments also come off to us locals as either refreshingly naïve (as in the case of the dreamy conclusion of Tom Robbins’s Skinny Legs and All) or as not necessarily adding to the discussion but amusing nonetheless (especially when they are aimed at exposing the hypocrisies and general lack of vision among our leaders, like when Bruno stopped by last summer).
And our beloved Simpsons, probably one of the greatest TV shows of all time, if not the greatest, has a dodgy track record when it comes to understanding cultural nuances from an insider’s perspective. It’s all part of being an irreverent, edgy comedy.
According to Ha’aretz, Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie are headed our way in the coming months:
Multiple media sources have quoted the show’s executive producer, Al Jean, as saying that America’s number one animated family will head to the Holy Land next year.
“I think we’re going to do one next year where they go to the Holy Land as we haven’t been there yet. The premise will be that the Christians, the Jews and Muslims are united in that they all get mad at Homer. It’s the only thing they can agree on,” Jean said.
Sometimes the international ethnic and otherwise-sensitive communities don’t manage to take The Simpsons with the appropriate grains of salt. Racial stereotypes as regular characters? But of course. Accusations of homophobia? You got it. And then there are the recurring episodes where the family travels internationally, ripping apart the cultural and ethnic mores of China, Italy, African banana republics, Ireland and Japan. They’re exceedingly funny, but sometimes people get offended. When the Simpsons traveled in South America in a 2002 episode, the Tourism Board of Rio de Janeiro reportedly seriously mulled a lawsuit against the Fox Network for libel. Or slander. Or something.
The episode that kicked off this recurring series is 1996’s “Bart vs. Australia,” which supposedly had Aussies in such a tangle that letter writing campaigns and public censuring ensued. But a closer reading of that episode reveals that it’s all tongue-in-cheek – its very plotline focuses on the Americans’ laughable lack of understanding of anything non-American, which is carried out throughout as the starting point of many quality jokes. The family barely escapes (pictured) with their lives.
So just because the Simpsons talk or act in a certain way, doesn’t mean that the show’s writers or producers want its audience to follow suit. But when it comes to Mideast peace, why not? Sometimes a little naïveté is what we need to break out of our most self-perpetuating, defeatist grooves.
ISRAEL21c takes CNN World Report on a trip to Lod
Filed under: General, Israeliness, Life, Politics
With so much of the media focused on the conflict, the ISRAEL21c feature stories airing on CNN — like this one by Molly Livingstone about a multi-ethnic, multi-religious effort to redevelop the city of Lod — are beacons of hope and progress from a place often seen only as a place of conflict.
More ISRAEL21c stories will likely be seen on CNN in the future – meanwhile, there are dozens of others to view and enjoy at the ISRAEL21c YouTube channel.
Waltz with Bashir gets Oscar nod and Beirut screening
Filed under: A New Reality, Art, History and Culture, Movies, Pop Culture, War, coexistence
In the same week that saw Waltz with Bashir finally secure a place on the short list of movies nominated for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award, the movie was finally shown to the public in Beirut, where much of it takes place. Waltz with Bashir is officially banned by Lebanon, but through a loophole, a Lebanese multimedia war archive organization called UNAM was able to show the movie to a modest crowd of 90 at a “private party,” a piece in Variety reports.
Already a bona fide marvel for the innovative manner in which it melds documentary footage with animated dreamscapes, Ari Folman’s tour de force garnered acclaim on the international festival circuit before winning a Golden Globe earlier this month.
As of late last week, Bashir is one of five finalists for that Oscar, nominated alongside offerings from Austria, Germany, France and Japan, with the winner to be announced at the award ceremony on February 22. Following Beaufort’s nomination a year ago, Bashir making the short list of Foreign Language Oscar nominees means that two Israeli movies focusing on the IDF’s role in Lebanon have received Oscar nods in as many years.
Folman himself is generally skeptical that Bashir is in a position to make a difference in the world, telling the international press on numerous occasions that he sees war as an unfortunate fixture. On the other hand, now that his movie has screened in Beirut, he has modified his stance. “In principle I don’t believe movies can change the world, but I’m a great believer in their ability to form small bridges,” Folman told Haaretz in the context of that newspaper’s coverage of the Beirut screening.
Small bridges of coexistence and peace indeed. The movie has already been shown in Ramallah and may soon receive a modest theatrical release in the gulf states, according to the Haaretz article, and last Saturday’s screening in a Beirut suburb was not simple to arrange either. The UMAM organization’s leadership is proud to have accomplished what it has with the Israeli movie:
“The subject of this film is a crucial moment in the history of Lebanon, for the history of Israel, for the history of the Palestinians, and for the history of Palestinian life in Lebanon,” UMAM founder Monika Borgmann told Haaretz.
“At some point every state must deal with its violent past and the sooner it does so the better. That’s why I think this movie should be shown,” she said.
“Yesterday, my phone didn’t stop ringing…everyone wants a copy of the film,” she said. “I think it comes out on DVD in March. The next day, it’s going to be pirated all over Lebanon.”
Fred Teng Gets It
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Life, Politics, Profiles, War, coexistence
Given the avalanche of hate against Israel on the internet, at anti-Israel protests around the world, and in the media (of course!), it’s easy to believe that “nobody” likes us. By “nobody,” I mean, of course, folks from the wide world. And even if they are willing to overlook our “crimes” in Gaza (no, of course I don’t mean that), they still don’t “get it” – they just can’t understand what we’re up against. 
So I wanted to share with you a message I got from a friend who’s in New York right now. There was a big pro-Israel rally this past Sunday, featuring speakers from the Jewish and general community. According to the message I got,
“The most powerful speaker at Sunday’s massive rally for Israel was Fred Teng, president of the Chinese Community Relations Council of NY. His words would have been exceptional even coming from an Israeli — and how much more striking for having come from the heart of a New Yorker and a member of the Chinese community.”
Suffice to say Mr. Teng “gets it.” He’s got Hamas’ number – comparing them to the gangs of big American cities who get their jollies running drive by shootings against innocent people. In the words of Mr. Teng,
“Enough is enough”
“These Qassam Rockets and the people behind them are like Drive-by Shootings. We have to put every gang member away for good, not just the ones that did the shooting. These Qassam Rockets and the people behind them are like a Fire in the Forest, You can’t STOP only half of the fire in the forest, and thinking you will be safe. If your house is next to the fire, you won’t think so. It is not the Qassam Rockets; it is the people behind the Qassam Rockets that we need to go after. This is an epidemic threat to the entire world.
“In the last 60 years, every gesture of peace by Israel only met with escalated violence. Every peace proposal, whether it is multi-lateral, bi-lateral, or uni-lateral was never honored by the terrorists. However, in this time of extreme difficulties, we shall not lose hope. We shall say yes to Peace. We shall say yes to Life. And we shall forever say yes to an eternal Israel Am Yisrael Chai.
Maybe someone should tell this guy we have an election coming up? Sounds like he’d make a good prime minister!
A Man We Could Use Now
Filed under: Blogging, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Music, Politics, Pop Culture, Profiles, War, coexistence
If Elvis had lived, he could have been president – after all, if it was good enough for Ronald Reagan, imagine how the voters would have gone for Elvis Presley! But I have a better idea; He was such a unifying force and a symbol of coexistence, Elvis would have been the perfect candidate for Prime Minister of Israel! And he could have qualified for the job, too – after all, Elvis was (sort of) Jewish!
On the occasion of what would have been his 74th birthday on January 8, it’s worth remembering Elvis and his impact on bringing people together. While casual music listeners tend to put down Elvis’ relatively unsophisticated music, all his biographers attribute his early use of rhythm and blues (which some accused him of “stealing from blacks”) as opening the door for the Motown sound, and later on the rise of Michael Jackson and other modern African-American superstars. So right there, Elvis was a unifying force, right on his home turf.
But less known is his charitable work for Jewish organizations in his hometown of Memphis, and his attitude to racism – and to Arabs and Jews. There are millions of Elvis fans out there, which means there are thousands of stories floating around about him, most of which can’t be corroborated. But the overwhelming consensus of the man is that he was someone who was charitable – both financially and personally – and identified with minorities, including Jews and Arabs.
During his latter years, for example, Elvis would take to wearing a big “Chai” – and when he was asked why by his friend guitarist Charlie Hodge, he supposedly answered that he didn’t want to “miss out on going’ to heaven on a technicality!” In fact, quoting from the book “Elvis and Gladys”, this site makes a case for Elvis’ Jewish ancestry (his maternal grandmother), which explained to some extent his affinity for Jews. According to the book:
One day the Memphis Jewish Welfare sent a delegation to Graceland to see him and ask if he could contribute. At Christmas every year he would donate $1,000 to a number of Memphis charities and one of them was the Memphis Hebrew Academy, and so they thought maybe they could get something. They explained what they do, taking care of poor Jews and orphans. Elvis excused himself for a minute. When he came back, he handed the leader of the delegation a check. They didn’t know what to expect. They thought $1,000 would be nice. When they looked at the check, it was for $150,000. The equivalent of more than a million dollars today. The man said, ‘Elvis, you must have made a mistake.’ Elvis said, ‘I didn’t make a mistake, I know what I’m doing.’
And Elvis had a soft spot for Arabs as well. Michael Saba, former executive director of the National Association of Arab Americans, tells a tale of a childhood friend of his in Memphis:
Farid told me that one day at his high school, some of the school bullies started teasing him, calling him names like “you dirty Arab” and threatened to hit him. He said Elvis came along and said, “Hey, you leave him alone. I know him and his family and they are very nice people. Those ‘Arabs’ treat me well and you better treat him well also.” The bullies moved off and Elvis told Farid that if anybody ever tried that again, he should let Elvis know.
So besides a talent for music, Elvis had a talent for peacemaking! Of course, Elvis isn’t around for us to give him a try at leadership (or is he?) but we do have the Elvis Inn, “famous for bringing Arabs and Jews together,” especially on Elvis Impersonator Nights! And as one of the impersonators told reporters, “If Elvis Presley was alive, he could help the crisis of the Arab and the Jew. I think he’d make a song of it, of the whole situation, and perform in a lot of Arab countries and of course in Israel. He’d try to make peace between the Israelis and the Arabs once and for all. I think he would have done it if he was alive today.”
Helpful strangers
Filed under: A New Reality, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness
Our stroller, even if you can't always see the babies
As it turns out, Jerusalem’s Malcha Mall is full of these people. I headed over there the other day with my sister and the boys for an afternoon adventure, because anywhere you go with three-month-old twins can be classified as exciting.
And along the way, as we do these days, we met many people who wanted to meet our guys. There was the saleswoman in the socks section of the Mashbir, who literally lifted the baby out of my sister’s arms, kissed him and ran off to show him to someone else. I had never met this person before in my life. There was the staff at Aroma, who exclaimed over our little guy’s size — he’s the one who spent six weeks in Hadassah’s NICU — and couldn’t believe he was for real. “Is he a doll?” they asked. There was the woman at the Originals shoestore, who took offense at the way I was holding one of the babies, sort of sitting him up on my leg in order to burp him. “What’s that going to do to his posture?” she barked at me.
When we bumped into the father-in-law of the woman who owns my local dry cleaning store [it's a small country, and Jerusalem is really a village], he glanced at the carriage, asked if they were both boys, and then pinched my cheek, saying, “You have to really know how to make boys!” Wink, wink.
And then there was the coexistence moment of the day, when I sat next to another mother, an Arab woman, as we nursed our babies in the local Shilav baby store. She admired my babies and I admired hers, and she wondered out loud how I was handling two infants. I shrugged and rolled my eyes, and we agreed that new motherhood is challenging no matter how you approach it. But thank goodness she didn’t offer any advice.
Coexistence Exists
Filed under: Blogging, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Politics, Religion, coexistence
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.
Shvitzing together
As I drove up the road toward Ramat Rachel the other afternoon, I thought about the fact that I was looking forward to a long-awaited Swedish massage — to offset the very physical aspects of new motherhood — while people living in the south were huddling in bomb shelters and sealed rooms, dealing with a very different set of expectations for the day.
But as usual, albeit unexpectedly, I found myself in a fairly altered reality sitting in the Jacuzzi before my massage. I had stepped in, gingerly, as one does, and relishing my first dip following the long months of pregnancy. As I slid down, savoring the hot bubbling water, I realized that the men around me — the Jacuzzi always seems to be filled with men with pot bellies — were all speaking Arabic. For better or for worse, that’s fairly unusual in the surroundings of the Ramat Rachel complex, which is a popular swimming pool and gym owned by the kibbutz and frequented by local, mostly Jewish, Jerusalemites. And it felt even more unusual, given the fact that Israeli Arabs haven’t been too pleased with Israel’s Gaza offensive and now the ground offensive.
I went on with my afternoon of relaxation, and soon realized that there must be some kind of company outing, because the entire complex was filled with Arab men; in the lockers near the massage rooms, in the sauna, in the steam room, and again, in the Jacuzzi. They didn’t seem bothered by my presence in the Jacuzzi, during the three minutes that I grabbed before my massage. I couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about, and whether they were contemplating how unusual it was to be in fairly Jewish surroundings during this particular week. Moreover, the Ramat Rachel Jacuzzi looks out onto the towns of Gilo and Bethlehem; good choices for controversial views.
But as usual, people are people, talking about the most banal of subjects and issues, which was confirmed when the man to my left turned and asked me if it paid to go into the sauna and steamroom. I laughed at myself, and told him that it was all part of the ’shvitz’ experience, and one that shouldn’t be missed.
When we bumped into each other in the sauna later on, he thanked me for the recommendation, and told his buddies — in perfect Hebrew, better than mine — that I was the one to be thanked for their relaxing round. We smiled at each other, and maybe, I think, thought to ourselves that it should always be like this. I know I did. I hope he did as well.
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