More Israeli-Americans take to the polls

October 30, 2008 - 7:05 PM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: Politics 

Obama in HebrewEarlier in the week I wrote about the voting event that occurred at the Dancing Camel brewery in Tel Aviv where American citizens in Israel had the opportunity to hand in their absentee ballots, write-in a candidate on a federal ballot and even have their ballot FedEx’ed to their local board of elections. Jerusalem got into the game as well this week and unfortunately the event was not held at a brewery (Jerusalem doesn’t have one but if it did it should be called “Brew-salem” and it’s tagline should be “Next beer in Jerusalem”) or even a bar but rather at the Orthodox Union center. Not quite as thrilling as the Dancing Camel but it looks to have certainly served it’s purpose. The LA Times’ Babylon & Beyond blog reports: The third floor of Jerusalem’s Orthodox Union building was packed Tuesday evening.

A cross section of Americans living in Israel patiently stood in a long line wrapped around the corridor, waiting to enter the room and juggle pens, passports and papers to cast their vote in the U.S. presidential elections. The obvious questions of who they voted for and why will be answered by the exit polls analysis Thursday. But beyond that, the occasion offers an interesting window into the life of Americans living in Israel, their ties to the U.S. and how they perceive their civic rights and duties. ‘Israeliness’ is popularly defined more by the experience than the citizenship. But a considerable part of being American is defined by citizenship, an apparent technicality but representing a code of values. American immigrants — recent and veteran — retain their citizenship. And this, with its rights and responsibilities, is not taken lightly — including voting. Many American immigrants to Israel have left behind families, assets and many practical domestic concerns. Physically moving to Israel weakens neither emotional ties nor a strong civic sense of belonging. Voting is as much a part of good citizenship as paying U.S. taxes, which most living in Israel do too.

McCippahI concur with the writer. On a few levels I may feel somewhat distant at times from my American brethren, but despite living in Israel for well over a decade I still feel that I would like my voice to be heard. I still have interests (financial and otherwise) in the USA and care deeply about it’s future. Israel has been known to catch American’s cold, so it’s best kept in good health. I cast my vote a few weeks ago though as a native New Yorker my vote will hardly count. Unlike most of my friends and others I have spoken to here I did not vote solely on the candidate’s views on Israel. The definition of “good for Israel” means many different things to many different people. And my view of this has certainly changed somewhat dramatically over the past few years. Whatever the outcome may be, I believe that both candidates will preserve the special relationship between the United States and Israel.

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Polls with Camel glasses

October 27, 2008 - 5:34 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Immigrant Moments, Politics 

Voting with vats in the backgroundA landmark event took place last night at Tel Aviv’s Dancing Camel brewery, where citizens of the United States were invited to vote for the next US president by an organization called Vote From Israel.

The first initiative of its kind anywhere in the world, Vote From Israel’s goal is to make it as easy as possible for US citizens currently in Israel to participate in the electoral process. The organization’s leadership estimates that out of 125,000 eligible voters in Israel this fall, only 42,000 are registered, so they worked 18-hour days through the hectic fall holidays to register some 7,000 to 10,000 more.

Now that the registration phase is complete, they’ve set up three events where people can hand in the absentee ballots they sent away for, or they can use Vote From Israel-provided Federal Write in Absentee Ballots. Everything is anonymous and sent via Federal Express to the voter’s relevant district office.

The press seems to be lapping it up, too, as a reporter from Newsweek and camera crews from Austrian public TV channel ORF and Israeli commercial Channel 10 competed for the most colorful comments from participants.

At last night’s event, six delicious flavors of beer were on tap, including a sweet and rich stout and seasonal brews seasoned with lemon and pomegranate bouquets. Voters were given coupons for half off of any beer. The Jets-Chiefs game was projected on an enormous screen.

After voting, participants were asked to complete an exit poll, surely a key element to the Vote From Israel concept. Although the organization is officially unaligned, it’s no secret that most Americans whose Zionist bent is strong enough to put them in Israel are likely to favor the 2008 Republican ticket. And with the influence that exit polls can have on undecided voters, one needn’t get so creative to conjecture the motivation behind Vote From Israel’s anonymous funders. The results of the organization’s exit polls can be released to the public a full week before the East Coast votes.

Regardless of the conspiracy theories, the beer, football and nightlife vibes kept the proceedings last night remarkably light. One reveler quipped that he had come to exercise his right not to vote, while another shrugged that he’s come just to meet up with friends, despite being Canadian.

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Drink Beer. And Dance.

August 26, 2008 - 1:32 PM by · 8 Comments
Filed under: Food 

BeerAugust is the perfect month for the Jerusalem Beer Festival. It’s absurdly hot (in the high nineties this week) and I cannot think of a better way to spend a hot sticky evening then drinking ice cold beer with thousands of Jerusalemite revelers. The Jerusalem Beer Festival will this year host premium producers, boutique producers and homemade beers in uncommon tastes of honey, coffee, herbs, and more. The festival caters to the beer connoisseur and the average Joe alike, as visitors will have the opportunity to taste the world’s traditional beers – though it seems like local American-style microbrew Dancing Camel – who make arguably the most interesting beer in Israel – is sadly not participating this year.

The festival is not exactly a fraternity romp but things can get a bit rowdy. Heat, alcohol and pulsating beats can be a scary combination. But the kids keep it in check and the beer festival is a wonderful way to spend a Jerusalem summer night. The festival starts tomorrow. I’m basically going to be jumping off the plane, unpacking a bit, help get the kid settled and off to Jerusalem for an evening of non-debauchery. I don’t really drink these days. I actually had a battle with a bottle of sake last week and lost.

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