Gilad’s shirt

October 23, 2011 - 12:03 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: coexistence, design, General, Israeliness, Life, News, Politics, tv 

You may have read this already, but it’s too good to miss. Remember that shirt Gilad was wearing when first handed over — and first interviewed on TV — by the Egyptians last week?

It was probably mostly polyester, a blue-and-white collar (any significance to that?), with epaulets and a small blue-red-and-and white check. Not very attractive, and not a great look for the emaciated Gilad, but it seems to have become a fashion trend in Gaza.

Stores in Gaza are offering ‘The Shalit shirt’ in a wide range of colors, for a reasonable NIS 60, which is around $17. And it’s not just Gazans who are fans of the shirt; there are at least two Facebook pages that have been created, devoted to Gilad Shalit’s shirt.

Upon closer perusal, one page appears to be a front for some anti-Israel sentiments. But the other has become a kind of conversation, mostly unpleasant, but a forum of sorts for Arabs and Jews to write both nasty and conciliatory comments toward one another, and not about Palestinian menswear. And they’re on the same page because they’ll both ‘like’ a Gilad Shalit shirt page, but wouldn’t normally look for each other on Facebook.

Coexistence? No, not really. But does it mean anything positive to have Gazans wearing Gilad’s Egyptian shirt?

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Egypt revolt strangely missing Israeli element

January 31, 2011 - 9:48 AM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, Life, News, Politics, War 

A demonstrator in Cairo - where's Israel? (Photo: Melanie Lidman)

The whole scene being played out in Egypt has left Israelis feeling quite uneasy.

Notwithstanding unfounded rumors that President Hosni Mubarak might find refuge if he flees his country in Tel Aviv, or fear of what an Islamic takeover of Egypt will mean for our southern border and future ties with the Arab country we’ve had a peace treaty with for over 30 years, the most glaring element of the whole revolt is how little Israel has to do with it.

As Herb Keinon wrote in The Jerusalem Post on Sunday, “for the tens of thousands of protesters who took to Egypt’s streets over the weekend, defying the curfew and calling for the departure of President Hosni Mubarak, Israel and the Palestinians were simply not on the agenda.

“And the same was the case during the Jasmine Revolution in Tunisia earlier this month, and in the demonstrations intermittently taking place in Jordan, Yemen, Algeria and Morocco. No cries of death to Israel, no signs to “lift the siege” of Gaza, no chants against housing projects in Ariel.”

Melanie Lidman, the Post’s report in Cairo, wrote that anti-US and anti-Israel sentiment is growing over those country’s lack of overt support for the popular uprising. But from an Israeli perspective, it’s refreshing to have demonstrations and riots in the region that seemingly have nothing to do with us.

Which doesn’t diminish our vested interested in what transpires an iota. While the anti-government, pro-democracy demonstrators are demanding Mubarak’s ouster, there’s the extremist Muslim Brotherhood just waiting for a vacuum to rush in and turn Egypt into another Iran, this one with borders abutting Israel.

No matter how it turns out, one thing is clear. Settlements, Jerusalem and Israel’s policy on Gaza are not the main issues threatening stability in the Middle East.

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Gilad Schalit turns 24

August 28, 2010 - 8:55 PM by · 1 Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Life, Politics, War 

Hundreds of people gathered on Saturday night in Jerusalem to mark the 24th birthday of Gilad Schalit, the kidnapped IDF soldier who has been held captive by Hamas in the Gaza Strip since 2006.

According to The Jerusalem Post, at the rally, Gilad’s mother Aviva Schalit read out a letter addressed to her son, beginning:

“Again this year I have not bought you a present, I have not baked you a cake, and you will not be able to blow out your candles and make a wish.”

Further on in her letter, she apologized to her son for having been unable as yet to secure his release, and went on to address Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, imploring her to become more involved in her son’s plight.

Addressing the prime minister himself, she said: “Secure Gilad’s release, before we run out of time.”

On Friday, Gilad’s father Noam Schalit commented on his son’s impending birthday.

“Tomorrow we will celebrate a sad birthday, the fifth, for Gilad in Hamas captivity… Unfortunately, we don’t see anything happening moving forward. There are no negotiations and we do not see a light at the end of the tunnel.”

Here’s some photos of Schalit and the various rallies that have taken place in his name over the last four years. May this be the last year that he’s in captivity.

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Four years in a Hamas jail

June 27, 2010 - 4:04 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, Israeliness, Life, Politics, Social Justice, War 

Over 10,000 people joined the the Schalit family Sunday as they began walking from their Mitzpe Hila home in the upper Galilee on an 11-day trek to Jerusalem called the “Freedom March” to mark four years since their son Gilad was captured by Hamas and was taken to Gaza.

The procession – led by Gilad’s parents, Noam and Aviva – is currently headed in the direction of Nahariya ,and will wind up on Thursday, July 8 in Jerusalem, where they’re demanding the government do more to free Gilad.

According to a weekend poll in Yediot Aharonot, more than 70% of the public favors releasing terrrorists who have committed murder in exchange for Schalit.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said that his heart was with the family as they set off on the walk, and invited the parents to meet with him when they arrive in Jerusalem.

“Four years after [Schalit's] abduction, I call on the international community to line up alongside the State of Israel and our unequivocal and just demand that our abducted soldier be returned immediately,” Netanyahu said at the weekly cabinet meeting.

On Friday, Noam Schalit called on all Israelis to join him and his family on their march, which will end at the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem. Once they arrive, “we will sit and we will not return home without Gilad,” said Noam in a video message that he released on Friday, the fourth anniversary of the day that his son, then a 19-year old soldier, was kidnapped as he patrolled the border between Gaza and Israel. He has been held by Hamas in Gaza since then.

The only contact his family has had with him has been three letters and one video they have received. Hamas last week refused, yet again, another appeal to let the Red Cross visit with Schalit to verify his condition.

Needless to say, Schalit’s captivity is at the forefront of most Israelis thoughts, especially at such a landmark date. Perhaps, if all those who castigated Israel for its blockade of Gaza and its actions against the aid flotilla last month, redirected their wrath against Hamas, something might actually get accomplished.

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Cancellations and celebrations

June 10, 2010 - 8:46 AM by · 3 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Israeliness, Life, Music, Politics, Pop Culture 

Dana International - cancellations in Turkey and Spain, celebrations in Tel Aviv

While it may not be surprising that a number of international artists like the Pixies and Gorillaz Sound System cancelled their shows in Israel following the IDF raid on the Gaza-bound flotilla of ships last month, the aftermath has also affected Israeli artists.

In the last couple of days, concerts by the popular Idan Raichel Project have been cancelled in Turkey, the country which seems to be the angriest at us. Another show, by metal band Orphaned Land, which mixes Arabic and Jewish-musical and cultural themes in their music, were also axed from the upcoming Sonicsphere Festival, featuring Metallica, Megadeth and a slew of other leading hard rock bands.

Evidently, the security company responsible of the June 25th Istanbul festival announced that it couldn’t guarantee the band’s safety following the deterioration in relations between Israel and Turkey following the Gaza flotilla incident.

In a statement on their Web site, the band, which opened up for Metallica at their Ramat Gan Stadium show last month, called Turkey their second home, and that while they didn’t agree with the decision to pull them from the lineup, they understood and respected the situation of not wanting to put other bands at risk.

“You have to know that we feel safe and we 100% wanted to come despite all, to play for the purpose of peace, friendship and brotherhood of our nations… We promise you all that we will make the maximum efforts to schedule new dates in Turkey very soon. We personally feel safe; we don’t need any kind of security, surrounded by all of you makes us safe,” the band wrote.

And, in the latest cancellation, famed entertainer Dana International had a concert in Ankara, Turkey cancelled, and has been booted from the annual Gay Pride parade concert in Madrid.

The cancellation came after organizers asked members of the Israeli Gay-Lesbian Bisexual and Transgender Association not to attend due to security issues.

In a column she wrote in today’s Yediot Aharonot, Dana expressed regret at the cancellations, both her own and those of the foreign artists who bailed, and said that music and politics should not be mixed.

She added, however, that there’s enough major talent in Israel without any help from abroad, and jumped aboard a planned gala concert later this month at Park Hayarkon or Rabin Square initiated by the Culture Ministry and featuring the country’s top performers to specifically prove that point.

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