Nostalgia Sunday – Machboim

August 2, 2009 - 12:28 PM by Rachel Neiman · Leave a Comment
Filed under: General, Movies, Nostalgia Sunday, Pop Culture 

Israeli director Dan Wolman is best-known for his film version of My Michael (1974) but another of his films, Machboim (Hide and Seek), made its own mark in 1980 as the first Israeli film about homosexuality.

If there was ever a reason to pick up a copy of Machboim, the shooting last night at a Gay-Lesbian youth drop-in center in Central Tel Aviv is enough. There have been other gay-themed films made since — from the late Amos Guttman’s film Nagua m which was hailed in 1983 as a groundbreaker for bringing AIDS to general awareness, to Yossi and Jagger (2002), about two soldiers who fall in love, which was all but mainstream at the box office.

But Machboim, which is set in 1946, was first to address the conflict, denial and ugly aggression against male homosexuality that is part and parcel of any macho society. That same machismo, the film suggests, was perhaps necessary to forge a national identity and bring the State of Israel into being, but is still rooted in the Israeli psyche. It is an uncomfortable thought.

A fairly short if uninformative interview with Woman can be found on YouTube. It’s not about Machboim. Probably just best to rent the film.

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Reserved revelry of the times

January 7, 2009 - 7:28 AM by Harry · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Crime, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Travel, War, coexistence 

highway 443With a population of around 67,100 and proximity to both Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Modiin is one of the larger suburbs of Israel. The city is located very close to the Green Line, though, making for some awkward situations for Israeli-Arab relations in the neighborhood – especially along the 443 highway, a major commuter thoroughfare. This isn’t a band of fringe settlers butting heads with nationalist Arab elements. Like the Kfar Saba-Qalqilya juxtaposition, it’s mainstream Israel in close quarters with villages.

Terror-resembling hate crimes have taken place in the area many times over the years (including these four incidents from 2000, 2001, 2002 and 2003, during the Second Intifada). This past March, long before the wave of violence that kicked off last month, the high court defended arrangements which basically ban Palestinians from using the 443 in order to minimize its exposure to terror. And since the war in the south has escalated, there have been stoning incidents, Molotov cocktails and even a stabbing.

Anyone reading this blog knows that in times like these, life goes on. In general, incidents like the aforementioned don’t keep Israelis from going about their business, much like the way that regular shootings and muggings in American inner cities don’t keep Americans from going about theirs. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t take precautions. We do.

A friend of mine who lives close to me in Modiin attended a party last night in Jerusalem, and while he didn’t drink, so as to maximize safety on the journey home, his sister did. Quite inebriated, her head was spinning from the drive, which, as we all know, has the potential to cause vomiting. Cruising along the 443, my friend found himself in a bind. He did not want his car to get all vomited out, and he wanted to comply with his sister’s wishes for a break in the motion, but on the other hand, it was the middle of the night and he was within rock-throwing range of more than one Arab village.

So yes, in times like these, we keep working, living and even sometimes partying as if there were no conflict. But that doesn’t mean the conflict doesn’t color our judgment and impact our actions. And in case you were wondering, the way he tells it, my friend’s solution was to pull over for his sister to vomit out the car door for two minutes at a time, and only when she really really needed him to. She used a plastic bag the rest of the time.

Photo of the 443 highway courtesy Michaeli via Wiki Commons.

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