Israelity celebrates four years
Just about four years ago Israelity was launched. I had the honor of writing the first post as well as the article on ISRAEL21c.org about the site’s launch. As far as blog posts go it was pretty bad. It was a short blurb about the Mitbachon (Kitchenette), one of my favorite joints in Tel Aviv.
My friend Kobi and I love discovering new off the beaten path restaurants in Tel Aviv. There is no stone we won’t turn to satiate our appetites for satisfying meals and Tel Aviv doesn’t lack interesting places. Romanian, Tunisian, Eastern European or Yemenite. If you crave it, you can get it.Deep within the Yemenite quarter of Tel Aviv lies one of my favorite culinary gems – Mitbachon (Kitchenette). It’s a happening place, open 24 hours a day serving homecooked comfort food – Israeli style. You won’t find mac n’ cheese here but rather comfort food Israeli style – cous cous with vegetables, goulash, homemade meatballs and some of the best chopped liver this side of the Mediterranean. The food is great, the ambience is as laid back as it gets and the food is cheap. The food is very similiar to the myriad of ethnic restaurants that can be found in Tel Aviv that caters to workers, but the clientele at the Mitbachon is noticeably more hip. And the biggest plus is that it’s open 24 hours a day.
Certainly not my finest. And my article announcing the launch of the blog is not much better. Half of the article is dedicated to actually describing what a blog is…
For the uninitiated, a blog (shortened from ‘web log’), is essentially an online journal in which people share their ideas and thoughts on a specific topic. The sites are updated frequently, much like a log, hence the name.Blogs offer anyone who wants, his or her own soapbox to write about what’s most relevant to them. Subjects range from arts and social issues to politics and technology and within each subject, perspectives are provided according to the author’s nationality, gender, age group, personal hobbies, etc.
Blogs also usually offer links to related sites, resources and other blogs of interest and often welcome comments by readers through posting boards. In a sense, blogs foster virtual communities between readers and bloggers from all over the globe around the subjects they discuss.
Cringe.
Israelity has certainly evolved over the years (and I certainly don’t have to explain to anyone what a blog is anymore) but these days I believe the content is the best it’s ever been. We’ve had almost 4000 posts with varied coverage that includes anecdotes about life, commentary on pop culture and the occasional political barb.
What do you think? What have you enjoyed about Israelity over the past four years?
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.
ISRAEL21C Behind the Filming: Science has no Borders
Filed under: A New Reality, Blogging, General, Life, War
I recently filmed a news story about the Weizmann Institute and the Davidson Institute opening their doors to children of the south. Since the war with Gaza started schools have been closed forcing children to stay home while rockets rain down on their towns. These kids are not being properly educated about the fundamentals, but rather learning the hard lessons of life under fire. The children who experience the daily barrage of rockets are suffering from emotional trauma and will most likely be scarred for life as they remember their childhood days hiding at home when the sirens went off.
The institutes are currently providing educational refuge on their campuses and will continue to do so until the war is over. Kids of all ages can play outside in their amazing science park (I didn’t get the chance to play but it looked like a lot of fun) or experiment in their science labs. (Note: the science experiment the children are doing in the video is how to make ice cream with dry ice…crazy!)
I interviewed Zvi Paltiel, the Director of Young at Science at the Davidson Institute who spoke with me about the current program geared towards children from the south. For the video I chose a sound bite where he is expressing the importance of having the children learning on campus during this stressful period. However, what I wasn’t able to include was his openness to having the program and the science mobiles (watch the video to learn what those are) available to the children of Gaza as well. I think he put it best when he said that “science has no borders.”
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.
Foto Friday – Israel Then and Now
Filed under: A New Reality, Foto Friday, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life
In honor of Israel’s 60th anniversary, the World Zionist Organization put together a traveling exhibition of holographic panels about Israeli achievements, past and future.
ISRAEL21c animated the images into a slide show, and while we can’t hope to reproduce the holograms (produced by Israeli innovator MagInk), the overlaid images still convey the powerful message about six decades of Israeli advancements in technology, healthcare, education and democracy.
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