Another Israeli film about Lebanon gets award nomination
Filed under: A New Reality, General, Life, Movies, War
Congratulations to the makers of the film ‘Lebanon,’ which has just been nominated for five awards – including Best European Film of 2010 by the European Film Academy.
The film’s director, Samuel Maoz, was also nominated for the award of Best European Director and Best European Screenwriter.
The subject matter of the film is, of course, Lebanon. Israel’s invasion of the country in 1982, following years of attacks on its northern towns, resulted in an almost two decade occupation of the southern part of the country.
It’s now regarded as our very own version of Vietnam, and just as scores of films in the US about America’s involvement in Vietnam dotted the screen in the ensuing decades – from Full Metal Jacket to The Deer Hunter to Apocalypse Now – the same has happened in Israel with Lebanon.
Many films made by former IDF soldiers-turned-filmmakers have provided harrowing views of the Israeli experience in Lebanon, like the Oscar-nominated Beaufort and Waltzing with Bashir. ‘Lebanon’ tells its story through the binocular-aided eyes of soldiers like a young Maoz, who himself served there, aboard an armored vehicle as they enter a hostile southern Lebanon village.
The film trade magazine Variety has described the film as the boldest and best of the recent mini-wave of Israeli movies, while the New York Times has called it “an astonishing piece of cinema.”
Whether those accolades are for critics’ natural inclination to like anything perceived as ‘anti-war,’ or whether ‘Lebanon’ is truly a world class film is up for you to decide.
An oasis in the North (mosquitoes optional)
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, Environment, General, Holidays, Israeliness, Life, Travel
We just spent the weekend in one of Israel’s most beautiful camping spots – Hurshat Tal.
Close to the border with Lebanon, it’s as close as you can get to the pastoral camping sites immigrants from North America are used to. Landscaped lawns and a well-kept campground occupy featuring ancient oak tress, natural pools and and a huge artificial lake of icy cold, refreshing spring water (and a couple impressively fast, long water slides off on the side), take up about 100 of the 190 acres of the national park.
During Succot, as well as the other weeklong vacation holiday of Pessah, the park is packed with campers – wall to wall with barbecues, raucous families and revelrers. However, no matter the noise level or body compression, but 10 pm or so, everyone winds down, there’s no ‘thumpa thumpa’ of trance music which is the norm in most Israeli campsites, and everyone chills out for the evening.
Our first night was like that, with seemingly half the country crammed into the site, weirdly humid weather inducing thunder storms and mosquitos galore, and tempers flaring between Jewish and Arab campers.
Our 9-year-old and his friends, who were unable to sleep, roamed the site in the middle of the night and came running back to report that the police had arrived and had broken up an altercation between two families. It was unclear if the fracas was racially motivated, but they noted that an Arab mother was pounding on the window of the squad car as it drove away with her teenage son.
We never got the full story, and by 4 am or so, after the last thunder storm, we drifted off into a fitful sleep for two hours.
The next morning, on Shabbat, about 95% of the campers fled for home, leaving our little group of four families with virtually the whole park to ourselves. The weather broke a little with cooler, less humid weather. And the camping trip turned into what I remember from my days in Maine – a joyous nature experience.
When the weather cooperates, there’s no place like Hurshat Tal in the country, and any visitor who reaches the North (and how can a visit to Israel not include a visit there?) should block off some time to hang out there, even if it’s just for a few hours.
Dealing with the pot shortage
Filed under: Business, Crime, General, Israeliness, Life
When the IDF gets a task, they tend to do it well.
Among the tasks that soldiers stationed along the southern border with Egypt perform is catching drug smugglers crossing the border. These are usually Bedouins bringing in hashish or cannabis to the country to supply the increasing number of Israelis who partake.
According to Israel’s Anti-Drug Authority, an estimated 110 tons of marijuana and hashish make it into Israel every year, most of it courtesy of Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan. However, The establishment of three special police units at Israel’s southern and northern borders as well as its international airport have brought a 30% increase in the number of big drug busts.
A recent report in Ma’ariv, claims that the authorities have been doing such a good job as preventing the trafficking, that the prices for pot on the street – if it’s available at all – have gone through the roof. And most heads have reverted to spending three or four times the street price to procure lab-grown marijunana, usually used for medical patients.
I decided to do some tough research myself to find out if, indeed, it is difficult to obtain some cannabis-related material. Through intensive networking, I managed to find some people who were known to be able to procure such contraband. And they confirmed that, for the first time in years, they were plumb dry.
It all made sense. I had been noticing for a few weeks now that people seemed to be more tense and irritable. I thought it was the warm weather. But now I know why.
Beaten with hummous, Israel goes for falafel record
Filed under: A New Reality, Food, General, History and Culture, Pop Culture
Dignitaries, including Israel NBA player Omri Casspi (the tall one) stand in front of the not-too appetizing falafel ball in New York.
An Israeli chef at the New York restaurant Olympic Pita has used thousands of chickpeas, 40 liters of oil and a variety of spices to create the world’s largest falafel ball, Ha’aretz reported.
Weighing in at 10.9 kilograms and with a circumference of more than a meter, the falafel ball is expected to enter the Guinness Book of World Records in the coming days.
“The record set today is nothing compared to the goal we have set for ourselves for next year – the world’s largest gefilte fish,” said Israeli Consul General Asaf Shariv, kicking off a week’s worth of Israel-related events in New York, including the annual Israeli day parade on Fifth Avenue.
I’m not sure if I’d want to bite into the humoungus falafel ball. Falafel joints throughout the country have making the delicacies down to a science, and usually, the smaller the better. A falafel ball of that size just seems too much of a good thing.
As Israel’s number one fast food (I’m sure we stole this from our Arab neighbors as well), there are plenty places to find the balls fried to perfection. I’d be very happy to let another country take the biggest falafel ball award – maybe we can convince Lebanon to make their own and give us back the humous record.
Hummus wars heats up northern border
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, Food, General, Israeliness, Life
Lebanese chefs prepare the record-breaking hummus. (Photo: Reuters)
For the second time in a year, Lebanon has wrested from Israel the Guinness World Record title of making the largest plate of hummus. Earlier this week, more than 300 Lebanese chefs spiced up a more than 23,000-pound plate of hummus, which more than doubled the Israeli record set in January in the Israeli Arab town of Abu Ghosh.
The chefs reportedly used 8 tons of boiled chickpeas, 2 tons of sesame paste, 2 tons of lemon juice and 154 pounds of olive oil for their hummus – an effort aimed at proving the claim that hummus is really a Lebanese dish that that Israel stole. Several years ago the Lebanese trade industry even considered filing a hummus lawsuit against Israel for claiming ownership.
While the traditional Middle Eastern dish made of chickpeas, sesame paste, olive oil, lemon juice and garlic does indeed likely have Arab origins, Israelis have adopted it as their own and have gone to great lengths to perfect it.
Abu Ghosh, where the Israeli record was set in January, breaking the then-Lebanese held record, is a magnet for hungry diners on the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv road, and boasts a dozen scrumptions hummus joints that prepare variations on the hummus theme, each one topping the other.
Israelis acknowledge that their Arab countrymen are the masters at preparing the dish. According to a recent survey in Haaretz, the top two most popular hummus restaurants in Israel were Arab-run bistros located in Jaffa and Acre.
The rivalry between Lebanon and Israel (good natured on Israel’s side and hopefully the same on the Lebanese side) has certainly raised the profile of the tasty paste, according one of Israel’s top hummus experts, Hummus 101 blogger Shuki Galili has pointed out.
“Owning hummus is like owning a folk song,” Galili told The Christian Science Monitor, meaning it now belongs to everybody. And ultimately, it doesn’t really matter where it originated, as long as people are still searching for the perfect hummus.
Will Israeli chefs now respond to the challenge and attempt to top the Lebanese world record? Stay tuned for the next chapter of the Hummus Wars.
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