Obama’s inauguration enraptures Israelis
Filed under: A New Reality, General, History and Culture, Immigrant Moments, Israeliness, Politics, War
With the Gaza ceasefire apparently taking hold, Israelis have been happy to have something new upon which to fixate our attentions in the news. Something hopeful. US President Barack Obama’s inauguration yesterday and the festivities surrounding it this whole week have kept Israelis enraptured.
The one exception to this trend might be American immigrants to Israel, who tend to be a Republican-leaning crowd, often because of the popular perception that the American Right is more friendly to Israel than the Left. This perception might or might not be true, but Americans living in Israel are certainly wary of Obama’s alleged lack of Zionism.
So despite citing nightlife-themed parties surrounding the inauguration which took place in Tel Aviv as well as Jerusalem, a Haaretz piece from earlier this week points out that mainstream American organizations were shying away from the event:
Neither the Association of Americans and Canadians in Israel nor the American Israeli Action Coalition – two non-partisan groups – have planned any special activities to mark the swearing-in of the new president. A spokesman for Israelis for Obama, a small group that was formed before the elections and operated mainly online, told Haaretz the group had dissolved after completing it’s only goal of seeing Obama elected.
But even though George Bush is considered by the people here to have been a great friend to the country, most Israelis are optimistic about new blood inhabiting the White House. The Associated Press even hints at some more literal connections between the Israeli appetite for inauguration news coverage and the Gaza ceasefire:
Obama’s inauguration became the lead story in Israeli media, which had been dominated by coverage of the Gaza offensive that began with a massive air bombardment on Dec. 27.
The front page of Yediot Ahronot, Israel’s biggest daily newspaper, featured the smiling Obama and his wife over an English headline: “Good luck.”
Seemingly timing its withdrawal to Tuesday’s inauguration, Israel had already pulled most of its troops out of the ravaged Gaza Strip after a deadly three-week offensive aimed at halting years of militant rocket fire. But the crisis is not over, with reports of shooting along the Israel-Gaza border, and with Israeli soldiers poised to resume the assault if Gaza militants break a fragile cease-fire.
Maybe it’s simply a matter of the incoming president’s rock star-like status, but Obama buzz is not relegated to Democrats – even when it comes to Americans living here. Summing up the feelings at last night’s parties, today Haaretz quotes a young reveler named Guy Simen:
“Even people who did not support Obama are excited, because they know the whole world is watching this event – and they feel close to home. They know that now we’ve elected a man who is supposed to change the world and many people are proud to be Americans.”
Image courtesy lostintransitzine from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.
Reserved revelry of the times
Filed under: Crime, General, History and Culture, Israeliness, Life, Travel, War, coexistence
With 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.
Guns & Peres
Filed under: General, Music, Politics, Pop Culture, coexistence
That Shimon Peres certainly knows how to throw a party. Israel’s octogenarian president is also the figurehead for the Peres Center for Peace, which at the end of the month is marking its 10th anniversary.
The Peres Center has implemented dozens of projects to facilitate cooperation between Israelis and their neighbors in the Arab world, among them:
* Over 55,000 Israeli and Palestinian children have participated in educational programs learning the values of peace and dialogue through theater, cinema and the arts.
* More than 1,000 Palestinian children receive medical treatment in Israeli hospitals annually, when such treatment is unavailable in the Palestinian Authority, coordinated, organized and financed by the Peres Center for Peace. Over 5,600 children have been referred for treatment since the initiative’s launch.
* Over 2,000 Palestinian and Israeli children participate annually in the Twinned Peace Sport Schools program.
To celebrate their accomplishments, the organization is holding a three-day celebration from October 26-28, which will gather over 300 world leaders in the fields of politics, business, culture and sports. Sessions will address pressing questions on the global agenda. Panelists will include: former president of the World Bank James, President of FIFA Joseph Blatter, President of Real Madrid Ramón Calderón and Olympic gold medalist Edwin Moses, will participate in a panel on sport as a tool for building bridges; Hollywood actress Kathleen Turner and French actress Anouk Aimée will contribute to a panel on the use of culture in humanizing “the Other”.
But for some, the highlight of the party will be an invitation-only concert taking place on October 27th at the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center
entitled ‘Believe: Celebrating a Decade of Peacebuilding Activities’. In addition to featuring homegrown performers like Achinoam Nini, Ran Dankner and Liel Kolet, the international guest list is what’s raising eyebrows, mine at least.
Sharing a stage will be decadent rock & roll guitar god Slash, late of Guns & Roses and currently with Velvet Revolver, veteran disco diva Donna Summer, Argentine singer Mecedes Sosa, and celebrated tenor Andrea Bocelli.
I’d love to see Peres get up and boogie to Summer singing “Love to Love You Baby” with a scorching solo from Slash (born Saul Hudson to a Jewish father and African American mother) and backing vocals from Sosa and Bocelli. That would indeed set a new standard for coexistence that would proudly propel the Peres Center into its second decade.
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