Foto Friday – Footprints

July 31, 2009 - 11:30 PM by Rachel Neiman · 3 Comments
Filed under: Foto Friday, General, Pop Culture, Travel 

Sometimes it’s good to take a moment and see Israel from a different vantage point. In summer if you look down, for instance, you’re very likely to see “balatot” — the ubiquitous light limestone floor tile — plus a variety of fun footwear that takes you from work to the beach and back again.

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A trip to the Dead Sea affords another type of shoe, suited to mud baths and salt water.

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Which is different to what you’d wear to snap some sidewalk graffiti while walking up and down Rothschild Boulevard at Tel Aviv’s Laila Lavan all-night street fair. (This takeoff on the Peace Now logo says “Shalit Now” in reference to captured IDF soldier Gilad Shalit).

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And sometimes a girl needs to take a rest from those heels at a sidewalk pub (note the Ackerstein paving blocks so typical of Tel Aviv).

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A little culture never hurt.

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Though these shoes might — especially the price. (Three thousand-plus shekels!)

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Thank goodness, at the end of the day, there’s a place to relax on the edge of the Med.

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PR woman Efrat Gurman is a consummate media professional who’s made a career out of positioning things differently. She’s a colleague and friend to photographers and in her few spare moments, snaps pictures of her own, mostly of of things that interest her – or that she makes interesting. For more of her “Footprints” series click here.

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Aye aye sir – Israeli guards fight piracy on the high seas

May 6, 2009 - 12:32 PM by Nicky · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Crime, General, Life, War 

Piracy – just the word sums up visions of cannons, rigging, cutlasses and eye patches. But as shipping companies worldwide know only too well – piracy didn’t end in the 19th century, but continues to be an increasingly well-armed modern-day plague.

Piracy just ain't what it used to be.

Piracy just ain't what it used to be.

Now there’s a new weapon in the fight against 21st century pirates – Israeli security guards.

It’s hardly surprising is it? Security forces worldwide are turning to Israel to learn how to protect themselves, and Israeli bodyguards are the security of choice for all the Hollywood superstars.

Out on the high seas, Israelis are proving to be just as successful in protecting their charges from the 1,000 or so Somali pirates holding the world’s ships to ransom on the Indian Ocean. (Last year alone 100 ships were attacked, and pirates are currently holding at least 16 ships and more than 250 seamen to ransom.)

Not long ago, Israeli guards repelled a pirate attack on an Italian cruise ship, the Melody, off the coast of Somalia. There were 1,500 people on board the cruise liner, and pirates tried to storm it, firing automatic weapons at the ship.

As the pirates tried to clamber up the sides of the ship on ladders, the Israeli security staff employed by Israeli maritime security company Mano International, opened fire and sprayed them with fire hoses, driving the attackers away after a 10 minute battle. Surprisingly, given the situation, it was the first time a ship’s crew actually fought back.

In an Israeli newspaper, the head of the Italian cruise line said he hired the Israelis because they were the best-trained security agents.

Mano has been operating covertly in this area for 22 years, and the company’s owner told the press he has no interest in exposure. This is the same company, however, that extracted passengers from the Italian ship Achille Lauro when it was hijacked and set alight in 1985 by Palestinian terrorists.

With two other Israeli companies operating in this area, it’s nice to know that Israelis are helping keep the world’s waterways safe from modern day Blackbeards. Oh Arr me hearties.

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