• Home
• Archives
• About
• Links
• Contact

An excellent jobnik

It’s niece/nephew month. Last one, I promise…

So, Natan, my 19-year-old nephew, who made aliyah with his family just three and a half years ago when he was 16, and entered the army last year, was nominated to receive the Presidential Excellence Award, the highest honor you can receive in the IDF.

Natan is a ‘jobnik’ in army parlance, which means he has a desk job. In his case, he works out of a large army base near Tel Aviv, where he does several things, including troubleshoot computer issues and teach English. He fell in with a great commanding Druze officer and a good crew of fellow soldiers, and despite worries at the start that the army would be a huge adjustment for this NYC-born and bred boy, he’s done just fine. His commanding officer and fellow soldiers sometimes don’t know what to make of Natan, who’s into musical theater, choral music and making bizarre flavors of ice cream, among other things, but it’s a testament to him and his mostly easygoing character that they all get along really well, and even came to see him perform Shakespeare.

Anyway, I wasn’t really surprised that Natan was nominated for the award, which includes getting pinned by President Shimon Peres in a public ceremony. He already knows that he’s not receiving the award, but will be receiving a lower level excellence award with a less public ceremony, and, a new uniform, which he’s pleased about. But what he talked about most, besides the intense interview that he underwent at a Herzliya hotel, was the food at the hotel, which was “out of this world,” compared to his now lowered army food standards. Hey, there are benefits to lower level excellence.

Picture of the week: The long goodbye to Rabin

There can’t be many people on the left or the right in Israel who don’t still wonder what would have happened if former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin hadn’t died the night he was shot by religious fanatic Yigal Amir.

Would we have peace now? Would the second intifada have been avoided? Or would everything have unfolded in much the same way? We’ll obviously never know.

What amazes me most is that it was 14 years ago, but the memories are still painful for so much of Israeli society. It’s an open-wound that as David so rightfully pointed out in his post, Have any lessons been learned , hasn’t yet been resolved.

I was at the rally the night Rabin was assassinated. We didn’t know about the shooting until after we left, when we visited friends on our way home and found them glued to the television. Even then it was clear, history had just taken a completely different route.

Israel’s president Shimon Peres addressing the crowd on Saturday at the 14th anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin in Tel Aviv. Photo by Liron Almog/Flash90.

Have any lessons been learned from Rabin’s assassination?

Thursday marks the 14th anniversary of the death of prime minister Yitzhak Rabin – certainly one of the cataclysmic events of Israel’s short history.

The divisions among the country’s citizens which led to Rabin’s assassination are still very apparent, with venom from both the Right and Left toward each other spouting freely without any attempt to mask the hatred. The Right blames Rabin and his followers on the Left for the failed Oslo process and the Left blames the Right for the environment that enabled an Israeli to take the life of a prime minister.

While most of the country mourns Rabin’s death and marks each anniversary with sadness, there’s a not so small minority who don’t take part in the collective grief and go about their business like any other day. It’s not a holiday that brings the country together.

Still, there are attempts at unity. President Shimon Peres opened the 24 hours of commemoration saying that the former prime minister’s vision of peace will not be abandoned. The state ceremony, held at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem, was attended by Rabin family members, ministers, members of Knesset, and students from schools throughout Israel.

“Israel’s young generation has kept in their hearts the knowledge that such a despicable murder mustn’t ever happen again,” said Peres. “When the criminal took Yitzhak’s life, he intended to extinguish all hope for peace as well, but his plot will not succeed.”

Peres added that while peace has many enemies outside of Israel, there are also many skeptics within Israel’s own borders. He added that “Rabin’s assassination delayed the entire process and hampered the diplomatic course, but the understanding between us and our neighbors has grown, and its urgency has not changed.”

Memorial ceremonies will continue Thursday throughout the country, and the state ceremony is scheduled to take place in Mount Herzl cemetery at noon.

I remember leaving my newspaper that night after putting out the Rabin assassination edition thinking that Israel was in mortal danger from within, and wondering if we would survive. 14 years, we have perservered, but still have many lessons left to learn and internalize about what kind of country we want to build here.

Rally in Tel Aviv

It makes you proud to live here. Last night, over 20,000 people gathered at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv to express solidarity with the gay community, a week after a gunman killed two people at a center for gay youth.

“The bullets that hit the gay community at the beginning of the week struck us all as people, as Jews, as Israelis … criminals will not set our agenda,” said President Shimon Peres from the podium. “The Creator of the world did not endow anyone with the power to murder his peer.”

Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai also spoke at the rally, saying that “we thought that in Tel Aviv-Yafo… we had created an open and accepting society for our children.”

Police still have the case under a gag order, and have not revealed a motive for the shooting. Speculation ranges from it being a hate crime against gays to a personal attack, either by a father of one of the center’s patron’s or perhaps a scorned romantic involvement. Outspoken activists were quick to point fingers at conservative, religious legislators for creating an environment that would enable the attack to occur, but there’s been no evidence released tying in any religious aspects to the shooting.

Last Saturday, a masked gunman burst into a community centre for gay teenagers in Tel Aviv and shot dead Nir Katz, 26-year-old, and a 16-year-old Liz Trubeshi. Thirteen other people were wounded.

Vigils have been held at cities around the world for the victims, and last night, several musicians and entertainers appeared at the Tel Aviv rally, including Rita, Dana International, Ninette Tayeb, Amir Fay Guttman, Keren Peles, Corinne Alal and Ivri Lider.

Would it better if if turned out that the shooter was targeting gays out of hate, or if it was simply a random mass shooting, the kind that takes place in the US on a weekly basis, like last week’s ramapage at a fitness center in Pennsylvania? Both scenarios are kind of horrific, and neither bode well for Israeli society.

Papal baggage

Only two popes have ever visited Israel. In 1964, which was a good 29 years prior to the Vatican’s eventual recognition of Israel as a sovereign state, Pope Paul VI set foot in the Holy Land.

And in 2000, when a pre-intifada Israel seemed poised to position herself as the venue for ushering in a new Millennium of peace and tolerance, Pope John Paul II went on an inspirational whirlwind tour of the land. He held a mass for tens of thousands on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, met with dignitaries and religious leaders from many sectors and even made appearances at the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum and the Western Wall (pictured).

The Polish-bred, relatively reconciliatory and dovish pontiff made quite an impression, and many felt that the visit represented a landmark in global healing. As John Paul II said in a statement in Jerusalem,

“We know that real peace in the Middle East will come only as a result of mutual understanding and respect between all the peoples of the region: Jews, Christians and Muslims. In this perspective, my pilgrimage is a journey of hope, the hope that the twenty-first century will lead to a new solidarity among the peoples of the world, in the conviction that development, justice and peace will not be attained unless they are attained for all.”

Our Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched a highly comprehensive mini-site aimed at commemorating the occasion, with resources including an extended streaming commemorative video (link towards the top of the main page).

Ha’aretz recently announced that it had discovered plans for the current pontiff, Benedict XVI, to come to Israel this coming May (just a few weeks prior to Bob Dylan’s expected arrival), thanks to an invitation issued by President Shimon Peres.

Apparently the Vatican has yet to confirm Ha’aretz’s announcement, prompting many to wonder what the full story here may be. It might just be a case of bureaucracy needing to work itself out, but the complex context and baggage surrounding the controversial Benedict and his relationship with the Jews and their homeland are undeniable. In the meantime, news site eFluxMedia has done an impressive job of enumerating some of these factors….

[There's] an ongoing controversy over Vatican moves to elevate to sainthood the World War II-era pontiff Pius, who many Jews accuse of failing to speak out against the Nazi mass-murder of Jews, the Holocaust.

The German-born Benedict defended Pius when commemorating the 50th anniversary of his death this year. However, he has put Pius’ beatification – an important step towards sainthood – on hold.

Late last year the Vatican turned down an invitation by Peres to visit the Holy Land in 2008, citing a stall in long-standing negotiations with Israel.

The talks focus on taxation of church property and visas for Catholic clergy – issues that have marred Israel’s relations with the Holy See for decades.

Image courtesy escapedtowisconsin from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

The cleaner the better

Many of us were raised singing songs about how we should “Clean up / Clean up / Everybody everywhere,” but we might not have thought about that on a global scale until around the time Al Gore won an Oscar.

When Clean Up Australia merged with the United Nations Environment Programme in 1993, Clean Up the World was born. Held each fall, member communities participate in Clean Up the World Day, with over 35 million people picking garbage out of their neighborhoods’ flora, fauna, beaches, urban landscapes, etc.

Locally, grassroots efforts to clean up after our less conscientious peers have been active for years, but never institutionalized on a major scale.

With a statement from President Shimon Peres that we ought to “Take the broom and together we will make Israel clean, healthy and green,” the Israeli government (in partnership with the JNF) kicked off its own version of International Cleaning Day one day just over a year ago.

As part of that campaign, which enlisted the help of some 17,000 local volunteers, the JNF organized a mixed crew of Jews and Muslims in the Bedouin village of Rahat for some collecting of strewn garbage. Talal al-Qarnawi, Rahat’s mayor, was glowing at the time:

“JNF not only plants trees, it spreads love between people with a common goal. Today, when Jewish and Bedouin children cleaned the streets of Rahat with their green garbage bags, I saw how much this meant for the residents of my city. JNF is building our common future, and together we will create a better and cleaner Negev for all to share.”

Now Israel’s National Cleaning Day is becoming even more official, according to a recent report on YNet. This week, the Knesset ratified a law to involve the national government in 2009’s festivities, enlisting students, civil servants and IDF conscripts to help in the efforts – which will involve not only actual cleaning up, but also educational activities aimed at minimizing 2010’s workload.

Image courtesy Eitan B from Flickr under a Creative Commons license.

Towards a Palestinian and Israeli Will and Grace

What a year it’s been for parties for Shimon Peres. First came his President’s Conference in May, which brought the great and glorious from all over the world to Jerusalem to walk the halls and decorate the foyers of the International Convention Center.

Now it’s the 10th anniversary of the Peres Center for Peace, and while the guest list for the three-day Tel Aviv event is slightly less glamorous this time round, it’s still full of notable notables from the president’s bursting rolodex.

I’ve always been a great admirer of the Peres Center. Set up in 1998 when optimism was running high and peace with the Palestinians looked a whole lot more likely, the center still survived the crushing setback of the intifada, which broke out two years later. Throughout these difficult years it kept pushing through with its message of peace, even when many decent Israelis and Palestinians had all but given up hope.

I went to the anniversary conference yesterday, and sat in on a session with actress Kathleen Turner on nurturing peace through culture and media.

From my own experiences as a journalist I know that spreading good news isn’t easy. Some years ago I suggested a series of articles about coexistence to a national newspaper in England. “Great stories,” the editor told me. “They should be written. But they’re not for us.” Nor for anyone else at the time either. Stories about peace don’t sell.

It’s a problem the guests ranging from Daoud Kuttab, a Palestinian journalist, to Prof. Federico Mayor, president of the Foundation for a Culture of Peace and Judith Miller, author and Pulitzer prize-winning journalist, brought up themselves.
Images of destruction are much more exciting to watch, explained Merav Michaeli, the moderator of the event. “Construction just isn’t that sexy,” she said.

They also stressed the importance of humanizing the other side. According to Aliza Savir, the DDG of the Peres Center, the success or failure of any official peace process is completely determined by the extent to which the public are given the opportunity to see the human side of their foe. “Any peace process should focus on humanization of the other side,” she said. “There’s a need to affect mind sets rather than altering political opinions.”

So what positive images could be sexy on TV? “I want to see a Palestinian and Israeli Will and Grace,” said Miller. “Obama wouldn’t be where he is today if it hadn’t been for the positive images of blacks in comedies and dramas on mainstream American TV.”

Read more

Here we go again

So, it’s all but a foregone conclusion that we’re headed for early elections. Just what this country needs.

Kadima leader Tzippi Livni, claiming that she wasn’t ready to give in to the ‘blackmail’ of potential coalition partners like Shas, took the high road and went to President Shimon Peres today and returned the mandate he entrusted her with last month to form a new government.

So barring some unforeseen blip, and owing to the convoluted manner the president and the Knesset parties must behave now, we’re looking at mid-Feburary for election day. And guess who’s prime minister til then? Ehud Olmert.
Ain’t Israeli politics grand?

I’m actually looking forward to the campaigning, because the televised election ads are among the most entertaining moments of TV since the original Saturday Night Live in the mid-1970s.

That’s about the only consolation to the whole ordeal, because whether Livni and Kadim come out on top again (highly unlikely), the Labor Party and Ehud Barak make a comeback (even unlikelier), or the Likud and Bibi Netanyahu clean up (Lord help us because it’s very likely), the resulting coalition will be very similar to The Who’s “Won’t Get Fooled Again”, which goes “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

I’m sure that despite the fateful issues and decisions facing us, the next elections will have a record low turnout. Until we start producing some new blood and new ideas, more and more Israelis are going to continue turning off to politics. And it’s a time when we can ill afford to leave our fate to others to decide.

Maybe the environmental Green Party will finally galvanize voters and become this next election’s Pensioners’ party or Shinui – a dark horse coming out of nowhere.to capture the minds and hearts of the population.

Guns & Peres

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.

Israel Picks National Bird, The Hoopoe

With bated breath, Israelis waited for Shimon Peres’ announcement yesterday: Israel’s National Bird will be the … (drum roll) …

The hoopoe!

Known as “Duchifat” (doo-khi-faht) in Hebrew, we had our first exposure to the hoopoe through Salman Rushdie’s novel, Haroun and the Sea of Stories, where Haroun the protagonist gets a mechanical hoopoe bird to fly him to the Land of Gup. A good read.

If you’ve even been to Israel you can see these delightful-looking birds, with a majestic headpiece, flying through Israel which is a migratory bottleneck for millions of birds heading to Europe or back to Africa.

According to the Haaretz newspaper, the hoopoe garnered 35 percent of the popular vote, barely edging out the goldfinch and the warbler. However, it won the unanimous support of a public committee, and since the national bird committee’s vote was worth one-quarter of the total vote, that gave the hoopoe a decisive victory.

In the birdwatching community, reactions to the results were mixed. Alon said he had supported the goldfinch at the beginning of the process. “The finch’s numbers are declining and it is being hunted,” he explained.

Dr Uzi Paz, a veteran birder and former head of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, supported the warbler: “That is a bird I researched, so I was rooting for it.”

The Bible mentions the hoopoe as a non-kosher bird, and the Quran tells a tale of King Solomon who spoke to animals and told the hoopoe of his visit to the Queen of Sheba’s land.

James, a Green Prophet, has been following the vote for some time, writing a series of posts about the vote here, here, here and here; and also over on Jewcy where he talks about an unusual bird that sings in his garden. Worth a read.

Our boyfriend asked us, “Why the hoopoe? Israel should have picked the dove.” Cute. We hadn’t even thought of that possibility. What do you think? Was the hoopoe the right choice for Israel?

Haaretz

 

• Subscribe

  Subscribe to Israelity via email:

• Social Media

  • Twitter
  • YouTube
• • Facebook

• Categories

  • A New Reality
  • Art
  • Blogging
  • Business
  • coexistence
  • Crime
  • design
  • education
  • Environment
  • Food
  • Foto Friday
  • General
  • health
  • History and Culture
  • Holidays
  • Immigrant Moments
  • Israeliness
  • Life
  • Medical Breakthroughs
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Nostalgia Sunday
  • Picture of the Week
  • Politics
  • Pop Culture
  • Profiles
  • Religion
  • Social Justice
  • Sports
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • tv
  • War

• The Face of Israel Today

• 

• About Israelity

  Israel is often seen as a place of conflict and strife. In reality there is much more: there's business and research; art and culture; community and family. At ISRAELITY, Israelis blog their daily thoughts, experiences and insights. It's the real Israel, not the media's Israel. It's people living ordinary lives in an extraordinary place.

• Free newsletter

  Sign up for ISRAEL21c's free weekly newsletter Email:

• Stories from ISRAEL21c.org

  • Roche uses Israeli product in drug trial
  • Making music in the military
  • Israeli study: saliva spreads pneumonia
  • Burns are deadly in the heart of darkness

• Popular Posts

  • Idan Raichel project salutes Jerusalem
  • Foto Friday – Ron Shoshani’s Israel Eye Candy
  • Using the Mossad to sell food
  • Update: Boycott of Metallica results in lower prices
  • Recruiting Yossi to explain Israel

• Recently Written

  • Nostalgia Sunday – The Old Train Station is New Again
  • My brisket butcher
  • Foto Friday – Danny Yanai’s Israeli Walls
  • The week that was
  • Running the marathon – Israeli style
  • A (c)hair raising experience
  • Light, Shadow and Color
  • A little Yolki Palki
  • On the road again
  • Nostalgia Sunday – The Womens Corps
  
  

• OUR COMMUNITY

• Recent Comments

  • My brisket butcher | ISRAELITY on On the road again
  • Brian Temecula on A (c)hair raising experience
  • Foto Friday – Danny Yanai’s Israeli Walls | ISRAELITY on Foto Friday – Biking to the Extreme
  • Thomas on A little Yolki Palki
  • Raya Ben-Eliahu on Using the Mossad to sell food