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Nostalgia Sunday – Save the Stadium

“Ramat Gan” means “Garden Height” and, true to the city’s name, its citizens will brook no nonsense when it comes to their green spaces. They pay one the country’s highest municipal taxes and will stand on principle when it comes to preserving a patch of grass – particularly if it is surrounded by stadium seating with bunch of guys on it, running up and down after a ball. But more about that in a moment.

The visionary behind Ramat Gan was its first mayor, Avraham Krinitzi, who contracted Moshe Kavshani, a graduate of the Mikve Yisrael agricultural school, to plan the city’s parks and gardens. Kavshani, according to the Wikipedia (Hebrew) entry about public park Gan Shaul, “as evinced by the municipal records from the late 1930s, was a gardener of great soul, who was very aware of the importance of the connection between people and their environment. Every time a new public park was inaugurated, Kavshani would invite pupils from the local schools to the ceremony, during which he would ‘hand over’ [the garden] to their care. In this way, he created an emotional tie between the children of Ramat Gan and their city’s parks.”

Kavshani designed Gan Shaul to sprawl 25 square kilometers over the city’s hillsides. Popularly known as “Gan Ha-Kofim” or “The Monkey Park”, Gan Shaul was inaugurated in March 1938 at a ceremony presided over by Mandatory Palestine Southern District Commissioner REH Crosbie. The park got its nickname from the cages of monkeys, peacocks, turtles, rabbits and other animals put on display. In 1974, the animals were transferred to more humane surroundings at the newly established Ramat Gan Safari. Gan Shaul didn’t fare as well: its area, already cut to 16 sq km was reduced to a mere 12 sq km and an 11 meter tall water tower was erected on its highest point.

But the real blow came in 2007, when the Ramat Gan municipality announced its intention to construct a public parking lot on the Gan Shaul site. That’s when the neighborhood rallied to save its Monkey Park in a well-publicized battle that garnered popular support from members of the city council, the local Green Party, the Society for the Preservation of Nature in Israel (SPNI), the Israel Union for Environmental Defense (Adam Teva v’Din) and the Society for Preservation of Israel Heritage Sites (SPIHS). The municipality caved in 2008, scrapped the parking plan, transferred the NIS 8 million in funding to education and social welfare and invested NIS 300,000 in new playground equipment and greenery. What an amazing city! The Wikipedia entry also notes that closed circuit TV cameras were also installed around the water tower site to stave off vandalism.

Given this proud history, it’s no wonder that Ramat Gan’s citizenry are once again up in arms over the latest plan – this time opposing the Hapoel organization’s plan to sell off the Machtesh Stadium. Although a complete eyesore on the outside, on the inside this unusual field –- built into a steep hillside– is lush and green (and flat). It’s also the historic home of soccer team Hapoel Ramat Gan (now used to train the junior leagues) and you do not mess with their fans. On Thursday, Y-net reported that the police was investigating the possibility of an improper sale of the land to real estate developer Eurocom and the neighbors are planning a public protest this coming Tuesday, June 1. Although motivated less by love of football and more by not wanting a high-rise in their neighborhood (there really is NO parking in Ramat Gan), you’ve got to admire their spirit. Moshe Kavshani would have.

Click here for more about the demonstration. You can also join the Ramat Gan Facebook fan page here.

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Foto Friday – Painting Feb Red

It’s February which means only six more weeks of winter, or maybe just six minutes more, given the freakish weekend hot spell. The JNF-KKL has declared February a month-long Festival Darom Adom, or Scarlet South Festival, in honor of the wild red anemones now dotting the fields all over the country, but particularly the northern Negev region where the local residents have organized walking tours and entertainment.

Photo by Hirshfield, courtesy JNF-KKL

The red anemone or calanit, is a favorite of Israelis and one of the success stories of Israel’s campaign to save its wildflowers.

Photo courtesy of Free Israel Photos

According to website Wild Flowers in Israel, an excellent resource, “the Hebrew name ‘kalanit’ is related to the Hebrew word for a bride ‘kala’, referring to its beauty,” and is mentioned the Talmud.

Photo courtesy of Flowers in Israel

Hebrew University’s Flora of Israel Online has plenty of scientific articles and lots more photos of this beloved flower.

Photo courtesy of Wildflowers in Israel

For those who can’t be here right now to see these red beauties at their peak, we present a few images to enjoy. And please visit the JNF-KKL website to download their amazing screensaver of Israel’s wildflowers.

Photo by Gil Soffer

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Nostalgia Sunday – Pressed Wildflowers

Last week’s freakishly warm weather sent the almond trees into bloom. Although it was a false spring, residents of the entire country went out for their annual wildflower trek.

Yes, Israelis love their wildflowers. Well, at least they know not to pick wildflowers. In fact the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) did such a good job of brainwashing the past few generations of schoolchildren that you will never catch an Israeli picking a wildflower. They’ll throw garbage on it, pee on it, build an ugly edifice next to it, but pick it?! Never.

When I was a child, a bookmark with pressed wildflowers was one of the more charming tourist trinkets you could pick up (hard to find but still charming today).

Back in the pre-TV days, before the ban on picking wildflowers took hold, Israeli schoolchildren were encouraged to not only to pick but also to collect and study the different kinds of flora native to this land, and press them between the pages of a book.

Later on, commerce got into the act and albums were made available as promotional items like this one from margarine manufacturer Telma Gold Band.

And of course, the Israel Postal Authority (today’s Israel Post), did its part by issuing stamps of our most popular wildflowers.

Competing margarine manufacturer Blue Band also took on the cause as part of an advertising campaign bossily entitled (in the command form) “Know Our Country’s Flowers”. This ad is for the caper (Capparis spinosa L.). I’m not sure why all these margarine makers were so interested in educating the young people about wildflowers but I’m guessing it had something to do with safflower oil.

Today, you’re more likely to find cultivated flowers, rather than wild ones, pressed and waxed or laminated into bookmarks, candles and jewelry. I’m not sure, however, what the SPNI would make of this set of nails, but you’ve got to admire the work put into these tiny purple petals, lacquered and bonded onto synthetic tips, the handiwork of manicurist Ronit!

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Foto Friday – Butterflies

Gideon Pisanty is a biologist from Israel with an interest in botany, evolution, ecology, genetics, and conservation biology. He is also a prolific photographer of Israel’s flora and its fauna as well. Pisanty is a steady contributor of lepidiotric images to Wikipedia — just search Wikimedia Commons for “Israel” “butterflies” and you’ll see what I mean — along with a few other enthusiasts. Before butterfly season ends (it began a few weeks ago before the high heat of summer) here are a few images to enjoy.

Archon apollinus bellargus – Photo by Gideon Pisanty

Gonepteryx cleopatra taurica – Photo by Gideon Pisanty

Melitaea phoebe (mating*) – Photo by Gideon Pisanty

Apharitis cilissa – Photo by Gideon Pisanty

Apharitis acamas acamas – Photo by Gideon Pisanty

There are plenty more photos at Wikimedia. To learn more about the local Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths to you and me), visit the Israeli Lepidopterists Society homepage. Or read this book: Lepidoptera in Israel; it was very well-reviewed. Or go out for a hike – the butterflies are all around.

*Yes, they are having sex.

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Foto Friday – Israel is Birdwatch Central

Tiny Israel is located on a land bridge that forms one of the major routes for birds migrating between Eurasia and Africa. Each spring, hundreds of millions of birds fly north to Europe and Asia, and thousands of birdwatchers from around the world come to Israel to watch them at sites such as the Kibbutz Lotan Centre for Birdwatching, the International Birding & Research Center in Eilat (IBRCE), and other birdwatching stations.

Bird watching season opens next week with the 2nd annual Artists for Nature Festival , which will take place in the Hula Valley on 6-15 March 2009 The festival, organized by the Israel Ornithological Center of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel (SPNI) together with the Dutch-based Artists for Nature Foundation (ANF), is intended to raise awareness of top priority conservation issues through cultural exchange. Over 20 internationally-renowned wildlife artists will participate by drawing and painting alongside Israeli wildlife artists in the open landscapes of the Hula Valley. In addition, there will be nature tours, lectures and workshops that will be open to the general public.

Then, at the end of the month, the Ornithological Center, together with IBRCE, will organize the 3rd annual International Spring Migration Festival in Eilat on 23-30 March 2009. The program, timed to coincide with the peak week of Israel’s spring migration, will include activities for nature lovers and birders of all levels.

These activities dovetail nicely with the news that British nature magazine BBC Wildlife, declared the Hula Lake Park as one of the most important photography and observation sites in the world.

Sassi Haham is an avid photographer/videographer and birdwatcher who shoots amazing videos. Some of these are posted here with many more to view on ExposureRoom, and on Zapar.col.il, the Israeli birdwatching portal – which also has a comprehensive index of Israel’s birds.

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