Do Israelis care about peace?

September 12, 2010 - 2:22 PM by · Leave a Comment
Filed under: A New Reality, coexistence, General, Israeliness, Life, Politics 

The photo accompanying the TIME cover story (Uriel Sinai/Getty)

Do Israelis really want peace – and if someone writes that we don’t really care one way or another, does that constitute being anti-Israel, anti-Semitic or just demonstrates a complete lack of knowledge?

Those are some of the questions raised by the current TIME magazine cover story on our little strip of land – entitled “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace.”

The author of the story – the magazine’s new bureau chief, Karl Vick, bases his thesis on talking to a bunch of us and on a March poll that showed that only 8% of the population considered the conflict with the Palestinians to be “the most urgent problem” facing the country, placing below education, crime, national security and poverty.

I’m pretty sure Vick is relatively new to the country, since TIME’s most recent bureau chief Tim McGirk, left this year, and wasn’t replaced for a while. That shouldn’t have any bearing on the validity of the story though, if Vick was thorough in his research.

The article actually is much more reasonable than the headline, which probably resorted to sensationalism to boost flagging newstand sales. Vick was primarily stating that Israelis are obsessed about reaching a peace agreement with the Palestinians, an assessment that as much as any generalization can be, largely accurate. Then again, neither are the Palestinians. Wasn’t it PA President Mahmoud Abbas who was quoted last year as saying that the Palestinians have it pretty good right now and can continue in this manner indefinitely until they achieve statehood?

I think that what Vick was trying to say, and what his editors distorted with the title and the photo of young Israelis smoking something out of a nargilla on the beach, is that Israelis are realistic about the chances of achieving peace. And if the Palestinians aren’t serious about being partners, then yes, we can focus on the other aspects of our society that need fixing, and on our own well being and the pursuit of happiness, which is part of of our const… oops, forgot which country I was talking about.

However, the backlash against the story in chats and blogs has been over the top – even the Anti Defamation League came out with a press release calling on TIME to apologize for the article which it said was “predicated on the “insidious subtext” of Jews being obsessed with money.

“The outcry from the Jewish community and others over Time’s Israel cover story has been overwhelming,” said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. “We have received calls and e-mails from around the country expressing outrage at the implication that Israelis care more about money than a future of peace and security. After reading the story, we understand why so many people were offended.”

“The insidious subtext of Israeli Jews being obsessed with
money echoes the age-old anti-Semitic falsehood that Jews care about
money above any other interest, in this case achieving piece with the
Palestinians,” wrote Mr. Foxman. “At the same time, Time ignores the
very real sacrifices made by Israel and its people in the pursuit of
peace and the efforts by successive Israeli governments of
reconciliation.”

Vick and his editors at TIME are wrong – Israelis care very deeply about peace. But while we’re waiting for the peace train to leave the station from Ramallah, from Damascus and from Arab capitals around the Middle East, there’s plenty of time to smoke some nargillas and make some money. And if that’s perceived as callous by the liberal establishment, then so be it.

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TIME cites Israeli for creating ‘new art form’

November 17, 2009 - 9:14 PM by · 2 Comments
Filed under: A New Reality, design, General, Music, Pop Culture, Technology 

YouTube Preview ImageWe wrote about him back in March and now the rest of the world is catching on. One of the top 50 inventions of 2009, according to TIME magazine is the music video montage Web site created by Israeli musicians Ophir Kutiel, who goes by the name Kutiman.

Kutiel’s site, thru-you.com, has atttracted more than seven million viewers with its striking remixes of video clips by amateur musicians from YouTube. TIME called the work “video jams of amazing funkiness, in the process creating an all-new art form.”

Kutiman takes YouTube footage of people giving gear demos and lessons on how to play certain riffs and combines them into incredibily cohesive and soulful songs. Hailed as the “psychedelic funk architect” Kutiman brings UGC (Users Generated Content) to the next level.

According to his record company NMC, Kutiman sat in his bedroom studio and watched and sorted thousands of music videos uploaded to YouTube by mostly anonymous users. Kutiman chose around a 100 of these videos – made by users from all around the world, featuring both musical instruments, vocals, toys and other surprising artifacts, and fused them together into Thru You. Using only materials found on YouTube, not playing a single note himself, Kutiman’s Thru You is a 21st century version of Found Art.

On an inventions list consisting of primarily gadgets and technology, Kutiman’s Thru You is certainly striking an appealing chord.

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