I don’t love Hanania, but I find that he’s necessary. There are few bridges between the two sides in the Arab-Israeli conflict and as a writer, I believe he has positioned himself as a bridge. For evidence of this, consider that both Arab and Jewish readers tend to consistently criticize his editorials.

I think today’s editorial by Hanania, touching on the issue of apartheid week, may be one of the better articles I’ve seen by him and it deserves a full read. Yes, it’s flawed, and yes, there are debatable points that are raised by him. However, there is also a great deal of truth and it’s worth thinking about. Here is some of it, but it’s worth a full read.

THE WORD apartheid does not really apply accurately to the Palestinian-Israel conflict. The word occupation does. But the rejectionists no longer like the word occupation. Apartheid symbolizes the creation of one state, while occupation fuels the movement to create two.

In misusing the word apartheid, the rejectionists and their angry, blind followers are pushing toward reenacting the transformation of South Africa in Israel and Palestine.

Palestinians who support “apartheid week” do so either out of sinister hatred of Jews, or out of blind, unreasoning anger that simmers because they can’t properly vent. The inability to release pent up anger empowers the rejectionist minority but stems from the failures of Palestinians and Arab leadership.

When Arabs couldn’t defeat Israel, they turned toward demonization. And when demonization didn’t work enough, they simply exaggerated the truth. Exaggeration is a common trait among Arabs and Israelis, too.

It’s not easy for Israelis to deal with. Israelis also come in two categories, those who hate Arabs and those who are angry with Arabs but don’t know how to deal with the issue of justice and compromise.

Most Israelis simply denounce anyone who uses the word apartheid as anti-Semitic – another abused word used as a bludgeon for those who criticize Israel.

The word anti-Semitic is to Palestinians what apartheid is to Israelis.

I could ask Palestinians, won’t it make the creation of a Palestinian state that much harder to achieve if they put all their bets onthe word apartheid? I could ask Israelis, doesn’t it show a weakness in your beliefs if you are so afraid of one simple word?

Maybe the answer is that both Palestinians and Israelis live in the dark shadows of one real truth – that they have done terrible things to each other over the years.

We all knew that Biden had a serious life-long case of foot-mouth disease. The man cannot help but make guffaws. But this trip to Israel was to be a make nice party, a chance for the US and Israel to rekindle their strong friendship and worry about BIG PROBLEMS like Iran.

Israel announced on the eve of his visit that it was halting the project that was causing so much fuss in East Jerusalem – Sheik Jarrah hood. (Remember that fake Purim video purporting to be Jews celebrating with songs in praise of Baruch Goldstein?)

UPDATE – Apparently the remarks were in response to 1600 homes in Ramat Shlomo, Wiki writes :Ramat Shlomo was founded in 1995. As of 2000, it had a population of 18,000, mostly Haredi Jews. Ramat Shlomo borders Ramot to the west, Har Hotzvim to the south, and Shuafat to the east.

Apparently, that is the “provocation” that was needed for Biden to dump a ton of rotten shwarma on Israel.

Leave it to Joe. This from the JTA:

Biden says Israeli housing starts ‘undermining’ trust

WASHINGTON (JTA) — Vice President Joe Biden denounced a decision to authorize new Jerusalem housing starts as “undermining the trust” that he needs to advance peace while in Israel.

“I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem,” Biden said in a statement issued Tuesday, the second day of a visit that had been aimed at underscoring the closeness of the U.S.-Israel relationship. “The substance and timing of the announcement, particularly with the launching of proximity talks, is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I’ve had here in Israel.”

In the long-standing Russian/Soviet/socialist tradition, don’t forget to wish your woman a Happy March 8th today-International Women’s Day.  The best way to celebrate this holiday is by cleaning the house in order to surprise her.

My favorite Jewish women?  Rachel Ben-Zvi. And Dr. Ruth, who was a Haganah sniper. And Samuelson. And, obviously, Rebecca Rubin.

Your favorite Jewesses?

The Turks are good at it; just take a look at Turkish history. The Sun language theory: all languages are descendant from an ancient Turkic language. The Turkish history thesis: all people are descendant from ancient Turkic people. Also included is that the Ottomans weren’t Turks, and that the Young Turks overthrew the evil non-Turkish Ottoman Empire. So, we shouldn’t really be surprised to hear statements from Turkey doing it again. This time, though, it’s about us. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan is quoted as having said that Rachel’s Tomb and the Cave of the Patriarchs “were not and never will be Jewish sites, but Islamic sites.” What? I can comprehend an argument that says that they shouldn’t have been included in Israel’s heritage trail, as the sites are located in the West Bank (Judea and Samaria), which will likely be a part of a Palestinian state. However, to argue that they are not now, nor ever were, Jewish? How so? This negates thousands of years of religious belief and dogma, by multiple religions, to the contrary. But Islamic sites? How so? If Abraham is the father of the Arabs and the Muslims, through Ishmael, I can understand wanting to share the Cave of the Patriarchs, since Abraham, according to tradition, was laid to rest there. However, the Tomb of Rachel? Why? Rachel has no connection to Islamic history or even Islamic dogma. So, please, Erdogan, explicate for those of us who like logical statements, in what way were these sites never Jewish, and more so, Islamic?

The other day I posted in disgust a story about the video capturing Sheikh Jarrah Jewish inhabitants listening and dancing to a song praising the murderer Baruch Goldstein. My friends and colleagues on Jewlicious, ck and Rabbi Yonah, both voiced skepticism that the video was authentic.

Not being able to tell from the video itself whether it depicts a real moment or not, simply because just as the voice-over is dubbed, the music could be dubbed as well, I’ve been looking for clues. So far, I don’t have much to go on. Ynet credits “Ta’ayush” for the photo and video that it published, with a big splashy “exclusive” on the video.

What is Ta’ayush? They describe themselves thus:

We — Arabs and Jews, Israelis and Palestinians — live surrounded by walls and barbed wire: the walls of segregation, racism, and discrimination between Jews and Arabs within Israel; the walls of Apartheid, closure and siege encircling the Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip; and the wall of war surrounding all inhabitants of Israel, so long as Israel remains an armed fortress in the heart of the Middle East.

In the fall of 2000 we joined together to form “Ta’ayush” (Arabic for “living together”), a grassroots movement of Arabs and Jews working to break down the walls of racism and segregation by constructing a true Arab-Jewish partnership. Together we strive for a future of equality, justice and peace through concrete, daily, non-violent actions of solidarity to end the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and to achieve full civil equality for all.

About Ta’ayush website

The activities and the activists of Ta’ayush were always concentrated on field work. Documentation (written or photographic) was and will continue to be secondary to this.

Okay, so they’re leftists whose views incline towards making Israel into a state that’s no longer a Jewish state. That doesn’t make them into liars, necessarily, although it also leaves them as less than objective observers, especially because Sheikh Jarrah has become a controversial flashpoint in recent weeks and they’ve been advocating against the families that have moved there.

That’s the first problem with the video. Now on to the second problem. Ta’ayush has a couple of filmmakers working with them, one of whom is Joseph Dana. Dana is a personal friend of our ck, and ck has actually posted one of his videos a video Dana had put up on his Facebook page. In fact, it is a video capturing an event at Sheikh Jarrah and ck posted it because at one point a Palestinian woman yells “Falasteene Bladna, al-Yahud klabna.” ck does us the favor of translating…and what she said was “Palestine is our country! The Jews are our dogs!”

The irony of posting a video intended to show the evils of the Jews but actually highlighting the absolute hate and peace-killing behavior of a Palestinian woman did not sit well with the videographer, Dana, probably because he belongs to an organization claiming that Palestinians and Israelis can live in harmony in one country. He criticized ck for not posting the “reality” of Sheikh Jarrah.

By the way, one of Dana’s complaints was that leftist protesters at Sheikh Jarrah were treated unjustly by the police, a position agreed to yesterday by Israel’s courts. On the other hand, in the video the protest leaders make false statements about the Palestinian “owners” of the homes into which the Jewish “settlers” had moved. The Palestinians weren’t owners, they were renters who didn’t pay their rent for years and the “settlers” are not settlers because east Jerusalem is annexed to Israel.

Dana also partners with Max Blumenthal as reporters and they gained notoriety, which we covered and discussed at some length on Jewlicious, when they posted a video that went viral about American Jews in Jerusalem who were saying horrendous things about Obama. Blumenthal and Dana defended their work, which really was nothing more than a hack job, on grandiose grounds. Dana wrote:

As a resident of Jerusalem, I can say that the people represented in this video are not members of a fringe group or simply drunk college kids. These people reflect the sentiments shared by many people in this country and this city. These people and their families are the core of the opposition to meaningful peace between Israel and her neighbors. This is what Obama is up against.

I call bullshit. That video represents nothing more than a bunch of kids half drunk and trying to be cool. That debate can be read on our post so I won’t get into it again. However, I do believe it represents impoverished journalism that is political in its nature and is far from objective, reasonable or fair. This is why I also believe that while the video may accurately depict this group of kids, it is used in a dishonest manner to score political points.

All of this brings us back to the Sheikh Jarrah – Baruch Goldstein video by Ta’ayush to which Dana and Blumenthal are contributors. That Ta’ayush are political and their politics are on the opposite side of the spectrum from the Jewish residents of Sheikh Jarrah can’t be disputed. That their view of the conflict is heavily distorted because of their politics also can’t be disputed – and the same holds true for the extremists on the right, just so we are clear.

Is the video real or not?

Well, ck knows Dana personally and Dana works for Ta’ayush. An email should be enough to have them meet for a coffee with the filmmakers who captured this event and it should be easy for those filmmakers to show ck the unedited, raw footage.

I look forward to the report.

If I have to explain to you what SXSW (South By South West) is, then, really, you need to bone up on… well, stuff. Suffice it to say this 9 day festival of independent music as well as film and technology will have plenty of representation from Israel.

Here’s the list of Israeli acts that will perform:

Wed March 17th
Carusella: Barbarella (615 Red River St) (21+) 8 pm
Onili: Club 115 (115 San Jacinto St) (21+) 11 pm
Orphaned Land: Red 7 (611 E 7th St) (All Ages) 1 am

Fri March 19th
Boom Pam: Copa (217 Congress Ave) (21+) 10 pm
Terry Poison: Spill (212 E. 6th St) (21+ ) 11 pm
Balkan Beat Box: Spill (212 E. 6th St) (21+ ) 12 am
Useless ID: Valhalla (710 Red River St) (21+) 7 pm

Saturday March 20th
Soulico: Beauty Bar/Palm Door (401 Sabine St) (21+) 10 pm
Boom Pam: Beauty Bar/Palm Door (401 Sabine St) (21+) 11 pm
Balkan Beat Box: Beauty Bar/Palm Door (401 Sabine St) (21+) 1 am

I’ve linked to the band Web sites so that you can check them out yourselves. These are all awesome acts, spanning genres from drunken gypsy to slutty electronica and I’ve seen most of them live here in Israel. Honorable mention goes to Jewlicious Festival alum Kosha Dillz who is performing on Wed. March 17th at The Independent (501 N IH 35) (21+) at 9:15 pm and for those more tech inclined, check out Judaism 2.0 with Chavi Edwards and some Lubavitcher. Also not to be missed is Jewlicious Festival alum Leah Jones who will be talking about Social Networking ruining your love life!

I’m pretty sure I have Israel’s presence down pat. Did I miss any notable Jews? Will the BDS assholes try to ruin everyone’s fun with their hypocritical, bullshit? We’ll see!

This is a bit old, courtesy of Canada:

It’s a bit like a bad Troma joke but with better production.

Purim and Activism from Eli Joseph – Taken from my living room in Maaleh Adumim

Some thoughts..

When I was growing up, I had a very minimal relationship with Purim. For me, it felt like the Jewish version of Halloween with everyone dressing up in crazy costumes, masquerading around Shul and acting in bizarre ways. I knew there was a story to it with a bad guy and a hero, but I still found the whole thing boring because I couldn’t find a way to connect with it and the parties at shul were pretty lame.

Until the day came when I moved to Israel and Purim came alive.

I learned the Megillah for the first time, and realized there was so much more to it then just another story of the Jewish people nearly being slaughtered and then saved. According to our tradition, the story in Megillat Esther takes place after the Jews had been exiled to Babylon and the First Temple was destroyed. Rulership eventually passed over to the Persians, and 52 years after the destruction, Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to the Land and rebuild the temple… But only 42,000 Jews out of millions actually went! Soon after, Achashverosh became king and things yet again took a turn for the worse; construction was halted, and in this context, the story of Purim takes place.

One of the key parts of the Purim story and the one that speaks to me the most, was the Fast of Esther. The Jews were living in a foreign land, assimilating, comfortable, and relatively at peace until Haman came to power and convinced king Achashverosh to murder them because they posed a potential threat. And how did Haman describe the Jews to Ahashverosh? He said, “There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your realm.”  Hmm… Sounds eerily familiar. Mordechai picked up on this and immediately went out in tears until Esther found him and asked what in the world was the matter. He told her of the decree to murder the Jews and that she had an obligation to go to the king and face him – to speak up and try to save the millions who were threatened! She resisted.. And her excuse? “Everyone knows that if anyone approaches the king without being summoned, they’ll be put to death.” Mordechai then told her that she could not keep silent and that her fate would not be separate from all those who would be slaughtered. He told her that perhaps the entire reason why she had become Queen was to plead on behalf of the Jews. She finally woke up and told Mordechai to assemble all the Jewish people, and together, they would fast for three days. Only then would she go and confront the king.

In Judaism, there is the idea of Tikkun, of ‘fixing.’ The three day fast was a tikkun for the Jewish people who up to that point had avoided standing together and sharing the burden of responsibility for each other as a whole. Once they fasted, the Tikkun was made and Esther was able to go to the king and plea on behalf of the people successfully.

There is a deep lesson here.. Purim is actually considered spiritually to be on a higher level than Yom Ha Kippurim, our day of atonement (if you look at the words, the first part ‘Ki’ means ‘as’, and we are left with Purim, so that Yom Kippur is striving to reach a level of spiritual depth that Purim achieves). And why? Nowhere in the entire Megillah of Purim is God mentioned, and yet, the greatest Tikkun of standing together was still able to happen without any visible Godly hand telling us what to do. This teaches us the power we have within ourselves to shape our reality, to positively affect our present and future if we are able to stop judging each other and unite through a place of love.

And why do we drink on Purim? Our venerable Rabbis taught that on Purim, we’re supposed to reach a level of “Nahafochu,” where everything is reversed or flipped, to get to the point were you’re so drunk, you can’t even tell the difference between Mordechai and Haman.  So we drink to go even deeper, beyond all boundaries, to a place where walls melt and we see the oneness in us all.

The Rabbis also said “Mi she nichnass Adar, Marbim be Simcha!” He who brings in the month of Adar is full of Joy!” From a place of brokeness, we are able to rise, through loving each other, growing, taking responsibility for one another, and bringing goodness, joy and light to the world.

May we all have a Purim Sameach!!

Gallup survey has us on top, Iran and PA on bottom

A recent Gallup poll ranked Israel 5th among countries viewed most favorably by Americans. Canada ranked in 1st place, followed by Britain, Germany and Japan. In last place was Iran with only 10% of Americans viewing it favorably, preceded by Afghanistan (18%) and the Palestine Authority (21%). The poll is interesting given that many Jewish opponents of US President Obama claimed that his Presidency would fuel anti-Israel sentiment, yet “Most countries’ favorability ratings … were essentially unchanged during the first year of the Obama administration, Gallup said.” So the question is, what does this mean? Does it mean that having Israeli supermodel Bar Refaeli on the cover of Sports Illustrated is the best PR Israel can ever have? Does it mean that there are many Americans who will continue to view Israel favorably regardless of the situation? Keep in mind, this survey, conducted in February, happened after the Gaza war and after the Goldstone Report. I don’t have the answers but I think that it’s obvious that the image of Israel in the US is clearly not as bad as some would have you believe and that I welcome any opportunity to post photos of Bar Refaeli.

Mr. B enjoys tennis immensely.  I do not, because just watching tennis is exhausting and I am alarmed if I burn calories just sitting on the couch.  In any case, today he tried, again, subversively, to get me interested in tennis by sending me an article about homegirl Shahar Pe’er, who continues to be awesome, despite the fact that Dubai (or Death-bai, as I like to call it, har-har) kind of hates her and maybe wants to kill her.

Shahar Peer, with the winds of poetic justice firmly at her back, is on a run at the women’s event in Dubai. Today the Israeli, who was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates last year to play this tournament, advanced to the quarterfinals by upending No. 1 seed Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets.

To have an athlete from Israel, whose diplomatic existence the UAE doesn’t recognize, competing in that country is a political victory that resonates far beyond the lines of a tennis court.

I hate how we have to make this all about politics.  Can’t Shahar just play without incident?  No, because, as an Israeli, Shahari is totes responsible for the death of Arab babies, not to mention HIV.  Come to think of it, Shahar probably served in the IDF and killed Hamas terrorists and civilians alike with her racket, because that’s how murderous and Israeli she is.   Although Shahar Peer, Tennis Annihilator is a great idea for a TV show.  Keshet, are you listening?

They asked for it. And now they have it. So many Israelis, and lovers of the State of Israel, have been saddened in the past several decades by the perception of Israel and Israelis among non-Israelis. Whether Israelis were traveling through India, Thailand, Europe, South and North America, or even Dubai’s al-Bustan Rotana hotel, they were confronted with awful perceptions of Israel.

The Israeli government’s solution is… well first of all, they decided to have Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon snub the visiting delegation of U.S. Members of Congress this week. That will boost Israel’s perception in the minds of U.S. lawmakers and appropriation leaders. The second solution is to direct Israelis to a comical webpage which instructs Israelis how best to represent Israel and Israel’s mission and cause to the world. Unfortunately, at first glance, it seems as if the Masbirim Ministry is under the false perception that the world thinks Israel is backwards and everyone rides a camel. They should have spent some shekels on outside polling. They might have found that the world thinks Israel is technicaly advanced, but just an oppressor.

The Ministry of Information and Diaspora Affairs and its information minister, Yuli Edelstein, is even offering a course. The slogan is “Together we will change the picture.” It is catchier than saying, “Together we will vote an administration into office, we will make certain policy decisions which affect the world perception of the country its people and leaders, and then the elected administration will help you, the citizen-tourist and isra-phile, not change the picture but at least help to essplain this decision and correct the world’s perception.. 2gether.”

This afternoon an Israeli was stabbed to death in his jeep while waiting at the Tapuach Junction (in Judea and Samaria). Who was this terrorist? He was a PA police officer. This, while the PA is calling to increase their security forces (see last week’s speech by Fayad). So, what are we to conclude? That the PA is using its security forces to perpetrate state-sanctioned terrorist activity?

We are surprised!

Last Wednesday night, delivering the keynote address at the Herzliya Conference, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, gave a surprisingly brilliant speech. He spoke of security, saying that Israel “must continue and strengthen its military might,” elaborating that the “weak do not survive in this region [the Middle East], and the weak do not make peace.” Yet, he noted that defending against terrorism is costly. Every state need (including security, health care, education, etc.) requires a strong economy. Israel has a strong economy, with a GDP per capita of around $30,000 a year. But to allow the economy to continue growing, Netanyahu stated that economic impediments must be removed. Israel, he expressed, should become a leading technological power. Mostly, he spoke of education. Education, he said, “is the melting pot for national resilience.” He discussed the need for greater Jewish and Zionist education in Israel, and the opening of two new national trails; one to be the historic Jewish trail of Israel and the second to be the historical Zionist trail of Israel.

I will admit, as I stood there listening to his speech, I was in shock. How could he have wasted this opportunity to address the international community? Yet, upon reflection, I came to see that his speech was ingenious. He was not merely addressing Israel, saying that our youth must be more connected to their Jewish and Zionist past. Rather, he addressed the world. To the international community, he subtly said, enough is enough. Enough with attacking the legitimacy of the existence of the State of Israel. Enough with disparaging the Jewish connection to the land. The land of Israel has been ours from time immemorial; from Jerusalem to Be’er Sheva, Tzfat to Tel Lachish, Tzipori to Massada. Enough with the narrative that the existence of Israel is only the result of the Holocaust. The Zionist enterprise is behind the modern State of Israel; the pioneers and waves of aliyah who built the kibbutzim, raised the modern city in Tel Aviv, established a de facto government in the Yishuv, protected their settlements through organizations such as the Shomer HaTzair and the Hagannah, garnered international aid and support, such as through the World Zionist Congress, and fought a war of independence against five invading armies. Netanyahu said that “the survival of the Jewish people is tied to the State of Israel.” Yet this is no new fact. Judaism has always inherently been tied to the land, and the land is a part of the people and culture. Enough, said Netanyahu. And I say, kudos.

Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Strategic Threats Moshe “Bogie” Ya’alon, spoke yesterday, on the last day of the Herzliya Conference. Addressing a panel on the strategic implications of a nuclear threshold Iran, he spoke of the threat Iran poses to the world, and Israel, in particular.

If Iran were to obtain nuclear weapons, Ya’alon said, it would threaten the free world, the Middle East, and Israel. ”As a threshold country, Iran would be able, in a short period of time, to acquire nuclear weapons and, undoubtedly, it is on its way to do so.” Moreover, he argued, this would destabilize the region, as, should Iran obtain nuclear weapons, there would be a domino-like effect, in which many other nations in the region would follow.

Ya’alon explained that Iranian nuclear goals are essentially two fold. According to Ya’alon, first, Iran wants to change the world order, allowing Islam to, once again, become a great power. Second, Iran wants to become a regional hegemony; a regional great power. This goal, he noted, will only increase as American presence decreases. With nuclear capabilities, “the extreme regime in Tehran would be able to promote its very extreme targets.” Proof of this is that Iran has not waited for nuclear capabilities to export terrorism and threaten the West, and particularly Israel. ”It is, already, active today, in many ways, to promote this, and it is the one to supply arms and weapons, including very advanced missiles, to the Hezbollah, Hamas, [and] to the Islamic Jihad. It [Iran] trains their [Hezbollah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad] people, [and] it provides [them a] financial and political umbrella, at the expense of its own population, which is in a dire economic state.” A further threat, raised by Ya’alon, is that Iran could provide nuclear material to its proxies. This could, according to Ya’alon, pose an existential threat to Israel.

Ya’alon remarked that to prevent a nuclear Iran, Iran needs to be brought to the point in which it must make the choice between the bomb and state survival. Iran is a rational state, he argued, and will choose survival. As an example, he brought the period of 2003, prior to the US invasion of Iraq, in which Iran temporarily stopped its nuclear program, for fear that the United States would attack them, instead/as well. Action, however, will need to be taken to bring Iran to that point. ”We expect the world to be determined in its resolution to prevent this threat from becoming a reality, and to make it clear to the Iranian regime that it is in their own interests to forgo their plan to attain nuclear capabilities.” Concluding, Ya’alon explained that “we, in Israel, will not content ourselves with waiting for others to do our work. However, we have to prepare ourselves as well, because, in the words of our sages “Im ain ani li, mi li,” “if I am not for myself, who will be for me?”

For highlights of the speech, watch this:

Last night, Israeli Minister of Defense, Ehud Barak, spoke at the Herzliya Conference, speaking about peace with the Palestinians.

Israel, at the moment, has deterrence against terrorist elements, based on the Second Lebanon War, strengthen by Operation Cast Lead, and upheld by intelligence services.

The United States, Barak noted, is entrenched in many problems. Internally, the US is attempting to content with both the economic crisis, as well as the raging health care debate. Externally, the United States is involved with or pressured by Pakistan, Afghanistan, North Korea, Russia, China, Iraq, Iran, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Syrian-Israeli relations, Hamas, and Hezbollah.

The Middle East, Barak explained, is a “tough neighborhood,” where there is “no benevolence for the weak,” nor “mercy for those who can’t defend themselves.” National security, therefore, is a number one priority for Israel. Regarding Israel’s neighbors, Israel must be able to deal with them from a point of “strength, self security, and sobriety.” A two-state solution is necessary to ensure a Jewish, Zionist, democratic state. Barak explicated that 12.5 million people live between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. 7.1 million of those live in Israel, but the remaining 5.4 million live in the so-called “Palestinian territories.” A one-state solution will result in either a non-Jewish state, or else a non-democratic Israel. There is no other option; there must be two states for Israel to survive.

Barak brought up challenges with the Palestinians. Hamas, he noted, is in control of Gaza. Israel cannot allow for the West Bank to become like south Lebanon and Gaza, after Israel withdrew from every square meter of them, respectively, became a hotbed of terrorism. The Palestinian forces, therefore, need to take more control over their people. In addition, Barak quoted Robert Frost, stating that “good fences make good neighbors.”

On a positive note, Barak mentioned the change in Arab-Israeli relations through the years, from the “Three ‘No’s” of Khartoum to the Saudi Peace Initiative.

In response to the religious right who are unwilling to give up Judea and Samaria, Barak quoted Gitin 6. He, also, noted that even in the time of David and in the time of the Hasmoneans, borders change, and that they, too, must be willing to accept that borders change. To the left, who believe that peace is necessary at any cost, Barak responded that “peace is not a religion,” and that it must be achieved with “open eyes” and without naivety. In response to politicians who drag their feet, Barak stated, “enough with ‘WCDIB’ – ‘we can do it better.’” The two sides are not homogeneous, he said, but the political process can overcome such differences. Abu Mazen and Netanyahu, ultimately, will have to have their decisions received by their own people; not the other.

Last night, Salam Fayyad, Prime Minister of the Palestinian National Authority, spoke at the Herzliya Conference about the need for Palestinian statehood and the current situation with peace negotiations.

Fayyad stated that Oslo recognized Israel’s right to exist in peace and security. However, he argued that the problem with Oslo was that Israel did not recognize Palestine’s right to exist, and that Israel still doesn’t. Oslo “suggested” Palestinian statehood, but was not seen as a necessary outcome. In 2002, U.S. President Bush made Palestinian statehood a matter of international consensus. The “rough neighborhood” that is the Middle East, as Israeli Minister of Defense Ehud Barak put it, would become less rough if, according to Fayad, the “international consensus” became “facts on the ground.” He stated that a Palestinian state must be established based on “justice,” “peace,” “stability,” “fairness,” and “security.”
Here, Fayad seems to miss a major point. “Justice” does not necessarily mean “fairness.” That which is just may not be fair. Therefore, it would appear that Fayyad and his friends must determine whether they are looking for a “just” solution, or a “fair” solution.

Fayyad explained that, under the Road Map, Palestinians must increase their ability to govern, which includes a security force. Security, he explained, as of mid-2007, is important to Palestinians, as well. Israel, he said, must be willing to “unequivocally” accept a two-state solution. That, he explained, called for a settlement-freeze. Israel must, “stop military incursions into our [Palestinian] territory.” “Occupation,” he said, “is being brought back on its way to end.” Palestinians are “sensitive to Israeli security needs,” but “incursions must completely stop.” Today, he argued, the situation is “at an impasse,” and that “occupation” is at the heart of the impasse. Further, he stated, Palestinian police must have “security forces present in population centers outside of Area A.” This, he explained, would bring hope to the Palestinians.
Yet, while referring to the Road Map, drafted by the United States, he, also, stated that peace would only be achieved through the Arab Peace Initiative. Seems kind of contradictory, doesn’t it?

Fayyad, also, brought up the topic of Jerusalem. East Jerusalem, he argued, is Palestinian territory occupied in 1967. Fayyad loudly stated that it is, “historical fact that East Jerusalem is an integral part of Palestine occupied in 1967.” Palestinians are willing to have a state on “22% of historic Palestine,” which, he claimed, was “agreed to in 1988” by the PLO.

This, clearly, is based upon fiction. I am not arguing that the Palestinians shouldn’t have their own state; to the contrary. However, it is purely fiction to claim that there was a “historic Palestinian state” or that Israel conquered Palestinian territory in 1967. The West Bank (Judea and Sumeria), including East Jerusalem, was, from 1948 to 1967, controlled by Jordan, and the Gaza Strip was controlled by Egypt. Previously, the land was controlled by the British, who took it over from the Ottomans. Let’s get our facts strait; Jerusalem is not now, nor was it ever, an “integral part of Palestine.” Whether the political powers that be ought to decide to make East Jerusalem the capitol of Palestine is not within the scope of this article. Yet, the clear changing of facts being iterated by Fayyad and the Palestinian Authority for years, here, I felt must be addressed.

Discussing settlement building, Fayyad explained the political dimension of protest to settlement building. If Israel cannot refrain from that, “how confidant can we all [Palestinians] be that” Israel would be willing to deliver on the final status issues?

Though to that, Israel might respond, if the Palestinian Authority cannot keep their people from attempting attacks on Israel in the interim period, how can we [Israel] be confident that the Palestinian government, when a state is established, will be capable or willing to do so?

According to Fayyad, the goal is to establish a sovereign Palestinian state by mid-2011, preceded by a full Israeli withdrawal by the end of 2010. Fayad proudly remarked that over 100 completed development programs have been implemented, and they are “ready for the next batch.” He expressed that a combination of “bottom-up” and “top-down” processes are needed.

Last, he turned to Gaza. There are many problems with Gaza, he said. Mentioning two, he stated that first, Palestinians have a constitutional right to national elections, which are being prevented by forces in Gaza. Second, referring to the Israeli blockade, he said that “siege must be lifted” to allow for accomplishments in Gaza to be made.

Interestingly, the fact the PA doesn’t control Gaza, and that Hamas is on the rise in the West Bank, as well, was not mentioned at all, throughout his 30-something minute speech.

Fayyad was warmly received and even received one or two standing ovations. Reaction from those attending the conference seem to fall into camps. Some greatly enjoyed Fayyad’s speech and found it to be “right on the mark.” Others, however, were greatly dismayed by the “flagrant propaganda spewed” throughout the speech.

Speaking, last night, at the Herzliya Conference, Israeli President Shimon Peres spoke about many different topics.

Speaking briefly of the Palestinians, Peres discussed the Palestinians’ state-building enterprises, and the efforts they are making to build a state and achieve peace. Peres emphasized that the enemy of the Palestinians is Hamas; not Israel.

Discussing the topic of globalization and technology, he said, “Globalization is not an ideology. Globalization is a new situation, almost without any borders, without any distance… [Today] the source of income is not land; it’s science. Science is not conquered by an army. Science is not being stopped in the customs.” Today’s leaders must focus on “innovations not accrued assets.”

Peres spoke about the morality of the Israeli Defense Force. “The IDF,” he said, “is an army of values.” Speaking of Israel’s recent rescue mission to Haiti, he said, “I believe that if there had been an earthquake in Mauritania, where there’s no TV, I’m sure that the IDF would have been there. It is our wish to serve life, serve the living.” He spoke of the military as a tzva ha’am, a military of the people. He described the IDF as a “wonderful school,” and stated his dream that every soldier should complete their army service with a B.A.

Peres spoke of the chutzpah of the Jews. The Jews are 0.2% of the world population, yet 52% of chess champions and 54% of Nobel Prize winners are Jewish. Jews are 2% of the U.S. population, yet 34% of large business owners are Jewish. Jews are never satisfied. Using events from the story of the Exodus from Egypt as an anecdote, Peres explained that it is this eternal “dis-satisfaction” that is the source of Jewish creativity.

In discussing the way Israel is viewed in the world, he joked that Israel, “is the most popular country in the world.” India likes Israel because they, too, suffer from terrorism. China admires Israel, not because of Moses, Abraham, or Marx, but because of Israel’s agricultural achievements and agricultural technology. 62% of the American population supports Israel. Much of Russia supports Israel, as well, after 1.2 million Russians emigrated to Israel, leaving family and friends in the “old country” with ties to Israel.

Peres, also, addressed Iran. Israel, he said, is not the biggest danger in the Middle East; Iran is. Iran, he explained, has two main problems. The first problem is that of the enriched uranium. The second, is the “oppressive regime.” Commenting on the two problems, he said, “I don’t know which one of the two is the most dangerous.” Ahmadinejad acts like a “king,” when in fact he is no more than a “dictator.” The regime, governed by a dictatorship, fires upon unarmed protesters, threatens Israel, denies the Holocaust, finances terrorism, and impoverishes its own country. The regime is “a climax of moral corruption.” Therefore, Peres exclaimed, the world should oppose Iran on moral grounds. Iran, he said is “the source of evil for the peace- and freedom-loving world.”

Peres ended his with a call for social justice and tikun olam.

Today, at the Herzliya Conference, one session was held on strategic communications for Israel. In other words, Israel’s hasbara, or PR, problem. We all know that Israel has a serious PR problem. Israel is, almost always, painted in the worst of lights. There are times when criticism may be legitimate. However, often Israel is portrayed in ways that make even the world’s worst dictatorships seem like rainbows and puppies. Israel, as a nation, has a serious legitimacy problem. No other nation in the world faces questions as to its right to self-defense and right to exist, nor do other nations face threats of eradication from many of its neighbors. Nor is any other country as much in the spotlight as is Israel. So how can Israel change this situation? What can bring Israel to be seen in the media by a better light? Here are some ideas presented at the Herzliya Conference to get the discussion started.

Josef Joffe criticized that Israel has a tendency to sit back, and refuse to talk to people who would attack us. “…When somebody like Goldstone comes around, why sit back, and pout, and refuse all cooperation? Every two-bit lawyer knows when you are in court you talk. You don’t just sit back and pout. You try to structure the dialogue and the discourse.”

Ido Aharoni discussed the problem of Israel’s brand, as being solely associated with the conflict. “Every place has a brand. Israel has a brand, too. A brand can be a very strong band and can be a detriment. We set out to explore the question: if Paris is about romance then Israel is about what? And what we  we discovered was very interesting. We discovered that universally Israel’s DNA is about the conflict and the context within which Israel is being perceived is all about bad news. Whether you agree with Israeli policies or not is irrelevant. We have great story to tell, but when we’re given a chance the only thing we do is discuss the conflict and its a turn-off even amongst our biggest supporters.”

Eyal Arad discussed the three problems, that he sees, that Israel has in changing its image. “We have basically three problems that doom us to remain in that situation… The first requirement that we need in order to build image, change image, deal with images, is to understand the flow of information about our product; in this case, our country. Add to that, the fact that Jews were, and will probably continue to be, news. So for  the media bad news is good news. They look for the bad news. Jews are news. So bad Jews is probably great news.

“Our second problem is that we don’t know what we really want. What is it that we really want to communiticate? What is our target? Now, do we want to get Jews to come and live in Israel? Do we want to be an immigration country, so what we want to do is convince people that Israel is the best place, at least convince Jew,s that Israel is the best place for them ? Do we want to get tourists to Israel? Do we want to make business? Do we want to attract certain kinds of business partnerships? Do we want to convince people that we’re just? What is it that we want to achieve through our communications?

“The third problem that we have… and the third problem is probably the most important problem, and this is the reason we fail to address the two former problems, is that we don’t have a client. When we try to deal with Israel’s information campaign, you really don’t have a client. Israel’s problem, and I agree that our main problem in the world today have become a legitimacy problem. It’s not that people do not think that our policies are right,  it’s that people question whether we should exist or continue to exist in the first place. We are more and more becoming the South Africa of the 21st century. ”

Martin Kace took a different view. He brought forth the idea that the conflict should be a part of Israel’s brand. “A brand, when it comes to a nation, has to be true. That’s requirement number one. In order to establish truth, one does not go to the rest of the world, to the clients, as it were, one first speaks to the designers, the manufacturers, and the live-ers of that brand, in this case, the citizens of the State of Israel. Israel, with such an amazing, creative community, to me, is a very frustrating element. The Israeli creative community is not engaged in communicating the essence of this country. To the rest of the world, there is no Israel beyond the conflict. And, if you went and did a massive survey of every Israeli, I can guarantee you, that the conflict, and that war, security, walls, concrete, etc., will be as much descriptors of how Israelis themselves describe the country, as it is for people abroad. I, genuinely, believe that there is not such a wide gap between how we perceive ourselves and how the world, at large, does perceives us, in the same light. Israel’s communications need to embody the conflict. Israel’s brand lies in its difficulties, lies in it ts challenges; the conflict is such an integral part of what Israel is about. Before we talk to the French, before we talk to Americans, before we talk to the the British, the Chinese, the Japanese, or anyone, we need to understand what our brand is, ourselves. Once we’ve understood that, and once that rings true to all Israelis, we have a platform. Right now, our platform is, no, we’re not that Levantine conflict-ridden place, as you see us; we’re actually just like you. That’s nonsense. We’re not just like anybody. We’re absolutely unique.”

VBS.TV, the video arm of Vice Magazine runs a cutting edge counterculture series called Vice Versus with cool video site Babelgum. And what exactly counts as hip, fresh and happening these days? Steampunks? OK that’s kind of 2001 but the imagery is always cool. Hardstyle? For me that was new 2 years ago but not everyone has the benefit of living with an Austrian chick. Chessboxing? It’s just like it sounds and it will always be cool. Russendisko? We wrote about Yuriy’s gig 2 years ago (thanks froylein!). But yes. All this stuff is definitely on the cutting edge for many people. And what else do we have? Nachman Ravers. Yup. International fringe. These are Hassidic Jewish followers of Rav Nachman of Breslav. They wear funny white hats with pompoms and demonstrate their joy and fervor by dancing to Nachman Rave music. What? Yeah, you heard me. Those of us that live in Israel have seen them a zillion times in public squares, stopping traffic and driving around in vans blasting Nachman rave music. Don’t take my word for it. Watch the vid:

Best line? “If you know what I know, you will be dancing here as well!”

Cross-posted at my personal blog.

Tu B’Shvat is tonight. Since it’s been a while that I’ve been part of something Jewish (living with Mr. B does not count as doing something Jewish, although sometimes I try to pass it off as such,) I wanted to celebrate, which involves planting trees and eating fruits of the Torah (pomegranates, dates, olives, and Bamba.)

Unfortunately, we don’t have any Bamba and Mr. B hates olives in the same way that Hamas and Fatah hate each other. So, instead, I tried to get Mr. B and myself enthused about going to a Tu B’Shvat event, namely this event by the awesome Sixth and I (where we’ve gone for stuff before). Here is a description of the event:

Embrace your inner environmentalist by joining us for a Tu B’Shvat celebration. Dine and drink your way through a traditional seder as we sprinkle in tasty Kabbalistic tidbits and nature-inspired yoga poses. Tu B’Shvat; its more than just trees.

Tu B’Shvat, traditionally known as the birthday of the trees, is a time to think about relating to the natural world. This holiday can be celebrated by planting trees, eating fruits, and having a Tu B’Shvat seder, a ritual that began with the Kabbalists of the 15th century. At our seder, we’ll enjoy some new and exotic fruits, discuss issues of sustainability, and discover connections between environmentalism and Judaism.

Not to be a drag, but yoga poses? Really? And sustainability? I hate that word more than Mr. B hates olives because it’s overused so much it’s essentially nothing but a buzzword. Which makes me wonder, what have we as a Jewish people turned into?

Here’s how hipsters spend Tu B’Shvat:

Please take note of:

• The ironic hipster glasses
• The ironic bright orange almost American Apparel-like tee
• The ironic non-leggings sweatpants meant to resemble sweatpants from the 1980s
• The ironic laugh that just looks like it’s enjoying life but inside is full of more misery and pain than Unhappy Hipsters

And here’s how real Jews spent Tu B’Shvat. You know, building the land of Israel. Although Guy on the Left’s yoga shorts look really comfy. He probably got them at American Apparel.

source

I think, through all of this, it’s incredibly important not to underestimate the blows to his sanity that Mr. B experiences on a regular basis by being married to me:

Today, in honor of the international Holocaust memorial day, Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke at Auschwitz. Netanyahu spoke of the memory we, as Jews, must keep. We must remember our people, who have died at the hands of others due to hatred. We must remember those who have done and would do us harm. And we must remember that while we live, and are still here, we must continue to defend ourselves.

Opening with the Kaddish, Netanyahu spoke of those slain. “From the cursed ground at Auschwitz, Birkenau and other camps rise the voices of our brothers and sisters, our people who choked to death and were burned and murdered.” Quoting Deuteronomy, he said, “Remember what Amalek did to you.” He warned that with the “Nazi Amalek” having past, a “new Amalek is appearing and once again threatening to annihilate the Jews. We will not allow it … We will never forget and always stand guard.”

Speaking of Iran, and the threats of today, he stated that, “Murderous hatred must be stopped in its tracks, stopped right from the beginning. All countries in the world must learn this lesson, just as we did after losing a third of our people in blood-soaked Europe. We learned that the only guarantee for the protection of our people is the State of Israel and its army, the IDF… I promise, as head of the Jewish state, that never again will we allow the hand of evil to sever the life of our people and our state.” He discussed that Israel “must warn of the impending danger to the rest of the world and at the same time to be ready to defend ourselves… the most important lesson from the Shoah is that murderous evil must be stopped as soon as possible, before it can realize its schemes.”

Speaking of Israel, Netanyahu proudly exclaimed, “Am Yisrael Chai, we have returned to our homeland, to the land of our forefathers, to Jerusalem, our capital. We have converged from all corners of the world, Holocaust survivors, Arab Jews, Jews from former Soviet Union states, Ethiopian Jews.” Israel is the homeland of the Jews, all Jews; not as Obama alluded, a land built of Holocaust survivors. Ending his speech, Netanyahu expressed that, “we bow our heads in memory [of Holocaust victims] and raise our heads as our flag waves with its two blue stripes and the Star of David at its center.” Netanyahu quotes the Israeli national anthem, proudly reminding the world, “We still haven’t lost our hope.”

Click here to watch Netanyahu speak at Auschwitz. Note: the speech is mostly in Hebrew.

With the world in awe of the Israeli response to the tragedy in Haiti, much energy has focused on the reason that Israel is good at this kind of disaster relief. Yes it is true that Israel deals with these traumatic crisis on a regular basis. But experience alone cannot simply account for excellence.

It turns out that three Israeli officers that are part of the rescue efforts – who trained the people on the ground in Haiti – all went to the same school, Boys Town Jerusalem.

As the world intently watches the horrifying earthquake destruction in Haiti, three Israeli Army colonels are closely following the events from 6,500 miles away—with an eye on gaining know-how that will save lives in future catastrophes. The three officers, experts in human rescue, have worked closely in training and equipping the Israeli rescue team who rushed to the scene in Port-au-Prince, and with whom they maintain 24-hour-a-day contact from afar. All three men are on alert to be dispatched to Haiti at any moment. And all three share a personal bond: each graduated from Boys Town Jerusalem where they developed a mission to save human lives, anywhere in the world.

“The Israeli rescue and medical team was among the very first to arrive in Haiti, even though they traveled a much farther distance than the others. And with each hour, they are gaining world renown for working miracles,” explains Colonel Ben-Tzvi Elyassi, who serves as a commander in the IDF Home Front Command. One of Israel’s top experts in rescue and relief operations, Elyassi’s 25-year military career has provided him with “hands-on” experience in saving human lives in disasters of untold proportions. Col. Elyassi assumed second-in-command control of Israeli search-and-relief missions and was dispatched to the 2002 earthquake in India, the 1999 earthquake in Turkey, and the 1999 earthquake in Greece—in addition to a host of military and civilian disasters in Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

Hi, it’s me again.  I’ve been away, but now I’m back.  I blame Jersey Shore.

Here’s a review I wrote for one of the movies I saw in the DC Jewish Film Festival in December, but it’s still relevant because Gad Elmaleh’s still hot.

I don’t think there’s anything more awesome about DC than being able to go to Le French Embassy for a Jewish Film Festival (you can read about the last movie I saw here, and please note that I was compensated with free tickets for the festival, but as always, I don’t endorse anything that’s lame). I did just that last week. Can you tell I was excited by my tweets?

There, we saw the short film 10 Weizman Street, which turned into the feature, Comme ton Pere (Father’s Footsteps in English.)

I wish everyone could see both movies. Fortunately, I’ve found 10 Weizman Street on YouTube.

It takes place in 1991, somwhere in Tel Aviv, amongst abandoned back streets. It is the Gulf War and three Soviet immigrants-a father, mother, and daughter and straight from Ben Gurion, lugging their suitcases in hand and Soviet, stiff, mothball-filled clothes looking extremely out of place in the shimmering dry dust of the Holy Land of Florentin. The daughter is weaing a Soviet school uniform. They struggle with all the things that immigrants struggle with when they put on the new uniform of their adoptive homeland. All of a sudden, an air raid siren sounds, signaling that they have 45 seconds to get to a miklat (bomb shelter)-it’s Saddam Hussein and the SCUD missiles, and alien people wearing gas masks run through the street.

The film is only 13 minutes long, but in a way, it sums up the whole of the post-Soviet immigrant experience in Israel-the fear, the frustration, the completely new laws of the West. And, although the episode is surreal, it happened hundreds and thousands of times, in slight variations, for thousands of immigrants in the same way. All in all, a completely subtle, quiet, and extremely powerful film. Here it is:

Part I

Part II

Everything in the short resonated completely with me, especially as a single girl child of Soviet immigrants who went through much the same process over a longer period of time.

And then, there is Comme on Pere. The scene below showcases one of the things I loved most about it-the period outfits.

The next movie, Father’s Footsteps, or Comme ton pere in French, was also a jewel. The showing was prefaced with an introduction by the director, Marco Carmel, who sought to recreate the story of his childhood in France with a father who he originally thought was larger than life. In the movie, Marco as Michel, is the youngest of two sons of Algerian immigrants to Israel who have decided to go to France to experience the world in the early 1970s. He sees his father, played by even hotter than Clive Owen talented thespian and Moroccan-born Jew Gad Elmaleh, as a superhero. Instead, Elmaleh, while well-meaning and extremely concerned about -

-where was I? Oh, yes. Elmaleh’s character, Felix, falls in with the wrong crowd while selling antiques at a market in Paris and-

-em. Elmaleh’s character falls in with a bad crowd and eventually resorts to crime with his partner, an older Jewish gangster from the same town in Algeria as he is, Gabes, leaving his family broken and his youngest son, Michel, devastated and without a solid base.

This movie is about so many things, and all of the actors in it are skilled on so many levels. Not only does Elmaleh carry the movie as a family man and a gever gever, but his wife, played by Yael Abecassis (who also did an excellent job in Lech, Lechi in 2006), also has excellent on-screen presence that is subtle but just right as she struggles to raise two teenage boys and rise above the circumstances. The relationship between Elmaleh and Abecassis is most touching because, although it is flawed in many ways by Felix’s schemes, it is a relationship between husbands and wives that you don’t see too much anymore-one built on clearly-defined roles but also admiration, and, most evident, class. In the background are the beginnings of the Arab-Israeli conflict as it is currently playing out in France and the Yom Kippur War, all shot in a backdrop of brilliant 70s clothes and hairdos and a combination of Sephardi North African culture that is so foreign to me as an Ashkenazi and that I found fascinating.

The movie is essentially wrapped up as a jewel with an amazing, and ultimately warming plotline, yet one that doesn’t feel saccharine at all, and also at the same time gives us a peek at how people lived in Paris in the 1970s. With this movie, you can really tell that the director was trying to write down his story for absolution so he could move on to other projects. I loved it. Both of them are 100% worth your time.

As an avid Israel advocate I love to focus on the amazing things that Israel does for the world. There’s no denying it anymore, Israel goes above and beyond to help other nations, expecting nothing in return.

Since yesterday, I have been tweeting about the Israeli humanitarian aid efforts in Haiti (from my personal account) as well as pulling articles from StandWithUs, and thankfully it has been retweeted a few dozen times.

For Israel, to fly over 220 volunteers, medics, doctors, search and rescue experts, and more to Haiti, half way around the world (6495 miles or 10,453 km to be exact), is nothing short of amazing. To then have the only fully operational field hospital set up in Haiti performing surgeries run by the Israeli delegation, that is jaw-dropping. Israel is upstaging the rest of the world with their organized coordinated effort as well as their compassion and commitment to save human lives.

As a proud American, I am somewhat embarrassed that we don’t yet have a working field hospital set up in Haiti. The fact that Israel, the 96th most populous country, has outshone the U.S., the 3rd most populous country (and supposedly the most advanced), is shameful. While the U.S. did send thousands of soldiers and marines, and will be sending nearly $100 million in aid, if we can’t save lives now, what will the money be good for later?

Is there a way we can press Congress to do more? I don’t know. Please comment below if you have suggestions.

Resources on Israel’s Efforts in Haiti:

• PRAISE FOR ISRAELI MISSION IN HAITI: ‘ONLY ONES OPERATING’ Article from Ynet & Video from CNN
• ISRAEL SENDS 220-STRONG RESCUE TEAM TO HAITI; TENS OF THOUSANDS FEARED DEAD Article from Haaretz & Video from CBN

Israeli Organizations currently working in Haiti on this mission:

• IDF
• ZAKA
• IsraAID
• Magen David Adom
• If you know about others, please comment below.

Two Boeing 747s from El Al airlines were used by the IDF to transport the 220-member rescue team and equipment.

Be Proud of Israel. She is doing amazing work!
~Dani

Donate to these organizations doing great work in Haiti:

• Magen David Adom
• ZAKA
• UJA Federation of NY – all donations go to agencies and other groups based in New York and Israel doing work in Haiti
• There are other orgs doing great work. Comment below and let us know






Footage from IDF Field Hospital in Haiti, Including Baby Delivered There, Named ‘Israel’


IDF Field Hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

I think it’s fair to say that I have always promoted the notion that a strong Jewish identity is intrinsically tied to a strong connection to the land and people of Israel. One needn’t blindly support every single government action, one needn’t be totally uncritical and you don’t have to move here (though it would be nice if you did), but it’s important that you know us and love us the way we love you. Project 2000 is a program run by the Jewish Agency For Israel in conjunction with various Jewish Federations whereby said Federations twin their cities with a city or town in Israel. Twinning involves a process whereby visits are exchanged and projects are undertaken between the residents of the two cities.

Sounds kind of cool right? Well, now you don’t have to take my word for it. The Jewish Agency has undertaken a project whereby every month they will release a video, narrated by Professor Gil Troy, where they document one of these visits. Now I have been up and down Israel several times but even I discovered interesting sites and stories! Usually I come across visiting Federation members when their entire group descends upon the shuk while I am frantically trying to fight the crowds and do my shopping, but now that I know more about what brings them to Israel, I’m significantly less annoyed! Apparently service is not just for Hillel students or young adults looking for an interesting post-college experience!

This month’s video features the mystical city of Safed and the Jewish community of Palm Beach in a project aimed at enhancing tourism in the region around the study of Kabbalah.

You can see more videos on the Partner Web site or see all the videos updated monthly on JewTube!