Israel’s News Blog Magazine: Daily Stories Video and Photos

It’s now official, even the headlines in the newspapers say – the winter’s here. True, the sun is still visible up in the sky, but it’s definitely the time to build the winter wardrobe properly. It’s also the time to express our hopes, wishes and even pleas.

So please, pretty please, it’s really very important for the poor bewildered men but also for us embarrassed women: no more low-cut pants! We’ve had all the last summer to alternately gaze at or try to cover bared asses showing the tiniest thongs to the whole world. It’s unaesthetic, and even quite absurd, that low-cut pants have become so popular here, as that specific part of the body is one of the most hated part for women, especially the Middle Eastern women, blessed with, umm, curvy figures. Tasteless, uncomfortable – and bloody cold!
Thank you.

Same goes to the not-long-enough-shirts, not to say sweaters, which fail to cover not-so-very-fit bellies. And it’s becoming too damn cold, what’s the point in having a sweater that doesn’t warm your flabby belly anyway?
Point made, I hope. Now let us think about pointed shoes and boots. Unless you have three toes in the centre of your foot, or you really feel like looking like the Witch from the East and don’t mind having your toes squashed, avoid wearing that torturous device. Of course, to be fashionable you have to sometimes sacrifice comfort, but please – look down at your pointed shoes and tell me it doesn’t look like a monstrous extension of your feet.

And if we’re already discussing disgusting artificial extensions to body parts – though it’s an all-year trend, we feel the urge to cry out against the claw-like projections, also known as artificial fingernails. I don’t want to think of how UFO kids might paint humans in kindergarten…

Oh, and one more thing – winter clothes don’t have to be in dark, gloomy colors. Lighten up, will ya?

The promising Israeli singer Gilad Segev began his musical career about a decade ago, but hit the charts only two years ago in 2004 with a song he wrote about his elder brother, Sharon, who got killed during his army service. The song, Ahshav Tov (”it’s ok now”), especially with the moving story behind it, touched a lot of hearts and got the talented young artist the attention he deserved.

Segev has now a new single out, off his second album, and about to air a new video clip. There are currently three different endings to the story in the video, all three crazy-sexy-sharp (and to my opinion not really suitable for the romantic song and Segev’s gentle voice, but what do I know about these things).

So, how will the story end? Influence the decision – vote now! (the site’s in Hebrew, but don’t freak out, it’s pretty self-explanatory).

Another heartbreaking song about the sad loss of a brother to the military conflict in our area is Million Kohavim (”million stars”) by Amit Farkash, sister of late Tom Farkash. Farkash, an Air Force pilot, was killed in the Apache helicopter crash July this year. The song was written by his close friend Yiftach Krazner and composed by his sister Amit, on the night the sad news were announced to the alarmed family. I don’t think there could be a person who would not be moved by the beautiful melody, her touching voice and the words with which the loving sister ends her song to her brother, “Bye, Tom.”

It seems that no matter how hard they try international celebrities just can’t have their privacy. This fact is even more so concerning such acts as adopting a child from an underdeveloped country. Film and pop music star Madonna’s problems concerning her attempt to adopt David, an African baby from the poverty stricken country of Malawi, have gone from bad to worse, as the natural father is now reneging on his acceptance of a deal he made with the American mega-star, claiming he didn’t realize at the time that the child would leave him forever, “I thought he would only be raised and educated in America, and then returned to me to help me on my farm” the now ‘perplexed’ man was quoted assaying. Perplexed, or just holding out for a larger compensation offer from a woman who he found out is even wealthier than his village Chief. Surely, the lad is worth at least 100 milch goats, and not just the 10 or 15 he is being offered to allow his child to be spirited away to the same country that ’spirited’ thousands of Malawians away and then sold them into human bondage, more than two hundred years ago.

Madonna, who even enlisted the assistance of black talk show host Ophrah Winfrey to lend her a hand, now accuses media sensationalism as being responsible for killing the deal. Other American entertainment personalities, including Angelina Jolie and Brittany Spears have either adopted or are planning to adopt African children. Angelina, who adopted an Ethiopian baby, orphaned by AIDS, probably was wise to make sure there were no biological parents around to complicate the process. Due to the literally thousands of African infants and small children orphaned by famine, war, AIDS and other diseases, there is more than ample supply of children for these film and music personalities to choose from; which would lift a small child from a future of grinding poverty, and even death, into a world where the child would be given a lifestyle that 99% of the residents of the African Continent can only dream of.

“And why not?” asked a prominent South African social worker who has devoted a good part of her life to trying to assist the many poor African residents of her country. “If this process is done discreetly and without media fanfare, why not give such a child an opportunity he or she might otherwise never have”. South Africa itself has a very serious problem with AIDS and HIV among its poorer populations, with the result being many children being orphaned when both parents die from the dreaded disease.

“Spiriting away” a few hundred African children will not solve that Continent’s overpopulation, and other range of socio-economic problems. But at least it will give a handful of deserving children the chance for a better and healthier life than they would have otherwise. If only the media would stay out of the lives of these well-meaning celebrities, even if vanity does play a part.

I was sent this article from Newsweek, written by Rabbi Marc Gellman and the first sentence I read was this:

The arrival of the World Series this year convinced me that God is dead (proof: the Mets are gone) and that God is not dead (proof: the Yankees are also gone).

So I went to his bio page and this is what it said:

Gellman holds a B.A. from the University of Wisconsin and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Northwestern University. He was ordained by the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion and is the senior rabbi of Temple Beth Torah in Melville, New York. Gellman is a past President of the New York Board of Rabbis.

That’s it really… I know its a joke and I read the article but just thought it was interesting to hear a Rabbi say god is dead even in jest. I guess its a cultural think, its just that when I think Rabbi I think of someone like this….

(Hat Tip: Manu)

A Muslim cleric’s claim that women who do not wear the veil are like ‘uncovered meat’ who attract sexual predators sparked outrage around Australia yesterday.

Sheik Taj Din al-Hilali, the nation’s most senior Muslim cleric, compared immodestly-dressed women who do not wear the Islamic headdress with meat that is left uncovered in the street and is then eaten by cats.

Uncovered Meat … I heard about calling a young woman a “Hamburger” as a term of endearment among teenagers. But this just sounds bad. I wander what Dr. Wafa Sultan would have to say about this

(Picture by Ofer Amram for Ynet
Interviewed on media programs such as Channel 10, Larissa Trembovler, wife of convicted murderer, Yigal Amir, described her 10 hour connubial visit with her husband. “We had sex together like any normal married couple. I hope we will have more opportunities to be together in the near future.” While not going into graphic detail, Larissa seemed happy concerning her first intimate contact with Yigal, after so long a delay. The short liaison, carried out in a special room set aside by Ayalon Prison authorities for such allowed visits by spouses of convicted prisoners, provided the couple with a full sized bed, shower facility, and even snacks provided by the prison administration; plus soft drinks which Amir brought with him to their ‘honeymoon suite’ as many are dubbing it.

Whether or not this visit results in Larissa conceiving a child is too early to predict, especially due to her age, 39, and from their short time together. The former psychology professor already has four children from a previous marriage; and raising another child under the circumstances that he or she would the child of the man who assassinated Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, is psychologically problematic in its own. The fact that this event happened at all is a wonder as just a couple of months ago, even allowing Amir and Trembovler to have a child via ‘invitro-fertilization seemed unlikely to happen. Now, this request was surpassed by allowing them to have intimate physical contact, enabling Amir to “know” his wife and possibly “open her womb”.

Many individuals and organizations, including Peace Now, are vigorously protesting the allowance of this event to occur, even though it is now a ‘done deal’. The couple is slated to be allowed another such visit in six months time, perhaps sooner.

Many other convicted prisoners serving live imprisonment have not been allowed such a gesture, are one wonders why the governmental authorities relented in this extreme case. The Rabin family, for one, is very upset over this lenient gesture towards Amir being granted. And with the possible including of Avigdor Lieberman’s ultra-right wing political party into Ehud Olmert’s governmental coalition, many wonder what will happen next. Will a possible future right winged government decide that Amir was misguided into committing this heinous act, and should be set free? Or, perhaps, his wife will be hired as a prison psychologist and will be allowed to move to the prison and housed with Amir in special accommodations on the prison grounds? This entire tragicomedy may someday be made into a full length movie or docu-movie; and might even be directed by some internationally famous person like Michael Moore. To quote a song composed by the rock group Bachman-Turner Overdrive in 1974: “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet!”

And yup, I suppose we haven’t.

(Hat Tip: Nature & National Parks Protection Authority)

Upper Galilee Head park officer Offer Yaacov of the Nature & National Parks Protection Authority could feel something was wrong. With his men he traced down a dubious group of people, suspecting them for performing illegal porcupine hunt. When Yaacov succeeded to block the suspects’ car, one of the (alleged) hunters approached him and hit him in the head with a bludgeon. Sometime during the confrontation Yaacov’s gun fell down. The hunter did not think twice – he reached down to it, held the gun to the park officer’s head and said: “You’d better get your car off the road.” The young hunter and his two companions left with Yaacov’s gun, and although they were arrested by the police that chased them down, they were released that very night to a partial house arrest.

It didn’t take long before Yaacov got a phone call from the audacious hunter, who threatened him to keep silent, “I know who you are and where you live.” Yaacov too knew the person on the other side of the line: the son of a herdsman whom Yaacov had given professional advice.

Apparently this is not the first case of violence manifested against nature reserves officers – lawbreakers have tried to fend off officers on duty by drowning them, running them over and hurling bricks at them. These are not just porcupine or partridge hunters (recently labeled as protected animal in Israel), but also local villagers who run their illegal businesses on the account of the country’s natural resources – selling dug earth, cutting down trees, polluting, you just name it.

The park officers, who are well aware of the dangers of their occupation, feel discriminated; “but what if a gun was pointed at some cop’s head, would they still release the offender the same night?”

It’s about time that criminals in Israel – of all stripes – get punished for their wrong-doings. No wonder they feel free to take the law (and the law-keeper ’s gun) into their hands. There’s no other way out – but to fight fire with fire!

In a recent decision by the Tel Aviv Municipality a law has been passed making the ownership of the “violent” breeds illegal. The law will make it unlawful to keep Pitbull, Amstaffs and Rottweilers in the city. The move has sparked some debate over the decision. Meantime the city inspectors will confiscate these breeds if they are out without leashes or muzzles. The city is providing an ultimatum, leave the city or give the dog for adoption. I was actually visiting the pound in Toronto after such a law was passed a few years back and it was filled with Amstaffs. Actually very sad to see, and an obvious result, as most pet adopters are not going to take a middle aged Amstaffs or Pitbull home. I hope this doesn’t happen here.

The decision was prompted by a wave of dog attacks in Tel Aviv. In the last 2 weeks Amstaffs attacked a 12 year old girl and 5 year old boy. The girl was attacked by the neighbors dog and got her upper lip torn off. In the second case, last Thursday, a boy was attacked by a female Amstaff and he suffers from tears and slashes to his neck. OUCH ! So maybe this is a good idea…. The problem in most these cases is that the owners of these dogs neglect and mishandle them. In a few cases I came across the owners (being a dog owner myself) and I can tell you that the dog was the better half of the pair….

I think that people make the dogs. Taco was my best friend and someone who I think about daily. He was 100 Lbs. of heart, kindness and warmth. He might have been considered a dangerous dog with this new law coming into effect but honestly, I would have left Tel Aviv for him without thinking twice. It would have been so worth it.

“Hey, hey, Mr. Bartender, please don’t be so slow: I’ve got time for one more round and a six-pack to go”

– Hank Williams

Israelis, long imitators of lifestyles in countries like England and America, are now adapting those countries’ drinking laws as well. In an increasing effort to curb incidents of what is known in the U.S. as DWI (Driving While Intoxicated), a new law being drafted by in the Knesset will ban the serving of alcoholic beverages in pubs, bars, restaurants and other public places from 2:00 a.m. until 6:00 a.m. After studying the increase in road accidents and acts of violence and vandalism occurring during the “wee hours” as a result of consuming alcoholic beverages, including beer, various government ministries are pooling their efforts to find solutions to what is now becoming one of Israel’s most disturbing problems.

Countries which already have such laws in force include the U.S.A., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, Sweden, and Japan. After strict enforcement of these ‘drinking laws’, these countries have found that the result has been a sharp reduction in road accidents and other occurrences resulting from alcohol abuse. Israel’s increasing love of ‘the drink’ has only been a relative recent phenomena; stemming from a large influx of immigrants from the former Soviet Union (where drinking vodka and other alcoholic beverages became common to cope with life under Communism) as well as the new affluence of the mid to late 1990’s. Israelis traveling, and living, in greater numbers abroad have been exposed to life-styles that their parents never knew of in the country’s earlier and less complex environment.

The new law does not demand outright closure of various establishments, which can continue to serve food and non-alcoholic beverages; a good thing in its own as it can enable people to ’sober up’ before heading home. Other late-night establishments that sell alcohol, such as super and mini-markets, nuts and sundries stores (pitsusiot) are also to be eventually brought under this law as well. The complete enforcement of such a law is another matter, however, as other laws such as against selling alcoholic beverages to minors under age 18 has been in effect for several years. Young drinkers have no trouble finding pubs and other establishments more than willing to accommodate them, however (see previous blog article: “After the Holidays”). There is also the matter of pub-goers purchasing that “six-pack to go” as immortalized in the old Hank Williams song in the early 1950’s.

The law itself, if properly enforced, will be at least a partial solution to reducing the number of road accidents occurring during the hours that the law will be in effect. It won’t solve the entire problem of increased drinking, however; and this can only be done with increased public education and awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving, as well as general alcohol abuse.

There has been a lot of talk about the value of shocking TV ads in road safety campaigns. Recently this new ad has been created by the National Road Safety Auhtority in Israel has been playing, and for all the right reasons. So far this year 346 people have been killed in road accidents in Israel. This new campaign is following the example of some other countries that have had some success with Shock Value TV ads. This campaign is geared towards parents letting their kids cross the road on their own. The emphasis is on not letting children under 9 cross the roads on their own and that doing such a thing is criminal. I think the message is clear even in Hebrew.

Sorry we had to move the videos to the next page - please click More to see them.

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