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

The Israeli film Beaufort, directed by Joseph Cedar and based on the best selling novel by Ron Leshem, has just been nominated by the U.S. Academy Awards for an Oscar as the best foreign film for 2007.

The film is based on the trials and tribulations of an IDF combat unit in the weeks prior to Israel’s abandonment of Lebanon in May, 1999. Though criticized by some as being too negative in regards to the morale in an Israeli combat unit, others who have either read the book or seen the film say that it may be one of the best combat soldier war epics since the classic novel All’s Quiet on the Western Front by German novelist Eric Maria Remarque.

Cedar, who is a veteran IDF soldier and himself served in Lebanon, was so lost for words during a press conference Tuesday afternoon at Israel’s Cinema City that he found it hard to speak about the film that portrays the emotions and fears of young soldiers under constant attack and barrage by Hezbollah militia fighters. Pinned down in their bunker atop the former Crusader fortress of Beaufort, the soldiers experience very similar fears and personal trials as the young soldiers in Remarque’s novel, based on a war which occurred more than 80 years before.

An Israel film has not been nominated by the Hollywood Film Academy since Behind the Walls, a movie based on Israeli prison life, received a nomination in 1984. In a recent review by the New York Times, the film is considered a lesson in the futility of war, and that it portrays the truly human side of the young combatants who wear military gear that almost resembles something out of a science fiction story, which only adds to the depression and anxiety they feel as they confront an enemy skilled in a type of fighting that has become known as “asymmetric warfare”. Though they are under constant bombardment and rarely even see their enemy, they begin to create their own intimate society within the twisting concrete corridors of their bunker, which they consider as their home. Only a series of disastrous command decisions by their commanding officer, Liraz, often a victim of his own emotions, make the soldiers aware of their predicament at the hands of a much more skillful enemy.

The film previously won the Silver Bear film award at the Berlin Film Festival last year, which makes the film even more similar to Remarque’s story which also won several awards after it was later made into a movie. Beaufort is in contention with other foreign films from Poland, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Austria. Barring its possible cancellation if the Hollywood writer’s strike is not settled, the final decision on the Oscar award will be announced at the Academy Awards Ceremony in Hollywood on February 27.

Just like the Uncle Remus character Brer Rabbit, Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah also popped briefly out of his ‘rabbit hole’ yesterday to attend a special rally to commemorate the annual Shiite Muslim Ashoura holiday on Saturday. Surrounded by more security guards than even George Bush, the Sheikh made his way to a special podium where he addressed an enthusiastic crowd of thousands of his followers, complete with more than a few harsh words to the Israel government.

In fact, his words did get to Israeli officials in Jerusalem, especially involving the Sheikh’s willingness to trade what he claims are body parts of Israel soldiers for Hezbollah dead and captured militants still in Israeli hands. And judging from the amount of bodyguards surrounding him, including a crowd of at least 200,000, Nasrallah is very much aware that he definitely has a “price on his head”.

But again like that mischievous fictional character in American writer Joel Chandler Harris’s children’s books, ole “Brer Nasrallah” has a few tricks up his sleeves as well. He has to have, as he was a definite target in July, 2006 when Israeli warplanes dumped several tons of smart bombs on where he was thought to be hiding in south Beirut. He obviously wasn’t home at the time, and his whereabouts were a matter of mass speculation which give his proposed location as being in a number of places, including Damascus.

Nasrallah has tried to make deals before, most of which were more bluff than huff. The last major exchange was in 2003 when three dead Israeli soldiers and one live civilian, Elkana Tenenbaum were returned to Israel in exchange for over a 1,000 Hezbollah and Lebanese men.

Nasrallah may be deciding though that enough is enough regarding his continuing to live underground. And agreeing to another large scale deal with Israel, including possibly the two captured IDF reserve soldiers Eldad Regev and Udi Goldwasser, it might be enough in his favor to allow the Sheikh to come out of the “brier patch”. It must be a real drag living underground for so long, and seeing the sunshine and so many of his adoring fans much have been a real adrenalin rush for Hassan. Whatever deal is finally worked out won’t vindicate the Sheikh’s actions in the eyes of Israelis however, as virtually everyone south of the (Lebanese) border would like to see his “head on a pike”. And it wouldn’t be surprising if a lot of non-Hezbollah Lebanese wouldn’t mind seeing him out of the way as well.

But getting to him is probably more elusive than Brer Fox getting to Brer Rabbit. And like Uncle Remus said about Brer Fox’s chances to have rabbit stew , so are the chances to flush the Shiekh out of wherever he is hold up.

There’s an old saying that says “whatever goes up must come down”. And in reference to world stock bourses, including the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, “coming down” is looking like nothing less than a catastrophic free fall. After dropping an average of nearly 3 percent yesterday, today’s opening looks like it could end even worse as stock markets all over the worlds are falling between 7 and 10 % per day over the dismal news concerning the problems of the American economy, still considered as the largest economy in the world.

There are a number of reasons why all this is happening, including the energy crises, global warming and climate change, the continuing aftermath of Al Qaeda sponsored terrorism, and perhaps (for the outgoing Bush Administration anyway) the nearly 5 year disaster known as the U.S. led invasion of Iraq. As for Israel, the economy here is heavily tied to the fortunes of the American Economy as Israel’s biggest economic pluses in recent years have been connected to technologically based industries, especially information technology and bio-technology. Due to Israel’s mounting political problems in the aftermath of the 2006 Lebanese war and the conflict with the Palestinians in which most European countries consider Israel as an occupying aggressive oppressor of “Palestinian rights”, Israeli companies have had to rely more and more on the USA to market both products and services.

With crude oil prices hovering at close to the $100 per barrel mark, and after the U.S. Treasury has wound up spending over $200 billion in it’s continuing war against insurgents in Iraq, these and other problems, including the mortgage loan crises, have brought the American economy to the brink of what is being talked about as a major economic recession; one even greater than the one of 1991-94 that resulted in the U.S. President George Herbert Bush (G.W.’s dad) losing his re-election bid to Bill Clinton, and at least half of the workers in high paying aerospace industries in California and other states looking for $1,000 per month sales jobs in cities like Atlanta.

The “R” word, meaning recession, is definitely being talked about these days, and is bound to arrive at Israel’s doorstep sooner or later. After all, the Tel Aviv stock indexes have been rising too high for too long, and as other bourses start “heading south” stocks in Israel are bound to go that way too. Many Israeli companies, especially the high tech ones are posted on the NASDAQ, the American “over the counter” stock exchange that for years has become one of the most popular indexes for technological based companies to be listed on. These stocks are often very fickle and any reverberation in economic fortunes can cause them to fall quite rapidly. Many NASDAQ listed stocks are selling for as much as 30 times the actual earnings of the companies they represent, which mean that a lot of speculation is involved in pushing up their trading value.

As a result, they are now leading the markets in a very troubling direction. Everyone will be watching which direction Wall Street will head today, following the breaking news announcement that the US Federal is lowering its prime lending rate by 0.75%. The Dow dropped by 500 points on Monday and even the Fed’s attempt to bring stability into the financial markets may not be enough to stop the fall, as the problems of the mortgage crises and other financial concerns remain. Most home mortgages are fixed rate ones that keep the same interest rate during the life of the loan.

What the intermediate to long term outlook for Israel’s economy will be as a result of these market flip flops remains to be seen. But for sure, if the “R” word becomes reality in America, it’s bound to reach Israel sooner or later.

Has Hollywood actor tom finally come “out of the closet in regards to his passion towards his membership in the International Church of Scientology? It seems so, ever since a video CD surfaced on the Church of Scientology’s website, and is also being talked about on news commentary programs not only in the USA but in other countries as well.

Cruise, who appears on the 30 minute video clip expressing his excitement and feelings concerning Scientology, appears quite sincere and frank when relating how he bas benefited from his being associated with the religion founded by American science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in 1953. Some of his quotations about his personal involvement in the study of Scientology include:

“I think its privilege to call yourself a Scientologist, and it’s something you have to earn, because a Scientologist does…has the ability to create new and better realities and improve conditions.”

“If you’re a Scientologist, you see life in all its glories and all its complexities. And the more you know about being a Scientologist you don’t become overwhelmed by it.”

“I have to do it because I can’t live with myself if I don’t – and that really is it”

“In regards to practicing Scientology, you’re either ‘onboard’ all the way, or you’re not”,

Despite Cruise’s “indoctrination video” his feelings are not being shared in the same way by those who criticize Scientology, however, and many former Scientologists are very critical of him and his adopted religion, saying it is not only a cult, but a dangerous one at that. Critics of Cruise and the video say that he is taking a big risk in regards to his future acting career.

Scientology preaches the study of a concept known as Dianetics, which is defined as a set of ideas and practices regarding the relationship between the spirit, mind and body ,in order to reach a state of “clear, or the ability to function at one’s full potential”.

Though not called a ‘church’ in Israel due to the word’s connection with Christianity, Scientology has been active here for more than 30 years, and claims to have several thousand members in its ranks from all walks of life, including wealthy businessmen and media personalities.

The two main Scientology centers or “missions” in Israel are in Jerusalem at 5 Narkiss Street, and in Tel Aviv at 107 Rothschild Blvd.. A new modern center is under construction in Tel Aviv. The church also has an international youth organization called the International Youth for Human Rights, which also has a branch in Israel, headed by Don Shaul. Besides trying to make people more aware of human rights abuses all over the world, including Israel, the organization also tries to dispel adverse publicity against Scientology itself.

Critics of Scientology, especially those who “left the fold” after being indoctrinated into it, say that it is not a religion at all but attempts to control it’s members by making it difficult to leave once one accepted into it’s ranks.

As for Cruise himself, whose wife Katie is also a Scientologist, he ended the video clip with the remark of his sincerity in being part of it: “I do what I can; I do it the way I do everything”. Then he laughs out loud and says: “there’s nothing part-of-the-way for me!”

Both university students and junior lecturers appear to be in a state of (joyful) shock when the word reached them that striking senior lecturers have finally reached an agreement with the Israeli finance ministry to settle a strike that has now been in progress for over 90 days seems to be coming to and end as both sides of the conflict, the lecturers and the government reached a compromise to a proposal in which the lecturers will receive a 15.3 per cent pay raise as compensation for salary erosion between the years 1997 and 2006; with a future additional 1.5% annual increase between the years 2007 and 2015. The lecturers will also be included in a 4.7% pay raise that the government has already agreed to give to government employees.

Once signed, hopefully sometime Friday, the lecturers will be able to return to their classrooms as early as Sunday, January 20. The strike’s end may also be the result of an ultimatum given by university presidents that they would close their institutions completely if the strike wasn’t settled by noon on Friday.

Even if students and lecturers do return to classes on Sunday, the damage caused by the strike has already been done, and students who have been denied the higher education they both enrolled for and paid for may have see the format of their 2007/08 academic year changed dramatically. How the university administrations are going to work out the details for making up the 90+ day strike still remains to be seen, however.

“While I am certainly happy to be able to return to class, I am really angry with both the lecturers as well as the government for letting this thing go on for so long” said Roni, a first year student at Ben Gurion University of the Negev. “Not only did I make several payments towards my tuition and other related expenses, I had to pay rent in an apartment and make other payments while not being able to start my studies. Now that the government has agreed to compensate the professors, what about the students? What are we going to get out of this?”

For Roni, and thousands of students like her, she isn’t going to get anything, other than more aggravation and other hassles due to the “Syllabus restructuring” that will include losing school vacation time and probably the entire summer break as well. As many students use this three to four month period to work in order to pay for tuition and other expenses (including housing) it will be difficult for many students to “restructure” schedules that may affect their entire undergraduate studies.

For this sad reality, the shoulder of blame must be focused on the Finance and Education ministries, as well as possibly the top governmental officials themselves, one of whom made a cute comment during the now settled secondary teachers strike that he was “also once a teacher”. Those who have been following this entire affair know exactly who made these sterling remarks, and on whose desk the “buck stops here”.

No sooner had U.S. President George Bush departed Israel when Hamas led Palestinians in Gaze began inundating Sderot again with Kassam missile fire. The IDF responded by not only striking Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants with air to ground missile fire by also by ground incursions into the Strip which has resulted in more than 22 Palestinians killed including the son of former P.A. Foreign Minister, Dr. Mahmoud Zahar. Zahar (a case of mistaken identity?), who now holds the same position for the Hamas entity, vowed during mourning for his slain son that Israel will pay severely for this act.

Zahar’s words seems to be taking concrete form as Israel’s southern town which borders on the Eastern edge of the Strip has been hit by more than 70 Kassam rockets and mortar fire in the course of three days. Several Sderot residents have been injured including a young girl who was sitting in front of her computer when a Kassam slammed into her family’s living room. She was injured, by miraculously survived.

Israel Defense Minister Ehud Barak visited the beleaguered town and vowed that Israel will not tolerate this kind of action. Tolerate or not, the Kassams keep coming and more and more Sderot residents are evacuating the town, including a number being once again assisted by billionaire Arkady Gaydamak, who is financing the relocation of Sderot school children to safer locations. For the ones who have not left, increasing problems of trauma and hysteria have kept at least a fourth of the children away from school.

Israeli retaliation strikes has also resulted in another problem when exiled Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal announced on Wednesday that Hamas has cancelled the negotiations aimed at gaining the release of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit. “We will not resume these negotiations until the Zionest enemy discontinues their attacks on our people”, Meshaal said when interviewed in his headquarters in Damascus.

With what is currently going on in the south, which is literally a war of attrition between Israel and Hamas, it’s highly unlikely that the IDF will heed Mr. Meshaal’s warning as the Israeli public will not tolerate such actions against fellow citizens for much longer. Hamas leaders in Gaza, including Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh may be getting the message, as it was reported from a senior Hamas official that they would like to halt the rocket and other attacks that are resulting in a continuance of IDF selective targeting of Palestinian militants. Israel Defense Minister Barak replied that Israeli forces will increase their pressure on the Gaza Palestinians until they do cease these rocket attacks. Meanwhile, at least 15 Kassam rockets have hit Sderot Thursday morning alone, injuring one woman and traumatizing many other residents.

What now remains to be seen is who will prevail in this current “war of the wills”.

What is a nice Jewish Israeli girl doing with a bunch of L.A. rappers and hip hop artists? Why she’s making a lot of money with them – that’s what! Miri Ben Ari began playing the violin when she was a young girl, and more recently switched from classical music to more interesting melodies like gospel, rhythm and blues and jazz after going to America following advice from local entertainment personalities who said that her music style was something that would have more possibilities in the USA.

But what has really given her career a boost is her connection the black American music community, especially the one performing the new hi hop style of music. In fact, her career has done so well that she recently won a Grammy award for her music and has put out a best selling CD entitled The Hip Hop Violinist. “I was introduced to this kind of music by the pop star Wyclef Jean, and also received a lot of assistance from another well known artist Jay Z, who introduced me to the black community”.

She won her Grammy award for her performance with the rapper and record producer Kayne West.

Miri is very enthusiastic about her association with the black music community as she is able to relate to them very well, despite being from Israel. “Many blacks are evangelistic Christians who are very pro Israel” she says. Despite the fact that Miri became a naturalized American citizen, she is very proud to tell people that she is also Israeli and is also involved in performing special music to commemorate the Holocaust. Some of her music, used in the recent Hollywood movie The Freedom Riders is being honored by the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and museum in Jerusalem. Miri is currently visiting in Israel and made a guest appearance on the morning Channel 10 talk show. She is very proud that her music is connected with helping to create more awareness about the Holocaust.

Her music will also be featured in special events connected with Israel’s upcoming 60th anniversary celebrations and she is now working on a new music album as well as providing background music for a “come back” album by pop music icon Donna Summers. She has also performed in campaign promotions for Democratic Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

“As a woman, I would love to see a woman president, although Barack Obama is also very capable” she said.

“I have the privilege to be the first classical violinist to become a “role model” for kids as an urban artist, promoting the art of playing live music and live instruments. I came all the way from Israel to America without my family. I was homeless and I didn’t speak English. I started with a violin and a dream. My music education, discipline and determination helped me to become a great artist, but it was my ability to think “outside the box” that helped me to succeed and make a difference.” - Miri Ben-Ari

With oil prices hovering at near the $100 per barrel mark, more and more Israelis are becoming interested in energy saving products, as well as those more friendly towards to environment. Whether it be dual power system “hybrid” cars or those powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG), consumer concerns regarding energy shortage and global warming is causing many people to change their “energy consumption lifestyles” in favor of more environmentally friendly alternatives.

From a consumer marketing standpoint, what are known as “hybrid cars” seem to be getting more than their share of attention these days.

For those who are not aware, a hybrid car is equipped with both a conventional gasoline powered engine as well as an electric motor. When the car is in traveling at a regular road rate of speed, a generator is recharging the batteries that power the electric. The electric motor’s batteries are also being recharged by the braking action of the car when it stops at a traffic light. When the car is either standing still at an intersection, or moving at a very low rate of speed, like during the “stop and go” movement in a traffic jam, the electric motor takes over and not only saves fuel, but helps polluting exhaust emissions. In fact, Avi Moshel, who is involved in dealing with automobile exhaust emissions for the Transport Ministry, says that hybrid cars are 30 to 50% less polluting than those with only a gasoline powered engine.

Presently, the two most popular selling “hybrids” in Israel are the Toyota Prius and the Honda Civic Hybrid. Both are between 15 and 20% more expensive than ordinary modes, but dealers who sell them claim that a driver will gain back the extra cost through reduced fuel consumption .

Last summer, I asked a salesman at the Honda agency and service garage in Netanya why he thinks many people still haven’t considered purchasing a hybrid car: “It’s very simple” he replied, people in this country usually wait until some of their neighbors do the same thing. So unless Shlomo buys one (a hybrid), Itzick won’t buy one either.”

That was several months ago. When I checked back with the same salesman recently, he said that their agency is promoting their hybrids more than the ordinary gasoline powered models, especially due to the purchase tax incentives now being given by the Transport Ministry in conjunction with the Ministry for Environmental Protection.

The other alternative, i.e. cars that have been converted to run on liquefied natural gas have also gained interest, as LNG as it’s called cost about half the price of gasoline, and is much cleaning burning. The main drawback to this fuel first it’s availability (only a handful of filling stations offer this kind of fuel) and its potential hazards from explosions. The cost of converting an ordinary petrol burning car to one using LNG costs between NS 8,000 and 10,000, which is also a factor.

Still, in a country like Israel which has one of the highest vehicle traffic congestion rates in world, the use of Hybrid and LNG powered vehicles will be a definite advantage to reducing the country’s air pollution problems, as well as overall energy costs.

Cochrane is only about 15 miles from Calgary so if you’re ever up to Calgary, take a side trip and go see this booming town. This mural is a sight to behold.

*If you look at each tile individually, you can see how different each tile is. Someone assembled all the tiles to form one large mural, which was unveiled in September. Each tile is 1 foot square, is its own Individual picture and each is by a different artist. Together they Form the huge mural.

*You can click on each of the tiles to see them in detail. You might want to check out the horse’s eye. Simply amazing. I had to go back and look at the complete mural really carefully….because I could not believe the tile they used to do the horse’s eye. There all amazing. Enjoy!!

Click Here To Visit!

The Israel university lecturers strike is now in it’s 80th day and the government has decided it has no option other than to send the issue to the National Labor Court for arbitration. The Labor Court, headed by Judge Steve Adler will have two options to decide on: whether to force the striking academic staff members to return to the class rooms and lecture halls without receiving the additional compensation package they have been hoping for; or to cancel the entire semester, which is virtually a write off anyway due to the school year having begun only days before the striking professors and lecturers began their protest in sympathy with the secondary school teachers who only recently returned to the classrooms.

Judge Adler and his associates are said to be offering the striking lecturers a package that would make up for salary discrepancies which are said to have been on-going since 2001. The deal would give lecturers an additional amount of between 11 and 20 per cent of salaries earned in the past 6 years; the amount received to be given according to the Judge decides that the actual salary erosions is either more or less than an amount of 16%.

The lecturers have been asking for a 35% bonus, however, and whether they would go ahead and accept the court’s offer has not been determined.

That the current situation has reached this state is most unfortunate, and students who are about to see not only an entire semester wiped out but monies they spent for both housing and tuition go down the tube as well. While many have nothing but the greatest sympathy for the strikers, that the students are losing both valuable time and money is a real shame, and goes above and beyond the reasons for the strike’s beginning in mid-October

With only a few exceptions, Israeli university students usually begin their academic studies .in their early to mid 20’s – usually 4 years later than students in other countries who don’t have to do compulsory military service. This means that the time they complete these studies they are already in their mid to late 20’s and even older if they have to work first to earn funds to pay their tuition and other expenses, as many of them do. By the time they are ready to enter the work force they find themselves having to compete for positions in companies that expect them to have not only an academic degree but possibly an advance one and a year or two of actual work experience as well.

Academic teaching positions have never been something the one gets rich in; and this goes for those abroad, including prestige private institutions in countries like England and the USA. The old image of a professor or lecturer riding his bicycle to class, and wearing a worn sport coat or sweater with leather elbow patches has been proof positive enough that such a career has to include a good amount of dedication on their behalf and usually requires them to augment their modest salaries by either “publishing (textbooks or other academic works) or perishing”.

What will result from the arbitration will most likely come too late to save the current semester, let alone the entire academic year. And the ones who will suffer the most will be the students themselves who only want a chance to succeed in an ever increasingly competitive world.