Can you imagine this scenario - actors in a theater show who are murders and rapists? A new theater show named Sliding Doors which has been running lately as part of a local theater festival is performed solely by a group of young prisoners. These young men, all of whom have been sentenced for long periods of time for committing serious crimes, have been issued a special permission to act and sing in a show composed by them and inspired by their life stories.
Every time the prisoners leave the prison premises for the theater they are escorted by a special unit of prison guards, one guard per each prisoner. They are led handcuffed by their hands and feet until they reach the theater.
Being a sap for the victim’s side, the woman who was attacked or the boy who was beaten, I am usually appalled to hear about rapists and abusers who often do hardly two years in prison. Nevertheless, one must consider the negative effects of prison as well: this cruel institution creates monsters that have nothing to lose when they get out. These guys are only 17. Statistics show that most of the youth that serves time in prison are likely to return. This theater show gives these youngsters a chance to face their inner demons and develop a sense of value for themselves and the outside world. A groundbreaking initiative, the show has won a first place already and may be heading for more awards as it continues to touch audiences and stir conversations.
Hollywood actor Wentworth Miller teamed up with the singer Dana International to create a promo for an Israeli TV satellite provider, “Yes”. Dana International is a well known transsexual pop singer in Israel who has made a name for herself internationally as the winner of the 1998 Eurovision song contest.
Miller, who has recently visited Israel plays Michael Scofield in “Prison Break”, an American show that enjoys wide popularity in Israel and across the world.
In the promo you can see Miller attempting to escape prison as he runs into the controversial Israeli singer. In the ad, Dana informs Miller in her usual fashion and sultry English mixed with Hebrew that he cannot escape prison just yet because we, the audience, must still watch season Four.
The subtext of the ad “winks” at the viewers capitalizing on the rumors that Miller might be gay.
While many people find this commercial tasteless, I bet that this is exactly what its makers were after â to provoke and win the audience attention. And boy, were they successful!
Like the famous song goes - “let’s give them something to talk about” â the gimmick works considering the simple fact that everyone in Israel is still talking about this ad!
The Tel Aviv Cinematheque is showing a new 30-minute comedy called Bombshell about a young Arab female suicide bomber who fails in her terrorist attack.
This is a story of a young female terrorist who plans to blow herself up on an Israeli bus. Her plan takes an unsuspected turn when she is running late and misses the bus. Meanwhile another woman, an Israeli, is on her way to a Leftists’ protest. Her name is Gali Fahima- a parody of Tali Fahima, a radical left-wing activist who has been accused of aiding a well-known terrorist leader Zakaria Zubeidi.
Terrorism and comedy - sounds like a paradox? Not to the creator of the film, Atar Offek: “A good satire, as I intended to make it, does not make fun at the expense of the weak ones but at the expense of the powerful forces in society.” “So here, too, the movie does not ridicule terror victims, it ridicules the terrorists and the (Israeli) army,” says Offek.
The movie satirizes the two sides of the conflict- Jews and Arabs who are both depicted as comical and absurd. The movie trailer introduces the audience to the “IDF absurd theater,” showing a Hamas woman with a gun who tells the viewers: “whoever doesn’t come to watch me is a smoked egg.”
This black comedy offers a different perspective on widely debated Jewish-Arab conflict. The relatively quiet period of the last four years has allowed this movie to pass under the sensitivity radar without raising too much public objection. Yet it managed to invoke considerable attention with its provocative outlook. But will people actually buy tickets to watch it?
Many Israelis look for escapism while others might not be so open to humoring this sensitive subject. An important quality of humor in our lives is that it acts as a great equalizer between people of different groups by bringing them to the same level of entertainment for the masses. Perhaps this is the recipe for making the enemy more of a human being and for normalizing life in the shadows of a violent conflict. After all, the basis of comedy is people and their human faults.
Tacking such a sensitive issue with black humor may seem out of line. But what is the purpose of art if not to provoke, shock and give a unique and unexpected perspective on life? The view taken in this film offers an attitude we may consider adopting though perhaps not to such a radical extent â despite the harsh reality we live in we should not loose sight of our humanity and our brilliant ability to make silly mistakes.
The Israeli silversmith and goldsmith David Weitzman calls himself a cosmic jewelry artist. For many years he has been studying the Kabbalah, Tibetan Buddhism, ancient Egypt and mysterious Atlantis. This gives him inspiration for his marvelous jewelry. They all have deep symbolic meaning and really positively affect the person who wears them. Many people claim that the rings and pendants that he creates somehow contain spirituality. David’s creations represent peace and unity. They are inspired by ancient knowledge.
“When I looked at an image, I was able to understand it immediately, but in order to actually uncover these concepts I felt the need to express them outwardly. I then came up with the idea of jewelry. My first item was the Merkaba â a two-dimensional Star of David“.
Other Works include items such as the Jerusalem Ring, representing wholeness and The Mobius Ring, a symbol of oneness and infinity;
“I want to create something that unites people instead of divides them, something that transcends religion. This probably has to do with the fact that I live in Israel, not the quietest place on earth! There is a great deal of violence here. Different population groups wage life-and-death struggles with each other. And all of them, interestingly enough, fight in the name of God.”
David’s vision and attitude is what makes his jewelry so beautiful and unique, take a look at his great store Ka Gold Jewelry…
More than 42 years after their initial Israel concert was canceled by government authorities, the two remaining members of the original Beatles have been invited to perform here during Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations. Present government officials extended the invitations to Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with an official apology for canceling the original concert which would have taken place when the British pop group was at the height of their international fame.
There appear to be many versions as to why the 1965 concert was canceled at the last moment; but for the most part, the main reasons were that officials were afraid that the screaming fans would cause severe damage to the newly completed Hechal Hatarbut cultural center in Tel Aviv (located by the Habima Theater), and that the Finance Ministry was afraid there wouldn’t be enough foreign currency to pay the mop-haired group after Israeli Lirot was converted into either Pounds Sterling or U.S. Dollars. Both reasons seem a bit weak when looking back on the subject. The main reason might have been that the Ministry of Culture didn’t seem to think that the pop music quartet wasn’t of a high enough cultural standard to perform along with the likes of classical music greats like American violinist Isaac Stern.
Perhaps it was due to the fact that there wasn’t any “tele” (as the Brits call it) in Israel at the time in order to broadcast the event; and that the Labor led socialist folk in the government didn’t want to corrupt the innocent young minds that were being groomed to some day lead the country to great academic and cultural heights, despite being completely surrounded by Arabs who wanted to push an even smaller and more fragile Israel into the depths of the Mediterranean Sea. After all, the Six Day War had not been fought yet, and the West Bank and the Golan heights were still in Jordanian and Syrian hands. Gaza was being administered by Egypt who really didn’t give a hoot about the nearly million refugees from the 1948 Way of Independence, living on U.N. administered hand-outs.
Although both McCartney and Starr have visited here since that time, they haven’t been here together as the surviving members of what may go down in history as the most successful singing group of all times. In reference to the then government’s fear that the Beatles would corrupt the innocent youth of Israel, that fact that they played in the best concert halls in America and were featured on television programs like the Ed Sullivan show (where Elvis also made his big debut) means that John, Paul, George and Ringo were not considered to be morally corrupting in most places they appeared (expect possibly to a few fundamentalist Christian groups, that is). The other two former Beatles, John Lennon and George Harrison, are now playing their tunes “up above”.
Maybe now the remaining Beatles will finally get the welcome they deserve here, albeit blatantly, like they should have had more than 42 years ago.
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.
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 â 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.
âI have the privilege to be the first classical violinist to become a ârole modelâ 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 didnât 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 âoutside the boxâ that helped me to succeed and make a difference.â - Miri Ben-Ari
I read this great post on Lisa Goldman’s blog and as always it made me stop and think. I had to outright steal it and bring it here, hope she forgives me
I saw the Photo Journalism show last year in Tel Aviv and it was amazing. As a country that relatively to its size manufactures more News then probably any other, we have quite a lot to show. Check out the website for the exhibition Edut Mekomit.
The picture here by Natan Dvir won the award for Photo of Year. The man in the picture, 36 year old Naâim Elâiam, is holding the body of his son at the Erez Checkpoint (into Gaza) waiting for fighting to stop so he can continue home. His infant son passed away at Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv of heart disease.
I never heard about Daevid Allen or Merav Shacham - but the animated video is great and we got an invite to an event where she did the graphics. I love good graphics
This is the invite BTW - if you happen to be in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem….
This is what the press has to say about them:
The Holy Hos
The songs on Jewlia Eisenbergâs album. . .are blithe and frisky. She sets lyrics about politics, jealousy and pizza to a world of styles, from klezmer to pygmy-style counterpoint, humanizing a great thinker while having plenty of fun.
– New York Times
“Meet Jewlia Eisenberg, the leader of the Charming Hostess band, and a unique creative presence in the American- and world- music community. It’s hard to compete with her eay ability to blend so many musical influences into a personal style..
– HA-ARETZ
Israel’s News Blog Magazine: Daily Stories Video and Photos
This is a story of a young female terrorist who plans to blow herself up on an Israeli bus. Her plan takes an unsuspected turn when she is running late and misses the bus. Meanwhile another woman, an Israeli, is on her way to a Leftists’ protest. Her name is Gali Fahima- a parody of 
The Israeli silversmith and goldsmith David Weitzman calls himself a 
More than 42 years after their initial Israel concert was canceled by government authorities, the two remaining members of the original Beatles have been invited to perform here during Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations. Present government officials extended the invitations to Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, along with an official apology for canceling the original concert which would have taken place when the British pop group was at the height of their international fame.
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 â that’s what! 
