"Israel's Economic Miracle"

This post may not be directly army related, but I began this blog on a very different standing than its current theme. Without getting into it, I'll just say that I started writing Israeli by Day in order to clear up misconceptions about this country. When I first started getting into Israel, as in when I first came here and became involved, I was shocked to find out what my peers in my hometown thought of Israel. People just had no idea.

Not uncommon questions asked were if Israel has electricity, are there streets and cars, and if people speak Jewish. One girl even asked me, and she was dead serious, "do they sleep in tents in the desert?" Apparently someone's pre-school Bible lessons about Abraham still apply to modern-day Israel. The level of ignorance was so terribly high - what? Israel is on the Mediterranean Sea?! - that I just had to do my part to show that it is in fact a modern, sophisticated, and first-world nation.

And so with that, I want to share this video clip from CNBC that my great friend Debbie sent me. I really encourage you to watch it, especially if you root for Israel. If you chant "Death to Israel," watch it and weep. Enjoy.

The President of Israel Listens to ME

Last Sunday night was the beginning of Yom Kippur, and I was off from the army. For the first night I decided that I would go to the popular 'meat market' synagogue nearby. I swear I wasn't checking out the ladies on the Day of Atonement. I just wanted to, you know, see to it that everyone was repenting for all that gawking that takes place there (they weren't). My flatmate was walking in the same direction, but then had to take another direction eventually. As I turned onto a sidestreet I noticed a big government Suburban blocking the way to a locally famous synagogue (there are lots in Jerusalem, you know). Next to the Sub was a moveable barricade.

Security was abundant. The first thought that crossed my mind was that they were making sure no bad guys tried anything tricky with all those congregants. I quickly remembered, however, that I had seen some government security doing the same thing one morning as I walked to my bus stop on the way back to the army. As soon as I recalled that, a few guys in suits turned the corner. Secret Service guys. Tall, strong as hell looking. M16's not dangling to the side like a soldier going home, but rather with hands on the grips, pointed forward but to the ground. "Who the hell is this for," I wondered.

And out walks Shimon Peres, the venerated President of this fair state. Here we were, just me and Peres on a tiny sidestreet walking in opposite directions. And about 10 ready to pop badasses culled from who knows which army units. Shayetet (Seals), Sayeret Matkal (Delta Force), 669, Palsar (Rangers), Yahalom (special forces demolitions), Egoz (anti-guerilla warfare), some others probably, and even former Mossad who took an even more prestigious assignment if I had to guess. Me, Peres, 5 feet apart - and the world's scariest bodyguards.

I'm not one to get starstruck or shocked over a fellow human being. I mean, we're all flesh and blood and dust and ashes. But this isn't an ordinary man. He is considered one of the founders of the State, and at this very moment he is probably the most respected man in Israel. Peres is like a modern Israeli James Madison. What do you say to a man like that, in passing, on the eve of Yom Kippur? Do you wish him an easy fast? Tell him he's doing a great job? Maybe even something as cliche as saying, "Good evening, Mr. President"?

And so I found myself as shut up as a Tibetan monk in solitude on top a great, lonely mountain. Honestly, I'm not sure that if I had even tried to speak that the words would have come out at all. And just imagine if the security saw some bumbling idiot, big and as potentially threatening as I could be, making a move towards the head of state! That would have been an inauspicious start to the new year. I think the security, black suits and assault rifles and dark sunglasses and all, probably put the kibosh on any greeting or words more than any other factor.

But now, days later, I really wish I would have said something about Gilad Shalit. If you haven't been reading the news, our soldier captured in 2006 by Hamas is still a hostage. He's been subjected to the discommunication between Israel and her enemies for over three years (1,195 days in captivity) now, and just about the entire country is saying the same thing: bring him home already. We don't care how, just do it. Now.

Man, I wish I would have said exactly this:

"Gilad Shalit."

That's it. Nothing else. In a normal tone of voice, no inflection at all, no gesticulation. Nothing. You know why? Because he knows what the country wants, and it would have been foolish to insult him further. I know that he isn't solely responsible for that situation, and the resolution, but he sure has a voice in the matter. He sure can make some moves.

But I didn't say a word, and that's OK - probably for the best. Definitely for the best. I don't need the Secret Service beating me up before I go to the meat market synagogue, giving me a bloody lip or something. Girls don't like a bleeding, awkward tall guy. Or maybe they'd think I was tough and just beat up some bad guys.

Ahh, the delusions of a sleep-depraved soldier...

Kitty Litter In The IDF

I meant to post this about four months ago when it happened, but you know how life works out. Anyway, the RASAP (logistics guy for a company) had me cleaning out his storage room when I heard a strange noise coming from a shelf. I looked up and saw a cardboard box marked "vests" where the noise seemed to be.

Taking it down, I felt something shift inside the box. As I set it down on the ground, I saw a litter of kittens, all meowing as if nothing was wrong at all! I told the RASAP immediately, of course, and we took the box outside onto the sidewalk. As I furtively pulled out my phone and took the below picture (still at this point technically forbidden for me to have a phone on me at the time), he called over all the commanders nearby.

We had a good laugh about it. I had to run off to do something else, but I wonder what they did with the litter? I know that everyone was feeding a stray, tiny, miserable kitty a few months later that was living next to a dumpster, so I suppose they'd also have pity on this bunch.

Well, if you ask the anti-Israel crowd, they'd say he probably ate them!

Google Search: Israeli Army

Looking to see where Israeli By Day stands under a Google search for the keywords "Israeli army," I was surprised to see the Google Images return, which happens to be at the top of the page. As of me doing this search, March 28th, those few select images aren't of dead Palestinians, or Gaza on fire, or soldiers seemingly pointing a gun at a child.

Instead, they are of hot IDF female soldiers. Is that what you see? Here's the link.

Almost as strange as the keywords by which someone found Israeli by Day. Pretty sure it was one guy:

As a matter of fact, I've also questioned whether the
hummus has anything to do with Israeli girls'
physical...er...build.

Good luck my anonymous American visitor...

What's Up With Israeli Pizza?

On a recent trip during my 10 day break after tironut, I went for a couple days up north. I found myself in Tiberias, a city with an amazing waterfront on the Sea of Galilee, or the Kinneret in Hebrew. That's where Jesus walked on water, according to the Gospels. They have a nice walkway with restaurants and stores and all that, so I grabbed a pizza and a liter of Coke and figured I'd gorge myself while looking out at the party boats and lights from across the lake.

The pizza was greasy and supercheesy, just the way I like it. Israelis tend to do some strange things to normal food, like eating Bulgarian cheese with watermelon. But, one thing that really caught me off guard was the amount of a certain condiment I was given. As you can see below, I got a handful of large packets of ketchup. Just plain old ketchup. Who puts ketchup on pizza? I guess for the crust? That's what marinara sauce is for... Someone's gotta tell Israelis these things.

Memorable Moments In The IDF

Israelis have a very strange relationship with the Holocaust and all that German stuff. As I've written about before, you see survivors around every once in a while. A huge proportion of the population fled from Europe to settle here. Strangely enough, despite or maybe because of all this, Israelis make Holocaust jokes or say things in reference to the Holocaust when they aren't satisfied. For example, we got a real tiny breakfast consisting of two slices of bread and a tomato, and a guy said, "What, am I in Auschwitz or something?"

Anyway, that's not the quote I wanted to post. Maybe you had to be there, but we were on kitchen duty last month when Avichai (not his real name), a rather sloppy guy, was stopped by a rather strange commander.

"Avichai!," the commander yelled.

Avichai stopped dead in his tracks and turned around, replying timidly, "Yes, Commander..."

"Tuck in your shirt and straighten your uniform like an officer in the German army," he barked.

"...Yes, Commander."

Holocaust Survivors In Random Places

Reason 174 why I love Israel: Holocaust survivors living normal lives. I've been lucky enough to witness these amazing people doing all types of everyday things, and surprisingly, most of my friends haven't even randomly seen a survivor. That's a unique situation to be proud of witnessing, but when you live in Israel, you learn to appreciate what would be odd and potentially offensive in other parts of the world. Yes, I'm saying that randomly seeing a Holocaust survivor in Israel is "cool."

For example, on my first return flight from Israel in 2005 I sat next to Livia Bitton-Jackson, a survivor from Auschwitz who has written stirring accounts of her experience. She ended up telling me the most vivid, terrifying stories. I purchased her books a month later and found out that she had told me the worst of the worst. I felt quite privileged, and the full story of my few hours with her is and will always be one of my most cherished memories.

Though less personal, another time I ran across some survivors was on my way to buy a bottle of vodka with a friend. Across from my dorm in Tel Aviv in 2006 there was a little store that we often visited for our late-night alcohol runs. Like many makolets, they had a big screen TV positioned so people could sit at tables outside of the store and watch sports games. So, we were walking into the makolet and I just happened to glance at the guys watching the basketball game. Four men were playing backgammon, and being that it was late spring, they all had short-sleeve shirts on. Three of these men had tattoos on their forearms. I can't say I've ever had a more involuntary double take in my life.

A few months ago I was sitting on the bus and an old woman sat down next to me. I looked at her, looked down, and noticed the tattoo on her arm. I looked back up and we made eye contact... she covered her number with her shirt.

That same week I boarded a packed bus in the center of Jerusalem. Unfortunately, the kids in this country don't show much respect for their elders, which means they rarely get up from their seat in a crowded space to give to even the old lady with a walker. So, I stood near the front of the bus and instinctively looked around to see who was sitting who shouldn't be. Right there was a regular looking old lady with...



I mean, come on, where else in the world can you live history like this? And yes, if you were wondering, since I've had so many of these experiences I have become overly conscious of elderly people here. Every time I see an old person with a short-sleeve shirt, I look at their forearm. Every single time. Without fail.

I may have missed being a part of "The Greatest Generation," but at least my generation is really going to be the last to witness first-hand the greatest story of redemption ever known to man: Holocaust survivors living normal lives.

BTW, a story of mine about another experience with a Holocaust survivor yelling at me got picked up for an anthology, but it's been a very sketchy process... I'll let you know if that ever happens.

Anti-Semitism On YouTube

Through all these recent financial crises, despite the turmoil and fear and panic, I've been so proud of the advancement of our society and blame mechanisms. I am a student of historical anti-semitism, and I find myself fascinated at the blatant lies perpetrated against the Jewish people in times of despair. Germany blamed the condition of their state on the Jews, eventually leading to the idea that the elimination of the sickly nation would cure Germany of its ills and give them the purity of nation and state to achieve their aspirations.

Germany is by no means the only example in history when Jews were the scapegoat for financial crisis. It almost goes without saying that when there is a dramatic misfortune in a country, the Jews will be blamed. So, when this whole morgtage crisis and bank failures started, I was ready to see if anti-semitic remarks would creep into the discourse. Just last Friday night I commented to somebody that I was happily surprised to have not really come across much blaming of the Jews in this matter!

The Jerusalem Post has an article, however, that notes an Anti-Defemation League report on an uptick in anonymous anti-semitic comments on mainstream web sites. For example:

"Jews are greedy, rotten slimeballs," wrote one surfer on a Yahoo Finance group.

"It's difficult, if not impossible, for one honest investor to neutralize the efforts of thousands of Jewish swindlers."

There is a YouTube video called "The Court Jewsters" currently up that quite clearly blames the Jews for the financial meltdown. In case you don't want to watch the video, and I did think it was pretty boring, here's a couple thoughts (it's included at the bottom of this post). One, the intro scene essentially says "Jews are communists, and we must take our nation back." That's classic Aryan xenophobia - let's take our nation back.

Secondly, the description of the video discusses the historical Jewish moneylender. The medieval Jewish moneylender was believed to take flesh in return for debts. Pogroms were carried out against entire Jewish populations because of rumors that a moneylender stole a Christian baby to settle a loan. Riots were fomented as a leader rallied the masses against the Jewish moneylender who, according to popular thought, strangled the economy with debt in order to take over the world.

It's just classic anti-semitism. This is Nazi stuff. This is pre-Israel anti-semitism. If you do a search for anything Israel-related on YouTube, and it's been like this for years now, you'll see scores of really scary comments. For example, on a plain old facts about Israel video, you have this comment:

withoutmercyuk (36 minutes ago)
You do know that Rothschild was given guardianship of 'Israel' in 1917. He stole Britain from the British and USA from the Americans. He owns the bank of England, the Federal Reserve and is guardian of the treasury of the vatican. He is not a man of God.

Note that that was posted 36 minutes ago - October 2, 2008. Sad.

And finally, the star of the ball is an image from "The Court Jewsters" blaming Jews for the financial crisis. A burning American dollar bill has written on it, "In Zionist Bankers We Trusted." The best part of that image is that there is a mass of humble, heavily coated regular folk in the foreground. I wonder what they're trying to imply...



That's right, Jews caused the Great Depression, and we're already responsible for the state of the world's financial markets today. And to think that I was so proud of our advanced civilization! As Abraham Foxman said, the director of the ADL, "The age-old canards about Jews and money are always just beneath the surface."

Now, why doesn't YouTube take this video down as fast as Yahoo took down the remarks on their Finance site? And why doesn't YouTube try to employ a censoring mechanism to keep people from writing the most disgusting, literally pro-Nazi genocidal remarks against Israel and Jews worldwide? Honestly, check out most any comment section on an Israel-related video on YouTube!

Sexy Tzippi Livni - Next Prime Minister?

The literally hundreds of visitors to my blog each month who searched for Tzippi (or Tsippi or Tzipi or Tsipi) Livni Sexy, or some combination thereof, will be happy to hear that Tzipi has won the leadership role of the ruling political party in Israel, Kadima (Forward).  This means that our favorite international sex icon has a chance of becoming the next prime minister of Israel.  You think I can use my charms to get in as a cabinet member?  Women do have a hard time resisting my devilishly good looks.

Don LaFontaine Died

Yes, this is totally unrelated to Israel, but it is very much related to a part of a culture that I have been raised in.  Don LaFontaine, the guy that does the voiceovers for all those movies, died a couple days ago at the age of 68.  They aren't saying what he died from.  I was always under the impression that he was a smoker, because honestly, how could you have that voice without smoking?  But, in the video below, he says that he got the voice overnight as a teenager.

I'm putting this up here because this man and his voice were overarching cultural givens for me in my life.  LaFontaine provided the voice for over 5,000 movies, TV promos, and advertisements, and so inevitably his prolificacy created an indelible mark on what we consider the "standard" for vocal accompaniment to visual entertainment.  And, at least for me, my attention has always been easily grasped by his natural emotivity.  

What really blows my mind is to think that a voice that provided so much emotion and tone for the greatest entertainment device ever, the movie, will be a guaranteed unknown for the next generation.  How long does a movie preview last?  When was the last time you watched the preview for Die Hard 1?  It stands to reason that my children will never know this element of my life.

I was always very aware of big studio movies that didn't use Don LaFontaine as their voiceover, and I invariably thought, "Why wouldn't they have him?  That's like not wearing a suit to an interview."  It just makes me sad to know that all the awesome movies to come will have a little bet less than perfect previews.  Well, in a world without the best voiceover actor known to man, we must strive to find the next best thing...

Cool Pictures Of The Muslim Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem (Part 5/5)

This is the final portion of the pictures I took last week from a little trip around the Arab areas of the Old City of Jerusalem.  Specifically, I was in the Muslim and Arab Quarters.  These final two pictures were, in my opinion, the coolest things I saw.  I hope you enjoyed the posts, and if you didn't happen to catch them all they're still on this very same page.  Just scroll down!  

Enjoy part 5, the final bit:

Click on the picture for larger view!

There are actually two women here.  As you can see, they're selling amazing

looking grapes.

Arab men, including one dressed in a jalabiya (or a thobe, I guess),

playing a friendly round of backgammon, otherwise known as sheshbesh.

Cool Pictures Of The Muslim Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem (Part 4/5)

I've been thinking about this portion of the multi-part post all week. I'm concerned that I won't be able to accurately and effectively convey to those of you who don't really have experience in Israel, even as a tourist around soldiers, with the disposition of Israeli soldiers while on tour around the country. You see, Israel has a mandatory army, so all but the highly religious are drafted for two to three year services at the ripe old age of 18. Consequently, the army does nice little things once in a while, like taking the soldiers on educational trips to important sites.

These soldiers are in uniform during the trips, as well. I have observed that more often than not the soldiers aren't really so excited about being the object of foreigners' curiosity. Yes, many will take a picture with someone that asks nicely, but rarely have I seen them get really animated. They tend to just stand there and look like they'd rather be anywhere else. So, when I saw this I was a little blown away.

At the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the site of Jesus' supposed crucifixion, burial, and resurrection, a large crowd of tourists had their attention fully on the soldiers instead of on the church. These visitors were mainly Southeast Asian, as far as I could tell. Now, as far as stereotypes go, I know that Koreans are branded as being very religious Christians. So, it really amazed me to see that the focus was not on Jesus and Christianity, but rather on these punk 18 year olds who just happened to have on a uniform!

You should have seen it. People were running around trying to capture the perfect shot: two soldiers laughing, two soldiers hugging, two soldiers acting tough. It was hilarious. What really surprised me was that the soldiers were bouncing around, smiling, holding cameras and taking pictures for the tourists, posing with and hugging those who asked... It was just not a normal sight. These kids are usually so bored. They seemed really energetic, instead.

Every person in that courtyard was snapping pics of the soldiers, so I figured I'd snap some of the snappers. Make sure to look at the third one. She was a little too happy to oblige to their requests...

Here's part 4:

Click on the picture for a larger view!

Notice the stairs in the back right of the picture. A large

group of soldiers were sitting on that, and tourists were

climbing the steps to sit with them, and there was a clog

as you went in and out of the door to the church as people

were bottlenecking it while taking pictures of the soldiers.

The slab of stone that Jesus was anointed on before burial

rests about 20 feet away, directly inside the door...

This honestly deserves its own post. I think the Asian tourists

were amazed to see an Asian soldier (her dad was from Vietnam),

and I was too, honestly. But, she has to be the dumbest soldier

I've ever seen. If her commander saw that, she would be in

BIG trouble. I wonder what her fellow soldiers thought...

Oh, yeah, that's what they thought. The guy on the left is

thinking, "Um, should I say something?" The guy on the

right is thinking, "Holy-Freaking-Crap. Is she really doing that?"

Cool Pictures Of The Muslim Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem (Part 3/5)

This is part three of five of some pictures that I took while on a little trip through the Muslim and Christian Quarters of Old City, Jerusalem.  Again, they're focusing mainly on Arab sights in Jerusalem since I get such a kick out of touring around those areas.  It's a whole different world.

Scroll down to see part one and two, which should still be on this same page.  

Enjoy part three:

Click on the pictures for larger views!

This is a pretty common sight, but nonetheless I find

it very exciting whenever I notice it.  It usually works

out like this: walking along, trying not to trip on the 

stones or avoiding hassling shopkeepers begging you

to "just take a look," and then you glance up and notice

a huge minaret rising high above.  Seeing that symbol of

a nearby mosque just really reinforces the feeling of 

otherworldliness.

I've seen these guys around once in a while. They are

dressed in what is either traditional Turkish or Moroccan

clothing, and they sell a very sweet tea from that metal

container (what would be the word for it?). If anyone knows

what country this is from, inform me!  The tea, by the way, is

unbelievably sugary and delicious.

Sorry, couldn't help it.  He's riding a donkey into the Lion's

Gate entrance of the Old City.  This is, believe it or not, more

or less what the Moshiach (Jewish messiah) will supposedly

do when He comes.  For now, we just smile.

Cool Pictures Of The Muslim Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem (Part 2/5)

This is round two of the pictures I found to be noteworthy on my trip last week through the Muslim and Christian Quarters of Old City, Jerusalem.  I decided to break them down into categories, really, and this post's focus is on the traditional headcovering of Arab women - the hijab, and in one case the niqab.

Here is part one.

Part two:

Click on the pictures for a larger view!

A selection of hijabs.

Poster advertisement for yet another hijab and niqab store.

I thought it was pretty cool that I got a couple women in the

frame that had on the gear.  Too bad they're overexposed.

As far as I've seen, this is a rare sight here in Israel.  Seeing a

woman in full covering is something you'd expect to see more

in Baghdad than Jerusalem - even though the resident Muslims

can be quite religious.

And finally, just to balance the ledger, here's a very

normal Internet cafe in the Muslim Quarter.  These

Internet/computer sites have been targets of attacks

during the rougher times around these parts.  Apparently,

computers and the Internet symbolize the evil devils of the West.

Cool Pictures Of The Muslim Quarter, Old City, Jerusalem (Part 1/5)

This week I am going to post multiple pictures in five separate photoblogging articles. Because of my circumstances I tend to just have pictures from the modern areas of Jerusalem, the predominantly Jewish and Westernish sites throughout the city. I put up pictures of silly Hebrew signs and unique occurrences on the street. As representative of my day to day experiences these can be, they fail to relay one part of my life that is just as important to me.

I like to tour through Arab areas. I go into East Jerusalem sometimes. I often find myself in Arab neighborhoods. I have been through the West Bank, deep into what most would consider dangerous territory. And, of course, I love to walk the Arab/Muslim streets of the Old City here in Jerusalem. Trust me, I'm always very safe and objective in these trips.

So, as I went on a little stroll with two friends of mine through the Muslim and Christian (still Arab, though) Quarters of the Old City last week, I snapped all the interesting shots I could think of. You should keep up with the site this week as I have many pictures to post, and this is only part one of what caught my eye:

Click on the pictures to see larger size!

What appears to me to be an old running water alcove that the residents
of the Muslim Quarter must have used before that luxury was available
throughout homes. My archaeological estimation is that this dates to
the Ottoman timeline, and it may even stretch back all the way to the
16th century - I think that because of the inscription, which looks
enormously like the actual surviving inscriptions for Suleiman the
Magnificent at the city's gates (1530s).

Here is that inscription up close. If someone could translate it for me,
I would be extremely grateful. There are many of these inscriptions
throughout the Old City. They are written in a fancy, cursive Arabic.
I think they're among the most beautiful treasures in all of Jerusalem.

This is as close as I could get to the Temple Mount. I am standing on
some steps leading to a gate onto the Temple Mount. The deal is that
the Mount is often closed to anyone but Arabs, and many religious
Jews won't even enter the area because we aren't 100% sure where
the Holy of Holies stood - a prohibited room in the Holy Temples,
entrance punishable by death. These steps were flooded with tourists
aching to get on the Mount. You can't even really tell from the picture
just how close I was, though. The Dome of the Rock loomed overhead.

A store specializing in various fabrics, which apparently are a big
deal in the tourism industry for the Old City Arabs. You can get all
types of scarves, afghans, throws, et cetera - all in innumerable
different colors.

I've been dying to get this picture. The irony! If you've wondered
if the Arabs of the Old City are generally hostile and easily angered,
just take a look at this. What's more important, freeing "oppressed
Palestine," or selling the ubiquitous tourist T-shirts promoting Israel's
military dominance for a profit? The proximity of those two
shirts is just classic.

Bulldozers & Construction in Downtown Jerusalem

If you were wondering how those two bulldozer attacks were able to take place so easily, so freely in Jerusalem last month, this post ought to give you a pretty good insight.  How could Palestinians just on a whim take bulldozers and plow through traffic? What is Jerusalem, one big construction zone or something?

In fact, yes it is.  Jerusalem has been planning on, and has finally really begun construction on, utilizing a light-rail system to replace key bus routes. Essentially, it will be an electric railroad through the city. If you follow that previous link and take a look at the pictures, it is shaping up to be an absolutely gorgeous system. It's taking a long time, but if everything goes as planned, it should be a unique modern addition to an ancient, traditional city. I'm excited.

For now I hate life in Jerusalem. I took a bus today that went through the center of the city; normally a 40 minute ride or so. This time with the heavy construction, nearly two hours. That was fun. I think I'll walk from now on.

So, if you looked at the picture I posted at the top there, you'll see the main street of Jerusalem's downtown, Jaffa Street (Rechov Yaffo), totally obliterated and dug up. Just a few weeks ago this street was packed with buses and taxis. Now, and from now on with the light-rail system (whenever that actually happens), this section of the 'road' is strictly pedestrian and rail. I don't know if it's going to ease congestion. I don't know if it's going to work at all. But, right now it's certainly not working, and not just because of the traffic nightmare.

How did those Palestinian men go on rampages through main Jerusalem streets with bulldozers? Easily. It seems to me, as I've walked around the past couple weeks all through Jerusalem, from the German Colony area, to downtown, to the central bus station, that Palestinian men are working with bulldozers, Bobcats, road ripper uppers, all types of weapon-like vehicles with absolutely no supervision. No foreman was in sight as I walked down a heavy pedestrian side-street today and dodged two Palestinian men in Bobcats. No supervision was to be found as some guys with a full-size bulldozer shifted rubble on congested Keren HaYesod street.

I'm not going so far as to claim that Palestinians need to be supervised. I'm especially not saying that Palestinians are evil, and they aren't to be trusted. But, I have to tell you, I've never ever in my time here in Israel felt a wariness of Arabs, who are to be found everywhere in Jerusalem, like I feel walking the streets lately. I have never walked past a group of young Arab men, as I do daily, and felt anything bordering on fear or apprehension. Not until recently, that is.

This is on Jaffa Street.  There is a barrier here because of the pedestrian dominance of the street.  But with my hands I could pull that fence down...

The strangest thing, and I want to italicize this to show you just how sickening I find this, is that I know they feel my suspicion. I have never walked past an Arab, made eye contact, and seen a sheepish look. Until recently. Walking past some of these guys working on the side of the street, no barrier or even rope between us, I have made eye contact and noticed an undeniable expression of uneasiness. I can't even put it in words.

I see them. They see me. They look at me as I walk by. I stare at them as they work, stare at the vehicle as I walk by. A face of suspicion. A face of...

I can't quite understand what I have seen. I swore that once it was shame. Once, I swear, it was like the look of a beaten dog. I feel that two men, two savages, have stolen my innocence in a way. I've lived in Israel during a war, through numerous suicide bombings, and I've even witnessed a homemade explosive being detonated on this very downtown street of Yaffo. I've been through all that. I have no illusions of life here.

Yet, you can't just look at every Arab after a suicide bombing and think 'terrorist.' In my mind and heart, from my first-hand experiences, it just doesn't work that way. But how can you not feel wary of an Arab with free reign over bulldozers in a crowded pedestrian walkway after two unprovoked attacks during a 'ceasefire' like we just saw? Should I feel bad about my instinct of self-preservation? I'm open to suggestions, concurrence, and criticisms.

What I know for a fact is that the men I have walked by who are working on the streets of Jerusalem with dangerous vehicles are not themselves dangerous - not until an incident occurs, of course.  They shouldn't have to work in suspicion.  I feel terrible for them.  But what can I do?

Beauty & The Geek Israel - Now We're Talking The Same Language

Since that last post was so serious, I figured I'd balance it all out with a solid post about the stupidest, and yet one of my favorite shows in the world. Though I'll sit around and watch the History Channel all day, I've also found myself watching a certain fluff American show pretty regularly. I was overjoyed to flip through the channels a few nights ago and come across the Israeli version of this show.

Beauty and the Geek is a dumb, dumb show about a bunch of really smart guys being paired up with some really good looking but typically less intelligent girls. Essentially, the girls are to teach the guys how to function properly around girls, and the guys are supposed to teach the girls how to keep the blonde hair dye from poisoning their brains. So, why do I like it? I dunno. It comes on, and I just keep watching...

Finally, I get to practice my Hebrew and drool at the same time. Did I mention that I'm 23?

Anti-Israel Media Bias and Mahmoud Darwish

I don't know if you've ever heard of the subject of anti-Israel media bias. If not, you should go check out www.honestreporting.com for an insight into what it's all about. I spent the summer of 2005 as a research intern at The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, where I worked on anti-Israel media bias in the post-Holocaust anti-semitism department (a lot of hyphens, right?). I essentially was working under the chairman's direction, as this is his main field of expertise.

Anti-Israel media bias is really quite disturbing. In a sentence, this form of bias is whereby main media outlets cover Israeli news stories with an anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian perspective. For example, when reporting on a suicide attack inside Israel by a Palestinian, they would 'blame the victims,' essentially saying that Israel brought the attack on itself by 'oppressing' the Palestinian people. Stuff like that.

Now, I don't want to go into a whole big discussion about this topic. It's really quite sickening, considering it's the most pervasive media bias in the world, and just about every single outlet is guilty of it - BBC, AP, Reuters, NYTimes, CNN, AFP (French), and so on. If you want to learn more about it, just get a feel for what I'm talking about and how really ridiculously outlandish and bold this bias can be, check out CAMERA, an organization devoted to challenging media outlets to provide accurate, undistorted coverage in the Middle East and Israel.

So, what I wanted to point out was a nice little article found on CNN's website today. Typical with anti-Israel media bias, the Palestinian/Arab/non-Jew is portrayed as the hero, while Israel is the villain to his heroism. Here's the first sentence of the article:

"Mahmoud Darwish, whose prose gave voice to the Palestinian experience of exile, occupation and infighting, died Saturday in Houston, Texas."

That may not sound too bad to those of you who haven't really thought about this before, but let me explain to you what tone that sets. That just told the reader that Israel is an occupier, oppressor, and exiler of a people. Fine, that may be your opinion, but opinion has no place in a mainstream news outlet.

CNN spends about 75% of the article praising Darwish's evocation of the Palestinian plight and national struggle. CNN speaks of how certain poems of Darwish gave voice to the struggles of the Palestinians, such as the implied humiliation of having to carry identity cards. Problem is, everyone in Israel carries an ID card - Jew and non-Jew alike. Finally, they even discuss his crafting of the Palestinian declaration of independence, a document read by Yasser Arafat. Let's take a look at a line from the declaration:

"The intifada has set siege to the mind of official Israel, which has for too long relied exclusively upon myth and terror to deny Palestinian existence altogether."

Wow. Israeli terror? Let's take a look at this intifada that Darwish, the CNN hero, has praised so highly. (WARNING: graphic image)




I hate to go to that level, but when CNN essentially praises Darwish and his representation of the Palestinian 'struggle,' I feel I need to say a word or two about what that struggle actually is. I'm not saying Darwish was some kind of a terrorist, but he sure as hell supported the martyrs and terror of the intifada - at least from his own words. This is the guy that the media outlets are hailing as the appropriate voice of the people.

Yeah, CNN, Mahmoud Darwish was some kind of guy.

I won't even get started on the Reuters article. Reuters is, easily, the most unabashedly anti-Israel media stringer in the world. Sometimes I just read their articles for fun, just for a laugh!

I think I'll leave this post off with some of Mahmoud Darwish's profound words on peace and coexistance between Jews and Arabs:

"Live wherever you like, but don't live among us. Die wherever you like, but don't die among us."

Truly hero's words...

I Want To Work In Israeli Advertising

Ah, yes, you know you've returned to Israel from being abroad when you spot a sign that just goes too far. I spotted this sign while using the bathroom at the Tel Aviv airport. There was a row of normally situated urinals, and then a smaller urinal positioned much lower. For you ladies unaware, this is a fairly common sight in male bathrooms in high traffic locations.

I'm not so sensitive that something like this bothers me, but I just have to wonder if the guy was smirking as he sent this design off to the printers. I mean, honestly, did he think that I would have any problem figuring out that the miniature urinal sitting less than a foot off the ground was meant for anything else than a child?

The guy who designed this was laughing when he did it, right?

Israeli Jazz Flute

Living in a city has its major benefits. One of those benefits is that there always seems to be something going on. Whether there is a play, symphony, festival, interpretive dance performance, or parade (i.e. - the Gay Pride Parade last week here in Jerusalem), there is something for everyone.

So, when my friend invited me to a jazz concert I jumped at the chance. However, not even ten minutes in to the first act did my fantastic imagination put me in hysterics. Here is this band, a really great Israeli jazz group, with a real live jazz flutist - and I was laughing so hard I was crying. A jazz flute!

Anyone of the fifteen to twenty-five-year-old range instantly would think of "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy," but only I would find myself transformed to that hilarious scene. It was as if Will Ferrell was on-stage, sucking a martini through the flute and proceeding to create a flute blow torch, and not some serious musician trying to make a name for himself.

I'm sorry, I just couldn't help it! Here's the clip from the movie. I apologize for the quiet sound, but it was the only one I could find on YouTube. If you don't laugh, you just don't get it...