Pitom Baanu
Comments (5)Really looking forwards to be going able to go more than 20 minutes without hearing this song being blared from the radio, car stereos, cell phones, my neighbors room, etc. Also, having some smug 16 year old kid on a skateboard shout “tarimu yad” (raise your hands) at me while I’m trying to walk up a hill with my groceries in 35 degree heat
Visual Runoff
I haven’t really been using my film camera all that much, mainly cause I’m not the best photographer and I brought a crappy 100$ Nikon digital camera (which no longer works) with me anyways. These photos were taken between mid-May and early August on the same roll of film. I got them developed earlier this week and noticed that like, the whole roll was totally fucked up. Some of the pictures came out really cloudy and dull, no contrast at all. Others were heat damaged, a few of the frames seems to have melted into each other and some were burnt through entirely. I also don’t think the developer did very good job of exposing the film. I guess three months sitting in the heat next to my window sill wasn’t really all that great for the film. Anyhow, these are the photos that came out somewhat alright.
My cousin Shai
My cousin Efhrat in her backyard in West Jerusalem
From one of the Black Lips show- Inbal, Gal and Nira, I think
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These photos were taken by my co-worker Kfir in the resort town of Eilat, during our “workplace bonding” weekend. In the distance you can see Aqaba, a Jordanian port town
The Red Sea
Taken by Kfir
Still Kfir
This was taken by me. On the left is my Australian co-worker Emma dancing with a random girl at some awful club we went to in Eilat
Today In Palestine
Recent Background of the Old City in Brief
The Old City of Jerusalem is located between the modern cities of West (Jewish) Jerusalem and East (Arab) Jerusalem. The ancient Old City has traditionally been split into 4 quarters: Jewish, Armenian, Christian and Muslim. In the 19th century, the growing population of Jerusalem- particularly in the densely populated Jewish and Muslim quarters- began spilling out beyond the city walls leading to the creation of the modern cities of West/East Jerusalem. In 1917, the British Army captured Jerusalem from the Turks, who had ruled the city since the early 16th century. From 1917-1947 the British controlled Jerusalem, as part of the British Mandate of Palestine. However, rising tensions between Arabs and Jews in the Mandate, as well as an increasingly vicious guerrilla war waged between British forces and Jewish militias, created a tenuous position for the British, who eventually decided to quit the Mandate in 1947. The United Nations was charged with coming up with a solution to the Palestine problem, issuing a Partition Plan that provided for an Israeli and Palestinian state with Jerusalem becoming an “international zone”. However, in the wars immediately preceding and following the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Israeli and Arab forces fought for control over the Old City. Ultimately, the Jordanian Arab Legion- the most effective Arab force, trained and equipped by the British- succeeded in establishing Jordanian sovereignty over the Old City. For the next 19 years the Old City was a sort of fortress/no mans land between Israeli West Jerusalem and Jordanian East Jerusalem. During the 6-Day War of 1967, however, Israeli forces took the Old City- along with East Jerusalem and all of the West Bank- from Jordan. Since then, Israel has continued to occupy and administer the Old City. It remains one of the central obstacles to achieving peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
The Muslim Quarter
The Muslim and Jewish Quarters have traditionally been the most residential and therefore densely populated quarters of the Old City. The Christian and Armenian Quarters house mostly foreign monks, nuns, pilgrims and priests who administer and maintain the many Churches and seminaries located there. The Jewish Quarter isn’t much to look at as most of it was rebuilt in recent decades following its destruction during the fighting in 1948 and by the Jordanians in the following years. However, with its bustling markets and twisting alleys, the Muslim Quarter has retained much of its original character. Walking around the Muslim Quarter was the first time I’ve really felt out of place while here. You can feel immediately upon entering the Muslim Quarter that you aren’t in Israel anymore. Despite that West Jerusalem (or the Jewish quarter for that matter) is a stones throw away, you feel like you are in a very different world. So, welcome to Palestine.
This sign says that the person living in this building has performed the Hajj to Mecca
You see jewelry stores all over the Muslim Quarter. I asked a passerby why there are so many stores selling jewelry and he told me that people here invest their money in gold because of how often the political regime and currency changes (Turkish, British, Jordanian and Israeli in less than 100 years)
Mixed Signals
Damascus Gate- the largest gate in the Old City, leads to East Jerusalem
Israeli border police stationed outside Damascus gate- A less than subtle reminder to the Palestinians about who is in charge
Jaffa Flea Market
In the Jaffa Flea Market (shouk ha’pishpushim)
Lots of carpets for sale
Lebanese pop star Hayfa would be shocked to learn she is the “#2 best seller” at Yossi’s cd shack
A bike helmet, a broken vcr, some porn videos, some hats, a cordless phone and a witch doll
On sale for a shekel at the flea market; the sad end of Moshe Dayan
Songs that your mom and dad sang
A Moroccan restaurant
“Famous Rabbis of Morocco”
Tourist losing his money at 3-card monty The guy in the center and on the right were in on the scam
So was this girl
Prayers in a store
A Mosque
Ben-Gurion
Heres a weird sight. Four American guys from St. Louis, an Arab-Israeli from Haifa and an Israeli-Jew from Tel-Aviv. Apparently they were part of some circus for peace (no joke) traveling around Israel doing shows and whatever, for peace
From left-right: American, American, Israeli-Jew, Israeli-Arab, American, Israeli-Arab, Israeli-Jew
Dudes sitting around playing cards, a popular sight in the flea market
These guys were at it all day
Sheshbesh with a rifle
Said Aboulafia famous Arab Bakery
Jaffa Clock Tower, built by the Turks in the early 20th century
Shakshouka, a staple Israeli dish
A Floating Hat
Sweet Bike
Jaffa Beach, Tel-Aviv in the background
Knesset Members on a Rampage
Man, what is going on down at the Knesset. Between all the allegations of sexual harassment, fist fights and irresponsible vehicular activity you’d think Israeli Parliament was being run by a bunch of teenage boys. Its like they are pumping hormones into the water there or something. My favorite of the lot is Labor Party whip Yoram Marciano, this guy makes Steve-O look like a model citizen.
MK Marciano will apologize to guards after brawl
Labor MK seeks to reconcile with security guards at Herzliya nightclub after Wednesday night out ended in fistfight, police charges against him. Guards say they will accept apology
Knesset Member Yoram Marciano (Labor) plans to meet with security guards from the Rio club in Herzliya and apologize to them for the events of last Wednesday night. Marciano’s attorney, Navot Tel-Zur, told Ynet on Saturday his client is eager to resolve the matter with the guards involved in the incident. However, a security guard at the Rio club filed a complaint with the police over the incident. The guard stated that Marciano was inebriated when he assaulted the guard. Marciano was involved in a brawl with the guards while he was attending a birthday party held at the nightclub. Marciano reportedly attempted to leave through a closed exit and when the security guards prevented him from doing so he physically assaulted them. “This matter needs to end with reconciliation, an apology, shaking hands, a bouqet of flowers and maybe even a contribution to some organization” said Tel-Zur, adding that the meeting would be coordinated with the police. “This isn’t a case of corruption nor is it even a classic assault case. There was some friction, things got out of hand, what’s the point of making this into a scandal for a public figure?” said Tel-Zur.
MK Yoram Marciano caught shaving while driving, flees scene
Labor faction chairman pulled over for shaving while driving, tries to snatch citation forms from officers
Knesset Member Yoram Marciano was pulled over Thursday by Traffic Police volunteers for shaving while driving, and tried to snatch the citation forms from one of the volunteers.
Traffic Police spokesman Doron Ben-Amo told Ynet that the matter would be brought before the Knesset’s legal council to examine the possibility of filing charges against the MK for obstructing the work of an on-duty police officer.According to the officers, the Labor faction chairman, who made headlines a few months ago when he was involved in a nightclub brawl, was caught on road 44 near Ramla. They said that when the MK realized he was about to be slapped with a NIS 250 fine, he identified himself and proceeded to call the head of Knesset security. A short while later, Marciano attempted to snatch the citation forms and his driver’s license from the volunteers and then fled the scene.
Traffic Police spokesman Doron Ben-Amo told Ynet that the matter would be brought before the Knesset’s legal council to examine the possibility of filing charges against the MK for obstructing the work of an on-duty police officer.
MK Ziv to be questioned over sexual assault complaint
Pensioners Party activist files police complaint claiming Knesset member sexually harassed her. Head of Investigation Department decides to launch criminal investigation against Ziv. Yet another accusation of sexual harassment surfaced in the Knesset Wednesday, as a senior activist for the Gil Pensioner’s Party alleged that Party MK Yitzhak Ziv sexually assaulted her and continued to harass her.
The 62-year-old activist said that the attack took place at Ziv’s house weeks prior to the last election. As originally reported in Yediot Ahronot, the activist said that she had accompanied Ziv to his house, which was undergoing renovation work. She said that when they reached his bedroom the MK forcefully hugged her from behind, lifted up her shirt, grabbed her breasts and threw her down onto the bed.
The plaintiff said she tried to fight off her alleged attacker and eventually succeeded in slipping away from his grasp and fleeing the house.
Ziv has already issued a denial of the charges and has retained the services of attorney Zion Amir, one of the lawyers representing former President Moshe Katsav, to defend him.
“This is political revenge and I have no doubt that the truth will be revealed,” Ziv said.
The activist first discussed reporting the attack to police two weeks ago. She told Yediot that she had decided against filing a complaint after she saw what had happened in the Katsav case.
The woman told Yediot of the alleged attack two weeks ago, saying she intended to complain to police. However, she decided against filing the complaint, explaining: “What happened in the Katsav case reinforced my feeling that I should not complain since in the end, I will be excommunicated from society and he who hurt me will escape punishment.”
The 69-year-old Ziv serves as deputy Knesset speaker and is a member of the Knesset’s Economics Committee and Constitution, Law and Justice Committee. He is a widower, has three children and lives in Ramat Gan.
Since the 17th Knesset was sworn in, there have been several high-profile cases of sexual harassment including Katsav, Vice Premier Haim Ramon, and Labor Whip Yoram Marciano.
Also on Wednesday, MK Yitzhak Levy (NU-NRP) submitted a bill to the Knesset calling to ban any person convicted of a felony related to sexual harassment from being an MK, even if the felony does not constitute moral turpitude.
Bad Publicity
As you may or may not have noticed, this months edition of jock rag Maxim Magazine is featuring a special on the “Girls of the Israeli Defense Forces”. Plugging a photospread of bikini clad and stilettoed ex-soldiers lounging around Tel-Aviv, Maxim advises that the soldiers are “Drop dead gorgeous and can take apart an Uzi in seconds”. While the first part may be true, the Uzi – a lacklustre Israeli made weapon prone to malfunctioning- was phased out of use by the IDF several decades ago. Unfortunately, this factual error is only the tip of the iceberg that is this embarrassing publicity stunt.
Background
Following last summers Israel-Hizbollah War, during which the Israeli Air Force all but leveled Lebanon, Western public opinion- already critical of Israel- veered sharply into the negative.
According to a recent BBC poll I’m a citizen of the worlds most popular and least popular countries. Holler at me.
As part of the effort to rehabilitate its flagging image, the Israeli Consulate in New York conducted a survey of Americans about their opinions of Israel. The consulate found that most Americans view Israel as a sort of land of perpetual warfare and conflict: of exploding buses, hill-top settlements and religious fanatics. And this was from Israel’s closest ally. However, at the same time, they also found that many American men replied that, from what they understand, Israeli girls are really good looking. The consulate decided that this response provided the best avenue- or at least better than bus bombings- for improving Israel’s public image. Thus, was conceived a plan to display to American audiences Israel’s apparent #1 natural resource: its babes.
Israeli model Gal Gadot lamping on balcony in Tel-Aviv
Idiocy
As usual, Israel has exhibited its trademark incompetence when it comes to self-promotion. While anti-Israel propagandists have proved very skillful at painting an extremely negative and damning picture of Israel, their Israeli equivalents have consistently demonstrated a high degree of ineptitude when it comes to effectively conveying the Israeli position to the public. Indeed, this is very much a result of Israeli national temperament, which does not have an appreciation for the nuances and subtleties of public appeal. Israelis have a reputation for being rude, and while it would appear that this is true, the reality is that Israelis are just blunt. They mean what they say and they speak what they think. A combination not conducive to effective public appeal, particularly when the opposing camp often resorts to half-truths and blatant lies with impunity.
Nivit Bash
6 Reasons
1) Callous: Firstly I’d like to state that I have nothing against these women choosing to posing suggestively for a mens magazine. If they wanted to pose for Maxim, Playboy, Hustler or whatever, thats their prerogative not mine. However, my general feeling of disgust with this project stems from the fact that this whole operation was orchestrated by the Israeli Consulate in New York. That is to say that the Israeli Consulate- the representative of the Israeli government-conceived of the idea of a photo spread of “Girls of the Israeli Defense Forces”, independently approached Maxim magazine to pitch their proposition and even paid to have Maxim photographers flown to Tel-Aviv. This government sanctioned commoditization of its womenfolk is questionable to begin with, but in lieu of a rash of sex scandals involving high profile Israeli politicians (Moshe Katsav and Haim Ramon), this verges on callous and plain disturbing. Does the state of Israel really want to be seen as a country where the President and Minister of Justice (!) are involved in sexual misconduct cases, while the state is paying for titillating photos of Israeli women to be published in a semi-pornographic mens magazine???
2) The Lowest Common Denominator: Sex sells shoes, deodorant, cars, cats, dogs, coffee whatever. Apparently now it also sells states. The reality that sex sells is a fact, but as I’m sure most people would agree, its really the lowest form of marketing. When lacking ideas of how to sell your product, just put a scantily clad girl next to it and you have a winning advertisement. For Israel, a country which has so much to offer, it really did not need to resort to t&a to improve its image.
Yaarden Eden
3) Its Sexist: I mean, yeah, there is no state-sponsored photospread in a womens magazine of soldier boys in their underwear or whatever.
4) Why Soldiers?: I think the thing I most take offense with is the fact that these girls are explicitly advertised as soldiers. I mean, what is the point if every female Israeli citizen (except most Arabs) over the age of 18 is technically a soldier. Its a contradiction in terms, by default a photospread of Israeli women is going to be a photospread of “soldiers” because every adult Israeli women has at least some military training. Secondly, women in the IDF serve mostly in a support role. There is only 1 female combat unit, as well as a unit of female divers and border guards. Other than that women serve as so-called “jobniks” doing stuff around the base, working as clerks, communications officers, security guards etc. One of my cousins, for example, spent her two years in the army as a lifeguard on a base. Another girl I met spent her service guarding a room with classified documents. This whole marketing of soldier girls who can “take apart an uzi in seconds” is completely idiotic. In my opinion its shameless pandering (state-sponsored no less) to male sex fantasies of a masculinized “amazonian” female sexuality. Of course this is pandering to the fantasies of Western (American) men, as seeing a girl in uniform is about as novel and exciting as seeing a tree for Israelis.
5) Its Exclusionary: Another effect of advertising the girls as soldiers is that it essentially restricts the photospread to Jewish Israelis. Arab (except the Druze and some Bedouin men) Israelis do not serve in the army. While I’m not sure how many Arab girls would want to pose in Maxim on behalf of Israel they should at least be given the opportunity to do so. Had the photospread just been “Israeli Girls” it could perhaps feature a few Arab-Israeli models. For Example: Rana Raslan Miss Israel 2000, an Arab who didn’t serve in the army.
Rana Raslan:”I am totally Israeli, and I do not think about whether I am an Arab or a Jew”
5) Its Sad: The fact that Israeli youth are required to shoulder the burden of safeguarding their country is, in my opinion, not something that merits celebration. Its a sad reflection of the state of affairs in a region torn by conflict. The fact that the Israeli government chooses to celebrate and glorify the fact that its young women are soldiers is cynical and utterly mystifying to me.
Nivit in what looks like Tel-Aviv Ha’Shalom Train Station
6) No Offense: Yeah its true girls in Israeli are really sexy, but no offense to Nivit Bash, Gal Gadot, Yaarden Eden etc, they are not even that spectacular. Go to Yerushalayim Beach in Tel-Aviv any day around 4pm. Believe me.
Bee Bomber
Apparently after Farfur the Martyr Mouse (mentioned in an earlier post) has been replaced by, get this. . . . . .Nahool the “Jihad Bee” Hahaha! The guys down at Hamas TV should really be writing comedy sketches or something.
Bee Replaces Mouse as Kiddie Suicide Symbol
Hamas’s Al-Aqsa television station recruited a new children’s character to “continue” the legacy of its star martyr, Farfur – the Mickey Mouse lookalike who was beaten to death by an Israeli on the previous program.The new character on the children’s show Tomorrow’s Pioneers, a bee named Nahool, tells the hostess he is Farfur’s cousin and that he wishes to “continue the path of Farfur… the path of martyrdom, the path of the Jihad warriors… and in his name we shall take revenge upon the enemies of Allah, the murderers of the prophets…” The expression “Murderers of the prophets” is an Islamic expression used by the PA religious leaders to refer to Jews. Defining the Jews as the enemies of God is common in PA religious broadcasting.
Diplo on Tel-Aviv
Apparently Diplo was here a few weeks ago with Feadz and Uffie, shame I missed that cause I’m sure it would have been pretty alright. DJ Assault is playing here as well tomorrow, sucks I’ma be in Jerusalem. Damn.
From Mad Decent Blog
mad decent worldwide radio #16 – made in Israel
I got invited to play in tel aviv about 2 years ago and i didnt think much of it at the time… but it ended up being one of the top 3 shows I had ever played..like 700 kids showed up and i did about 3 hours of everything from dubstep and roots and culture to techno and some tongue and cheek trance drops and the people were with me the whole time. the opening djs – polar pair had just released a 12 on tru thoughts and were mixing inst and acapellas from ying yang twins to massive attack like i was in downtown brooklyn 2 years later… it was advanced and mad.. All i knew from Israeli music was like …. infected mushroom and tiesto… who both hold it down. but psytrance wasnt really my thing.
besides that , tel aviv is a beach city where you can find smoking hookas on the beach and ethiopian kids with sunbleached hair jumpin off rocks all day. its far from the day to day violence that is published and for the most part its a secular city with Arab neighborhoods mixed in and around. but what i didnt expect on my second visit last month, was to find the music scene still exploding. i went to a bar at 2am to hear Hebrew baile funk tracks and then to a dubstep party filled with .. gasp girls at another bar a few streets out..(this is the day after a national holiday) so I can only imagine how it is around there on the real nights.
Link to Mad Decent Mix of Israeli bass music, baile funk, dancehallish ish, etc
IMPORTANT NEWS
Hi,
I will be coming home on Sept 13 now, not on August 10th as originally planned.
