October 8, 2012 | 10:30 am

This week from Israel

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

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* Israeli achievement at the Computer Olympics: students from 81 countries worldwide competed in Italy on various computer-related tasks such as solving complex algorithms. The level of problems the contestants solved was higher than what grad-school computer students are facing in class. The Israeli team was ranked 19, and won a total of two silver medals and one bronze medal. The US team, if you were wondering, came in first.

* Apple's flunk turns to Waze's success: Waze is an Israel start up combining GPS system with a social network. Waze's users contribute map data, and report traffic incidents, delays, police ambushes, etc. ,which can help other users find alternative routes or directions and get to their destination as soon as possible. This Israeli program initially operated only in Israel, but slowly started to grow and expand. In perfect timing, Apple's new "Maps" feature for IPhone brought frustration upon millions of users, due to bugs and errors. This lead Apple CEO Tim Cook to recommend Apple users to use competing software such as the Waze, while the issues are being fixed. This recommendation came in just in time for Waze's founders, and gave the Israeli mapping application a huge boost.
After the Red Hot Chili Peppers rocked Israel last month, we received some more great news: Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morisette will land here in December for a single performance, as a part of her "Guardian Angel" international tour. It's always great news when an international performer considers Israel in a tour, and when the performer is Alanis Morisette, the news  is even greater!

* The Barcelona soccer team has recently invited former captive IDF soldier, Gilad Shalit, to attend the October 7th match against Real Madrid. This lead Hamas calling for a media boycott of the soccer club, and caused quite the shenanigans. In response, the team has invited three Palestinians to also attend the match:  soccer player Mahmoud Al Sarsak, who was held in an Israeli jail for three years until being released this year following a hunger strike, along with the president of the Palestinian Football Union Jibril Rajoub and the Palestinian Authority ambassador to Spain.

 

* The day of the recruitment to the IDF is usually far from making anyone dance. It is long and tiring, and on top of it all-it's the day you say goodbye to your free will for two to three years. That is why everyone in the recruitment center was surprised when Ran Bronstein, on his first day as a soldier, started to dance. 24 year-old Bronstein, who made Alyiah from the States in 2007 to join the IDF, took a camera with him to the first day, and captured every moment of his process of becoming a soldier. Since he couldn't hold his excitement of finally serving his country, he started to dance in front of the camera and didn't stop until the finalization of the recruitment chain. The five minute long video clip was approved by the IDF spokesperson only recently, and Bronstein uploaded it on YouTube. It's been online for about two weeks now, and has already become a hit, showing  everyone that recruitment can also be a positive, fun experience.

 

October 6, 2012 | 11:00 am

One Israeli Creation for the Weekend

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

Maya Isacowitz is an Israeli singer-songwriter, who performs in English. She released her first single, "Is it Alright" in 2011, and since, she continues to grow a mass of loyal fans, and has more and more recognition on national radio stations. In spite of her success, Isacowitz is far from being a Diva or a larger than life rock star. She stands aside of the spotlight and maintaining an image of a serious artist, while creating a hight- qualit soulful Folk-Rock-Indie music that goes straight to your heart. 

 

Is it Alright

 

 Rehab (a cover to Rihanna's song) 

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October 4, 2012 | 3:09 pm

Back to the 50’s

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

When I read the paper this morning, I found something rather disturbing, which grew worse when I noticed no one else addressed the issue: a magazine called Family Circle held a cookie contest between the incumbent First Lady, Michelle Obama, and the opposing candidate's spouse, Anne Romney. Apparently, this has been going on since 1992, but I just heard about it today. This contest took place right before the first presidential debate, and got coverage almost as serious and profound. No one mentioned the burning issue of the matter, but I sure hope someone noticed. If not, we, as a society, have some serious problems. As the men of both houses discuss the very serious matters of foreign policy, financial situations and stability in the Middle East, the wives compete in baking. In other words: as the men compete for the title: Leader of the Free world, the women compete   for the title: Best Frosting. Did someone build a time machine that brought us back to the 50's? As much as I would like to believe in that, I will have to settle for what this really is: sexism and humiliation in disguise.

Since I am not from the States, and our pre-election time runs quite differently, I might sound like a crazy person to some of you. After all, this has been going on for a decade now, and no feminist organization is yet to shut it down. So with my foreign point of view, let me tell you this doesn't look good. This contest points out the wife stereotype women fought for so long to make disappear. The only reason I can think of for why this is still going on is the cultural differences between us. To you, this is a routine campaign event prior the election. The wives are addressing potential electors who don't show interest in the debates, by making something much simpler than world peace. In a way, this is completely okay, and even admirable, because in Israel there are neither debates nor any particular interest in the wives of the candidates. Our pre-election culture is not nearly as developed as yours, and yet, I can't relate to some of your choices for what's proper for that time.  Perhaps you find it right to put the fight for women’s equality aside for a day, for the important effort to find the next US president. Perhaps this is the day when even the most radical feminists put down the torches, because this baking contest is a way to get more people to vote.

I'm not in any place to say if this is right or wrong in your eyes, the same way I don't like it when people put themselves ahead of us, deciding for us what the best strategy with our neighbors is. I am just sharing my thoughts with you, and telling you what I, the foreign newspaper reader, saw today.

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October 2, 2012 | 10:10 am

Promises, promises

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

After a week of UN speeches, I had the urge to tell you about politicians from my point of view. For several days now my mind has been occupied with a rumble of thoughts and feelings, and I figured the only way I can make sense of it all is to write it down. So who are politicians? They are people we vote for, usually once every four years, to represent us. We choose many, for various roles and parts, while only one of them is chosen to sit on top. This person is the State leader, and he/she is the best and worst of them all. State leaders have the most responsibility, and thus they are under the most pressure. They can try and handle it in a smart way, but the outcome is usually one big mess, with only us to blame.

When we cast our votes, we usually rely on a bundle of promises, packed one on top of another, creating a utopean vision that can never happen. We, the voters, are fully aware of the non-existing reliability of those promises, but choose to believe them anyway. Why? Probably because we crave those things, and by hearing our wildest dreams being realized from the mouth of a soon-to-be important person, we act like we're under a spell. Politicians have a very sharp tongue, especially during an election year. They know exactly what to say, and we listen. We are attracted to their words like a moth to fire, and eventually vote according to their speeches, and not by relying on past actions. We are forgiving, and therefore willing to give a second chance to a mouthful of promises we want to hear so badly. After we cast our vote to the greatest promiser we lay back and wait for the magic to happen. But since our State leaders are not Walt Disney, that's not possible. As time passes by, they make sincere attempts to follow their promises and make them reality, only to discover that's not possible. Then, as we wait patiently, they try to figure a way out, and spend about a year or so coming up with reasonable excuses.   At first, we get angry, as we are tired of waiting for Utopia. We promise ourselves to never fall for their traps ever again, and begin to protest against our unrealized dreams. Then, as the election date comes closer, the game changes yet again.

A part of a politician's job is to make speeches. In fact, this is their primary job and the first requirement for the part. State leaders get to make the most meaningful speeches at the top of the political world- the UN. This is the one and only neutral organization which is as far from neutral as Britney Spears is from sanity. The closer the election date is, the more vague  and more grandiose their speeches become. They basically stand behind the podium and throw words like "Peace", "Will not allow", "middle east", "obligation" and "friendship" to the air, without mentioning names and without actually saying anything. Then, when their job is done, our job begins, because the interpretation is on us. The day after, newspapers are filled with the finest journalists' attempts to realize what the State leader had said. At this point, each and every one of us forms an opinion based on the newspaper we read. The politician basically sits back at his/her chair, smiling to one self. Their job is done. Ours is just beginning.

One other fact about politicians is that they have selective hearing when it comes to the world's worst enemies. A leader of a hostile country, who may put the world in danger, can say a sentence which starts with "Death to all Israelis" and ends with "Let the peace begin", and the state leaders will only hear the latter. Politicians, just like the rest of us prior to elections, can also put words and actions to a complete separation. Examples? Coming right up! When a tyrant like Assad butchers his people and then poses for a family portrait for a top magazine, smiling shyly and being quoted saying things about the peace and love, politicians will take that as a statement of peace. When Ahmadinejad makes a peace sign to the camera, while building a nuclear bomb which is officially stated for the destruction of Israel, politicians will zoom in on the peace sign without reading in between the lines (or looking at newspapers' headlines).

This leads me to the next politicians' characteristic- they are naïve.  Well, they’re either that or they're really good actors. I personally believe that a politician who truly believes Ahmadinejad craves peace is in the wrong business. And since they obviously make beautiful speeches and have ravishing charisma, they are in the right business, meaning they honestly can't really believe in his peace and love screen of lies. A politician who says he believes peace in the Middle East will arrive shortly is naïve. Same goes for the unbelievable politicians who listen to Ahmadinejad stating he intends to destroy every last Israeli and then shakes hands with him, saying his nuclear weapon is for research.  A politician saying any of those things is a politician who sits far away from here, and has no clue what's really going on. This is a politician who has a lack of understanding of just how important Israel is for maintaining of peace in the Middle East. There are far more than one politician of that kind. There are countless politicians who truly believe in fairytale peace without changing a thing, or simply by exchanging words with our Prime Minister (who is quite a politician himself). This will not bring peace, and these are NOT the people who should sit on top of the political-diplomatic ladder.

A true state leader, the one we really need, is a person who sticks to what he believes in, even during the election year. A true state leader is the person who is willing to make a change in this world, come what may. A person who is willing to take a risk for the sake of humanity. A true state leader will not only say all of this, but actually do, and "do" is the key word. I am a realistic person, which means I have almost lost hope in such a Messiah, but deep inside, I am still looking for the politician who will bring back our belief in that profession.  The most important thing we all must remember is that both the blame and the hope is on us. We must not forgive and forget like we do once in every four years or so. We must remember and face all of the wrongs and rights, not listen to polls or promises, and fight for out Utopia.

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October 1, 2012 | 11:00 am

This week from Israel

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

* Moran Itzkovitch (34), an Israeli with a dream, will lift off on a hot air balloon, on a journey across five continents. Itzkovitch, along with a group of one Israeli and eight Americans, will lift off from the Gilboa in Israel on October 3rd and participate in the Israeli hot air balloon festival in the south. Two days later, they will take a boat to Virginia, US, hover over ten states, and from there fly to South America, Asia, Australia and Europe. The journey is due to last one year, but according to Itzkovitch, nothing is certain when using a hot air balloon as transportation.

* In the past decade, a contest called Junior Eurovision took place. This is a singing competition starring children and aimed for children from all over Europe. The Junior Eurovision operates in a similar way to the official annual Eurovision Song Contest, where each member country submits a song to be performed on live television and radio and then casts votes for the other countries' songs to determine the most popular song in the competition. While Israel participates in the official contest since 1973 (with three wins), an Israeli delegation was invited to take part in the Junior Eurovision this year for the first time. In our delegation there are six members, ages 10 to 14, which will try to impress the rest of Europe on December 1st.

* Research on molecules' energy in coal earned Yuval Catzanelson (18) from Israel the first prize on First Step to Nobel Prize in Physics, an international contest which took place in Poland. The Israeli delegation had 16 members, from which 12 won various prizes and honorary scrolls in various categories. This made Israel come in first place as a delegation. But Catzanelson was the only Israeli member to win first prize in one of the most important categories in the contest. This will grant Catzanelson with a month-long stay in Poland, where he will perform research on his study, and will lecture in front of important figures in Physics from all over the world.

* A race car built by a group of Israeli students from Ben-Gurion University in the Negev, came in 11th on Formula SAE competition in Italy. 42 teams of Students from all over the world participated in the competition, where students design team develop a small Formula-style race car. The team that came in 1st place this year was the German team. 

* Venezuela, which has no formal diplomatic relations with Israel, signed on an agreement with an Israeli company. This may not be a friendship statement, but this deal will defiantly bring Israel to Venezuela in a form of a settlement with an Israeli twist. According to the agreement, with a 400 million dollars investment- the Israeli company will build a Moshav- a unique Israeli form of settlement, which will contain 500 residence unites, schools and kindergartens, a dairy barn, chicken coops and a closed water base.

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September 28, 2012 | 10:00 am

Netanyahu, the bomb and the Memes

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

Netanyahu's speech last night really blew our minds. Every single Israeli, even the ones who have no respect for him as Prime Minister, agreed that this speech was on the verge of breathtaking. But turns out, once again, the joke's on us.

 

After wowing the audience with facts about Israel, the Middle East and Iran, and after breaking every rumor and misjudgment, Netanyahu pulled  out a picture with the drawing of a bomb. It wasn't necessary. After all, he could have explained Iran's nuclear progress by using only words, but he probably wanted to make his speech unforgettable. Well, he definitely succeeded in doing that. Right after the speech, Israeli websites and Facebook accounts began to fill with Memes and caricatures of our prime minister and the bomb. But what started as an inside joke, managed to hurt our public image yet again.

 

Soon, those jokes spread worldwide, including articles in important papers, saying Israelis make jokes on Netanyahu's speech. It's true what some say: that this whole thing got people to remember this speech of all the others (Obama and Ahmadinejad included), but the way I look at it, this still bites us in our behinds. This speech contained all the right components. Netanyahu answered every single bad thing ever said about Israel. He managed not only to show the strategic importance of Israel in the Middle East, but also the damage in Iran's current existence there. He left the Palestinians speechless after mentioning the humanitarian aid Israelis provide them, which is something they consistently "leave out" whenever they get the chance to speak up. He answered all of those who try and harm us, or make us look bad in the eyes of the world and left the audience no choice but to applaud as he firmly said peace can never be accomplished by speeches, and that nuclear Iran will not make peace happen sooner.

 

This speech did something not many speeches do - convinced the world in its truthfulness. 24 hours later, all I can think of is what a shame none of those strong words were left. This was some healthy humor after an intense speech we all admired, and now it is out of context.  This speech will definitely be the most remembered one. Only people would not remember the importance of drawing a red line, they will remember the drawing of a bomb and an empty sentence about Road Runner and Wiley Coyote. Yet again, maybe I am too much of a pessimist. perhaps this bomb will have the right impact, enough to stop the real bomb…

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September 27, 2012 | 10:27 am

Live and let live

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

I have recently encountered several comments condemning and disrespecting some ways of religious beliefs. Some were aimed at me, some aimed at others. Surprisingly enough, in "some ways of religious beliefs" I don't mean other religions, I mean different ways of Judaism. It is something we all do-judge. Judgment is impossible to ignore and does not skip any of us. However, when it comes to a fellow Jew choosing to express his Judaism in a different way than another, judgment should take a step back. I am not a saint, either. In fact, from time to time I used to make remarks on fellow Jews who don't fast on Yom Kippur or mix meat and dairy. This was simply something I did, without even noticing. That is until I heard myself talk.

Right before Yom Kippur, all of the fast/no fast discussions take place. With them, come the Mitzvahs arguments, and with them come condescending comments about those who don't see some of the Mitzvahs as something worth keeping. When I rolled my eyes to a friend after stating she doesn't give a damn about Yom Kippur, it suddenly hit me: why do I do that? Why do I judge somebody else's perspective on Judaism? After all, when religious friends of mine make such comments on my way of Jewish life, I get all Big Hulk on them, firmly saying: "live and let live." If this is how I see my relations with them, the relations between me and the even less religious should not be any different.  Judaism is a wide rainbow, with many paths to choose. There is not one path better than another, and there's not just one path leading to a good and healthy life. "More religious" is not better than "less religious," it's just a different path.

Yom Kippur is, to me, the realization that God respects all beliefs, even of those who don't believe in God. We sometimes tend to forget we are all in the same boat. We are all Jewish, just different types of Jewish. When the gates to heaven open as the sun goes down on Yom Kippur, God doesn't measure our Mitzvahs , so I believe. He measures our obligation to Judaism, all paths considered. But more than that, he measures our behavior as people. He measures our humanity and compassion for each other, the ability to look behind skin color, sexual preferences, or ways of beliefs. Last night, when I looked at the sky that night, after "Kol Nidrei", I knew deep in my heart that what I have to say or ask for is worth just as much as the heart-wishes of an Orthodox person or the ones of my non-fasting friend. You may agree with me, and may completely dismiss my entire statement, and that's okay. But I can only hope every single one of us will remember, especially in this time of the year, that all people are equal, and that none of us is better than the others, or entitled to more rights- in front of God or in front of the people of the world. I would like to use this stage to call you to do your best in thinking twice before passing a judgment on someone else.  I sure will. חתימה טובה וצום קל!

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September 24, 2012 | 10:10 am

Riots, filmmaking and the wrong thing to say

Posted by Noga Gur-Arieh

In the past week, Muslims from all over the world lost it because of a movie. Since I haven't seen it, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and say it is, in fact, more offensive than any artistic protest ever made before. Does this justify violent behavior on such scale? Does this justify murder? Of course not, nothing does. But it happened anyway. Islamists all over the world were so offended, they didn't set in for the civil reaction which is a legit protest and a request to ban this film. Instead they shook up the world, causing damage on an unbelievable scale because of somebody's opinion on Muhammad. Being extreme is never a good thing, and unfortunately with every religion comes an extreme group which causes all the negative opinion on that religion. That extreme group is usually easily offended and is willing to use all means to protect its honor.  Judaism has it and Christianity has it, but the extreme Islamists are by far the worst. First of all, there are more extreme Islamists than extreme Jews or Christians (simply because there are more Islamists in the world, but also in relation to the total number of the religion followers). Secondly, they act more often and tend to shake the world into listening to what they have to say. 

Remember I said before I am willing to pretend this to be the most offensive artistic protest ever made? I changed my mind. Why? Because it is not possible. Us, Jews, encounter offensive movies, opinion columns, an caricatures on a daily basis. We handle with "The Jew" image for centuries. We are forced to encounter dark beliefs that people still trust, even in the 21st century. In fact, those beliefs, as we all sadly remember, caused the nearly destruction of our people in the 40's of the last century. So no, this movie could not have been that offensive. And I'm sure that there were Jews over the years who reacted in a rather extreme way, but if I recall correctly, we mostly sat quiet and "swallowed the bitter pill" rather than going to the streets and giving the world quite a shake. The not-so-funny part is, however, that most of the offensive behavior towards Judaism comes from the extreme Islamists. We reluctantly watch the Israeli flag, with the Star of David and the colors of the Talis, being burned on a daily basis. We also witness countless hurtful caricatured of "the Jew" being drawn by extreme Islamists, and are forced to hear more "death to the Jews" or "death to Israelis" call than calls for peace. This gives them NO RIGHT to kill people because one filmmaker expressed his hurtful opinion, which, if you had the chance to forget, was soon accused (by them) of being a "filthy Jew". Because why not leverage their chance for yet another riot to hurt us even more in the eyes of the world.

Bottom line is the world was on fire, literally, for a week. It wasn't justified by any other than those who lit it, and people were lost their lives over an overemotional reaction.  This led me to my next and probably worst problem with last week's events: The western world's reactions. I browsed online, trying to find a proper reactions from the world leader's to the riots. I found none. The U.S government, which is led by the person with the obligating title: Leader of the Free World, only said the violence was not justified. So basically, Obama nicely asked them to stop what they're doing and threatened he would not give them candy after dinner tomorrow if they won't stop their destructive behavior. No angry reaction, no formal condemnation, not even a frown. I don't know what was the reason for him to react that way. Could have been a personal reason, could be a result of a careful consideration, could be an attempt to get more voters. I don't know, and frankly I don't care. The only thing I can safely say is that this reaction was absurd, and moreover unfair in comparison to how easily Obama condemns Israel for things not even half as bad as this. This reaction is yet another link in the chain of poor foreign policies, which I don't understand. As for the U.N, I must sadly say I knew I wasn't going to find anything official from the Human Rights Council, or even from the General Assembly. After all, this is the same organization that chose to investigate the inconvenience in the Palestinian territories while the government in Syria butchered its civilians. Since I already jumped to accusations, I will point out that it is possible that I missed the U.N condemnation on my Google search and while reading the paper, but I doubt it.

On the same matter, there's also the whole "freedom of speech in any cause" discussion. As an Israeli Jew, who encounters offensive material whenever she logs on, I say that fighting this is a losing game. People have some very hurtful things to say. Some remain "in doors," some is being translated into any form of art. Blocking this would be blocking the freedom of speech, and this is a decision every country should make to itself. China has already made this decision, and its citizens are forced to be detached from the Global world. Islam countries may join China, if they wish. But preventing freedom of speech worldwide would be a step backwards. Because no matter how hurtful it is to read "you stinky Jew" as a comment to a post, a world without freedom of speech is a dark world. I know most offensive comments online are being blocked, and that's more than okay, but since we cannot track every single offensive line, it's better to leave them online than to block the entire net. Sometimes, so I believe, writing such a comment online is a satisfaction for someone who otherwise would act outside of the World Wide Web.

 

Parts from "Innocence of Muslims" can be found here on Youtube

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