Airport 'Israelification': Close Up. Personal

Canada's The Star.com has what strikes me as one of the clearest explanations of why no plane has ever been hijacked, let alone blown up, flying out of Israel.

'It is mindboggling for us Israelis to look at what happens in North America, because we went through this 50 years ago,' said Rafi Sela, the president of AR Challenges, a global transportation security consultancy. He's worked with the RCMP, the U.S. Navy Seals and airports around the world.

Here's what Flight 253 would-be bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab would have faced had he flown out of Ben-Gurion International Airport:

"'Israelis, unlike Canadians and Americans, don't take s--- from anybody. When the security agency in Israel (the ISA) started to tighten security and we had to wait in line for — not for hours — but 30 or 40 minutes, all hell broke loose here. We said, 'We're not going to do this. You're going to find a way that will take care of security without touching the efficiency of the airport.''

"That, in a nutshell is 'Israelification' - a system that protects life and limb without annoying you to death."

Read the rest.

I know this from personal experience: on my last flight in mid December - barring hanging out at the coffee shop - it took me under half an hour to go from parking lot to departure lounge.

Triplets Join Israel Air Force

Note: Sam Orbaum and I were colleagues and friends at The Jerusalem Post newspaper. Before my own triplet children were born 16-years ago, my then wife and I visited with Sam and his wife, Wendy (Elliman) to see what raising triplets was like. We learned a lot from their experience and commonsense child rearing.

You did good, Sam, and I, and so many others, miss you. May your soul rest in peace, and derive nachat from this:

Odelia, Nomi, and Donna Orbaum

Excerpt from The Jerusalem Post:

"'The concept of 'one for all and all for one' can get pretty absurd,'wrote the late columnist Sam Orbaum about his identical triplet daughters 14 years ago.

Orbaum, who passed away in 2002 at the age of 46, wrote about life as a father of identical triplets.

Not only did he sometimes mix them up, Orbaum wrote in his well-known wry, comic style, but he was also constantly impressed by their tight bond - when for example they stood up for one another in fights in the school sandbox.

The three blond 19-year-old sisters are still sticking up for one another, although this time not on the playground but in the IDF Air Corps, in which they all enlisted a few months ago, making history.

Odelia, the oldest (born a minute before her two sisters), serves as a control officer ; Nomi is an air traffic controller; and Donna is currently in training for a different position. All three plan on attending the IDF's pestigious Office Candidate Course and extending their service for at least an additional year.

Nomi Orbaum says, "[Serving In the IDF ] is what characterizes the state."

"He supported us in everything we did until he passed away when we were 12," Donna said on how their father would feel about their serving in the IDF . "This is the seventh year since he passed away and I think about him all the time and see his smile and know that he would have been proud of us."

More about Sam here

Israeli President, YouTube Founder Launch Channel

Hurley presents President Peres with a plaque of YouTube code. (Photo: Dave Bender, All Rights Reserved)

Chad Hurley, founder and CEO of YouTube, presented Peres with a plaque featuring original coding for the YouTube site, and the two discussed opportunities for using
YouTube as a tool to foster free expression towards achieving peace. Peres talked
about the potential for peace talks with Syria and related Middle East issues.


Meeting with Hurley at The Presidential Residence.

The launch and press conference included the premier screening of the President’s
first internet message on YouTube. Hurley made a special trip to Israel for the
launch.

Photos, audio and video (yes - on YouTube and not Vimeo...) will be posted here, so
check back later today: http://www.davebrianbender.com

(Photo Series) Bustin' a Hip-Hop, Na Nach Move in Jerusalem

Bustin' a move in the holy city... (Dave Bender: All Rights Reserved)

(Photo series) Both hip-hop pop-lockers and Bratslaver hassidic youth share the street on downtown Jerusalem's Ben Yehuda pedestrian mall.

Click over to the Flickr page below for more...

Tel Aviv is Jumpin For Joy!

'Jumpin for Joy!' Click photo for more on the series. (Dave Bender: All Rights Reserved)


'Jumpin for Joy! II' Click photo for more on the series. (Dave Bender: All Rights Reserved)

I'll be adding to this photo series of an afternoon along the Tel Aviv boardwalk, Jerusalem's Old City and pop-lockers downtown, and whatever else strikes my fancy...

Cool! More Israeli Things to Boycott!

• Israeli Invention Allows for Early Detection of Cancerous Skin Tumors - Dan Even
  A new Israeli invention allows cancerous tumors on the skin to be detected and examined before they become visible to the naked eye, Ben-Gurion University announced. The developer of the new instrument, Ofir Aharon, a doctoral student at the electrophysiological department at Ben-Gurion University, said the technology "allows manipulation of different light frequencies and adjustments to electric fields to examine skin lesions." (Ha'aretz)
• Tel Aviv University Develops New Wound Dressing with Antibiotics
  About 70% of all people with severe burns die from related infections. But a revolutionary new wound dressing developed at Tel Aviv University could cut that number dramatically. Prof. Meital Zilberman of TAU's Department of Biomedical Engineering has developed a new wound dressing based on fibers she engineered that can be loaded with drugs like antibiotics to speed up the healing process, and then dissolve when they've done their job. A study published in the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research - Applied Biomaterials demonstrates that, after only two days, this dressing can eradicate infection-causing bacteria. The new dressing protects the wound until it is no longer needed, after which it melts away. (Medical News)
• Bone Repair "Breakthrough" at Hadassah - Judy Siegel-Itzkovich
  A team at Jerusalem's Hadassah University Medical Center has managed to separate platelets and adult stem cells from the blood and bone marrow of patients with fractures and inject them - causing the bones to meld in a quarter to third of the time and repairing some breaks that would have failed to heal. (Jerusalem Post)
• Israel Water Tech Thrives in Weakened Economy - Ari Rabinovitch
  Israel's water technology sector has prospered despite the global financial crisis, largely due to global stimulus packages and penetration in developing countries, officials said on Wednesday. Water companies benefit from both infrastructure and cleantech spending, both cornerstones of stimulus packages. Water recycling company Aqwise, whose system breeds bacteria to break down organic waste, saw its sales increase 50% in 2009. (Reuters)

Correction: Univ. of Ga. Student Newspaper Revives 'Cheap Jew' Canard

(Correction: the following item is from the University of Georgia's independent student newspaper, The Red & Black, and has no connection to Emory University, as earlier, mistakenly, cited. DB)



Cartoonist Bill Richards' editorial cartoon in University of Georgia's "Red & Black," newspaper on Thursday, November 12, 2009:
http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper871/stills/s5nf7pr1.jpg

Shows two Israeli soldiers standing near a barbed-wire and fenced gate, with a sign overhead calling it "Checkpoint Chaim," reminiscent of the Berlin Wall along what could be presumed as the West Bank security barrier.

The letters, "IDF" are written on the back of one soldier, and a word bubble over the other soldier, with a Jewish star on his helmet, says:

"And to think we got all this great stuff on clearance."

Furious letters to the editor are here: http://media.www.redandblack.com/media/paper871/sections/20091113Opinions.html

From one letter, penned by several organizations:

"In the cartoon, there are three clear anti-Semitic overtones: the use of a stereotypical Jewish name in "Checkpoint Chaim", the placement of the Jewish star on the Israeli soldier's helmet and the suggestion that Jews care most about saving money in the caption.

"To the reader: What did these three references add to the political opinion of the cartoon? The slur in the caption takes an edgy, yet legitimate political cartoon and turns it into an ugly smear.
[...]
"Serving and representing the diverse community of the University of Georgia, The Red & Black should exercise extreme caution in their editorial decisions regarding race or religion, especially in the context of editorial cartoons. We call upon the leadership of The Red & Black to publish a retraction and to condemn anti-Semitism on campus."

Other angry replies are here:
http://media.www.redandblack.com/media/storage/paper871/news/2009/11/13/Opinions/Mailbox-3831597.shtml

The Red & Black's reply?:
http://media.www.redandblack.com/media/storage/paper871/news/2009/11/13/Opinions/Editors.Note.On.Editorial.Cartoon-3831602.shtml

"The Red & Black received numerous comments about Thursday's editorial cartoon.

"We would like to clarify that the cartoon was not intended to be offensive or a comment on any one religion.

"This newspaper staff would never condone that kind of hatred, and we hope students on campus stand up against it.

- The Red & Black editors"

(Video) Fort Hood: Terror Foreseen?

Click on the image for the video.

Eye-opening video: An interview with Palestinian-American author and commentator, Nonie Darwish about the spread of radical Islam in America: http://www.davebrianbender.com.

Darwish is a founding member of an Arab, pro-Israel group: Arabs For Israel: http://arabsforisrael.blogspot.com.

Darwish has lived in the U.S. for three decades and is a regular speaker, and international media commentator on radical Islam.

Bombshell: Ft. Hood terrorist on White House trans. team?

Paper trail of the Fort Hood terrorist passes through - The White House transition team: "Security Priorities for the Next Administration" (original doc - pg. 29): http://www.gwumc.edu/hspi/old/PTTF_ProceedingsReport_05.19.09.pdf

(I rarely blog about politics in the United States, don't link to Atlas Shrugged, and frankly, don't particularly care for Pamela Geller's shrill blogging style or pseudo-reporting "scoops."

But this document - if valid - is a truly damning revelation about Nidal Malik Hasan, and an apparent link to President Barack Obama's White House transition team; so give credit where credit is due).

Israeli 'kiddie ride' includes mud, rain, fog & exhaustion

Great blog post from a cyclist colleague in Israel, utterly bustin' it on a week-long children's charity ride:

"I just spent a week riding through mud.

Not the kind of nice warm Dead Sea mud that tourists buy. I’m talking about freezing cold mud. It gets on your arms, your legs, in your nose, and between your teeth. Every day after the ride you take a shower wearing your riding gear to try and get some of it off. But it’s just not possible.

The mud gets on your bike chain and in your gears. It gets in your brakes and clogs your pedals. Your bike weighs a ton no matter how often you try and clean some muck off.

What an amazing week."

The rain was so thick, you could hardly see where you were going. Then it started to get cold. Yael reminded me of the article I wrote before the ride about how we should just accept the inevitable and embrace the rain.

I told her to shut up."

Read the rest.

Remembering The Fall

Remembering The Fall
Originally uploaded by Dave Bender

Slightly "futzed with" cellphone image of the remains fallen autumn leaves on the hood of my car. "Remembering The Fall" is about the autumn, and a fall from grace of an all-too-brief Israeli autumn to present - albeit temporary - circumstances.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

CNBC on Israeli Biz Model: 'It Just Works'

"Dan Senor, co-author of 'Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle,' discusses with CNBC how Israel has managed to become a leader in business innovation."

Israel: Getting Beyond 'Exhaustion' & 'Puppy Love'

An elderly man taking a break on his morning walk, leans against the security barrier in Jerusalem's southern Gilo neighborhood. The several mile long concrete wall protects residents in the facing apartments from gunfire from Arab Beit Jala (see in in the distance), adjacent to Bethlehem. This barrier is not the same as the disputed "Security Barrier," that snakes roughly along the 1967 cease fire line in parts of Judea and Samaria, also known as "West Bank," but was erected for similar reasons: to stop bullets from reaching civilians and schools (in this photo, there's one directly behind the camera) More on this story here. (Photo: Dave Bender, All Rights Reserved)

A powerful pairing - or pairing off - of opinions about the Jewish State:

In "How I’m Losing My Love For Israel," Jay Michaelson, writing in The Forward admits:

"To paraphrase a recent Jewish organizational tagline, I’ve “hugged and wrestled with Israel” for 20 years now. At first, it was all embrace: Zionist songs and culture nourished me like mother’s milk, and on my first trip to Israel I kissed the tarmac at Ben Gurion, as did the other USY (United Synagogue Youth) kids.

"Eventually, the wrestling came to the fore, particularly as I became more conscious of Palestinians, settlements and religious-secular divides. In 2002, I wrote about being “a leftist and a Zionist” and how difficult it was to maintain those dual political identities. And for several years, I’ve argued for a more nuanced approach to Israel advocacy and education than the hail of falafel balls and the bludgeon of Taglit-Birthright.

"But lately I’ve noticed that I’m becoming a candidate for advocacy myself. I’ve loved Israel for decades, lived there for three years, and studied in detail the subtleties of its society and conflicts. And so it is with the sadness that accompanies the end of any affair that I notice my love is starting to wane."

Daniel Gordis replies:

"The truth is, you and I agree about a lot. We’re both worried about some of what’s happening to Israeli society. We’re both tired of all the equivocating (though probably for different reasons). We’d both love some real leadership around here. We’d both like peace. And we’re both exhausted."

"Maybe it’s time we all moved beyond puppy love and ventured into something more mature, a sort of love that knows that the object of our love cannot, and should not, remain unchanged year after year, decade after decade."

Very worth reading.

Israel 'Powering an Alternative Roadside Attraction'

Illustration courtesy of Innowwattech

Read my first story for Mother Nature Network:

Innowattech is touting what they call, “parasitic energy harvesting,” a system that exploits the motion of vehicles rolling over sturdy, flexible pads buried beneath the roadway. Company officials say their technology also works on airport runways, railway tracks and pedestrian sidewalks.

The company says their patented piezoelectric generators produce “energy from weight, motion, vibration and temperature changes.”

Hey! I Got Mail! (Israeli Martial Arts Video)

One of the biggest comment draws on my YouTube video collection page is a clip, which I titled: "Hebrew Hammer Meets His Match."

It's about a group of religious martial arts aficionados practicing, "Abir," apparently a Yemenite take on the well-known "Krav Maga" fighting style.

There are many, and mostly fascinating comments about the video by those in the know about martial arts, all discussing - some arguing - over fine points of technique, what's similar or different from other styles and schools, and so forth. I often join in, and it's fun and informative as you can read there... and then there's the hate mail:

"AliHolland87 heeft een reactie geplaatst op 'Hebrew Hammer' meets his match:

'Death) the Zionist entity, we will kill you all"

I get these sort pretty often, usually after violent events between Israelis and their neighbors.

Most are frighteningly imbecilic, some just frightening, a few nauseating, and then there are the ones like this: Just plain murderous. Just to remind me about other kinds of martial fan clubs.

It's good though, in a twisted way: it reminds me what we're all up against, and to be alert. The wave is coming this way.

A'jad = Catskills connection? Not So Fast...

Serious media buzzkill this morning, as the UK's The Guardian, scotches a rumored Jewish background for Iranian leader, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

Ah well, at least we still have the Supremes - all of them:

Spot the differences:


More Iran-related posts here.

A'jad's Gmail account cracked! (screenshot)

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad uses JDate: Who knew?


Heh.

(H-T: Israelly Cool)

Elvis Spotting: Israel - 'Blue Suede Jews' (multimedia)

"Memphis has Graceland. Vegas has impersonators. And Israel - yes, Israel - has the Elvis Inn, a bizarre desert Mecca for Middle East Elvis enthusiasts. It's the Holy Land, people, and the King has risen."

'The King in the Holyland' (Dave Bender, All Rights Reserved)

Click on the photo for more images from the series, "Blue Suede Jews," that accompanies an article I wrote for the (late, great) "Atlanta Jewish Life" magazine. A link to the full article, and entertaining video clip segments appear on my website: www.davebrianbender.com.

Exclusive Photos and Gifts From Israel!

David's Tower, Jerusalem. Dave Bender: All Rights Reserved

Photographs and related images of Israel: her people, places and events, that I've photographed all over the country, and available on assorted media, including calendars, posters, t-shirts mugs - you name it!

Choose from a wide array of exclusive posters, photos & souvenirs from Israel to decorate your Succa, or home for Channukah! Among the photos are my exclusive images from the IDF at war and training, stunning Israeli nature vignettes, photojournalism-style Jerusalem and Tel Aviv street scenes, and many, many more. Also available are greeting cards, embossed Flip-mini video cams, cups, clocks, tiles, keepsake boxes, and shoulder bags.

Safe and secure online purchasing, and standards, premium and 1-day shipping via CafePress: http://www.cafepress.com/davebender

I'm adding items all the time, so contact me directly for special orders, or to change the photos on the gifts: davebrianbender@gmail.com

Thanks, Dave

(Photography) Succot: Scenes from Jerusalem's Famous Open-Air Market

Readying for Succot: I shot these images of devout Jews searching for the best etrog (citron for my "covenentally-challenged" pals) at a stall across from Jerusalem's famous Mahane Yehuda open-air market. More photos are on my website photo page, accessible via the home page. All photos copyright: Dave Bender.


(Copyright: Dave Bender)


(Copyright: Dave Bender)


(Copyright: Dave Bender)

Seeking employers, colleagues and clients to partner on multimedia reporting, features, podcasting and, of course, photography: www.davebrianbender.com

(Video) When Media Attack: ...'It's Always The Joos!'

Heh.

Note to Iran - Jews: Not So Easy To F**k With Anymore

From the AP: "Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday lashed out at Israel and the West, questioning whether the Holocaust happened and calling it a pretext for occupying Palestinian lands, reiterating anti-Israel rhetoric that has brought him international condemnation.

"The Iranian president said Israel was created on 'a lie and a mythical claim' and expressed doubts whether the Holocaust, when the Nazis killed 6 million Jews during World War II, was a 'real event.'

We got'ya "real event" riiiiight here, babe...





Israel Air Force jets over Auschwitz death camp. Obviously P'shopped, 'eh, monkey face?

(Music Video) Love Song to Islamic Fundies From a Jew

Works for me.

Love Song to Islamic Fundamentalists From a Jew

Shared via AddThis

(Video) Newsweek Profiles Jerusalem's Mayor

View-worthy Newsweek article and profile of Nir Barkat, Jerusalem's unlikely Mayor:



Check out my news site, as well: www.davebrianbender.com

UPDATE: (Video) PM Eulogizes Late Israeli Astronaut's Son

What a tragedy:

From The Jerusalem Post: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804559879&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

Baruch Dayan Emet.

Video of Assaf Ramon getting his IAF wings:



Initial findings: possible blackout at 18,000 ft. in a sharp turn during multiple craft dogfight, according to Israel TV Ch. 2 talking with IAF experts.

From The Government Press Office:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today (Sunday), 13.9.09, eulogized Lt. Assaf Ramon:

"'Thy beauty, O Israel, upon thy high places is slain! How are the mighty fallen!'*

Few are the moments in which private pain so strongly shatters the national heart. Today, the entire nation is wrapped in unfathomable grief over the death of Assaf Ramon, who fell from the skies like his father Ilan.

This is an awful tragedy for Rona and the entire Ramon family; this is an awful tragedy for the entire people of Israel.

I was moved when Ilan, the youngest of the pilots who bombed the death reactor in Iraq, took with him into space a pencil drawing titled 'Moon Landscape' by a 14-year-old Jewish boy, Peter Ginz, who was murdered at Auschwitz. I was also deeply moved when Assaf continued in his father's path and finished the IAF pilot's course with top marks. The loss of each of these outstanding individuals, father and son, is a disaster in and of itself. The loss of both brings with it pain too terrible to bear.

There is no consolation for the Ramon family, or for the Israeli people, only tears."

* II Samuel 1:19

I wrote a story about Col. Ilan Ramon, who died along with his crew in 2003, when Space Shuttle Columbia burned up on re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere:

"Elegy for Columbia: A Personal Requiem"

You can read it here:

(Update) Reports: Katyushas fired on northern Israel

Update:

Israel police have confirmed the rocket attack on the northern coastal city of Nahariya, which lies just south of the border with Lebanon.

Danny Ben Shabbat, a resident in one of the town's southern neighborhoods told Ynet news, he heard three explosions at about 3:45 PM:

דני בן שבת, תושב נהריה, סיפר ל-ynet: "אני גר בשכונת שפרינצק בחלק הדרומי של העיר ויודע לזהות נפילות של קטיושות. שמעתי שלוש נפילות סמוך לשעה 15:45. אחי סיפר לי שראה ניידות רבות ואמבולנסים שיצאו לכיוון השדות. לא הייתה אזעקה".

"I live in the Sprintzak neighborhood in the city's southern area, and know what a Katyusha sounds like. I heard three explosions close to 3:45 [PM]. My brother says he saw many police vehicles and ambulances heading out towards the fields. There was no [warning] siren."

First report, via cell phone updates, and now Reuters via Ynet.co.il:

מקורות ביטחון לבנוניים: רקטות נורו מדרום לבנון לצפון ישראל

לפחות שתי רקטות נורו מדרום לבנון לעבר צפון ישראל. כך מדווחים גורמי ביטחון לבנוניים. כמו נמסר כי הרקטות שוגרו מאזור דרום טירה הסמוך לגבול.

מוקדם יותר דווח כי קולות קפץ נשמעו בנהריה וסביבותיה,

"Lebanese security sources report: rockets were fired from south Lebanon into Israel.

At least two rockets have been fired from south Lebanon at Israel. This, according to Lebanese security sources. it was also reported that rockets were fired from south Tira near the border," [with Israel, and near Sidon, according to Reshet Bet Israel radio].

There are no Israel reports of casualties or damage. Sounds of explosions were reported in Nahariya.

The IDF is returning artillery fire at the source of the rockets, possibly Katyushas.

The report will be updated as more details come in.

9/11 Audio Exclusive: Reactions in Jerusalem's Old City

On the evening of September 11th, 2001, I visited Jerusalem’s Old City to gather reactions in the wake of the attacks, as a reporter for The Jerusalem Post newspaper. While some Palestinians celebrated, calling it a fitting response to US support for Israel, other Christian and Muslim Arabs were dismayed by the scope of the horror.

Frightened American tourists from Arkansas and Oklahoma scurried through dark alleys of the Muslim Quarter's Via Dolorosa seeking refuge. In the Jewish Quarter, Jewish seminary students from New York watched the fall of the World Trade Center towers in stunned disbelief on a television at a local pizza parlor. Some managed to contact loved ones, but others called in vain, trying to reach family members thought to have been in Manhattan that morning.

Audio podcast: http://www.davebrianbender.com

Jewish Youth, Lost & Found, Pro & Con

Haviv Rettig, in a very nuanced and insightful article at The Jerusalem Post, about the Jewish collective, and/or individualistic "Lost and Found."

The article comes in response to the uproar over a recent video ad campaign by Masa - "Trek" - an Israel-based group offering cultural programming geared towards stemming assimilation among diaspora Jewish youth, similar to the US-based Birthright program.

Un-embeddable video (what's up with that, editors?): http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1194419829128&pagename=JPost%2FPage%2FVideoPlayer&videoId=1251804482457

Read it all.

Some Advice For The 'Ignorant Arrogance of the Advice-Givers'

Prof. Barry Rubin replies - plain and simple - to the Ignorant Arrogance of the Advice-Givers:

"One remarkable thing about watching the Middle East is how what’s celebrated as brilliant in Europe or America is errant nonsense.

Writing such stuff makes people successful and gives them an audience of millions. What they say is so ridiculous that one wants to laugh, yet so totally accepted as true in Washington and European capitals that the laugher would be laughed at.

The article to which I refer is by Jacob Weisberg in the June 22 Newsweek, entitled, “A Friend in Need: Barack gets tough on Bibi.” It is far more terrible because Weisberg is neither leftist nor anti-Israel but has simply imbibed what 'everyone says.'"

Warning: Serious slapdown action ahead.

Israeli Press Center Hosts Suicide Bombers as Madonna, Baby Jesus

One of the paintings at the exhibition.

From the "days I just love my profession" file:

From Ynet News:

"Art exhibition including seven paintings of female suicide bombers depicted as Madonna holding baby Jesus in their laps slated to open Thursday at Journalists' Association in Tel Aviv. Following protest, association considers removing paintings. Artist: Art is meant to ask questions"

That's right. At the Bet Sokolow Journalists' Association.

"On a personal level, the paintings bother me," said Bar-Moha to Ynet. "If I need to weigh freedom of expression against the outcry of the bereaved families, I prefer the terror victims. They are more important to me than freedom of expression in this case. But I can't determine this. I am turning to my colleagues, one by one, and asking their opinion. As of now, I have spoken with four of them, and all have authorized the removal of the exhibition."

"...There are pieces that won't be taken down, such as the one on clumps of earth collected from the site of the suicide terror act on the Maxim restaurant in Haifa. There is no reference or halo around this earth, as opposed to the pictures of the female suicide bombers," said Bar-Moha."

So where's the Israeli diplomat to reply in kind, with his own brand of "public art," like then Israel Ambassador Zvi Mazel in 2004 at an "art installation" in Sweden? Wait a minute, Sweden... Huh. Wonder why? Any ideas, readers?


'Snow White and The Madness of Truth'

"Israel's ambassador to Sweden was kicked out of Stockholm's Museum of National Antiquities after he destroyed an artwork featuring a picture of a Palestinian suicide bomber, news reports said.

The incident, widely reported in the Swedish media, occurred at the opening on Friday of the "Making Differences" exhibit, part of an upcoming international conference on genocide hosted by the Swedish Government and in which Israel is scheduled to participate.

"I was really looking forward to seeing what the artists had done. Instead, I was met by a picture of a smiling suicide bomber, the woman who killed 21 people in Haifa a few months ago," ambassador Zvi Mazel told Swedish news agency TT.

The art installation, located in the museum's courtyard, featured a fountain filled with red water, designed to look like blood.

A sailboat with the name Snow White floated on the water, and on it was a photo of a smiling Hanadi Jaradat, the female lawyer who blew herself up in the Haifa suicide bombing attack in October which killed 21 Israelis.

"For me it was intolerable and an insult to the families of the victims. As ambassador to Israel I could not remain indifferent to such an obscene misrepresentation of reality," Mr Mazel said."

(Video) Israeli Flying car: Iraq medivac demo

"Foxnews reported on the X-hawk a year and a half ago, and the IDF insists that the prototypes are not far away (as close enough as 2010).

"Like a similarly sized helicopter, X-Hawk will be able to take off vertically, fly up to 155 miles an hour and as high as 12,000 feet and remain aloft about two hours, Urban Aeronautics says.

"But encased fans will replace the exposed rotors that keep helicopters from maneuvering effectively in urban areas or dense natural terrain because they have to stay clear of walls, power lines and mountain ridges. And a patented system of vanes is designed to afford the vehicle greater stability.

Urban Aeronautics says vehicles will be able to sidle right up to a building."

Is it just me, or does this remind you of the old Gerry Anderson British "Supercar," tv show...



(H-T: Double Tapper)

When the Prophet & Profit Motive Meet

Oh, the sweet bitter irony - otherwise known in the language of the Prophets as vacuous, stunning "hutzpa" - of it all...

From the WaPo:

"[Shari] Arison -- billionaire ($2.7 by Forbes's most recent estimate), perhaps the richest woman in the Middle East, a major force in Israeli philanthropy -- claims that she can see the future.

"This is much bigger than a parlor trick. In her new book published this summer in Israel, the 51-year-old Miami native says she felt the Indonesian tsunami sweeping over the land two months before it happened and sensed Hurricane Katrina pummeling New Orleans. In an interview, Arison says she also "saw the writing on the wall" before the global economic crash. Reading about Arison's extrasensory perception makes you ache for a heads-up, maybe a blog entry or a tweet or a phone call to Brownie or Greenspan or somebody who might have helped."

I hear there's medication for this.

Hey - btw: I'm looking for multimedia development ideas for my website: http://www.davebrianbender.com. And no, asking Arison for a loan doesn't count. Go take a look, and drop me a line. Thanks, D

(Audio Slideshow) UK Guardian: 'This land belongs to the Jewish people'

View
Shdema is located at the green A. (Click on the larger view for a detailed map)

The UK's Guardian newspaper has an audio slideshow (so far unembeddable) up purporting to give an on-site view of Israelis trying to (re) settle and rebuild Shdema, an abandoned Israeli army base near the Israeli neighborhood of Har Homa, and the Palestinian town of Beit Sahur - both just SE of Jerusalem and NE of Bethlehem.

For what it's worth, my take is that the slide show - despite it's faults - is far drier and more straight-up newsy, than the written article by the same author - Rory McCarthy. While both focus on Israeli Women in Green founder Nadia Matar , the written article comes across as a much more of a screedy and opinionated piece of work than the slideshow.

The Women in Green website post on Shdema:

"The convention of the terrorist Fatah organization in Betlehem last week has brought with it a wave of vandalism against Shdema, located on the outskirts of Betlehem

"For the past two weeks, international anarchists and Arabs have vandalized Shdema, have besmirched the Israeli flags and have painted anti-Israeli slogans on the walls.

"When we go up to Shdema, the IDF accompanies us, mainly to make sure we don’t do any serious building in Shdema. On the other hand, the illegal Arab construction at the bottom of Shdema continues to blossom, despite the destruction orders against it."

'Batterup!' Feature Length Film on Baseball in Israel

Entertaining: sweet, no mideast politics - just all about the boys (and girls) of summer in the US and Israel... worth watching. Batterup!

Source: http://www.hulu.com

Video description: A diverse group of players and executives attempt to create the first professional baseball league in the Middle East.

Full disclosure: my son played extensively in Israel Little League (where he usually swatted them out of the park - but hey - it's just his abba talkin'...)

After the film, check out my news site. Comments welcome.

Audio: 'ACLU, GA. Rabbi Take on State Kosher Laws'

The American Civil Liberties Union is filing suit over a state law they say infringes on a Marietta rabbi's First Amendment rights. Dave Bender reports... (For WABE 90.1 FM, Airdate: 070709)

The audio report is here: http://www.davebrianbender.com/

Video Profile: Women in The Israeli Army ('Current TV')

Current TV (yes that Current TV of North Korean-reporter "fame") take a close-up look at two female soldiers serving in the Israel Defense Forces: one, a combat ground forces medic, and the second a UAV operator in the Air Force:

Nat'l, Georgia ACLU, Local Rabbi Take On Kosher Laws

Rabbi Shalom Lewis, of (Conservative) Congregation Etz Chaim in Cobb County, says he can't fulfill his rabbinical food supervision duties because his take on kosher laws differs from that of Orthodox Judaism.

"I don't want to have to choose between abiding by state law and practicing my religion according to my beliefs," Lewis says, according to an ACLU statement:

"The State of Georgia’s Kosher Food Labeling Act (KFLA) mandates that any food labeled kosher in that state must be certified to be in accordance with 'orthodox Hebrew religious rules and requirements.'"

From The Atlanta Journal Constitution:

"The Kosher Food Labeling Act, enacted in 1980, mandates that any food sold as kosher must meet “orthodox Hebrew religious rules and requirements.”

"Lewis, a conservative Jew, said he cannot fulfill his rabbinical duties because his theological interpretation of the state’s kosher laws differs from that of Orthodox Judaism. He said he violates state law when he approves some foods as kosher that are not kosher under Orthodox definitions."

Invisible 'Force Field' Shields Israeli Tanks

From The Jerusalem Post:

"The IDF Ground Forces Command has declared the Trophy anti-tank missile defense system operational, following a series of tests last week that surpassed expectations for the system's capabilities, it was revealed on Thursday.

"The Trophy system, developed by Rafael, creates a hemispheric protected zone around armored vehicles such as the Merkava tank, which operated prominently in Lebanon. The system is designed to detect and track a threat and counter it with a launched projectile that intercepts the anti-tank missile."

Legendary Dylan sideman emigrates to Israel

From Dave Brinn at The Jerusalem Post:

People may know the songs and albums he's played on more than his name, but a bona fide musical icon from the 1960s will be arriving on an August 4th Nefesh B'Nefesh flight of new immigrants to Israel.

Harvey Brooks calls his Jewish upbringing in Queens 'pretty ordinary,' and he credits his parents with instilling 'the basics' in him.

"Harvey Brooks, who will be making aliya with his wife Bonnie from Tuscon, Arizona, has played bass guitar on some of the most groundbreaking records of the post-Beatles era - including Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited (1965), Miles Davis's Bitches Brew (1969), The Doors' The Soft Parade (1969) and 1968's Super Session featuring Michael Bloomfield, Al Kooper and Stephen Stills. And that's only a fraction of the some 100 albums he's appeared on or produced over the past 40 years on his way to cementing his status as one of the most respected figures on the American music scene."

MadLib Replies to My Readers on Israel

From Barry Rubin, but applicable to so many situations, especially many of my readers:

Dear Reader: Thank you for your note explaining why

___ Israel is to blame for not having destroyed Hizballah
___ Israel is to blame for not having destroyed Hamas
___ Israel should win total victory
___ Israel should invade the Gaza Strip and take it over
___ Israel is going to collapse because of the demographic gap
___ Israel is doing hasbara all wrong and you have the solution
___ Israel should make its main priority answering all the idiots who attack us rather than going about our business
___ Israel should make huge concessions to the Palestinians just in case they might like to make peace after getting them
___ Israel should make huge concessions to the Syrians just in case they might like to make peace after getting them
___ Israel should let Hamas stage terrorist attacks and not respond to show we are nice people, those of us who are still alive
___ All of the above

I very much appreciate your taking the time to write. Your interest in Israel is very much welcomed by people here. Given the clarity of your ideas, if you are Jewish, permit me to suggest you:

___ Make aliya and join the army
___ Make aliya and pay taxes
___ Make aliya and have a lot of children
___ Make aliya and find out it isn’t so simple to entertain you and gratify your wishes
___ All of the above

If the above does not apply to you, you aren't Jewish or you are not interested in all those alternatives, perhaps you might consider the need to:

___ Get another hobby
___ Focus on dictatorships in Iran and Arab states to see how they treat people
___ Think what it is like to live under an Islamist regime
___ Do some actual reading and research on the Middle East before mouthing off
___ All of the above

In future, please feel free to write to someone else. Otherwise I will be happy to send you my rates for corresponding with you. We accept checks, cash, and credit cards.
Sincerely yours, Barry Rubin

(For Barry Rubin's blog on Middle East issues, see http://www.rubinreports.blogspot.com where you can also subscribe. or the work of the GLORIA Center including MERIA Journal and subscriptions, http://www.gloria-center.org)

Otherwise, drop me a line at my website, http://www.davebrianbender.com

Israeli Poet On Jerusalem & Exclusive Photography

'After Words. We'll Talk' (Dave Bender. All Rights Reserved)
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'Curved Sky' (Dave Bender. All Rights Reserved)
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'David's Silhouette' (Dave Bender. All Rights Reserved)
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Yehuda Amichai | Tourists:

"Once I sat on the steps by a gate at David's Tower. I placed my two heavy baskets at my side.

A group of tourists was standing around their guide and I became their target marker.

'You see that man with the baskets? Just right of his head there's an arch from the Roman period. Just right of his head.'

'But he's moving, he's moving!' I said to myself: redemption will come only if their guide tells them, 'You see that arch from the Roman period? It's not important: but next to it, left and down a bit, there sits a man who's bought fruit and vegetables for his family.'"

'Amichai's Arch' (Dave Bender. All Rights Reserved)

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(These and other photographs of Israel and other scenes are available for purchase at www.cafepress.com/davebender, and on my website photo page: www.davebrianbender.com )

Damning video expose': Israelis Set Up 13 Settlements 'Overnight'

Click the photo for the backstory about the weary members of a similar, struggling desert settlement. (H-T: Ritchie)

In a startling 'facts-on-the-ground' rebuke to the US Administration, Israeli settlers erect over a dozen rural communities, in defiance of world opinion...

...in 1938.

(Only now they're called "kibbutzim" - expansive rural collective farms, that are internationally lauded as exemplary centerpieces of Israel's agricultural, industrial and social prowess).

Many of the kibbutz movement leaders' and a host of others, now decry their modern day counterparts, in what is hard to see but as a breathtaking display of hutzpa.

Oh, and there's a classic movie bit of flipping pages of "The Palestine Post" as it comes off the printing press: that's what's known today as The Jerusalem Post. Like the British Army's middle east unit during World War II, commonly known as the "Palestine Brigade." Made up of - better sit down for this revelation - Jews, and not today's putative Palestinians. Draw your own conclusions. Jes' sayin...

Sorry - no embed code, so go watch it here.

Full disclosure: I was a member of such a foolhardy, against-the-grain political settlement years ago, greening the inhospitable, stony desert. Nowadays, guess that makes me (the guy on the left in the photo up there) and my bleary-eyed cohorts veteran settlers, now, too.

And a helluva' party it was, too...

(H-T: EoZ)

'Tisha B'av' & Beating the Odds (video)

...not a new video, but just some salient, extremely well-parsed thoughts by Israel's ambassador to the United States, New Jersey-born and raised Dr. Michael Oren. Appropriately enough, he's weighing intertwined and contrasting Diaspora Jewish and Israeli fates, leading up through the "Nine Days," and culminating in the Tisha B'av fast this Wednesday/Thursday. Worth watching:

Israeli Army Recruiting Overseas, Interested?

From the IDF website:

IDF Volunteer Programs MAHAL GARIN TZABAR MARVA SAR-EL Volunteer Program		General Information Lone Soldiers (Chayalim Bodedim) Academic & Immigrant Reserve (Atuda) Town Majors

And if you're wondering about those allegations of misconduct against IDF troops in the Gaza assault against Hamas, or elsewhere, watch them them describe their experiences: http://www.soldiersspeakout.com/

Jes' sayin', that's all.

A Video Postcard from Hell: The Gaza War Up Close and Personal

Ariel Siegelman, whose family lives in Atlanta, was an infantryman with the Israel Defense Forces and fought in Gaza against Hamas last winter.

In a film prepared for Aish, he movingly and succinctly describes his experiences and personal revelations during the hellish house-to-house fighting.

I have met Ariel, and interviewed him for a story for my website. I trust his account.

The Aish video embed code is broken, so go watch it there.

Speaking with him during a recent visit with his family, he talks about his experiences as a professional seaborne Israeli security guard on international shipping lanes:

At first glance, 30-year-old former Atlanta resident Ariel Siegelman doesn't strike you as someone who's used to facing off against pirates and gunmen. But then, the soft-spoken, observant Jew starts describing hair-raising experiences as a professional Israeli security chief guarding passenger vessels and freighters plying the treacherous waters of the Gulf of Aden.

"One day, his ship was in the sea lanes alongside the Maersk Alabama, and the pirates' motorboat first headed for him..

"With some coaxing, the nominally taciturn Siegelman allows us into a secretive world on a little-seen front line, and how the violent contours of such daily skirmishes affect him, and his family.

"We talk about his recent visit to the United States, primarily to train urban SWAT teams, and his heartfelt recommendations for the Jewish community, in the wake of recent terror threats.

Go take a listen. I'm editing more tape and will upload there soon, so stop back.

I LOL@ Knoxville Nazis

Nazi/KKK'ers tried to host a hate rally in Knoxville, Tennessee over the weekend.

Clowns - yes - clowns in tutus, wigs, red shoes and noses ripped them a collective new one.

Epically:http://tinyurl.com/26q7x5

“White Power!” the Nazi’s shouted, “White Flour?” the clowns yelled back running in circles throwing flour in the air and raising separate letters which spelled “White Flour."

(H-T: Harry R.)

Hey - do both of us a favor and check out my website: www.davebrianbender.com. Thanks.D