IsraelityBlog

Foto Friday – Inspecting the Pipeline with Chaim Daon

Chaim Daon is a welding inspector working on one of the country’s most important energy infrastructure projects: the natural gas pipeline. When complete, the gas pipeline – an extension of the El-Arish-Ashkelon gas pipeline from Egypt to Israel, which became operational in 2008 – will be able to transport up to 7 billion cubic [...], Fri, 06 Nov 2009 19:26:34 +0000

Oud v’Rikoud

The annual Jerusalem International Oud Festival has become the leading event of its kind on the ethnic music calendar. Now in its tenth year, the festival, which kicks off next week, lasts for 16 days and includes shows in both Jerusalem and Nazareth. But those of us fortunate to have attended last week’s “Boogie Nights” [...], Fri, 06 Nov 2009 14:19:55 +0000

Going to the zoo

I’ve been waiting for the right moment to introduce my baby boys to the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo, and given that their ears perk up every time they hear a dog bark, bird chirp or see a bird cross their path, I figured the time had come. Enough with reading about animals and faking a tiger’s [...], Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:57:08 +0000

Tel Aviv battle of the bands

It was an opening line that did not forebode well. “You picked an interesting night. Almost all the entries are metal,” said Bryan Steiner, greeting me at the bar of the Barby club in Tel Aviv Sunday night. Steiner was referring to the 16 musical acts which were set to perform two songs a piece in the [...], Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:41:53 +0000

The week that was

The pace of news events developing and exploding into headlines is always seemingly propelled by steroids here in Israel. There’s never a minute to rest, and the news addiction that most of the public suffers from isn’t helped any by half hour radio bulletins, that annoying beep beep beep of the hourly news reports and [...], Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:27:52 +0000

Israel to get its own MTV

ow do you say ‘I want my MTV’ in Hebrew? While cable viewers here have had easy access to MTV Europe and VH1 Europe for many years, the days of a full-fledged MTV Israel are imminent, according to MTV Europe’s Managing Director and Executive Vice President Bhavneet Singh, who was in recently town for talks [...], Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:52:54 +0000

Israel at the center of alternative energy development

No matter what your politics, there was nothing to feel conflicted about in Prime Minister Netanyahu’s speech at the recent 2009 President’s Conference where he sketched out an inspiring plan to develop a feasible, cost effective alternative to fossil fuels within 10 years. Israel is not unique of course in recognizing that the world cannot depend [...], Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:52:29 +0000

Bayit banamal

I’m not the first to write about Tel Aviv’s namal, the refurbished port/boardwalk at the northern end of the city. And I must confess a ‘hubati’ (read below) love for strolling along its wooden planks, hillocked in some places to encourage kids on scooters, bikes and skateboards, and with just the right kind of cafes [...], Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:40:12 +0000

Nostalgia Sunday – Shaare Zedek Hospital’s Schwester Selma

I didn’t know Schwester Selma but there is one time when perhaps our paths might have crossed. That would be in 1973, when my sisters and I were rushed to Jerusalem’s old Shaare Zedek hospital after a car accident (we came out with minor cuts, bruises, a few stitches in my sister’s forehead and a [...], Sun, 01 Nov 2009 13:36:54 +0000

Walking with the King – Israeli style

know that Israelity has written about it in the past, but after a visit to the Elvis Inn for a friend’s 60th birthday party, it’s impossible to resist commenting about it. An oasis of kitsch from the King right off the Neve Ilan turnoff on the Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway, the Elvis Inn is now [...], Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:37:57 +0000