Lashon Hara, YouTube style

Living on top of one another in a small country can lead to high tensions. We have seen this time and time again as the Israelis and Palestinians have been fighting for many, many years without a resolution in sight. No surprise, then, when two religions come together and fight about their differences and begin treating each other poorly. This particular instance was between the Christians and the Druze, a religious community that is said to be an offshoot of Islam but is unique in that it incorporates other philosophies, what Donna Rosenthal in her book The Israelis calls “a mix of Judaism, Christian mysticism, Shiite Islam, Persian Zoroastrianism, Gnosticism, Messianism, and Hindu-like reincarnation,” (296). Being a separate religious community, means “they have their own religious courts, which oversee marriage, divorce, alimony, property, and other matters...in accordance with Druze religious law,” (294).

Back in June, the Druze and Christian communities began fighting and armed riots and clashes between the two broke out. Anti-riot squads had to be deployed to lessen the fighting. The author of the article, Jack Khoury, tells us that there were forces that were deployed between the town's Druze neighborhood and Christian homes in the town center after a night of rioting. During the riots, “four policemen were lightly injured by stones, and a riot control vehicle was damaged by gun shots. An officer who came under gun fire was saved by the flak jacket he was wearing. Rioters torched cars and damaged shops and houses in the city center, mainly those belonging to Christians. Police officers armed with stun guns clashed until dawn with hundreds of rioting youngsters, mostly from the Druze neighborhood.”

The clash is said to have begun because of a rumor that a YouTube clip on the Internet vilified Sheikh Mawfak Tarif, a Druze religious leader, and his late grandfather, Sheikh Amin Tarif. Tensions between the two sides had been running high in the town leading to Druze and Christian teenagers fighting among themselves from time to time. This occasional fighting turned into a mass brawl, though, in which “nine teenagers were stabbed, and two of them were moderately wounded. The weekend fighting subsided with the help of religious leaders into a tense, volatile calm in Shfaram for a few days, until violence flared again on Tuesday night with the YouTube rumor.”

Sheikh Tarif, who helped calm the Druze youngsters the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, said neither side was to blame. “The man responsible is someone vile who must be denounced, no matter which community he comes from. We will continue to persuade people to calm down,” Tarif said.

“Our message is one of love and reconciliation, that's the way we've been living for decades, but whoever sparked the violence must be punished,” said Naif Alian, one of the town's Druze leaders, who visited Christian homes that had been damaged in the riots. He was accompanied by the Druze community's Imam Sheikh Yosef Abu Abid and a delegation of religious leaders.

“We won't allow bloodshed and denounce every act of violence,” said Abu Abid.

Ihab Bahout of the Christian community, whose restaurant was badly damaged, was furious as he made his way through the ruins. "My restaurant was attacked on Saturday night, and I thought it was over. I replaced the broken windows and didn't imagine it would erupt again. Apparently all that talk about fraternity and unity is just talk and below the surface there's a lot of anger and hatred and frustration. It's the leadership's job to find out what is happening here," he said.

His neighbor, Samir Ayoub, was examining his and his son's cars, which had been damaged in the clashes.

"I saw masked men with sticks breaking windows and someone torched a car nearby. I've lived in Shfaram my entire life and don't remember such violent acts. But you can't say all the Druze are against all the Christians. We have Druze friends who protected their Christian neighbors' homes with their bodies and prevented much greater, perhaps irrevocable, damage," he said.



This article is pretty good in terms of bias. The author, Khoury, provides us with interviews from both sides instead of just one. He doesn't take sides at all and gives us the information that we need. The article is also just a look at a specific instance that took place and seems really just to serve as an insight into the communities in Israel. There is no political swing involved, just good old-fashioned reporting. We are left to make up our own minds as to who is to blame – if anyone needs to be.

Not on the Shabbos...

The Haredim are a group of Jews that are considered to be the “ultra-Orthodox,” a term they do not appreciate. They are the most theologically conservative form of Orthodox Judaism and the word haredi actually means “one who trembles in awe of God.” The Haredim believe that their belief system and religious practices extend from an unbroken chain back to Moses when he received the Torah at Mount Sinai. In Donna Rosenthal’s The Israelis, she explains that the Haredim believes the torah to be “God’s gift to us. It is God’s blueprint, His book of laws,” (176). Rosenthal continues to relate the Haredim beliefs about the Torah: “the Torah has kept Jews alive, telling us how to behave, how to be Jews. It is the bond for Jews scattered all over the globe,” (176).
According to the Haredim, though, very few of these Jews in the Diaspora are actually considered to be Jewish. If a person does not commit themselves to the Torah and to God completely then they are not considered to be Jewish in the eyes of the Haredim. The Haredim keep very strict kashrut laws and believe that all 613 mitzvot should be practiced. The Haredim believe that “Judaism must not change with the time; rather, Judaism must change the times,” (185). They are very strict in the practices of Judaism and want to continue the traditions and laws that they have been given from God.
One of the laws and traditions that they have held onto the strongest is Shabbat. This weekly holiday is one of the 10 commandments and is at the heart of Judaism. Many say that “more than the people of Israel have kept Shabbat, Shabbat has kept the people of Israel,” (180). On Shabbat, there are two candles that are lit: “one is in honor of the commandment to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, and the other one represents guarding the Sabbath by not performing the forbidden laws,” (181). One of these laws that is forbidden is the use of fire which is interpreted today as using electricity. The Haredim take this holiday very seriously and “try to rule their roads, sometimes cursing or throwing stones at blasphemers who dare to drive through their neighborhood,” (181).

This violent protest of others not committing themselves to Judaism has spread well outside of their own communities. A computer company, Intel, has offices in Jerusalem and the company has chosen to open on Saturdays, the Jewish holiday of Shabbat. The Haredim have responded to this by protesting with violence and vandalism. The government is beginning to take a stance and has demanded that the violence ceases. Trade Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said "whoever thinks that violence will solve the problem, and whoever thinks that the government will accept violence and vandalism is wrong. I understand that there are populations who have certain customs and demands and I respect that, but everything can be straightened out in a pleasant way and with mutual respect.” On Sunday, Intel said that it had no plans to close the controversial plant in Jerusalem on Saturdays. Despite violent protests by the ultra-Orthodox Jews who accuse the chip maker of desecrating the Jewish Sabbath, the company said that they would continue manufacturing their product in the best way possible. An Intel spokesman, Kobi Bachar, said the factory has operated on Saturdays for more than 20 years and it will continue to do so.

The author of the article continues to say that about 1,500 protesters demonstrated outside the factory on Saturday and that the demonstrators were dressed in traditional black hats and long coats. The mob was shouting “Shabbes! Shabbes!” - the Yiddish word for the Sabbath - while banging against one of the door's of Intel's Jerusalem office. “Some protesters were hurt after security personnel sprayed pepper spray in their faces. Other demonstrators hurled stones at and pushed journalists who were present at the scene.”
This kind of behavior is unacceptable and the author of the article, Liel Kyzer, makes this known. There is only one side shown in the article making it difficult to make an accurate decision as to whether the article is reliable or not. The Haredim are portrayed as violent and radical whereas the company involved, Intel, is seen as doing nothing wrong. Whether or not the Haredim are radical in their beliefs, the media does not help their cause and continues to isolate them even further than they do themselves.

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Free Hebrew people in its land...

In 1991 Ethiopians were caught in the middle of a famine and a bloody civil war. On the brink of extinction they wanted nothing more than to be free from danger and to be able to live in the Promised Land – Israel. On May 23, 1991 they were rescued as part of an airlift operation called Operation Solomon. 14,324 Ethiopian Jews were taken in thirty-three jets in about thirty-six hours. In The Israelis by Donna Rosenthal, she tells us that these Ethiopians believed that they were the world's last remaining Jews because they were so separate from everything else. Rosenthal shares that an Israeli waitress said that “just when we Israelis were wondering what Zionism was all about, we saw it in action,” (150). Rosenthal goes on to say that “it's unusual for Israelis to share a consensus, but almost all agreed that the rescue of Ethiopia's Jews was one of the country's finest moments,” (150).
One moment that I'm sure Israelis do not consider one of their finer ones happened back in September of this year. A few dozen Ethiopian children were not accepted to religious schools in Petah Tikva. The color of their skin was holding them back from receiving a proper education in the Israeli school system. Ethiopians were surprised by this because they don't normally get harassed about race. An Ethiopian that Rosenthal interviewed said that “Ethiopians are especially sensitive to questions of color because we never were a racial minority until we arrived in Israel,” (166).
The author of the online article, Gideon Levy, goes on a rant in his writing. He is clearly bias in his opinions and overtly lets them be known. He says that “all of a sudden, we can say "racism." A shock wave has struck complacent Israeli society. A few dozen Ethiopian children were not accepted to religious schools in Petah Tikva. That is truly terrible, everyone tsked-tsked at the heart-rending picture of Aschalo Sama, a boy without a school. Even President Shimon Peres expressed shock. Everyone is permitted to be shocked; it is politically correct.” About racism he says that “that's the way we are. From time to time, when the sewage overflows, and the stink spreads everywhere and we can no longer hold our noses, we all cry out against injustice until, once again, the cover is closed. The water underneath continues to froth and stink, but it will be covered and repressed.”
Even with all of this racism he asks “how many self-righteous and tsking parents would have agreed to register their children in a class with a majority of children of Ethiopian origin. And how many would rent an apartment to an Arab student?” Israeli society is filled with racism, according to him. Levy says that “every day security guards check people entering Ben-Gurion International Airport on whether their accent sounds Arab, and no one complains. That is not racism. It's how we have organized for ourselves an ethical code of double and triple moral standards. We fight against a few manifestations and close our eyes to other, far worse, examples.”
In conclusion he says that “when the children of Petah Tikva have all found schools to attend , even though their skin is black, society will not stop being racist. It will return very quickly to business as usual and self-satisfaction. See how there was racism here, we fought it and it disappeared without a trace.”

Reliability is a difficult thing to define here as the author is very clear on his own sentiments. He lets us know that racism is a persistent problem not only in the world but in Israeli society. Ethiopian Jews have every right to be free in the land of Israel as well as anywhere else they choose. As a Jewish people, we need to be more open to the fact that Judaism is different everywhere and that in the end it is our Jewishness that connects us all.

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Making Connections

Israeli society is not new to technology. Israel has actually provided the world with some major pharmaceutical breakthroughs, the intestinal camera small enough to pass through and give insight to the goings-on inside the human body, as well as the “firewall” – a program designed to block unauthorized access while permitting authorized communications. The Israelis have always been on top of the technological world and have the provided the rest of global community with the tools necessary to be technically efficient in every field necessary.

One of these technological advances is called ICQ, a social networking program that many Israelis, as well as the rest of the world, uses. ICQ is a homophone for “I seek you” and has over 100 million accounts registered. ICQ is an instant messaging computer program that was developed by an Israeli company called Mirabilis that was established by five Israelis: Yair Goldfinger, Sefi Vigiser, Amnon Amir, Arik Vardi, and Arik's father Yossi Vardi. These Israeli programmers wanted a way to connect people via the internet that was not possible before ICQ. The technology that this company, Mirabilis, developed for ICQ was distributed free of charge. Due to the success of the technology,AOL acquired Mirabilis on June 8, 1998, for US$407 million. At the time, this was the highest price ever paid to purchase an Israeli technology company.

Since ICQ many more social networking programs have sprouted up like AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) and QQ(a Chinese instant messaging program and network). QQ was originally used under the name OICQ. This name conflicted with ICQ and the company changed the name to QQ.

Recently, though, other social networks are trying to jump on this trend. Facebook, a social network that allows users to add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Facebook has released a social messaging program called “Facebook Chat.” Growing in popularity, 300 million users, ICQ and similar instant messaging companies had a lot to worry about. The only real difference between the two programs is that Facebook Chat allows its users to instant message within a browser. ICQ does not need a browser to work as it is a program run through your computer. Luckily, ICQ conducted a survey and can put all of their fears to rest.

This survey reported that while 74 percent of Israeli youth utilize social networks, only 28% use the networks' chat applications and 53% still prefer instant messaging programs. There were three main reasons that ICQ found that people still prefer ICQ and other related programs: thirty percent of those polled said they preferred the ease of use of instant messaging, 20% preferred the fast response time, and 10% cited stronger security measures within instant messaging programs.

Vice CEO of ICQ, Shraga Mor, was very pleased that his company still has a place in the hearts and computers of Israeli youth. He said that "ICQ is proud to be a pioneer in the realm of instant messaging...the service constitutes a meaningful step on the path to communications development on the Internet.” He goes on to say that "from our poll, we learned that young people are dedicating a great deal of time to social networking sites, but when they need a personal communication tool, instant messaging programs provide the fastest and most comfortable experience."

ICQ has brought many people together who sign up and begin chatting with their friends, family, and sometimes random strangers. With these relationships with strangers that form online many Israelis can see these blossom into something more. ICQ is a great way to communicate with people you have just met or want to stay in contact with. Donna Rosenthal mentions that Israelis have to be aware that these new relationships mean being careful with how one comes off when meeting someone. There are strict laws against sexual harassment and one can get in a lot of trouble if they make any unwelcome passes. This is harder to monitor online with programs such as ICQ as one can sign up and make a profile under anyone's name and harass anyone they please. Still, ICQ has a good security team that anyone can write in to to complain and problems are dealt with quickly.

ICQ has been a strong program since 1996 when it first came on the tech scene and has remained at the top in terms of users and downloads.

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You too can join ICQ. Here is a taste of what it can do for you.

Dominant, once again

When you think of sports in Israel only one name comes to mind: Maccabi Tel Aviv. Even those who gave never watched a single game of Israeli sports recognize the name Maccabi Tel Aviv. The club, the biggest in Israel, participates in football, basketball, judo, swimming, handball, and others.

Their basketball team, “Electra,” is what put their name on the map and competes in the Israeli and European basketball leagues. The club dominates Israeli basketball, having won 48 Israeli National Championship titles (including 23 in a row between 1970 and 1992) and 36 Israeli State Cups. Maccabi is among Europe's most illustrious clubs, having won the European Cup five times since 1977, and finishing second eight times. The club also holds the record for the most Triple Crowns wins with 5.

The Maccabi Tel Aviv sports club started its basketball program in the mid-1930s. In 1954, the Israeli Basketball League was founded and Maccabi Tel Aviv won the very first championship. The club has dominated the league ever since and has never finished below the third place in the national league.

On October 6th, Maccabi Tel Aviv played against Ironi Ashkelon. With an overpowering performance they dominated and came away with a win, 101-80. The author writes that “the speed and accuracy of the Tel Aviv forwards - most notably Alan Anderson, who finished with 21 points to lead all scorers - combined with the defensive power of players such as D'or Fishcher, ensured it was Maccabi which advanced to the semifinals of the preseason event.” The game was tied at halftime but Ashkelon appeared to have used up all of their energy. In the end, they could not compete with a far superior team.

Maccabi Tel Aviv will play Hapoel Galil/Gilboa in Wednesday's second semi-final. Hapoel defeated Bnei Hasharon in the early game of the night. The author mentions that the new Bnei Hasharon coach, Dan Shamir, admitted his side has much to improve on after seeing it outplayed by Oded Katash's team in red: “It is already October 5 and still things aren't working," the former Hapoel Jerusalem coach said. "We need more of a fighting spirit. There are many things we need to work on. We need to be much more aggressive."

Sunday's quarterfinal winners, Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Jerusalem, will face off in the first semi-final game.


There is little doubt that Maccabi Tel Aviv will continue to find success, not only in this tournament but in the future. The author follows the team and has written quite a few articles on their games and progress. The team has had many American players, as well as worldwide talent, come and play for the club.

Maccabi Tel Aviv is a premier club that has support from fans across the globe. They are kind of like the Manchester United of Israeli clubs. Their names is recognizable, their talent always impresses, and most importantly they bring home championships.

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...worth a thousand words

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is a difficult subject matter to talk about. There are many intricate details that make up that conversation and there are too many points of view that the discussion can become overwhelming. The words that one would need to describe their side of the conflict is an impossible number to count. The Parent's Circle is one organization that understands how frustrating it is to convey one's message about the conflict through words. The Parent's Circle is a group of Palestinian and Israeli bereaved families that have joined together to send their own messages out. They understand the phrase "a picture is worth a thousand words" and starting September 12 they will be voicing their opinions through the Israel Cartoon Museum; they will use the caricatures in the Conflict Exhibit.

The Parent's circle is a grassroots organization that has over 500 families involved, half Israeli and half Palestinian. All of these families share a common thread – they have lost an immediate family member in the conflict. Their goal is to promote reconciliation as an alternative to the violence, hatred, and revenge that so many who live here wish upon their neighbors.

Robi Damelin, a member of the organization, explained that “the idea for a cartoon exhibition came after one of the members in our forum attended a cartoons seminar...after he told me of it, I thought that a cartoons exhibition, revolving around our themes, would be a communicative method with which to deliver our message to people who usually don't hear it.”

The curator of the show is a cartoonist named Michel Kishke. He is in contact with all of the cartoonists around the world whom they are asking for support. Kishke says that “curating the exhibit has been an immense challenge, as caricatures by their very nature can be abusive and extreme, funny and painful. Nevertheless, the Parents Circle agreed to show all of these works no matter how painful or cynical, in order to illustrate the absurdity of the conflict.”

Many famous cartoonists from all over the world have contributed their art to this exhibit. Among them are Donnely (The New Yorker), No-Rio (Japan), Plantu (France), Zapiro (South Africa), Wilcox (Australia), El-Roto (Spain), and Bromley (UK). Damelin went on to say that “it was pretty easy to get the cartoons, almost everyone was happy to assist. I feel that people usually want to do something about situations that bother them or that they care about, but they just don't know what to do. The only one who couldn't take part was an Iranian cartoonist who gave his blessing but said he's too afraid of his government to participate.” Of these pieces of art, Damelin singles out a cartoon as being her favorite. It is called “The Bullet” and depicts a bullet chasing a child and the caption reads “this is the bullet that broke the child, that broke the families, that broke the town that broke the state that was seeking revenge from the country that broke the heart of the world.” Damelin thinks that this cartoon embodies the organization's beliefs, ideas and hopes.


The author of the article presents us with a view of an organization that is taking steps to work for peace in the Middle East. They have united as families to work for a better understanding and come up with a resolution for the conflict. The author questions the curator and a member of the Parent's Circle show we really only get one side of the story but the article is about the exhibit. One cannot expect to gain any further understanding about the conflict from this article alone. I would have liked to have read a response from someone who had visited the exhibit as the article was written almost a week after the exhibit opened.

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The Lovely Laffa

Any and every person knows that you can't really have a gathering without food. You can't really do much of anything without food nor would you want to. Our minds can't stay focused on the task at hand because all we can think about is what we're going to eat next. Everyone feels a little more comfortable when they smell a bit of their country's food cooking either in their own kitchen or as they pass by a restaurant on the street. Tacos, a nice big bowl of pasta, or samosas are all staples of their respective country's cuisine and can be found at almost every Mexican, Italian, or Indian restaurants in Los Angeles. If one were looking for some Israeli food in LA, there would of course be the usual suspects – falafels, hummus, shawarma – but there is a new trend making its way into the cuisine: the laffa.

The word laffa is a Arabic term meaning “to wrap” or to “twist around.” Laffa is a flatbread that is used for this exact purpose – to wrap things. You can throw some falafels and some Israeli salad (finely diced tomatoes and cucumbers) or you could go crazy and make some egg salad and put that in your laffa. This flatbread craze is new to LA but is something that Israelis are used to. Although trendy Israeli restaurants in LA are only starting to offer laffa now, the people in Israel have been enjoying what they call “Iraqi pita” or in Jerusalem, “eesh tanoor,” for years. The reason for this new trend is due to the success of other cultural cuisines that incorporate wraps in their menus (e.g. tacos and burritos in Mexican cuisine).

Cafe du Liban, a Lebanese restaurant in LA, had been selling laffa under a different name since it opened its door in 1998. “Saj bread,” as they referred to it, was a little thinner but much larger than the Iraqi pita that many Israelis were used to buying in their local market or shuk. With the trend gaining popularity the restaurant decided to change the name on the menu. When asked about the change the owner replied “it's the same bread by a different name. Because of the Israelis, everyone knows the term laffa, and so now that's what we call it.”

The laffa is eaten with almost anything and everything one can possibly think of shoving into it. Some fill it with creamy eggplant salad made with mayonnaise or with tehina, on its own or paired with turkey. Others prefer to take the components of an Iraqi sabich – hard-boiled eggs, hummus and/or tehina, eggplant and amba (mango chutney) – and eat their laffa like that.

Although one can find laffa at almost any Israeli or Middle Eastern restaurant in LA, what may be a little frustrating is how difficult making your own laffa can be. In the Middle East, the flatbread is traditionally made in brick ovens and some prefer this authentic taste and texture that the brick oven gives the laffa. For those like myself, when I'm hungry I don't really care too much about traditional ways of cooking especially when I don't know anyone who has a brick oven. When at home and I'm in need of a nice laffa to wrap whatever leftovers I have I usually just follow a simple recipe of yeast, flour, warm water, salt, and sugar.

As with any other bread, laffa is always best when fresh so make sure to either scarf it down immediately (I don't know why you wouldn't) or to carefully wrap it and keep it in the fridge. Next time that you're out on the town, try a nice Middle Eastern restaurant and order a laffa sandwich. It won't disappoint.

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