Tel Aviv Rooftop

The first damning reports of the interim findings of the Winnograd Commission [the committee of inquiry investigating Lebanon II] appeared on Channel 10 last night TV http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1177591147919& pagename = JPost %2 FJPArticle %2 FShowFull To escape the news and stretch a leg, we decided to take a Shabbat morning walk to sadnaot ha- omanim - the Artists Studios gallery on the border between Florentin and Yaffo . On show is an exhibition by a friend, the talented photographer Roi Kuper . The photos here are not from his show (I wish) but from the short walk to the gallery and back. The exhibition is called White Cliffs of Dover (see at http://roikuper.com/ ) and to accompany the lustrous images he created, Roi had laid on a recording of the Vera Lynn version of the wartime hit ( There'll be bluebirds over...). It felt strange to be listening to this classic piece of British nostalgia in Tel Aviv . Roi claims there was second verse of the song...

A somewhat limp flag on the adjacent Bank Leumi building, taken from the rooftop. "An atmosphere of disappointment, despondency and anxiety prevails in Israel in its 59 th year," wrote the editorial team today’s Ha’ aretz http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/851489.html And it’s true, all true, but still it is Independence Day and so, after oohing and aahing at the fireworks from the rooftop and watching the military ceremony at Mount Herzl (why do our soldiers always look so uncomfortable when marching?) that morphed into a mass choreographed medley of Israel’s Eurovision entries (the North Koreans do it better), we took a swing through the neighbourhood. In Neve Tsedek the residents of Stein Street had brought in a DJ (playing a hyped up version of the weepy mizrahi hit “Without you I am actually nothing”) and were holding a street party. Kids ran around wielding inflatable plastic hammers while their parents danced. We shook a leg and moved on to Florentin where th...

Doesn’t matter how often I travel, I’m amazed. In the morning you’re in Tel Aviv, under the rooftop and by lunchtime you’re in another world. In this case Brussels, home of luxury chocolates, Leffe beer, art nouveau, waffles, the European Union, Tin Tin ( http://lambiek.net/magazines/tintin.htm ) and the mannequin pis ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manneken_Pis ) This time, thanks to a friend who has lived there for 12 years, I got to see some parts of the city I’ve not encountered before. The funky African Quarter for instance and the red light district. We also went to a restaurant decorated in art nouveau style called Le Dernier Hallucination. Brussels is filled with wonderful examples of art nouveau and art deco. Despite its reputation as a grey nonentity, most Brussels residents seem to like living there. It’s a small big city, easy to navigate, with great restaurants, a rich cultural life and a cosmopolitan population. Sure it’s not as magnificent as Paris, but so what. The weat...

The band, Mid Life Crisis , Danny, Danny, Zev and me, have been playing together for 3 years now, or is it 4? Once every 2-3 weeks we manage to escape our respective routines and transform ourselves (bald pates, paunches and all) into lithe ass-kicking rockers about to take the world by storm. After overcoming a few technical problems that would have been solved in a jiffy by a 12 year old we've opened a page on Myspace where you can hear a few of our recordings, read our bio and see some images: http://www.myspace.com/mlcisrael . We'll try to keep it evolving. Over the weekend MLC spent 9 straight hours in the studio recording a new song - War Zone - that I wrote under the influence of Lebanon II. Hopefully it will be on the site soon too. Here are the lyrics War Zone The lights are going out all over town And half the population’s underground We’re under fire and so are they And all that’s left to do is pray Can’t stand living in a war zone Can’t stand living in a w...

I have an uneasy feeling that we are approaching a dangerous new period in our relations with our Arab neighbours. Olmert's response to the Arab League peace initiative has been arrogant and short-sighted - predicting peace with all the Arab states within 5 years while simultaneously not accepting the initiative as a basis for negotiations with the Palestinians. Henry Siegman wrote an interesting article on the initiative and Israel's response to it in the International Herald Tribune http://www.kibush.co.il/show_file.asp?num=19338 A more positive Israeli response might serve to swing Arab public opinion against the powerful militant Islamic groups in its midst. A perceived rejection will do the opposite. It could provide the justification for a new round of violence whether it be a third intifada or a clash with Syria or a heightened wave of Islamic terror attacks against Israel. This is therefore a critical time. When hopes are raised and then dashed, there is bound to be ...

Throwing good sense to the wind and spurning my own advice to stay close to the rooftop during the Pessah holiday, we set out on Friday with the rest of am yisrael to the Galil . The roads were full but what can you do? You go hiking when you have a holiday - right? At the height of spring and on the cusp of summer the Galil is ablaze with life and colour. The flowering clil ha- choresh tree stands out everywhere. The plan was to start with a hike down our beloved Nahal Amud (the wadi) which we had explored so often when we lived in Tzfat the 80s. But, pushed for time, instead of taking the route below Tzfat we chose the official entrance at Kfar Shamai where we encountered a ticket office, a very full car park and hordes of tired looking families. The wadi, once our symbol of natural freedom, had been bureacratised ! Gritting our teeth, we turned down repeated offers to join the Park Authority's membership club and sullenly promised to be back within two hours (so that ...

A sandy lane in Park Hayarkon . Hol hamo'ed Pessah , the intermediate days (middle bit) of Pessah. Spring is sprung and the weather is warm and windy. The countryside is blooming and the roads are jammed (someone decided to close half the beaches around the Kinneret leaving thousands of angry families stranded). With chaos on the roads and the countryside invaded by am yisrael , better not to stray too far from the rooftop. This exodus to the country (or out of the country) plus the fact that nearly all the restaurants are closed, means that the centre of town is much quieter than usual. At Doron's , a 'photo' that now sells small electrical goods, the salesgirl was talking over the counter to a guy who was apparently one of their suppliers. This man, it turned out, had the misfortune to have married an ashkenazi , a mistake, as every good mizrachi knows, which carries a heavy price: Salesgirl: "And what, you mean you had to eat gefilte fish? Supplier : ...

Business was brisk at Shuk Levinsky a market in Florentin specialising in spices, herbs, dried fruits, olives and fish products. Those in the know will cross town pick up olive oil, sauces, salami, cheeses, pickles or spreads at renowned delicatessens like Haim Rafael or Lupo . But today is erev, erev Pessah and people in south Tel Aviv need a cheap but respectable present for the hostess on seder night. This creates a sudden surge in demand for something that looks wildly expensive but actually costs as little as possible. This demand is filled by the cellophane gift packages that suddenly appear in markets and other cheap outlets all over the city. The cellophane gift package (seen here being flogged off the back of a car) consists of a wickerwork basket mainly filled with vivid purple straw that also contains a half a bottle of cheap wine, a small jar of honey, two chocolate bars (all of previously unknown origin) and a card wishing you a happy Pessah. The whole sorry collect...