The Nation of Yisrael Lives… In a Film

When I lived in Toronto, I spent many nights at my boyfriend’s shed, off King West in the Liberty Village area. Many of the city’s hipsters and artists haunted the hood, living in old warehouses, eking out a living painting, photographing, sculpting and acting. It was common to wake in the morning, swing open the shed door to find a freshly painted tagline of a graffiti artist who’d left his tag –– in spray paint –– left behind. We liked it. But the graffiti never seemed to say much, just that “I was here.”

In Israel graffiti seems to often come with a social or political message. Except for a couple of well established artists like Klone or Know Hope, most graffiti here isn’t all that artistic or well crafted, but it’s the message that counts. Take for example the graffiti “Am Yisrael Chai,” which translates to the “Nation of Israel Lives.”

The urban legend in Tel Aviv is that the graffiti is painted by a bearded men, dressed in a white cloak, wearing a yarmulke. He roams south Tel Aviv with the same message: “Am Yisrael Chai” (The Nation of Israel Lives), painted on a white background with a Star of David.

Meant as a spiritually uplifting, if not a Zionist message, that the people of Israel are resilient and strong, you can find Am Yisrael Chai graffiti in Hebrew almost anywhere you look in south Tel Aviv. Some people think it’s an eyesore.

Over the years the graffiti has evolved to a dialogue. As many slogans one might find sprayed on signs, on walls, and on shop doors, you can find an alternate message. Someone has responded to the bearded man and creatively augments the Hebrew “The Nation of Israel Lives,” to take on a new message.

A letter added here and there, or a new phase tagged on to the end, with a question mark alters the original message altogether.

Look at some pictures I’ve taken, and what the “responder” (usually sarcastic) to the graffiti has written:

The Nation of Israel Lives !???… No Sh*t

The Nation of Yisrael Lives… and Maybe The Rest Can Be Together?

The Nation of Yisrael Lives… And Also the Palestinians

The Nation of Yisrael Lives Are Soldiers

The Nation of Yisrael Lives, Lives, Lives

This month Nefesh B’Nefesh brought 234 North American immigrants to Israel, among them several Canadians who plan to start new lives in Israel. NBN works with the Jewish Agency for Israel, its goal to assist North Americans who want to immigrate. The organization helps with forms and documents, financial support, employment agency assistant and checking up on new immigrants after they’ve arrived. Their first chartered flight was in 2002 but this year’s flight was the biggest ever, with a group of 85 young people who were moving to Israel specifically to enrol in the Israeli Defence Force.

Shimon Peres, President of Israel, welcoming new Olim (immigrants)

Tony Gelbart, chairman and co-founder of NBN, said the number of North American Jews moving to Israel has risen in the past eight years, and that the flight that left on August 2 was filled with future soldiers, families, toddlers, young adults and elderly people from all walks of life and levels of religious observance. “The trend of increasing numbers of people moving to Israel will increase,” he predicts.

Canadian Jewish News reporter Rita Poliakov accompanied the trip and said emotions ran high, particularly in the last hour of the flight. There were two Canadians out of the 85 group of new soldiers, she said: Shar Leyb from Calgary, and Jenna Greenbloom from Toronto.

The group of new immigrants was met at Ben Gurion airport by journalists and by Israeli President Shimon Peres, who addressed the crowd. “All of you made [aliyah] of your own choice. You decided to change your life in order to change the lives of Jewish people in the future,” he told the new arrivals. Addressing the future soldiers, he said: “We’re going to build peace for us, for our nation. You are coming to… an army with a human responsibility, an army that never wants to fight, but always fought what was imposed upon them. We are sincerely hoping for peace. In one word, when I look at you, I would say each of you is a hope for us.”

As Lauren pointed out a couple of weeks ago, Ontario’s Premier Dalton McGuinty was scheduled for a trade mission to Israel later this month.

He and his entourage arrived in Tel Aviv two days ago on May 26, and have already visited some of Israel’s most exciting clean technology companies – those attracting worldwide interest and investment, as part of Ontario’a trade mission to Israel. Part of his journey was to see how the private and public sectors cooperate in clean tech innovation, according to News Ontario.

On his visit McGuinty saw the Israeli electric car company Better Place (see my last story on Better Place’s deal with Magna company). Ontario to some extend has already partnered with Better Place back in 2009, where the Israeli company, headquartered in CA, is expected to help Ontario set up an electric car grid. I’m skeptical it will work in a province where men love their big trucks and drive with them for hours, but maybe Better Place can deliver the right model through new partnerships. At the trade mission meeting, Premier McGuinty and Sandra Pupatello, the province’s Economic Development and Trade Minister visited Better Place’s R&D facility in Tel Aviv and met with the company’s CEO, Shai Agassi.

McGuinty also visited the strangely beautiful solar power flower tower of AORA deep in the Arava desert in southern Israel, before travelling to the Arava Institute where the mission met with the students and faculty of the environmental education facility that creates partnerships between Israeli and Jordanian students.

The six day trade mission according to the Ottawa Citizen, lamenting its city’s low participation in the meeting, will include 38 companies from the province.

The trade mission, the paper reports, was designed by McGuinty himself to learn more about Israel’s success in nurturing innovation and attracting venture capital. “With 7.2 million people, Israel has more companies on the NASDAQ than any country in the world, except the U.S. It attracts as much venture capital investment as France and Germany combined.”

Targeting the life sciences sector, the mission will include hospitals and companies from Ontario. Faculty from Queens, McMaster, Western, York and the University of Toronto are reportedly attending also. Hopefully I will be able to provide more updates as the mission unfolds.

]]> http://www.canadasisrael.ca/2010/05/mcguintys-mission-to-israel-checks-out-clean-technology/feed/ 0 http://www.canadasisrael.ca/2010/05/bibi-coming-to-canada/ http://www.canadasisrael.ca/2010/05/bibi-coming-to-canada/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 15:17:45 +0000 Lauren Kramer http://www.canadasisrael.ca/?p=3613 By Lauren Kramer

Israel’s Prime Minister, Benyamin Netanyahu, is heading to Canuckland May 28, flying to Toronto from Paris with Yuval Steinitz, Finance Minister, and Diaspora Affairs Minister Yuli Edelstein. The trio also plans to visit Ottawa as well.

This is the first time an Israeli sitting prime minister will visit Canada since 1994, when Yitzhak Rabin journeyed this way, and the visit was prompted by an invitation from Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

“It’s a pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Netanyahu to Canada,” Harper said this week in a statement. “Our countries have a close and enduring friendship which we are looking to further strengthen.”

Writing in the Jerusalem Post, Herb Keinon speculated the trip was “a sign of appreciation for Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s staunch support for Israel, both on a declarative political level, and through the deepening and broadening of bilateral relations in various spheres, including military, intelligence and economic ones.”

David M. Weinberg, director of the Canada-Israel Committee’s Israel office, agreed, adding that Bibi’s visit is “also an acknowledgment of Prime Minister Harper’s principled leadership and friendship for Israel.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty is heading to Israel for his first trade mission May 23-27, keeping a sharp eye out for business investments for the province. He’ll be visiting Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Bethlehem, along with a group of 43 delegates representing some 34 organizations from Ontario’s life sciences, universities and health sectors.

McGuinty said the trip will be “an introductory mission” and a chance to “build on the foundation that’s already there” between the province and the Jewish state.

In 2008, two-way goods trade between Ontario and Israel added up to almost $1.1 billion, up 86 percent from 2004. McGuinty said he wanted to “accelerate” those numbers. He said that the West Bank part of the trip would be less about investment and more about finding ways for Ontario to help “strengthen Palestinian governance, education, small business creation and community development.”

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty will be leading a trade mission to Israel and the West Bank May 24-27, with plans to stop in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Ramallah and Bethlehem. The trip is intended to expand the province’s research cooperation with Israel and build more economic partnerships in health care.  The premier also hopes his trip will enable Ontario to tap into Israel’s expertise in turning good high-tech ideas into good high-tech jobs.

A press release from the premier’s office said that Ontario’s exports to Israel have grown by more than 70 percent since 2004. “This is an important market for Ontario and this trade mission will strengthen cultural and commercial ties while creating jobs for Ontarians,” McGuinty said at a press conference in late February.

He added that this will be his first ever trip to the Middle East. “I think it’s high time and I’m very much looking forward to it,” he said.

Do you remember the funny flick from the early 90’s entitled Cool Runnings?

Starring the late Canadian iconic actor John Candy, the film loosely portrayed the real-life comedic tale of Jamaica’s national bobsled team and their odyssey at the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

Well, a new version of this funny and somewhat fascinating story is playing itself out and this time, all of the cool runnings are being done on behalf of Israel.

That’s right, Israel has its own national bobsled team and a key member of the group, who happens to be a Winnipegger, will be in Vancouver as part of the run-up to the 2010 Winter Games.

David Greaves, the team’s loan Canuck, is slated to appear at the Vancouver chapter of Magen David Adom Canada to be a keynote speaker.

The pre-Olympics event will take place on February 11 and attendees will include the Israeli Olympic team, as well as several dignitaries.

The so-called Frozen Chosen won’t be competing at this year’s Olympics, but they will share their special story, which dates back to 2002 when the Israeli Bobsled Federation officially formed.

Since then, the athletes, who proudly race in a bobsled sporting Israel’s colours, have competed at two world championships, endured countless crashes, became Israeli citizens(none are originally from Israel) and have proudly shown their devotion both to Israel and this fast-paced sport.

Although they won’t be racing down the track in Whistler, they are surely cool runners for all of us to admire.

While Canada’s Israel blog is not at all about politics, we sometimes report on politicians from these two countries who are laying the foundations for peace and economic collaboration.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Israel just sent Canada’s Israel this update that Canada’s Deputy Foreign Minister Leonard Edwards and his entourage are meeting with Israel’s Ministry Foreign Affairs (MFA) Director General Yossi Gal. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem is hosting the high-level Canada-Israel delegation.

This meeting follows a previous one held in Ottawa in 2007.

According to the MFA, the meeting in Jerusalem is intended to celebrate the 60 years of diplomatic ties between Canada and Israel, and the talks were characterized by the cordiality and friendship which exist between Israel and Canada.

Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who joined the dialogue, expressed Israel’s appreciation for the warm relations which exist between the two countries.

The ongoing cooperation between the two countries in a number of fields, as well as Canada’s role as Israel’s point of contact within NATO were also mentioned as examples of the strength of the bilateral relationship. In the course of a working lunch with the Canadian delegation the Director General briefed his counterpart at length on the situation in the Middle East and the prospects for progress in the future.

Both delegations agreed on the need to reinforce economic ties between the two countries through increasing bilateral trade and investment, as well as promoting greater scientific cooperation. Just this month we reported Canadian investment in Israel’s door security technology, and Israel’s work in cleantech, specifically solar energy, which has impressed Canadian funding sources.

The talks also included professional sessions with experts, devoted to regional issues, such as the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians. Be on the lookout for more news on this front.

Canadian Minister of International Trade Stockwell Day (2nd L) shakes hands with China’s Shaanxi Province’s Vice Governor Yao Yinliang during the opening of the Second Canada-China-Israel Roundtable on Agro-Innovation, in Ottawa, Canada, July 27, 2009.(Xinhua/Yang Shilong)

 The Honourable Stockewell Day, Minister of International Trade and Minister for the Asia-Pacific Gateway, was the keynote speaker at the second Canada-China-Israel Roundtable on Agri-Innovation on July 27.  The International Science and Technology Partnerships Canada, the Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation (CIIRDF) and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada hosted this annual event in Ottawa.

Minister Day spoke about the growing importance of science cooperation and how it will contribute to stimulating economic growth and building international relations.  He discussed how the Canadian government has taken a proactive approach to opening doors fo Canadian business and investors around the world by helping them compete in global markets.

Israel and Canada have teamed up for what seems an unusual partnership: to form an agreement on how Canada will represent Israel’s diplomatic and consular interests in Venezuela.

Venezuela had diplomatic ties with Israel until January 2009. It severed those ties after Israel’s military incursion into Gaza.

Virginie Levesque, an official at the Canadian Embassy in Caracas, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that “the Canadian Embassy has encouraged and continues to encourage the Venezuelan government to follow through on its commitment to reject and combat anti-Semitism and to do its utmost to ensure the security of the Jewish community and its religious and cultural centres.”

Ever the peace-maker, Canada is acting as the middle-man between the governments of Venezuela and Israel.