July 31, 2011

The Global Souq: Sensing beyond the dividing lines. By Amal Kandeel

By Amal Kandeel

Situated in Old Cairo across the street from Al-Azhar Mosque, Khan El-Khalili is one of Egypt’s oldest and most historic bazaars. Some of its outermost sections lead to courtyards with historic buildings dating back to the 12th and 13th century, and some even earlier. This old market houses a medley of mostly small shops, lined up along a web of meandering, narrow, paved alleys.

It is a popular place for Egyptians and tourists alike, where the colors, sounds, and scents of Egypt’s culture weave an intensely alive replica of a segment of life in that country hundreds of years ago. All the traditional Egyptian handcrafts that are gradually facing extinction are on display there: leather goods, wood-work, glass-ware, copper-ware, alabaster, picturesque textile and rugs, timeless Egyptian shell-decorated artifacts from small boxes to the oude (a musical string-instrument), sur commande hand-mixed perfumes, fine silver and gold jewelry, and even jade. more>>

(Egypt born Amal Kandeel teaches at Georgetown University. She can be reached at: aakandeel@hotmail.com)

Une Iranienne aveuglée à l'acide renonce à la loi du talion

«Ameneh Bahrami, victime d'une attaque à l'acide, a pardonné à la dernière minute à son agresseur Majid et renoncé à réclamer son droit à la loi du talion qui devait être appliquée aujourd'hui», a annoncé le site de la télévision d'État.
Le procureur de Téhéran, Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi, a confirmé à l'agence Isna que Mme Bahrami avait renoncé à réclamer l'aveuglement de son agresseur quelques instants avant l'application de la sentence à l'hôpital de Téhéran dépendant de l'autorité judiciaire.
La jeune femme a en revanche exigé d'être dédommagée selon le principe du «prix du sang», a-t-il ajouté. en savoir plus>>

Israël : manifestations massives pour la "justice sociale" dans dix villes.

TEL-AVIV — La contestation contre la cherté de la vie et pour la "justice sociale" s’est étendue samedi soir à dix villes israéliennes avec la participation de 80.000 à 120.000 manifestants, selon les estimations de la police ou celles des médias.
Les manifestants, en majorité des jeunes laïcs, ont pour principal slogan "Le peuple veut la justice sociale pas la charité". Ils réclament un retour à un "Etat providence" tel qu’il avait été mis en place par la gauche sioniste dans les premières années de l’Etat.
A Tel-Aviv, principal foyer de la contestation, plus de 50.000 manifestants ont marché au centre-ville, a indiqué à l’AFP le porte-parole de la police Micky Rosenfeld.
Les manifestants ont arboré dans une ambiance de kermesse des drapeaux israéliens ainsi que quelques drapeaux rouges.
"Je suis venue parce que je n’arrive plus à boucler les fins de mois et que l’argent des impôts va dans les poches des magnats", confie une manifestante, qui dirige un jardin d’enfants. suite>>

Ne prenons pas les terroristes pour de simples imbéciles

Anders Breivik, auteur présumé du massacre d'Oslo, était amateur de jeux vidéos où l'on détruit des centaines d'adversaires et aimait se faire photographier dans des uniformes spectaculaires. Il a certainement un ego sur-développé. Mais, outre la publicité planétaire que lui vaudront crime et procès, il aura un motif d'orgueil : il est devenu le plus performant des "loups solitaires". 

Anders Breivik : loup solitaire cultivé

"Loups solitaires" est le surnom de ces terroristes qui ne se rattachent à aucune organisation, ne sont pas repérés par la police et s'en prennent brusquement à des cibles peu défendues. Les loups solitaires célèbres, comme l'auteur de la fusillade de Fort Hood (Nidal M. Hasan, 13 morts), le "terroriste aux sous-vêtements" du vol Amsterdam Detroit (Abdulmutallab) et celui l'attentat raté de Time Square en 2010 (Faisal Shahzad) étaient islamistes. suite>>

Maids To The Middle East To Be Dusted


By Gazala Anver
The Sri Lankan Foreign Employment Bureau (FEB) states that in the last four months alone, domestic workers going to the Middle East have brought in USD 1,688 million worth of remittances to the country. The Minister of Foreign Employment Promotion and Welfare however said that the age limit for domestic workers going to the Middle East will be raised to 30 within the next three years.
Currently the minimum age to work in the Middle East is 21, raised from 18. Many who take up these kinds of jobs are the breadwinners of the family: there are even numerous cases of unmarried women leaving at a young age to earn their own dowry and to take care of their aging parents while they can.
When The Sunday Leader visited an SLFEB training centre in Kadawatha, during a training session where domestics and caregivers were taught how to look after another’s family in order to feed their own; it was evident that this increase in age limit would pose problems. continued>>

New book: Memoirs of a Baghdad Childhood

from Victor Sasson


Greetings!

I would like to draw your attention to my recent book, a memoir:

Memoirs of a Baghdad Childhood (June 22)

This is a short book (116 pages) depicting personal and family scenes, episodes, experiences, and impressions of the author's early life in Baghdad. The author's childhood in Baghdad, from early 1940's to about mid-1951, is viewed and portrayed in generally positive and happy light.

There is more information about the book on Barnes and Noble and Amazon.com

Thank you.

Victor Sasson, Ph.D.

(The author is a biblical scholar, specialist in Hebrew and Aramaic Epigraphy. In addition to extensive scholarly publications, he has also published four novels, another non-fiction book, a play, and some poetry. A dramatic monologue, Shylock Outside Court, can be read at victorsassonpoetry.blogspot.com)

This Week in History: The British Mandate for Palestine


On July 24, 1922, the Council of the League of Nations – the predecessor of the United Nations Security Council – gave its blessing to The British Mandate for Palestine, taking one of the first legal steps toward the eventual establishment of the State of Israel. The decision was taken in the wake of World War One and was greatly influenced by the colonial system in place at the time. As the war ended, the victorious Western powers decided the former territories of the Ottoman Empire, chiefly Palestine, Transjordan, Syria and Lebanon were to be placed under European receivership "until such time as they are able to stand alone."

The British Mandate for Palestine put under the mandatory powers of Great Britain: Palestine and Transjordan, known today as Israel, Jordan, the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Temporary in nature, the Mandate was designed to be a preparatory step toward the establishment of independent states, among them “a national home for the Jewish people. more>>

Girls On Top At Google Science Fair

The three top winners at this year's Google Science Fair were all girls: Shree Bose, a high-school student from Fort Worth, Texas was the Grand Prize winner (and also winner in the 17-18 age group), with Naomi Shah from Portland, Oregon (15-16 age group) and Lauren Hodge from York, Pennsylvania (13-14) winning in the other two categories.

All three winners will receive scholarships from Google. As the Grand Prize winner, Bose receives a $50,000 scholarship, while Shah and Hodge each receive $25,000 scholarships.

For their winning projects, 17-year-old Bose investigated drug resistance in ovarian cancer, Shah looked at the link between pollutants in the air and respiratory disease, and Hodge tested the effects of different kinds of marinades on the formation of cancer-causing substances in grilled chicken, reports Scientific American, a leading popular science magazine and one of the sponsors of the Science Fair. The magazine's Editor-in-chief, Mariette DiChristina, also served as a judge for the contest. continued>>

Les juifs de La Havane retrouvent leurs racines

Cuba, envoyé spécial - Vendredi, en fin d'après-midi, une assistance bigarrée remplit la grande synagogue Beth Shalom, située dans un quartier résidentiel de La Havane, El Vedado, à l'angle des rues I et 13. Hommes et femmes sont mélangés, contrairement à l'usage dans les temples juifs orthodoxes. Combien sont-ils ? Trois ou quatre cents. Les jeunes sont nombreux, l'un d'entre eux arbore un tee-shirt à l'effigie de Che Guevara, mais ici cela semble ne surprendre personne.



Les officiants s'expriment en espagnol et en anglais, à l'intention des visiteurs américains, quelques dizaines. Le jeune Daniel, le bibliothécaire séfarade de Beth Shalom, dirige le culte avec l'avocate Marlen Prinstein, une convertie mariée au vice-président de la congrégation. Ce dernier, David Prinstein, ancien militaire et fils de communiste, salue chaque visiteur : "Nous sommes très honorés par votre présence." La cérémonie est sobre, mais l'émotion est palpable, surtout lorsqu'un kaddish (la prière des morts) évoque les membres de la communauté disparus récemment.

Ruth Behar, anthropologue à l'université de Michigan (Etats-Unis), n'est pas une visiteuse occasionnelle, mais une habituée. Elle est née à La Havane, fille d'un père d'origine polonaise et d'une mère d'ascendance turque, tous les deux nés à Cuba. "Nous habitions à cent mètres de la synagogue, précise-t-elle. En 1991, Beth Shalom était en ruine. Les pigeons avaient fait leur nid dans le sanctuaire. Les cérémonies regroupaient une poignée de vieillards, qui se réunissaient dans la minuscule salle du deuxième étage. Aujourd'hui, nous assistons à une véritable renaissance. Le passage de témoin à la nouvelle génération est assuré." suite>>

Isabel Pantoja - El Moreno

sent by Joe Rossano





Actuación en "Tal como somos" de Castilla La Mancha TV en Junio '07

La plume du poète

Retour à Chicago©
(Ecrit le 27 juin 2011)

Cinq heures trente, je me réveille,
Un soleil souriant m'accueille
A l'horizon sur un ciel azuré
Qui m'imbibe aussitôt de sérénité.
Je quitte Bruxelles, le coeur soulagé
Pour Chicago, ma ville bien aimée.
Mon amour chavire entre mes amantes
Toujours nourricières et permanentes
Dans mes pensées. Ainsi, le destin
A décidé et me guide par les chemins
De la vie en me donnant la vitalité
Et la sagesse de vivre sans animosité.
Elie  Mangoubi 


Elie Mangoubi aux Editions Publibook
http://www.publibook.com/boutique2006/auteur.php?auteur=11357

The Loyalties of the Sephardim

sent by Hadassah Levy


In a recent Haaretz column, Gideon Levy, the radical leftist polemicist, sounded the warning that Israel's religious Zionists—"the knitted skullcaps"—have joined hands with the ultra-Orthodox and the Sephardim to form "a united tribe of zealots."

Read the rest of this essay at http://www.jidaily.com/theloyaltiesofthesephardim


Hadassah Levy
Website Manager, Jewish Ideas Daily

Lettre d'un Jérusalémite par Eliezer Ben Yisrael

envoyé par Clément Dassa

Je ne suis pas un extraterrestre, comme vous semblez le croire. Je suis un jérusalémite, un homme en chair et en os, comme vous. Je suis un citoyen de ma ville, une partie intégrante de mon peuple.

J'ai certaines choses sur le cœur dont je dois me débarrasser. N'étant pas diplomate de mon état, je n'ai pas à peser mes mots. Je ne vois pas la nécessité ni de vous être agréable, ni de vous persuader.

Je ne vous dois rien. Vous n'avez pas construit cette ville. Vous n'y habitez pas et vous n'étiez pas présent pour la défendre lorsqu'elle était entourée d'ennemis qui voulaient l'anéantir.
Et nous serons perdus si nous vous permettons de nous la reprendre. Longtemps avant que New York existât, Jérusalem fut. Au temps ou Berlin , Moscou, Londres et Paris n'étaient encore que des forêts et régions marécageuses et malsaines, vivait à Jérusalem une communauté juive jeune et florissante. Cette communauté dota le monde -ce qu'en tant que nations solidement établies sur cette terre vous rejetez - d'un vieux code de morale humaine.

C'est ici que marchèrent les prophètes dont les paroles illuminèrent le pays comme des éclairs. Ici demeurait un peuple qui ne demandait qu'à vivre en paix et qui dut se défendre contre les vagues successives d'attaquants, un peuple qui saigna et mourut sur les champs de bataille, un peuple qui se jeta dans son temple en flammes plutôt que de se rendre; et lorsque finalement, submergé par le nombre, il fut vaincu et emmené en captivité, il jura :" Si je t'oublie, Jérusalem, que ma main droite m'oublie ! que ma langue s'attache à mon palais si je ne me souviens de toi, si je ne fais de Jérusalem le principal sujet de ma joie !" (Psaume 137)

Pendant 2000 ans empreints de souffrances, alors que nous vivions parmi vous comme des hôtes indésirables, nous intercédions journellement pour un retour dans cette ville.
Trois fois par jour, nous présentions cette requête devant le Tout Puissant :"Rassemble-nous des quatre coins de la terre, dirige-nous sur le chemin montant qui conduit dans notre pays, dans ta miséricorde reviens à Jérusalem, dans la ville et habite dans ses murs comme tu l'as promis !".

Chaque année, au jour du grand pardon et à chaque fête de la Pâque, nous avons élevé nos voix dans l'espérance que nous nous retrouverons l'an prochain à Jérusalem.

Vos inquisitions, pogroms, expulsions et ghettos dans lesquels vous nous avez parqués, vos contraintes au baptême, votre système de contingentement, votre subtil antisémitisme et finalement l'inexprimable règne de terreur, l'holocauste -et ce qui est plus terrible encore, votre incroyable indifférence - tout cela ne nous a pas brisés.

Il est possible que ces méfaits vous aient enlevé votre dernière force morale. Quant à nous, ils nous ont forgés comme du fer.

Croyez-vous vraiment qu'après avoir dû passer par toutes ces terribles étapes, nous puissions maintenant être brisés ?

Pensez-vous qu'après Dachau et Auschwitz , vos menaces, vos blocages et autres mesures puissent nous effrayer ? Nous étions en enfer - nous en sommes revenus - un enfer que vous nous aviez préparé.

Que pourriez vous encore trouver dans votre arsenal qui serait susceptible de nous infliger la terreur ? Deux fois, j'ai vu la ville souffrir sous une grêle de bombes propulsées par des nations qui se disent civilisées.

En 1948, alors que vous étiez des spectateurs non concernés, j'ai vu des femmes et des enfants déchiquetés par des éclats d'obus, ceci après que nous avons souscrit à votre désir "d'internationaliser" la ville. Ce fut une alliance porteuse de mort : officiers britanniques, canonniers arabes utilisant des canons américains.


Et peu après, le pillage et la destruction sauvage de la vieille ville.

Les massacres sciemment organisés, la cynique dévastation des synagogues et des écoles religieuses, la profanation des cimetières juifs et la vente par le gouvernement des pierres tombales pour la construction de poulaillers et d'entrepôts militaires et même, tenez-vous bien, de lieux d'aisance publics.

Et vous n'avez jamais élevé la voix pour dénoncer ces abominations.

Vous n'avez jamais élevé la moindre protestation lorsque les Jordaniens, au mépris des promesses faites après la guerre, guerre qu'ils firent malgré une décision de l'ONU à ce sujet, verrouillèrent le lieu le plus saint de nos lieux saints, le Mur des Lamentations.

Aucune voix ne se fit entendre parmi vous lorsque les mercenaires coiffés de leur casque à pointe, à l'abri dans leurs positions derrière les murs, ouvrirent le feu sur nos citoyens.
Vos cœurs saignèrent lorsque Berlin fut bloquée.

Vous vous êtes empressés d'organiser un pont aérien pour venir en aide aux courageux berlinois, mais vous n'avez pas envoyé une once de nourriture dans la Jérusalem assiégée et affamée.

Vous avez tempêté lors de la construction par les Allemands de l'est d'un mur au travers de Berlin mais il n'y eut pas le moindre piaillement de votre part à cause de l'autre mur qui divisait le cœur de Jérusalem.

Puis, lorsque vingt ans plus tard, de semblables évènements se reproduisirent, alors que les Arabes, sans aucune provocation, bombardèrent sauvagement la Ville Sainte, lequel d'entre vous a entrepris quelque chose ?

Ce n'est qu'au moment où la ville fut enfin et définitivement unifiée que vous vous êtes réveillés.

Alors, en vous tordant les mains, vous avez prononcé de pompeuses paroles sur le droit et la morale, particulièrement sur le fait de tendre l'autre joue. Préfériez vous voir la ville détruite plutôt que de la savoir entre les mains juives ?

Malgré la tournure toujours très diplomatique de vos phrases, les préjugés établis depuis fort longtemps percent dans chacune de vos paroles. Au cas ou le retour de la ville au peuple juif provoquerait un noyau de difficultés dans votre théologie, il serait temps pour vous de réviser votre catéchisme.

Après tout ce que nous avons souffert, nous ne nous conformerons pas passivement à vos fausses idées selon lesquelless nous devons accepter d'être éternellement apatrides.
Pour la première fois depuis l'an 70 après J.C., il y a la liberté religieuse dans tout Jérusalem. Pour la première fois depuis que les romains jetèrent leurs torches incendiaires sur le Temple , il y a, en terre d'Israël  les mêmes droits pour chacun.
Nous avons en horreur l'usage de l'épée mais vous nous avez contraints à la prendre dans les mains. Nous désirons ardemment la Paix mais nous ne reviendrons pas à l'état de paix de 1948, comme vous l'exigez de nous.

Nous sommes enfin chez nous, dans notre pays.

C'est pour nous une merveilleuse certitude en tant que nation, nous qui fûmes contraints par vous de voyager sur toute la surface du globe.

Nous ne partirons pas. Nous avons retiré le gage déposé par nos ancêtres. Jérusalem sera construite. L'an prochain, et l'an prochain et l'an prochain, ceci jusqu'à la fin des temps, "à Jérusalem".

Ce texte, diffusé par Primo en Janvier 2003, est toujours d'actualité









San Francisco Jewish Film Festival

SFJFF PRESENTS

Saturday, July at 7:00PM

BERKELEY OPENING NIGHT FILM  

SARAH'S KEY


Sarah's Key Journalist Julia Jarmond (Kristin Scott Thomas), researching the infamous Vel d'Hiv Roundup of Parisian Jews in July 1942 by the police forces of Vichy France, discovers that her in-laws' family home has a dark past-part of a history that connects Julia's fate to that of a young Jewish girl and her wartime bid for survival. Sarah's Key is a moving, memorably acted drama based on the international bestseller by Tatiana de Rosnay. Followed by a reception in the Roda Theatre Courtyard, catered by Bistro Liason

This screening has gone to RUSH. There are no more advance tickets for sale at this time. However, tickets may be released for sale 15 minutes before the screening starts; a rush line will form at the theater for these tickets, which will be sold on a first come, first served basis and will be CASH ONLY, NO DISCOUNTS. 

Roda Theatre (@Berkeley Repertory Theatre)

2025 Addison Street, Berkeley 

Tickets: $25 general/$22 members

SFJFF PRESENTS:
Saturday, July 30 at 8:55PM
FIVE WEDDINGS AND A FELONY 
5 Weddings by Joshua Freed
USA, 2010, 76 min. 

Twentysomething Chicago filmmaker Josh Freed's comic essay documents his real-life inability to commit to a serious relationship even after meeting the incredibly adorable and wise second-grade school teacher Paulina. When five close friends get married and his dad develops a life-threatening illness, Josh begins to question his own life choices in this freewheeling self-portrait that manages to be charming, galling, funny, cringe inducing, and always compelling. Click here for trailer and information.  Also plays Sunday, July 31 8:45PM at the Roda Theatre in Berkeley 

FILMMAKER JOSHUA FREED IN PERSON 
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
3200 California Street, San Francisco

Tickets $12 general/$10 members
click here to purchase tickets now


SFJFF PRESENTS:
Sunday, July 31 at 8:50PM

skate of mindby Karin Kainer
Israel, 2010, 64 min.,
Hebrew w/ Eng. subtitles 
Meet the lost boys of Tel Aviv: the skater-im. These adrenaline junkies eschew mainstream Israeli values, forsaking jobs, financial security, relationships, sometimes even a roof over their heads to pursue their passion. The tragic hero of this documentary is Mohammed Kahil, an Israeli-Arab skateboard champion struggling to escape the "ghetto" life and make a home with his Jewish girlfriend. Features an excellent, pulsating soundtrack by Israeli rock star Rami Fortis. Preceded by the short film Trip to Jaffa
Jewish Community Center of San Francisco
3200 California Street, San Francisco

Tickets $12 general/$10 members
click here to purchase tickets now



SFJFF PRESENTS:O
Monday, August 1 at 6:00PM @OFJCC
PALO ALTO OPENING NIGHT TOAST
Joanna JOANNA  

Polish director Feliks Falk spins a gripping story about Joanna, a Polish woman to whom fate presents a split-second choice: whether to hide a young Jewish girl she finds sleeping in a church. Joanna, a piano teacher waiting to hear news of her soldier husband, takes the child home and they embark on a relationship that helps to heal their respective losses. But Joanna faces difficult decisions if Rose is to survive.
Preceded in Palo Alto by Opening Night Toast in the Oshman courtyard, 5:00-6:00pm. Click here for tickets, information, or to watch the trailer.

 Oshman Family JCC
3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto
Tickets $12 general/$10 members



SFJFF PRESENTS:

 IN HONOR OF SFJFF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AWARD WINNER KIRK DOUGLAS 

THE BIG STORY, Online Now 

THE BIG STORY 

by David Stoten and Tim Watts

Winner of the BAFTA for Animated Short in 1994 and nominated for an Oscar in 1995, this brilliant pastiche of Hollywood movies features three versions of Kirk Douglas at different ages. The short, narrated by Frank Gorshin, caught the attention of Quentin Tarrantino, who insisted it was released in the UK as a short with his own debut feature Pulp Fiction.  



Click here to watch The Big Story, online now through the end of the Festival only! 

July 30, 2011

Just a few more July news and headliners...

Sarkozy Breaks a European Taboo on Jewish State: Kudos to French President Nicolas Sarkozy’s government for finally breaking a European taboo. At a press conference in Madrid last week, Foreign Minister Alain Juppe publicly declared that “there will be no solution to the conflict in the Middle East without recognition of two nation-states for two peoples. The nation-state of Israel for the Jewish people, and the nation-state of Palestine for the Palestinian people.” Then, lest anyone overlook the statement’s significance or think it a mere slip of the tongue, his ministry yesterday circulated copies of it.

This is truly groundbreaking. Until now, no EU country has been willing to state publicly that an Israeli-Palestinian agreement must recognize Israel as the Jews’ nation-state, though the EU routinely details the concessions it expects Israel to make. more>>
Can music lovers enjoy Wagner's art in spite of his anti-Semitism?: Can Jews enjoy Wagner? Well, it depends who’s listening, as Larry David finds out in an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. After whistling the first few bars of Siegfried Idyll to his wife as they queue for cinema tickets, he is accosted by a frothing witness, who asks: “Excuse me, are you Jewish?”

Larry is taken aback – and, in so many words, offers to prove that he has been circumcised. His antagonist spits: “I want to know what a Jew is whistling Wagner for, when he was one of the great anti-Semites of the world.” He then accuses Larry of being a self-loathing Jew. “I do hate myself,” protests Larry, “but it has nothing to do with being Jewish, okay?”
more>>

Oxford University wants help decoding Egyptian papyri: Hundreds of thousands of images have gone on display on a website which encourages armchair archaeologists to help catalogue and translate them.Researchers hope the collective effort will give them a unique insight into life in Egypt nearly 2,000 years ago.

Project specialist Paul Ellis said: "Online images are a window into ancient lives." The collection is made up of papyri recovered in the early 20th Century from the Egyptian city of Oxyrhynchus, the so-called "City of the Sharp-Nosed Fish". more>>

Actress Kamala Lopez defends women's rights:Los Angeles – Actress and filmmaker Kamala Lopez is a staunch defender of women's rights and so has become actively involved in a project that seeks to raise awareness about the need to amend the Constitution to guarantee equality.

Her activism has won her the 2011 Woman of Courage Award from the National Women's Political Caucus, which she will receive on July 27, when House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi will also be honored. Lopez is director of the E.R.A. Education Project, a national media campaign to raise awareness about the Equal Rights Amendment. more>>

How Israel Became the Promised Land of Eggplant: Forward reader Mike Benn writes: “A distinct childhood memory of visits to my maternal grandmother’s home is of eating bronjenas. This was an eggplant dish made by grilling the eggplant over a naked flame and then scooping out the cooked contents. Recently, I’ve been wondering about the word.


“My grandmother was born in Palestine in 1900, the daughter of Chaim Ber Schwartz, one of the Romanian Jewish founders of the Rothschild colony of Zichron Ya’akov. However, my research shows that the eggplant dish I’m talking about is called patlagele vinete in Romanian, which sounds nothing like ‘bronjenas.’ In Yiddish, which was presumably my grandmother’s mother tongue, eggplant is patlejan — far removed from ‘bronjenas’ once again. In Polish (my maternal grandfather came from Poland), it’s oberzynowy — ditto. In Arabic, it’s betanjana — closer, but still not there. In Spanish, it’s berenjena, which looks very much like ‘bronjenas.’ Is this, then, its origin?” more>>

Morocco: Supermarket boom threatening souk culture: In one of the most memorable scenes of the movie classic,Casablanca, a debonair Humphrey Bogart meets the breathtakingly luminous Ingrid Bergman in a Moroccansouk (bazaar). While the former lovers engage in an awkward conversation, a pesky seller incessantly tempts Bergman with a bargain, first quoting 700 francs for a lacework and then repeatedly offering discounts without Bergman even asking for one. Such is the world of the exotic and often chaotic souk.  The souk, which is Arabic for market, has been an integral part of any cultural discourse in the Middle East and the Muslim world in North Africa. From Muscat in Oman to Marrakech in Morocco, souks, which are usually al fresco, have attracted the Western tourist hungry for bargain deals on carpets, delectable ethnic wares, or simply a slice of life in “exotic lands.” more>>

Locanda serves adventurous fare reminiscent of Rome: Of course, all roads lead to Rome, which has its own distinctive style. For me, Roman cooking is kind of a mash-up of rich and refined northern and rustic southern Italian, inflected with the mint-scented vegetable cookery of Sephardic Jews and the earthiness of Rome’s original inhabitants, shepherds, who consumed every bit of the animal and preserved its milk as pecorino.

As food journalist Waverly Root sums it up: “Roman cooking is Etruscan cooking.” Some 3,000 years later, we have Locanda — a California-Roman restaurant from the Delfina folks, who have staked out their own empire in the Mission district. Locanda is but a few blocks from the mothership. Its chef, Anthony Strong, moved over from the pizzerias to head his own kitchen. more>>

The Abuhatzeira Dynasty's Legacy: Today (7/29) Israel mourns the death of Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira, who was tragically murdered by a mentally disturbed congregant on Thursday. Two years ago the Knesset discussed making the memorializing of Rabbi Elazar's grandfather, the famed Baba Sali, part of the Israeli school curriculum.
At the time, then-MK David Azulai (Shas) said at the Knesset Education Committee meeting chaired by MK Zevulun Orlev (Jewish Home), “The Baba Sali was very humble, his house was open to all Jews, he did not rule or try to gain honor, quite the opposite. All he cared about was the Jewish people and the Torah.” more>>

Kefaya and April 6 Youth Movement: Post-revolution allegations in Egypt

Last week, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) accused the April 6 Youth movement in an official statement of turning the people against the Egyptian army. SCAF member Major General Hassan El-Roweiny spoke on TV about how the famous political movement was funded by foreign countries and had foreign agendas despite its undeniable important role in the Egyptian revolution. He also stated that an older movement, Kefaya, was originally a foreign movement.
The statements shocked many in Egypt's political scene, including the movements and its members themselves. Mohamed Adel, the April 6 Movement’s spokesperson told Ahram Online that the movement expected attacks because of its participation in the current sit-in at Tahrir Square, but they did not imagine it would reach such a level. more>>

Jordan's King Abdullah II refuses to meet Netanyahu

Jordan's King is 'angry with the Israeli Prime Minister over his government's position on Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

According to reports by a Kuwaiti daily made on Wednesday, July 27, King Abdullah II of Jordan recently declined a secret meeting with Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu. 'Well informed' anonymous sources told Al-Jareeda newspaper that Netanyahu had sent a special emissary to Amman to request a secret meeting with Abdullah in Aqaba. However, the King refused saying that his schedule was overloaded. more>>

ISRAEL: Is the Arab Spring spreading to the Jewish state?

When the protest for affordable housing began, some dismissed the campaign as a "Woodstock" of college kids on vacation. By the time Saturday night rolled around, tens of thousands demonstrated in Tel-Aviv and what started as a students' summer protest became a nationwide push for change and a political headache for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
 A few months back, citizens' protests targeted the pricing of specific commodities like gasoline, water and cottage cheese. Now, protest is everywhere. Students are camping out in the streets in tents. Dairy farmers are blocking roads with cows. Doctors are striking, the head of Israel's medical association is on a hunger strike. The latest is a Facebook call not to show up for work on Aug. 1. continued>>

Defections threaten to crack Muslim Brotherhood

CAIRO (IPS) — For the last 40 years, the Muslim Brotherhood's united front has been the envy of Egypt's political opposition. But in the six months since the fall of the Mubarak regime, the Islamist group has been racked by unprecedented internal divisions.
"Since the revolution, deep fissures have appeared inside the Brotherhood, which, if left untended, could threaten the group's long-term political future," Hossam Tammam, a local authority on Islamic movements, told IPS. 

On July 12, Mohamed Habib, a former deputy Brotherhood leader, resigned from the group and joined the Islamist Al-Nahda Party (which has yet to be licensed). Days later, leading Brotherhood figures warned that any member that joined a political party other than the recently-established Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) would face expulsion from the group. more>>

Norvège : L’auteur de l’attentat et ses rhétoriques anti-femmes…

On peut lire dans le daily mail que les conservateurs s'inquiètent de l’islamisation de l'Europe et blâment souvent le féminisme d’affaiblir les sociétés occidentales et les ouvrir à une invasion musulmane démographique. 
 
Le Best-seller de Mark Steyn America Alone : ​​The End of the World a prédit la disparition des "races européennes trop égocentriques pour se reproduire", conduisant à la transformation de l'Europe en Eurabia. Selon eux, et une étrange hiérarchisation et idéologie qui laisse songeur… « La liberté des femmes occidentales leurs droits de choisir sont menacés et finiront par disparaitre en raison même de l’invasion d’une culture qui refuse cette liberté aux femmes et toujours d’après eux la responsabilité en incombe aux féministes vu comme une entrave à la virilité de l’homme ». suite>>

Basta

"Où l'on assiste à l'enterrement en 2D, sans fleurs ni couronnes, sans tambours ni trompettes de notre amie Démocratie."
Nous avions une bonne amie, grande, droite, sympathique, d'un âge assez avancé, qui depuis longtemps aimait accueillir des gens venus d'un peu partout en leur ouvrant grand ses bras.
C'était une amie débordante de valeurs, humaines, sociales, éthiques, qui refusait la corruption et les idées nauséabondes. Elle aimait être au-dessus de tout soupçon, elle souffrait d'ailleurs beaucoup pour et de cela.
Malheureusement depuis de longues années, elle était atteinte d'un mal incurable à ce jour.
Après une longue agonie, son récent décès dans une discrétion telle que personne ne s'en est quasiment aperçu, nous a attristé et terrifié. On eut voulu détourner le regard que l'on n'aurait pas pu. suite>>

Deadly Attacks in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula

ed: there's a very loud message here.

Egyptian officials say gunmen have attacked a pipeline once used to supply gas to Israel - the fifth assault on the facility in the Sinai region since February.

A state-run media report says masked men launched rocket-propelled grenades at the al-Shulaq natural gas terminal on Saturday.  It says the pipe was hit but the line contained no gas and had not been operating for some time. more>>

Egypt: Tens of thousands of people in Tahrir Square to protect Egypt’s Arab and Islamic identity

Organised by Muslim parties, the peaceful protests included secular groups and Copts. Similar demonstrations are held in Alexandria and Suez. The power of the Muslim Brotherhood is growing; the group could use Ramadan for electoral purposes.

Cairo – Tens of thousands of protesters gathered today in Egypt’s main cities of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez to call on the army to press ahead with economic reforms and speed up the trials of Hosni Mubarak and other leaders of the former regime. They also called for the preservation of the country’s “Arab and Islamic identity.” Although organised by Islamic parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood and Salafis, the rally saw the participation of Copts and members of the secular movements that took part in the Jasmine Revolution. continued>>

July 29, 2011

More of July's headlines for our readers

Majorcan Descendants of Spanish Jews Who Converted Are Recognized as Jews:
Centuries after the Spanish Inquisition forced the conversion of Jews to Catholicism, an ultra-orthodox rabbinical court in Israel recognized descendants from the insular island of Majorca as Jews. The opinion focused narrowly on the Majorcan community of about 20,000 people known as chuetas and did not apply to descendants of Sephardic Jewish converts in mainland Spain or the broader diaspora of thousands of others who scattered to the Ottoman Empire and the Spanish colonies in South and North America. more>>

The curtain falls?  On 27 December 1949 the Dutch formally transferred the sovereignty to the Republic of United States of Indonesia under an agreement reached in the Round Table Conference, held a short time before in The Hague. In return the Indonesians made some difficult concessions.


 The Jewish community in Surabaya celebrates Yom Ha'atzmaut,
Israel's day of Independence, circa 1952 Eli Dwek

Under the agreement, the Netherlands retained sovereignty over West New Guinea. From that time on, the new Indonesian state tried to force the Netherlands to negotiate on the surrender of the territory through intensive political and diplomatic efforts, including repeated representations to the United Nations. For the Indonesian state, Indonesia included every piece of land ever occupied by the colonial power. But the Dutch refused to negotiate. continued>>

From Facebook to Nassbook at London’s MICA Gallery: "From Facebook to Nassbook," which opened 6 July, delves into the artistic ripples of the Egyptian uprising that shook the Middle East region. The show is featured in London's Arab Arts Festival, "Shubbak — A window on contemporary Arab culture". The paintings and photographs showcased provide an insight into the potent creative energies of Egyptian and Arab artists, and their artistic reactions to the revolution. The exhibition acknowledges the power of social networking websites in disseminating messages to the masses, and the role they played in mobilizing the people. Still, Nassbook (people-book) is where the real power resides. more>>

Civilisation israélienne ? : Dans un interview enregistré, la professeur de Yiddish de l’université de Harvard, Ruth Wisse a condamné la tentative en cours des militants internationaux de voguer vers Gaza en disant que la flottille était "une flottille tueuse-de-Juifs". "Le but de la flottille est de discréditer l’effort d’Israël pour se protéger et aussi de permettre au Hamas d’accumuler des armes pour tuer des civils israéliens." Madame Wisse invente donc une nouvelle sorte de ’solipsisme juif’ en disant :"Il faut lui donner le nom qu’elle mérite : flottille tueuse-de-Juifs. Si on lui donne son vrai nom, alors on saura ce qu’il en est vraiment." suite>>

Palestine : un manuel modifié sous la pression d'assos juives: A Hachette, Myriam Simonneaux, adjointe au directeur de la communication, cherche à désamorcer la polémique qui enfle depuis le 5 juillet. Oui, des associations se sont plaintes de la manière dont le chapitre consacré à la Palestine (« L'ONU et la question de la Palestine ») était traité et oui, Hachette en a tenu compte :

« L'éditeur et l'auteur l'ont examiné de près et ont décelé sur deux pages des mots et des imprécisions qui peuvent prêter à interprétation. »

Pour le reste, inutile d'insister, il n'est pas possible de parler à un responsable. Ni d'en savoir plus :
« Les modifications sont en train d'être effectuées en toute indépendance, il n'y a aucune raison de s'exprimer sur un processus en cours. » Cette modification suite à la plainte d'associations est une première pour la maison d'édition. suite>>
Borough Park Community In Shock Over 8-Year-Old Leiby Kletzky’s Death: The murder of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky has devastated the close-knit community of Borough Park.
Many residents who had taken part in the search for Kletzky are now mourning the loss of the young boy.
“It’s an unbelievable, an unbelievable feeling,” said one woman. “I feel like I lost one of my kids. The closeness that everybody feels to this family, to the people. how could this happen? How could this happen here? How could this happen in Borough Park?”
PHOTOS: Borough Park Boy Murdered, Dismembered continued>>

Hitler’s Talking Dogs: First, an MI5 document was declassified in London in April, revealing megalomaniacal schemes for Nazis to rise again if they lost the war by scattering sleeper agents around the world; and by killing Allied officers with poison infused in sausages, chocolate, Nescafé coffee, cigarettes, schnapps and Bayer aspirin.

German agents said they were instructed to first offer Allied targets a cigarette treated by Nazi scientists to give the smoker a headache, then finish the job with a poison aspirin that would kill within 10 minutes.

Secret weapons included a pellet that would emit a fatal vapor when heated by cigarette ash; poison for books, desks and door handles; a tablet of exploding powder that would activate when placed next to a wet glass; and a belt buckle with a silver swastika that concealed a .32 pistol that could fire two shots. more>>

Shalom Amigos: L'odyssée des Juifs de Sosua: Un web-documentaire retrace l'histoire méconnue de l'unique opération de sauvetage des Juifs durant la Seconde guerre mondiale. Et c'est en République Dominicaine qu'elle a eu lieu.

Le web-documentaire « Shalom amigos » revient sur les premiers moments difficiles de ces exilés traumatisés par la guerre et nostalgiques de leur pays et famille laissés derrière eux. Mais très rapidement, c'est le coup de foudre pour ce lieu que chacun surnomme « le paradis ».
Car l’histoire de Sosua, c’est aussi l’histoire d’une rencontre réussie entre deux peuples et entre deux cultures différentes. Mariages mixtes entre Juifs et Dominicaines, intégration sans accrocs, absence d’antisémitisme, conservation des traditions et pratiques religieuses. Presque trop beau pour être vrai, et pourtant. suite>>

more articles to follow....
 

Egyptian Street Food Guide: How to Eat like You're the Pharaoh!

sent by Liliana Brown

from migrationology.com/

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Egyptian Diet Bread

Luckily in Egypt, you don’t have to be the Pharaoh to EAT like one!

This list of 27 things to fulfill yourself with in Egypt is by no means extensive, feel free to share with me what your favorite Egyptian food is!
1 EGP (Egyptian Pound) = $0.17 USD

1. Diet Bread (above)

At the street store, the vendor told me it was “diet bread.”  I bought some and ate it, but my trip to Egypt could be described as an antonym of the word “diet.”
Price: Almost Free ($0.05)

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Egyptian Street Food - Arabic Bread

2. Arabic Bread 

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Egyptian thick load bread
3. Thick Loaf Bread

Solid and heavy Egyptian loaves
Price: 2-4 LE ($0.34 – $0.68)

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Egyptian Street Food - Ful Beans

4. Ful Medames – Mushed Fava Beans

An undisputed and nutritious champ in the repertoire of Egyptian street food! I think not a single day passed for me without devouring a few portions of ful!
Price: ful sandwich 1-2 LE ($0.17 – $0.34) , plastic bag full 2-5 LE ($0.34 – $0.84)

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Egyptian Sandwiches
5. Egyptian Sandwich Selection

Egyptian sandwiches are served all over Egypt and include an assortment of fillings.
Price: 1-3 LE per sandwich ($0.17 – $0.50)

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Egyptian Street Food - Kushari

6. Kushari

Looking for a bowl full of filling (and tasty) carbs?  Look no further than Kushari, a true Egyptian manly meal!
Price: 5-10 LE ($0.84 – $1.68)
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Egptian Falafel

7. Falafel

Though falafel is enjoyed all over the Middle East, Egypt is recognized as the first to eat these flavorful deep fried treats. I ate quite a bit of falafel, but these little guys in Luxor were among my favorite.
Price: 1-3 LE ($0.17 – $0.50)

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Tahini Sauce
8. Tahini

Tahini makes an incredible dip or sauce for Arabic bread and on top of sandwiches.
Price: normally included in sandwiches, extra 1-3 LE ($0.17 – $0.50)

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Egyptian Mashi
9. Mahshi

Peppers stuffed with scrumptious spiced rice
Price: 5 LE ($0.84)

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Egyptian Shawarma
10. Egyptian Style Shawarma

Layers of meat, thicker than Elephant legs, slow roast before the cooked outer layer is shaved off and thrown into Arabic bread or rolls to make a fantastic sandwich!
Price: Big sandwich 7 LE ($1.18)

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Roasted Chicken in Egypt
11. Roasted Chicken

Rotisserie chickens bathe in their own juices as they revolve in a cabinet of flame roasting heat.
Price: 20 LE ($3.36)

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Kofta Kebabs, Egypt
12. Kofta Kebabs

A favorite meat dish of mine in Egypt is the Kofta kebabs.  Minced lamb is mixed with spices and pressed onto metal skewers before hitting the coals.  It’s like an Egyptian style ambrosial sausage!
Price: 13.50 LE at Abeer Restaurant in Aswan ($2.27)

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Lamb Parts in Egypt

13. Form of Halaweyat – Lamb Parts

A pot full of lamb parts boiling in their own grease. Ordered this in a sandwich form, piled into a half of Arabic bread on the streets of Cairo.
Price: 4-5 LE ($0.68 – $0.84)

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Molokhia
14. Molokhia

I enjoyed this bowl of Molokhia at the Siwa Oasis; it is a green slimy paste that is made from jute leaves. Though the substance is characterized by a gluey stickiness, the taste is fresh and herbaceous!
Price: from a restaurant at the Siwa Oasis – 5 LE ($0.84)

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Egyptian Pizza, Cairo, Egypt

15. Egyptian Pizza

There’s no tomato sauce on this Egyptian pizza! Cheese, chicken, and peppers were stuffed between the layers of the perfectly golden browned pasty dough.
Price: 25 LE ($4.20)
Search for Cheap Flights to Egypt.

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Hawawshy - Egyptian Street Food
16. Hawawshy

Pronunciation: Ha-WOW-She!
Minced lamb and onions filled the interior of this Arabic bread wrapping before it was roasted in a wood oven. Though it was baked, I could have believed it was deep fried from the crunchiness of the outer bread.
I ate this hawawshy on my first day in Egypt, a grand welcome to Cairo!
Price: 6 LE ($1)

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Mihallabiya
17. Mihallabiya

Egyptian version of milk pudding
Price: 2-5 LE ($0.34 – $0.84)

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Mombar Mahshy

18. Mombar Mahshy

Despite their appearance, these Egyptian sausages were stuffed with spiced rice and were truly a divine treat on the streets of Cairo!
Price: 2-5 LE ($0.34 – $0.84)

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Dates in Egypt
19. Egyptian Dates

I couldn’t get over the quality and affordability of dates in Egypt. I bought a few kilos straight from Siwa Oasis, one of Egypt’s main sources.
Price: Cheapest price for dates I’ve ever seen anywhere

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Egyptian Basbousa

20. Basbousa

This overly sweet cake made from semolina flour, is found throughout the Arab world and is a great way to get an instant sugary burst of highness!
Price: 5-10 LE for an entire plate of mixed Egyptian street desserts ($0.84 – $1.68)

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Egyptian Dessert
21. Crystallized Honey

Sweet dessert known as kunafa. It tasted like flakes of honey with a crunch.
Price: 5-10 LE for an entire plate of mixed Egyptian street desserts ($0.84 – $1.68)

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Egyptian Tea
22. Tea

Everywhere, anywhere.  Normally served in glasses with NO handle (unlike the photo), I just thought this photo was cool!
Price: 1 LE ($0.17)

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Ahwa Egyptian Coffee

23. Ahwa Egyptian Coffee

The Egyptian variation of spiced coffee
Price: 2-4 LE ($0.34 – $0.68)

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Coctel in Cairo
24. Coctel

Layers of strawberries, bananas, apples, mango pulp and yogurt make this Cairene coctel a magical street treat! There’s no way I could ever pass the stall in Cairo and resist an Egyptian coctel.
Price: 2-4 LE ($0.34 – $0.68)

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Egyptian Oreo Shake
25. Egyptian B-0reo Concoction

Milk and B-oreo (Egyptian Oreos) cookies, mashed up – Cairo style!
Price: 2-4 LE ($0.34 – $0.68)

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Pomegranate Shake
26. Pomegranate Shake

A heavenly blend of fresh Egyptian pomegranate juice
Price: 4 LE ($0.68)

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Egyptian Sheesha
27. Sheesha Water Pipe

Egyptian style flavored tobacco smoked through a water pipe – a very popular past time in Egypt.
Price: 1-3 LE ($0.17 – $0.50)

Thanks for enjoying this Egyptian street food journey with me! What kind of Egyptian street food do you like?