Waxing Philosophic » International

Jah live in Jamaica – Musings from a “buck’s weekend” and Smile Jamaica Concert

jguttman — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 22:27:24 +0000

Spent the weekend at a buck’s night in Ocho Rios, Jamaica. Buck’s night is Australian for bachelor party. We flew down Friday morning and were back for dinner Sunday. All six of us on the trip had a phenomenal time, something not easily accomplished on these quick group getaways. We logged some quality time at the pool/beach and ate some yummy home-cooked Jamaican meals courtesy of the lovely staff who worked at the home we rented. The highlight of the weekend, however, was undoubtedly the Smile Jamaica Concert that we stumbled upon Saturday night. After a few phone calls earlier in the day by one of the group who had some connections in the music biz, we spent the night as VIPs mingling with the Marley brothers and other celebs backstage. Bob Marley died February 6, 1945 and this concert is held annually the same week in tribute. The location was Nine Mile – a town in St. Ann parish, a solid 75 min from the coast in Northwest Jamaica. It was not a touristy bunch. In fact, we were some of the few tourists among the several thousand in attendance and virtually the only ones backstage, save a few photographers. This made the night all the more special. I’m still amazed that from a three-hour flight and two-hour drive, it’s entirely possible to experience extreme diversity of culture. I think most of us felt like we were in some sort of dream most of the night, fully awestruck by the environment. There is a lot about Jamaican culture that I find fascinating. For instance, Bob’s 80–something year old mother sat sidestage until the final performer began at 4:15am!! That’s just not something I can imagine seeing in America. I’ve also been intrigued by rastafarians since I discovered reggae around 6^th or 7^th grade, although it’s the type of lifestyle that I wasn’t convinced actually existed. Well, guess what?….it does.

This photo is with the first guy we met at Nine Mile. The second is backstage with some guys who sat there the entire show rolling these funny cigarettes.

Irresponsible reporting by leading publications reveals larger anti-Israel bias

jguttman — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 21:21:35 +0000

This photo was emailed to me with the following capton:

Do you see the "problem" with this picture? The last "body" in the back is getting up too early. These are the "57 dead" in Qana and the journalist goes along with it.

In case you missed this piece of news last month, Lebanese journalists initially reported that 57 people had been killed including 37 children in the Israeli bombing of Qana. This led to the Israeli government suspending air strikes for 48 hours. Human Rights Watch later reported that, in fact, 28 was the number dead, which included 16 children. Its hard to argue over numbers of dead, especially since I believe every single one of the lives lost in this conflict were killed unnecessarily. However, in the crucial war of public opinion, the Arab nations battling Israel continue to gain support, and with much assistance from foreign journalists who do not seem to care about reporting news factually. I am reminded of the NY Times photo in September 2000 of Tuvia Grossman, a Jewish student from Chicago, blood streaming down his face, which included a caption describing him as a Palestinian victim of Israeli abuse. The report proved to include other factual errors including the location where it was taken. The point here is that a strong anti-Israel sentiment continues to plague honest reporting around the world, particularly reports from the region of conflict. One might expect this type of biased coverage from Lebanese or Syrian sources, but from the NY Times and Washington Post….its very disappointing.

Sketch from Israeli soldier on front lines

jguttman — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 20:10:00 +0000

My cousin, Dagan, was called up from the IDF reserves three weeks ago and is serving in the current conflict at an undisclosed location. He sent me this sketch which he drew while on the front lines last week.

Brigitte Gabriel speech at Duke anti-terrorism speak-out

jguttman — Fri, 04 Aug 2006 08:15:46 +0000

Someone sent me the transcript of a speech given by Brigitte Gabriel at an anti-terrorism speak-out at Duke in 2004. This is particularly relevant given what’s happening in Israel today. It’s also significant to me because as an advisory board member to Duke’s Freeman Center for Jewish Life, the anti-terrorism speak-out stands in direct contrast to the Palestinian Solidarity Conference that chose Duke’s campus for their rally last year. The world is divided over the Arab-Israeli conflict and I believe unjustifiably so. The beginning of the speech is below and I link to the full transcript. Its powerful and worth a read.

"I’m proud and honored to stand here today as a Lebanese speaking for
Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East. As someone who was raised
in an Arabic country, I want to give you a glimpse into the heart of the Arabic world. I was raised in Lebanon where I was taught that the Jews were evil,
Israel was the devil, and the only time we will have peace in the
Middle East is when we kill all the Jews and drive them into the sea. When the Moslems and Palestinians declared Jihad on the Christians
in1975, they started massacring the Christians city after city. I ended
up living in a bomb shelter underground from age 10 to 17 without
electricity, eating grass to live and crawling under sniper bullets to
a spring to get water. It was Israel who came to help the Christians in Lebanon. My mother was
wounded by a Moslem shell and was taken into an Israeli hospital for
treatment. When we entered the emergency room, I was shocked at what I
saw…." Click here for the full speech transcript.

Israel-Middle East situation – weighing in

jguttman — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 22:54:28 +0000

Friends have been asking me for my opinions on the situation in Israel right now and I haven’t had much of an answer for them. What is there to say? This is a vicious cycle of violence that appears to have
no end in site – though you certainly didn’t need to login here to read that. It’s virtually identical
to the uprising that began in 1982 after a small assassination attempt on an Israeli diplomat in London. The result back then was years of war and the decimation of Beirut, one of the world’s special cities, from which the city, and Lebanon, had just begun to emerge. With at least another week of bombings planned, it appears that Beirut will again be set back. Honestly though, if Lebanon had any inkling of a government, this would have been stopped long ago. Lebanon has been harboring Hezbollah terrorists for decades and is spineless in standing up to them. Now, they have paid the price for their weakness. If they are being blindly led by Syria and Iran, then the same applies. Israel is responding to an “unprovoked attack on its sovereign territory” and in a location surrounded by neigbors who want their destruction, they need to take such attacks seriously. Yes, Syria and Iran are the larger problems, but let’s take one step at a time. As usual, the economist has some of the best and most balanced reporting on this subject, and today’s article entitled The Accidental War paints an informative picture. Also worth watching, the Arab woman on Al-Jazeera earlier this week, who condemns Muslim behavior. Incidentally, a missile landed in my family’s kibbutz – Shaar Haamakim – this week, though thankfully, nobody was injured. Let’s pray that no more innocent lives are lost to this conflict.

Photo from Israeli-Lebanese border

jguttman — Fri, 14 Jul 2006 18:45:37 +0000

Wow!! This photo from NY Times today is intense.

Puma v Adidas in world cup finals

jguttman — Mon, 10 Jul 2006 16:37:00 +0000

In a sideplot that some may have missed, Adidas (France) was going up against arch-rival Puma (Italy) in the world cup final match. The two companies have a storied history, having been birthed in the same German factory by two brothers who later parted ways, leaving a lasting mark on the town. BBC’s coverage of the story was interesting.

World cup – Who should I cheer for?

jguttman — Thu, 22 Jun 2006 19:03:21 +0000

World Development Movement put together this ranking of countries competing in the world cup on ten separate economic and political issues. The data comes from recognised sources such as the UN and World Bank. From the WDM: "The issues themselves were chosen by WDM based on the criteria that we as globally concerned football fans might consider when choosing who to support when our home team isn’t playing (or if they didn’t qualify)." The data tables are particularly striking when you look at a country the size of Ghana and any superpower side by side.

World Cup – Ghana

jguttman — Sun, 18 Jun 2006 23:21:00 +0000

I was lucky enough to catch most of the Ghana-Czech world cup match yesterday. In the biggest upset of the world cup thus far, Ghana controlled the match and beat Czech Republic 2-0. Getting behind Ghana wasn’t difficult for me. They are one of the smallest and poorest countries repsented in the tournament. After the match, defender John Paintsil raised an Israeli flag in celebration. After some research, I discovered that Paintsil has played in the Israeli soccer league for several years, currently with Hapoel Tel Aviv and previously with Maccabbi Tel Aviv. The Israelis responded well to the recognition and issued a public statement of thanks. Unfortunately, Ghana’s next match is against the U.S. so supporting them will be more complicated.