Monthly Archives: December 2007

Sardines in the Gymnasium

December 28, 2007 By in Uncategorized Tags: , , , 6 Comments

Here’s another one of those stories that illustrates how difficult its going to be to change the culture of smoking in bars and clubs in Tel-Aviv.

Last night I went out with some friends to the popular Gymnasium bar on Ben Yehuda street to unwind after a difficult week. I’ve heard talk about this place from a lot of people lately and it seems to be the ‘in’ place. A friend and I arrived at the door, after 2 full swings around 4 blocks in the Frishman, Gordon, Bograshov area for parking and finally parking in the Hayarkon Street lots a ten minute walk away.

There were about 20 young men waiting to be let in by the selection committee at the entrance. Because I was with a female friend the selector let us bypass those waiting in line and let us straight in. As the door swung open I was greeted simultaneously by a large ‘Smoking is Prohibited’ sing plastered on the wall, and strong whiff of cigarette smoke coming from the bar just down the stairs. Continue reading →

Why announce Iranian aliya?

December 27, 2007 By in Espionage, International Relations, Iran, Israel, Jewish issues, Mossad 1 Comment

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I wrote this piece with Jerusalem Post chief diplomatic correspondent Herb Keinon.

Israel’s decision to publicize the arrival of a group of 40 Iranian immigrants Tuesday was intended to send a message to Iranian Jewry that they are wanted here, and that if emigration from Iran were one day prohibited, no one could say they did not have a chance to come to Israel, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

The decision to publicly reveal the Iranian Jews’ arrival – something that has been kept secret in the past – was made in consultation between the Jewish Agency and other governmental bodies to send a message to the remaining Iranian Jews that the sooner they decide to leave Iran the better, the Post was informed. Continue reading →

40 Iranian Jews start new lives in Israel

December 26, 2007 By in Iran, Israel, Jewish issues 1 Comment

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The Jewish Agency is working hard to bring bring all of Iran’s remaining 25,000 Jews to Israel, an official told The Jerusalem Post as 40 immigrants landed at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Tuesday afternoon.

Tuesday’s arrival is the largest-ever single group of Iranian immigrants brought by the agency to start new lives in a country that their now-former president has vowed to wipe off the face of the earth.

The Jews of Iran were “starting to feel the earth burn beneath their feet” in a growing atmosphere of anti-Semitism, said Yossi Shraga, director of Middle East immigration at the Jewish Agency.

The media has not been allowed to publish the name of a third country from which the immigrants arrived at the airport, nor the delicate and complex process by which the group was gathered and processed for aliya.

Nor have their names been released for publication. Continue reading →

A tale of two bars

December 16, 2007 By in Environmental issues, Healthy Living, Israel, Smoking 3 Comments

This past week I visited two bars in the Tel-Aviv area. Since I quit smoking I’ve gradually become a more fanatic non-passive passive smoker. Several weeks ago I almost came to blows at a dance bar with a particularly nasty man who not only would not put out the cigarette he was holding right next to me and was puffing near my face, but also threatened to do horrible things to my mother. The barman wasn’t really interested in saving my mother’s honor or telling the smoker to extinguish his cigarette, so, in the absence of the State and law enforcement, citizens are left to sort out their differences themselves.

Continue reading →

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