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Inside the Middle East
January 22, 2011
Posted: 1848 GMT
Walid Jumblatt speaks to reporters in Lebanon (CNN/Todd Baxter)
Walid Jumblatt speaks to reporters in Lebanon (CNN/Todd Baxter)

Despite his height, as he sits down he almost disappears behind the pyramid of microphones piled up on the tiny desk in front of him. It would almost be comical but for the importance of the moment.

He's been here before. Forced to pick sides in the interests of national unity. He wears the patience of a man all too familiar with what he must do.

CNN's Nic Robertson was one of more than 100 journalists in Beirut who found that waiting for Walid Jumblatt was more than just another moment in the rich mosaic of Middle East politics.

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Filed under: General •Lebanon


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January 3, 2011
Posted: 1408 GMT
Scene from film Secular Quarter #3. (courtesy Jerusalem 2111/David Gidali)
Scene from film Secular Quarter #3. (courtesy Jerusalem 2111/David Gidali)

Palestinian soldiers and United Nation's tanks look on as utlra-orthodox Jews protest in the streets....Smoke billows from the windows of the Knesset as protestors participate in a rebellion to overthrow the government....The walls of the Old City are painted red and adorned with the logo of the country's largest cable television company....

These are just a few of the controversial visions of what Jerusalem may look like a century from now as expressed by filmmakers in the recent International Animation Competition.

Organized by an Israeli city planning organization the competition asked directors to submit one to three-minute films that portrayed an "urban sci-fi vision of the city of Jerusalem" a hundred years from now. Contest organizer Daniel Wiernik, said they received almost a hundred submissions from 10 different countries, though the majority of the films came from Israel.

All of the contestants were required to post their work on-line where after an initial round of public voting the most popular films were screened by a panel of judges including famed Avatar and Titanic producer Jon Landau and German film director or Wim Wenders.

Ranging from the utopian to the dystopian the films offer an interesting variety of visions and commentary on the future of one of the world's holiest and most divided cities. While many of the films offer grim and sobering predictions for the city Wiernik said he was surprised at how many were optimistic considering the genre requirement.

The winning short, Secular Quarter #3, was created by Israeli filmmakers David Gidali and Itay Gross and depicts a ghettoised Jerusalem where the city's population is separated by huge iron walls inter-connected by large domes covering swaths of the city. As night approaches aircraft hover over the city lifting the walls and allowing the a face to face encounter between a black-hatted ultra-orthodox Jewish male and a young and a tattooed secular female.

The duo, who are film students in Los Angeles, took home a ten-thousand dollar prize for their efforts.


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Filed under: General •Jerusalem


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December 10, 2010
Posted: 1928 GMT

An Israeli confectionery company seems to have gone one step too far in an unusual, aggressive attempt to market a new chocolate bar.

An anonymous letter sent to dozens of Israeli women this week stated: "I saw you at lunch break next to the elevator, yielding for something new, original and unexpected. Ever since then, I have been imagining our first date at midday, I can't wait!" reads the hand written message, Haaretz daily newspaper reports.

"I don't know how to tell you this so I will be direct: let's meet over coffee for lunch or maybe for a different sort of meeting in the evening. But remember: if you don't come to me, I will already get to you," the letter concludes.

Among the women who received the mysterious note was parliament member Miri Regev who filed a compliant against the anonymous stalker.

"This was a very unpleasant thing to read" she told CNN.

Regev only found the message to be a commercial hoax when police investigation traced an advertising company as the sender.

"The revelation left me outraged. This is simply unacceptable, to be used as a woman just in order to market a product in such a manner that crosses all the red lines," she said.

Police are still investigating the story and have yet to decide whether to press charges against the creative writers and the confectionery company.

EDK advertising, who was responsible for the controversial idea told Haaretz: "The mere fact that the media is talking about the campaign means that it was a success. In any case, this is not a criminal offense."

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Filed under: General •Israel


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November 18, 2010
Posted: 2041 GMT

It's late afternoon in Jerusalem and Moses Levi is making one of his frequent visits to the Western Wall.

"They say this is where the presence of God is," Levi says as he ambles across the plaza of Judaism's holiest site, a mere stone's throw away from Islam's sacred al-Aqsa Mosque.

"That's why you have Muslims here, Christians here, and obviously you have the Israelites here.  When everybody disagrees about everything, they agree about one thing:  that this is where they need to come to pray."

Like many of the worshippers there, he is dressed in traditional garb – a silver-striped silk robe, black knee-length pants, a white knit skullcap, and specially knotted fringes dangling from the sides of his legs.

In many ways, Levi is indistinguishable from the thousands of ultra-orthodox Jews who call Jerusalem home.  The only hint of something unusual is the Kurt Cobain T-shirt he wears under the robe, the black Ray-Ban sunglasses, and the signs of recognition on the faces of tourists passing by.

Levi is, in fact, far from your standard ultra-orthodox adherent to the Jewish faith.

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Filed under: Culture •General •Jerusalem •Judaism •Religion •Video


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Posted: 908 GMT

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Filed under: General •Hajj •Saudi Arabia •Video


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November 9, 2010
Posted: 1906 GMT

Following our post (see below) on a Fars News Agency report about Hamas extending an invitation to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to visit the Gaza Strip, we were finally able to get in touch with Hamas official Dr. Ahmed Yousef.

Yousef told us that in fact no written invitation had been made to the Iranian leader and that his comments to the  news agency had been misunderstood.

Yousef said President Ahmadinejad was indeed welcome to come to the Gaza Strip as were all Arab and Muslim leaders to see the impact of the Israeli and Egyptian blockade.

He said this blanket invitation was made through the Arab League and the only leader who had responded thus far was the organization's secretary-general, Amr Moussa, who visited Gaza this past June.

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Filed under: Gaza •General •Hamas •Iran •Palestinians


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October 29, 2010
Posted: 1726 GMT



Ultra-Orthodox Jews praying at Rachel's tomb (Getty Images).
Ultra-Orthodox Jews praying at Rachel's tomb (Getty Images).

A UN agency's decision to identify a Jewish holy site in the West Bank as a mosque  and define it and another shrine as Palestinian has prompted cries of bias and distortion from Israel.

"The attempt to separate the nation of Israel from its cultural heritage is absurd," said Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a statement released Friday.

"It is unfortunate that an organization that was established with the goal of promoting the cultural preservation of historical sites around the world, is attempting due to political reasons to uproot the connection between the nation of Israel and its cultural heritage."

The harsh words stem from a decision earlier in the week by the executive board of UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which read:

"The Palestinian sites of al-Haram, al-Ibrahimi/Tomb of the Patriarchs in al-Khalil/Hebron and the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque/Rachel's Tomb in Bethlehem: the Board voted 44 to one (12 abstentions) to reaffirm that the two sites are an integral part of the occupied Palestinian Territories and that any unilateral action by the Israeli authorities is to be considered a violation of international law..."

It was, according to UNESCO spokeswoman Susan Williams, the first time the U.N. agency's executive board had referred to the religious site in Bethlehem as a mosque . The one vote against came from the United States.

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Filed under: General •Islam •Israel •Judaism •Palestinians •Religion •United Nations •West Bank


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October 17, 2010
Posted: 502 GMT
Iraqi political cartoon (CNN/Mohammed Tawfeeq)
Iraqi political cartoon (CNN/Mohammed Tawfeeq)

When I first met Abdulrahim Yasser, one of Iraq’s most influential and respected caricature artists, he told me why he decided to help organize and participate in an exhibition highlighting some of Iraq’s best political cartoons and cartoonists.

“I’m trying with all my might to encourage a discussion,” said Yasser at the event’s opening at a Baghdad gallery.  “This exhibition is a discussion with others, it’s a discussion with the Republic, a discussion with those paying attention.”

The show is the biggest one of its kind ever to have been put on in Iraq, and many spectators excitedly explained to me why it was so significant.

“This event is important because it talks about Iraq,” explained Ali Adel.  “About things in Iraq and issues facing Iraq.”

Indeed, the artwork lining the walls depicts so much of what Iraq has been grappling with – everything from the futility of politics to the absurdity of war.  Many attendees continued to remind me how a showcase like this wouldn’t have been possible during Saddam Hussein’s rule, that the existence of such an exhibit is a testament to the freedom of expression that they told me now exists in this country.

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September 21, 2010
Posted: 2017 GMT

   

Israeli youth demonstrator holds a picture of Jonathan Pollard (Menahem Kahana/AFP/Getty)

Monday Israeli Army Radio aired a story that has created a minor stir in Jerusalem political circles.  

The report said  the Israeli  government had floated an informal proposal to the Obama administration offering an Israeli extension of  the West Bank settlement building freeze  in exchange for a U.S. release of Jonathan Pollard,  the former American intelligence analyst sentenced to life in prison in 1987 for spying for the Jewish State.  

The story indicated that proponents of such a deal believe it would give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's right-wing coalition members the political cover they need to support a continuation of the settlement freeze – an issue that could derail the nascent direct talks between Israeli and Palestinians as soon as this Sunday when the freeze is set to expire.  

In a media briefing Monday Israel's Deputy Prime Minister and inner cabinet member, Dan Meridor, was coy when asked about the matter telling reporters "I don't want to touch on sensitive issues".

Another senior Israeli government official told CNN that "we routinely raise the issue with the Americans" and that bringing up the issue since the September 2nd start of direct talks between the Israelis and the Palestinians "would not be out of the ordinary" though the source would not say if a linkage between a Pollard release and an extension of the settlement freeze had been articulated recently.  

The case, one that is often raised by the Israeli government, is one of several possibilities raised by the Israelis as an issue they want resolved, several American officials told CNN.

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Filed under: General •Israel •Palestinians •U.S.


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September 20, 2010
Posted: 1040 GMT

Cars intended for transfer into Gaza wait to enter the Gaza Strip from southern Israel at the Erez crossing (Jack Guez/AFP/Getty Images)

For the first time in over three years, the Israeli government has allowed the transfer of cars into the  Gaza Strip. 

The move, said Guy Inbar, a spokesman for Israel's office of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories,  was another step in "the expansion of the civilian policy towards Gaza strip". 

About 20 cars loaded on trucks were to pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing Monday and  be handed over to Palestinian car dealers. Another 60 cars are to be transferred over the next few days according to Inbar. 

Israel decided to ease restrictions on the Gaza Strip in wake of  international condemnation following an Israeli commando raid against activists on-board an aid ship bound for Gaza.  The raid left nine Turkish and Turkish-American activist dead. 

Gaza has been subject to an Israeli and Egyptian economic blockade since the Islamist movement Hamas seized power from the Palestinian Authority in 2007 though Israel has been allowing more goods to be imported recently except those it claims can be used for weapons manufacturing and building military fortifications.

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Filed under: Gaza •General •Hamas •Israel


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