Documentary Film

During the winter and spring I am occupied with making a documentary film. The main character of the film, Arthur, is a young Jew who fled together with his family from war in Tajikistan to safety in the USA. Because his family had lived under Soviet Union’s atheistic rule for many years, it resulted in a rather secularized way of life. The film is an investigation of how this young Jew connects with his historical roots and traditions, as he in January this year, traveled to Israel for the very first time in his life. I followed him for this 10-days trip to Israel to document his experiences. The trip was in the Birthright Israel-program or Taglit, which is the Hebrew name for it. The experiences the main character had during this trip profoundly changed his perception of being a Jew, the state of Israel and the concept of Zionism.

Sabra

The word Sabra in Israel has at least three meanings. It is the name of the cactus on the photos, a tank, and native born Israeli Jews. According to Wikipedia, we have that the word is derived from the Hebrew name for the prickly pear cactus, i.e. “tzabar”. The allusion to the native born Israelis is to a tenacious, thorny desert plant with a thick hide that conceals a sweet, softer interior, i.e., rough and masculine on the outside, but delicate and sensitive on the inside.

Tzeva Adom!

When I was in Israel recently, I experienced several Tzeva Adoms or Red Alerts. For me it was kind of a surrealistic experience to hear the loudspeaker voice announce Tzeva Adom! The first time it happened I was on May 29, at the Sderot Communitty Center, where my colleague Jostein Skevik and I were meeting with its director, Avi Sulimany. As people were running for the safe rooms inside, I was more concerned about having my video camera recording. We gathered in the new auditorium and waited for about a minute, but we could not hear any boom, so we went back to the meeting room.

Healthy Israeli food

In Israel it is so easy to eat healthy food as there are so many restaurants that serve delicious salads. Not only is the food looking good, but the fruits and vegetables taste so much better as compared to vegetables bought in Norway. I guess that is because the vegetables are allowed to get ripe before the produce is harvested, compared to the imported fruits and vegetables up North in Norway and Scandinavia. Here, the imported produce is harvested before it is ripe, a practice which I believe reduces the richness of taste.

Embarrassing position

Sometimes I am really embarrassed by the Norwegian Government. This time it was because the Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jonas Gahr Støre, ran the errand of the Palestinians in last OECD-meeting in Paris.

In a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it says that:

In Sderot

Right now I am in Israel, visiting Sderot, the city that has experienced 7 years of Palestinian terror attacks by kassam rockets. More than 7000 rockets have fallen into this city, sometimes as much as 40 a day. Many of the children have grown up with the constant presence of the kassam attacks.

The al-Dura hoax

The news pictures of the alleged death of Mohammad al-Dura have triggered horrible bloodshed from Palestinians. Philippe Karsenty who have raised his voice against the use of the footage and questioned its authenticity has been subject for persecution in court after he openly criticized the French television station France 2 for broadcasting a lie.

Israel @ 60

Congratulations Israel! Today, 60 years ago the British mandate of Palestine ended. The state of Israel had been declared the previous day. It was quickly recognized by The United States of America, The Soviet Union, and many other states. The tiny state of Israel were attacked by Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Iraq and Egypt, and was also aided by forces from Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Libya. Miraculously, Israel was able to resist and survive the overwhelming attacks – Israel was a fact.

Bias in Wikipedia

Last month there was a clash between Palestinians and Israelis in the narrative war about the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict. CAMERA, The Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America, was accused of organizing illegitimate support for the Israeli side. The result was that some of its members were banned from Wikipedia.

Next trip to Israel

In the end of next month I will be going on a trip to Israel. The purpose of that trip will be to shoot videofootage from Sderot and interview people living there.
More updates will come.