TORONTO, Canada (Press Release)–Dr. Michael Dan, president of Toronto-based Regulus Investments Inc. and Gemini Power Corp., human rights and peace activist, received the University of Haifa’s highest accolade, the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Honoris Causa at a “Partners for Peace” Tribute Dinner at the Fairmont Royal York hotel in Toronto last week. 

The degree was conferred in recognition of Dr. Dan’s deep commitment to human rights, the advancement of mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence in the Middle East; his philanthropic activities in Canada and Israel, and his friendship and support for the University of Haifa.  A major benefactor of the University of Haifa and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Michael is a member of the Board of Directors of Canadian Friends of Haifa University.

Dr. Dan comes from a very diverse background that includes neurosurgery, biotechnology, and organic farming.  Currently, he is working with Canada’s First Nations to develop hydroelectric power and other sustainable energy projects.

The “Partners for Peace” Dinner, orchestrated and hosted by Canadian Friends of Haifa University, attracted more than 500 guests to pay tribute to Dr. Michael Dan.  Amongst them were Chairman of the University of Haifa Board of Governors Mr. Leon H. Charney, Chairman of the University’s Executive Committee Dr. Yossi Bachar and Vice President for External Affairs Mr. Amos Gaver. President of the University of Haifa, Prof. Aaron Ben-Ze’ev and Rector Prof. Yossi Ben-Artzi conferred the honorary degree. Dinner Co-Chairs, Harold Niman and Susan Wowk, led the fundraising campaign, together with Canadian Friends of Haifa University President, Dr. Karen Mock; and board members, Elham Farah and Marvin Sadowski.

Edward Greenspan, Q.C. was the emcee for the evening and Prof. Irwin Cotler was the Honorary Dinner Chair.  David Buchbinder and ensemble played during dinner and the evening ended with a spectacular North American début performance by Israel’s leading international concert and recording artist Noa (Achinoam Nini) and Mira Anwar Awad, the Jewish-Arab singing duo who represented Israel in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.

Proceeds from the event are to support the University of Haifa’s recently established “Peace and Conflict Management Studies program”, which will nurture a new generation of leaders with the ability to promote more effective and peaceful approaches to conflict resolution.

 *
Preceding provided by University of Haifa

Composer: Nicola Piovani
Singer: Noa

Smile, without a reason why
Love, as if you were a child,
Smile, no matter what they tell you
Don’t listen to a word they say
Cause life is beautiful that way.

Tears, a tidal wave of tears
Light, that slowly disappears
Wait, before you close the curtain
There is still another game to play
And life is beautiful that way

Here with his eyes forevermore
I will always be as close as you
remember from before
Now that you’re out there on your own
Remember what is real and
what we dream is love alone

Keep the laughter in you eyes
Soon your long awaited prize
We’ll forget about our sorrows
And think about a brighter day
Cause life is beautiful that way.

We’ll forget about our sorrows
And think about a brighter day,
Cause life is beautiful that way
There’s still another game to play
And life is beautiful that way.

En català:

Diada in Barcelona : TV3 Catalunya

בעיניה מי יודע … עננים אפורים מתפזרים לארבע רוחות … נחל אכזב מתמלא … דשא ירוק מכסה … והמרחב נפתח … לשמיים זוג עיניים … מביטות מחפשות צוללות בכחול הקר … מרחפות באוויר … אל הזהב המאיר … את שיערה הרך … משאלה מה את רואה … מה בליבך הצוחק אל אותה הדממה … אז את עיני לי תפקח … קשת אחת במזרח … והלא די בכך
… והלא די לי, די לי בכך … והלא די לי … והלא די בכך

«hopscotch- נועה קופצת קלאס», foto de Dubi Feiner, 10 de enero de 2006.

En los ojos de ella, ¿quién sabe? / Nubes grises se disipan a los cuatro vientos / Un torrente seco se desborda / Cubre hierba verde / y se abre la inmensidad. / Contemplan dos ojos / el cielo, buscan, se hunden en el frío azul / flotan en el aire / al oro que da luz / a sus cabellos suaves. / Mishaela, ¿qué ves? / ¿Qué tiene tu corazón que ríe / de aquel silencio? / Que los ojos me abra pues / un arco iris en oriente, / ¿y no hay de sobra con esto?

¿Y no me sobra, no me sobra con esto, / no me sobra / y no sobra con esto?

Noa/Achinoam Nini/אחינועם ניני y Gil Dor/גיל דור, «Mishaela», del disco אחינועם ניני וגיל דור בהופעה («Achinoam Nini and Gil Dor Live»), 1991.

…

נ”ב

נשאר התרגום כמו שהוא כתוב מעל אף על פי שנראה לי בשמעי את השיר כי, בשורה ”מה בליבך הצוחק אל אותה הדממה”, נועה לא מבטאת את השורה הזאת בדיוק כך. עם זאת, לא הצלחתי להבין את המילים, שבין המילה ”הצוחק” לבין המילה ”הדממה” וגם לא מצאתי רמז אחר למה שהיא אומרת בשיר לאמיתו של דבר.

חדפ”פ

Just as I (and a large number of other people) predicted, Alexander Rybak of Norway won the 2009 Eurovision Song Contest. On the night he was simply the best, with a landslide vote that any Israeli political party leader would give his first born for in an election.

And, just as I predicted, it was a head on TV clash between Adam Lambert and Rybak. If you watched Simon Cowells closing comments on Adams second song for American Idol, you missed the first ten seconds of Alexanders performance from Moscow. Theres no way that was anything but a coincidence, but what timing!

Now, I also wrote that Israel had a chance of being in the Top 4. OK, I admit it, here I was wrong. Its just that ever since I got my Israeli passport, I have started to get these momentary lapses (or brain farts as we used to call them) when I actually start to think like an Israeli. Such was the case here when, in a weak moment, I actually thought that Europe at large could warm to the performance from Noa and Mira.

Watching them on the night, I knew they had no chance. The second spot draw was always going to hurt them, their staging and choreography was way wrong and we all knew that politics was going to come into play. See there I go again, another brain fart, making excuses the way that Israelis do, for what really was a substandard performance. Still I guess doing better than such traditional Eurovision giants as Albania, Croatia, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Malta, Romania, Sweden and Spain ain’t all that bad … not!

Let’s face it. They just weren’t good enough!

Lets boost my ego though. How many other people, apart from me, picked the second place Yohanna from Iceland? Sure her fashion disaster outfit was a little distracting but she really was one of the best performances of the night.

Getting back to young Mr. Rybak, it seems he has one more connection with Adam Lambert. Apparently, Alexander won Kjempesjansen (the Norwegian Idol) back in 2006 with another of his own compositions, “Foolin’ “. If you are interested, here is his winning performance. Can you hear more than just a little Stéphane Grappelli fiddle in this?

The second Eurovision Song Contest semi Final just finished. It was a better show than Tuesday night. While Plastic Princess and Polanski were still as dreadful as ever, there had obviously been a lot of soul searching within the production team and the overall presentation, especially the camera work, was far superior.

Given tonights performances I have to tell you that Israel could possibly end up in the Top 4 on Saturday night.

Lets face it, of the Big 5 only Germany has any real chance. And, from the top three projected favourites of tonights show, Greek pop superstar Sakis Rouvas needs a fast track dance class if he ever wants to get me to take him seriously. So, while I still think that the Fairy Tale should come true for Alexander Rybak (Norway), I have to admit that Svetlana Loboda, the Anti Crisis Girl from The Ukraine, has all the right ingredients to steal it the crown on the night.

But, its gonna be a tough night for some Holyland TV watchers on Saturday.

Adam Lambert vs Alexander Rybak.

The American Idol shows are broadcast in Israel on the Yes Satellite network four days after the event. So, Saturday night, all you Idol fans will be wanting to watch the Final 3 become the Final 2 as Kris Allen, against all expectations, joins Adam Lambert for next weeks Idol Final while Danny Gokey heads home.

Ooops, sorry! If you didn’t already know the result of the 58 million votes cast last Tuesday, now you do. But, you still probably want to see the performances, right?

Problem is that, at the same time, Israel at large will be watching their Eurovision Song Contest entry, Noa and Mira, performing live from Moscow. Just like Kris Allen, the girls will be competing as underdogs against a prematurely annointed winner in the shape of Alexander Rybak.

Fear not Idol fans, there is a solution. You basically only want to see two things from Moscow, the girls and the voting, right? Luckily for you, Noa and Mira have drawn the second slot of the 25 performances. (Unlucky for them of course because the early slots seldom do well). For the Israeli viewing audience, once they are done, the rest of the acts are basically fillers until the voting. So from then on in, you can channel flip to make sure you don’t miss out on the two songs each from Adam, Kris and Danny and then forget about the results show all together because you know what happened and focus on Moscow.

Simple huh?

Black Orchid Novella Award. Posted on May 7, 2009 by teacherwriter. DEADLINE: May 31, 2009. GUIDELINES: http://tinyurl.com/yd6oaz. Sponsored by The Wolfe Pack, this contest requires a traditional mystery in the style of Nero Wolfe, …[More..]


Who Review #122 – Black Orchid. The return of the historical. The story is a bit of Bertie Wooster/Salad Days/Brideshead/Agatha Christie. This allows full reign for music, costumes, dancing and cricket in a little two part, …[More..]

I asked her where she wanted to go, and she mentioned the Black Orchid at 12th and Chew streets, Allentown, former site of Louie

Uno de los poetas israelíes cuya obra sigo con más atención es Meir Wieseltier. Aparte de la Wikipedia en inglés, hebreo y español, se puede encontrar información sobre el caballero por aquí o por aquí, en el magnífico Modern Hebrew Literature – a bio-bibliographical lexicon de Joseph Galron-Goldschläger.

Tenéis una buena selección de sus poemas, en una competente traducción inglesa por Shirley Kaufman, aquí. No conozco una antología completa de su obra en español. Quizá fuera cosa de ponerse a trabajar en el asunto, ahora que lo pienso. Teresa Martínez Sáiz tradujo algunos de sus poemas en su antología Poesía hebrea contemporánea (Antología), Madrid, Hiperión, 1994. Respecto de la correspondencia entre el sentido de los poemas en hebreo y las traducciones castellanas en este libro de Martínez Sáiz, valga decir que a veces me pregunto si Teresa Martínez y yo aprendimos hebreo en dos kibbutzim distintos: el mío estaba entre Jerusalén y Abu Gosh; el suyo, entre la luna y la nada.

La trayectoria y la vinculación de Meir Wieseltier con su país y con la cultura en hebreo se puede resumir en esta frase de su antóloga, cuando le concedieron el Premio Israel correspondiente al año 2000:

Y Wieseltier, en una época de ciberespacio y terrorismo y esperanzas deshechas, es el ilustre galardonado con el Premio Israel, el mayor honor de su país, que se entregó el Día de la Independencia del año del Milenio, en el 2000, en presencia del establishment israelí (presidente del Estado, primer ministro, ministro de Educación, presidente del Tribunal Supremo, alcalde de Jerusalén, etc.) al más antiestablishment de sus poetas.

Como señala la página de Joseph Galron-Goldschläger, quizá un buen resumen de por donde se anda la obra literaria de Wieseltier sea advertir que su poesía es tan opresiva («una lujuria de mentiras») como vivificadora (fa reviscolar, que dirían en Valencia): sin dejar de poseer una naturaleza fútil es la alternativa a la rendición y la mediocridad.

Otro día leeremos por aquí el poema que le publicaron en Maariv (periódico en hebreo y descripciones en inglés y español) sobre el caso Ṭali Faḥima. Sí, hombre, sí: habéis oído hablar de aquella chica israelí, primero discretamente partidaria de la derecha del Likud, luego probablemente fascinada por la figura de un dirigente de las Brigadas de los Mártires de Alʔaqṣā, responsables de buena parte de los atentados suicidas/automartirios perpetrados en la Segunda Intifada (2000-¿?). Este dirigente acabó recluido en Yenín como parte de una tregua con Israel y pidiendo permisos de salida para ir al oftalmólogo a Rām Aḷḷāh, lo que sacó de quicio a la Sra. Fahima, que describió a su antiguo amigo (sin que se pueda precisar la acepción exacta de sus relaciones) como «puta del servicio secreto israelí». Genio y figura. Faḥima acabó en la cárcel (lo que era bastante lógico), defendida su causa por una activa campaña de la izquierda israelí (lo que también mostraba mucha lógica) que consiguió su excarcelación en 2007 con gran escándalo de la derecha israelí (lo que sigue dentro del orden natural de las cosas).

En resumen: que de estas cosas escribe también Meir Wieseltier poemas.

«Llama a la puerta».

…

Pero hoy me apetecía intentar darle una pátina de orden, incluso de belleza, al mundo, así que os propongo la escucha de un poema de Wieseltier que hizo famoso en su momento la canción que le escribieron Achinoam Nini (conocida internacionalmente como «Noa») y Gil Dor y que grabaron por primera vez para el disco que hicieron con la (benemérita) Orquesta Filarmónica de Israel en 1998, para una memorable serie de conciertos, titulados globalmente «La Filarmónica en vaqueros», que organizó la orquesta, si no me falla la memoria, en la Ópera de Tel Aviv. Dicen que el disco ronda íntegro por internet, pero vamos, saber, lo que se dice saber, yo no sé nada. Noa es una de mis cantantes preferidas (qué le vamos a hacer) y ese disco en directo y con la Filarmónica es, en mi opinión, uno de esos grandes momentos. Y el poema que cantan es como una invitación a que empiece el día, a que veamos la luz y posterguemos la oscuridad, a sospechar algo parecido a una sutil belleza, a una persiana a medio abrir o a una risa de niñas que no se ven pero se oyen. No sé si me explico…

Por rematar: que lo disfrutéis.

אהבה אני שר אני אומר אהבה

אהבה אני שומע אני נותן אהבה

בוקר עיניים אור אהבה

נשיקה טעימה תודה אהבה

ילדה קטנה מתוקה אהבה

ילדה גדולה מתוקה אהבה

חולצה יפיפייה חדשה אהבה

איזה ריח נהדר אהבה

מי דופק בדלת בטח בא אהבה

לפעמים אני פוחד קצת אבל אהבה

Amor canto digo amor

amor oigo doy amor

mañana ojos luz amor

beso sabroso gracias amor

niña chiquita dulce amor

niña grande dulce amor

falda preciosa nueva amor

qué olor tan maravilloso amor

quién llama a la puerta

seguro viene amor

a veces tengo un poco de miedo

pero amor

…

«Empty room, Tel Aviv, 2007», foto de hila_photo, 21 de octubre de 2007.

“The Israeli government is sending the two of you to Moscow as part of its propaganda machine that is trying to create the appearance of Jewish-Arab ‘coexistence’ under which it carries out the daily massacre of Palestinian civilians,” the letter said. “Israeli artists, authors and intellectuals that take part in this propaganda machine, instead of working for justice, equality and the upholding of human and civil rights, not to mention international law, are partners to the crime.”

For full article, visit http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/15/israel-eurovision-interview

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/world/middleeast/25israel.html?_r=2&ref=music

 http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-world/20090329/ML.Palestinians.Orchestra/print/

Israeli-Arab singing duo

Israel’s choice of artists to represent the country in the Eurovision song contest in Moscow in May has put the cat amongst the pigeons, as the Jewish singer and peace activist Achinoam ‘Noa’ Nini will sing in tandem with the Israeli Arab performer Mira Awad. They will perform four songs, all in a mixture of Hebrew, Arabic and English, on Israeli TV, from which viewers will choose the song that they will take to Russia. While geographically outside Europe, Israel qualifies to participate because the Israeli Broadcasting Authority is a member of the European Broadcasting Union. Commenting on this surprise choice of representative performers, in the wake of the Israeli asssault on Gaza, Mira Awad said that Arabs and Jews have no choice but to find a way of living together. ‘It’s very important for me not to go back to the corner and just disappear.’

Her decision has come under fire from some Palestinians who have accused her and Noa of being accomplices to Israel’s ‘killing machine’ and of abetting Israeli government propaganda. While I can see where such critics are coming from, there is no question of the two artists’ sincerity. Moreover, the last thing needed in the tense and polarised Middle East region at the moment is for people to try to stamp out dialogue and cooperation between divided communities. Music is a particularly appropriate medium for this, as Daniel Barenboim and the late Edward Said underscored with the creation of the Seville-based West-East Divan orchestra, which employs both Jewish and Arab players.

Israel’s propaganda machine never rests.  In the latest attempt to falsely put out a positive image, the Israel Broadcasting Authority has chosen a Palestinian and an Israeli to present a “song of peace” in the popular Eurovision song contest in Moscow.  The competition garners around 100 million television viewers each year.

Achinoam Nini, internationally known as Noa, and Miri Awad are the two singers chosen for the contest.  Nini is an Israeli singer well known in Europe who is of Yemeni heritage and grew up in New York.  Awad is a Palestinian actress and singer who grew up in Galilee and currently lives in Tel-Aviv.

The problem here of course is that even though Israel wants to present an image of peace, their policy of keeping a brutal occupation in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, their discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel and their recent election to make the anti-Arab Yisrael Beiteinu party the third most powerful in Israel proves otherwise.  This image of peace is a joke. The singers themselves may have good intentions in doing this but they shouldn’t use this competition, in which they represent the State of Israel, to “open some people’s minds”, as Nini says.  Such intentions could only have legitimacy if the artists did this on their own and without the government’s sponsorship.

Palestinian artists in Israel are certainly not happy with the singers for taking part in this endeavor.  They’ve signed a petition aimed at Nini and Awad that states  ” The Israeli government is sending the two of you to Moscow as part of its propaganda machine, which is trying to create the appearance of Jewish-Arab ‘coexistence’ under which it carries out the daily massacre of Palestinian civilians.”

Palestinian actor and director Mohammad Bakri, one of the signatories of the petition,  said “It’s not a big honor to represent Israel right now in the Eurovision. It’s a shame.”  Ain’t that the truth.  Israel shouldn’t be fooling anyone with this whole charade.

Són les dues de la matinada i acabo d’arribar a casa després del concert que Noa ha ofert avui al Palau de la Música, com a presentació del seu nou disc, anomenat Genes and Jeans.
Habitualment, els concerts de la Noa són fantàstics, ja que a més de ser una gran cantant, aconsegueix encomanar la seva simpatia al públic i per tant, el producte que ofereix, acaba siguent més una estona de bon rotllo que no pas un concert seriós i precís.
Aquest cop, a més, tant la Noa com el Gil demanen molts més cops la participació del públic, la qual cosa ajuda a crear una atmosfera del tot agradable.
El concert en sí, ha estat basat en la seva major part en aquestes noves cançons del seu nou disc. Un moment especialment emotiu ha estat quan la Noa ha explicat que dedicava una de les cançons al seu avi, que ha mort fa poc. Per cert, aquesta explicació, la Noa la ha estat llegint… però es que ho ha explicat en català! I era un català d’un nivell molt més que acceptable. De fet, perquè ens entenguem, era un català molt millor que el del “president”. En fi, no cal ara posar-se a fer càlculs, però si tenim en compte que la Noa es passa poques hores, o com a molt, tres o quatre dies a l’any a Catalunya i en canvi n’hi ha que hi han nascut… bé, és més que evident el que pot fer tenir interès pels detalls o no tenir-ne.
També ens ha ofert vàries cançons del repertori habitual, però amb variacions que sempre fan que en un moment no esperat, hi hagi un nou text, un nou ritme.
Al final, gairebé apoteòsic, amb tot el Palau entregat a les seva voluntat, fins i tot hi ha hagut temps per un duet amb en Serrat.
En resum, podem dir que, tot i que la pasta que hom es deixa quan va a veure aquesta cantant i als qui l’acompanyen és sempre força elevada (ep, això passa a Catalunya, que si es va a concerts per Europa, les entrades solen costar la meitat que aquí!), considero que ningú no ho haurà trobat car, ja que l’estona que hi hem passat, ha estat magnífica.

Per qui tingui interès en saber més sobre l’Achinoam Nini, li recomano aquest parell de webs:
http://noasite.net/
http://www.noasmusic.com/index.asp

Shalom-shalom !

More people celebrating the 60th anniversary of the ethnic cleansing of Palestine.

Top Israeli singer Noa to headline

Noa, known in Israel as Achinoam Nini, is a leading international concert and recording artist who has been called the Israeli Celine Dion. She will perform in concert for Kaleidoscope Israel@60, Tuesday, May 13, at 7 p.m., at the Blanche Touhill Performing Arts Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, according to an announcement by the chairs of the Kaleidoscope Israel Committee, Diane and Paul Gallant, their children Steve and Amy Gallant and grandsons Richie and Tommy Gallant.

“We are so excited that Noa will be our headliner in the communitywide celebration of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel,” said Diane Gallant. “And we are delighted that the Kaleidoscope Israel honorary chairperson is Michael Staenberg and that the Noa Gala Event will be chaired by Nancy and Al Siwak, along with their family members Gianna Jacobson and Todd Siwak, Stacy and Greg Siwak, Roger Siwak and Erin and Steve Schuver.”

Nancy Siwak, who was the first woman to serve as president of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis, said, “As all of our promotional materials state, ‘To Noa Is To Love Her.’ Our family is thrilled to chair an event featuring this internationally-known entertainer right here in St. Louis. We want you all to ‘Say Yes To Noa’ and enjoy an outstanding evening of music and song.”

Kaleidsoscope Israel@60, is a year-long series of community events celebrating the 60th anniversary of the founding of the State of Israel. The Noa Gala will be a highlight of those events and will immediately follow KaleidoFest week at the JCC May 3-8.

Noa has a large following in Israel as well as throughout Europe. Her strongest influences come from jazz, classical music and rock. Noa and her longtime musical partner Gil Dor have created what is described as “a unique sound, manifested in hundreds of songs written and performed together.” Noa plays percussion, guitar and piano. Her new CD, Genes and Jeans, will be released in April.

Noa, whose family roots are in Yemen, was born in Tel Aviv. She, and her family, moved to the United States at the age of 2. At 17, she moved back to Israel, where she served in the Israeli Army in a military entertainment unit.

Among the many noted artists with whom Noa has performed are Quincy Jones, Bono, Ray Charles, Lionel Richie, Dionne Warwick and Sheryl Crow. She has also worked with Oprah Winfrey, Angelina Jolie, Naomi Campbell, Andrea Bocelli and Josh Groban during her star-studded career.

Noa sang at the White House when former President Bill Clinton honored the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin on his 77th birthday. She also performed in Oslo, Norway for the anniversary of the peace accord signing before an audience that included President Clinton, Ehud Barak, Yasir Arafat and the King of Norway. Shimon Peres, Nobel Peace Prize laureate, awarded her the “Dove of Peace” and she has performed on numerous occasions at the Peres Center for Peace.

Noa appeared with Steven Spielberg, director of Schindler’s List, for the Shoah Foundation in Berlin. She and Gil wrote the lyrics for the musical theme of the award-winning Italian film about the Holocaust, Life is Beautiful; the song became a huge hit for the two artists.

Noa has performed many times with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. Added Diane Gallant, “Other places where Noa has captivated audiences include Carnegie Hall and Avery Fisher Hall in New York, the Olympia in Paris, the Colosseum in Rome, the Ravinia Festival in Chicago, the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland plus Holland, Sweden, Canada, Brazil and Japan. She was also the first Israeli artist to be formally invited to perform in Morocco.”

Diane Gallant continued, “Despite her many accomplishments, some may not be familiar with Noa, a singer/musician who has mesmerized audiences around the world. We hope you will mark your calendars now for May 13 and discover what a vibrant talent she is. We have 1,600 seats to fill and we don’t want a single one to be empty.”

Tickets for the concert gala go on sale on March 9 for $18 and $54. Patron tickets are $180 and $360 and include a post-concert reception with Noa and valet parking for the concert. To purchase tickets, call the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center at 314-516-4949 or 866-516-4949. They can also be purchased online at www.touhill.org.

Kaleidoscope Israel is a project of the Central Agency for Jewish Education, generously funded by the Lubin-Green Foundation, a supporting foundation of the Jewish Federation of St. Louis.