Israel Active

Britain’s David Pearlman has donated his collection of 130,000 postcards of pre-State Israel to the Hebrew University. They display the religious, political, architectural and social aspects of the land from the 19th to 21st century. Some have described them as “tweets from the past”.

Israeli singer Elkana Martziano, winner of Israel’s “The Voice” has teamed up with UAE’s popular singer Walid Aljassim to record a duet aptly titled “Hello, friend”. Appropriately it’s a very authentic Middle-Eastern / Mizrahi mix. Not sure about the snake, though!

Israel’s national soccer team midfielder Dia Saba is joining the Al-Nasr SC soccer team in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates on a three-year, $3 million per season contract. He will be the first Israeli to play on a team in an Arabian Gulf state.

The “Aderaba Lod” Center for Ancient-Contemporary Innovation is a new educational-tourist visitor center, being built in Lod, Israel. It will present one of the most exciting chapters in the history of the Jewish people – the era of the “Tannaim,” the sages of the Mishna who lived 10 – 220 CE.

Guy Niv is the first Israeli to finish the Tour de France cycle race. He said, “I felt shivers when I crossed the finish line on the Champs-Elysées. It was a sense of vast relief and sheer happiness: I have done it for the next generation of young Israeli cyclists.” His team had 7 top 10 stage finishes.

Keren Grinspoon Israel has been selected as a 2020 US Library of Congress Literacy Awards Program Best Practice Honoree for its literary program. KGI distributes some 3.5 million books in Hebrew and Arabic each year to more than 500,000 Israeli children (reported previously).

Sarit Hadad and Netta Barzilai sing Belev Echad. The song appears on Tzav HaShaa (Call to Action), an album of 50 covers of classic Israeli songs by today’s best-known Israeli singers. The project aims to support the struggling local music industry.

Black Israeli hip hop singer Stephane Legar has made a music video of his trip to the Emirates city of Dubai.  Probably best for the younger generation of newsletter readers, but certainly of historic value.

For those who were unable to watch the 2020 Friends of the IDF Virtual Gala live, here is a 90-second clip of some of the scenes. And the second link will give you the full 90-minute show.

Students from the UAE will study at Jerusalem’s Sam Spiegel Film and Television School. An agreement signed soon after the Israel-UAE normalization ceremony aims to strengthen commercial ties through training programs for film and TV co-production and joint film festivals.