Israel Active

Israeli online trading provider Plus500 will feature on the back of the shirts of Spanish soccer champions Atletico Madrid.  Plus500’s platform is based on proprietary technology, is accessible from multiple operating systems and has been translated into over 31 languages.

US actor Kevin Bacon is to star in “Jungle” based on the true story of Israeli adventurer Yossi Ghinsberg, who was lost in the Amazon rainforest for three weeks in 1981.  "Back to Tuichi" was one of Israel’s most popular books in the 1990s. It has been translated into 15 languages.

Jerusalem's annual winter festival, "Hamshushalayim," which takes place over four consecutive weekends, includes an unusual exhibition displayed among supermarket shelves.  The exhibition, "Mivtza" ("sale" in Hebrew), seeks to examine the meeting between modern art and a familiar daily space.

Watch 2000 young Jews and Arabs gathering together at November’s “Simply Singing” event in Jerusalem.  In addition to the music, poetry and dancing, two chefs, one Arab-Israeli, the other Jewish-Israeli worked together to create fusion dishes that reflected both cultures.

This youtube film promoting awareness of recycling in Israel by the Tamir recycling corporation has had almost 900,000 views.  No wonder - it features some phenomenally accurate precision ways to dispose of recyclable containers and plastic bottles.

Just across from Tel Aviv’s Azrieli towers, the former German Templer colony of Sarona has been revitalized and landscaped to include playgrounds and parks.  33 residences dating from 1871 have been renovated and converted into eateries, upscale shops and art galleries.

Tel Aviv was among 28 cities designated by UNESCO as new members of its creative cities network, with a focus on media arts.

(Thanks to Stuart) For the past 21 years, thousands of visitors have been attending the annual Holiday of Holidays Festival in Haifa.  The festival falls on the crossroads of Hanukka, Id al-Adha and Christmas and has come to stand for coexistence and multiculturalism with theatrical and musical performances, vendors and art exhibits.

Five Israeli swimmers have qualified for this year’s world short course swimming championships in Doha, Qatar.  The organizers promised there would be no recurrence of the incident at Doha’s last event when the Israeli flag was erased on the display monitors.

(Thanks to NoCamels.com) A stunning design for the new Israel National Library has been released. The 34,000-square-meter structure will be located in the same complex as Israel’s parliament, the Israel Museum, the Science Museum and the Hebrew University.