Sunday, May 13, 2012
Arab swimmer to represent Israel in EU championship
Jowan Qupty, who holds best Israeli result in 100m breaststroke, wins Swimming Association appeal demanding he be allowed to compete in EU Swimming Championship
Arab-Israeli swimmer Jowan Qupty will represent Israel in the European Swimming Championship. Qupty, 22, was originally denied a spot on the national team. He won a Swimmer’s Association appeal over the decision on Thursday.According to the Swimming Association, Qupty’s participation in the competition depends on his achieving a better result in the 100m breaststroke than that of Imri Ganiel, who was chosen to compete in the event.
Qupty was excluded from the 100×4 mixed relay set to take place at the swimming championship in Debrecen, Hungary, in June, despite the fact that his result in the 100m breaststroke was better than Ganiel’s.
“We shouldn’t have had to deal with this situation to begin with, but the (Swimming Association) eventually came to the right decision. Justice was done. I’m going to win the competition which will hopefully bring us closer to the Olympics,” Qupty told Ynet after the ruling.
Attorney Eyal Yaffe who represented Qupty said: “Qupty will represent Israel in the best possible way. Every swimmer on that team deserves their spot and so does Jowan, who earned his place just like any other swimmer did. I’m positive he won’t disappoint the association in the competition.”
The saga came to an end on Thursday after the parties involved took part in a mediation session led by Sarah Frish and Ofir Katz who were asked to bring an end to the conflict ahead of Friday, due to it being the last day for the championship’s registration.
The two parties consisting of the Swimming Association’s legal team, Qupty and his attorney sat for three hours before coming to an agreement.
The association claimed that Qupty did not meet the criteria required in order to participate in the championship.
Qupty’s attorney countered the association’s claims by presenting evidence which showed that in other championships, swimmers who did not meet the required criteria still participated in the competition.
Yaffe further addressed Qupty’s result in the 100m breaststroke which is clearly better than that of Ganiel, who was picked to compete in the event. The evidence shown was intended to prove that the designated spot on the swim team should go to the better swimmer.
Source: Ynetnews.com
UJA Federation's Special Evening with President Shimon Peres
Click To View Video
A Special Evening with President Peres,
an event, organized by UJA Federation of Greater Toronto, saw a capacity
crowd of over 3,000 enthusiastic Peres supporters fill Toronto's Sony
Centre for the Performing Arts for what was just that, a special
evening. After an emotional and compelling address by Master of
Ceremonies Robert Lantos, the celebrated Canadian Producer behind such
blockbusters as Barney's Version and Eastern Promises, Toronto's own
David Frum, a CNN contributor, journalist, author, and political advisor
joined President Peres onstage for what could best be described as a
"fireside chat" - sans the fire.
9 PhD students to receive Adams fellowships
Photo: Israel Academy of Sciences
Nine doctoral students in the sciences will receive a total of $1 million in
stipends for up to four years of PhD studies donated by Canadian philanthropist
Marcel Adams.
Each student will also receive an exemption from tuition. The nine students will be presented with their fellowships at the annual Adams Seminar on May 20 at the Israel Academy of Sciences.
Graduates of the fellowship program are currently conducting postdoctoral training in universities around the world, including Columbia, Stanford, Berkeley, Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Cornell.
Adams, the founder of the fellowship fund, established the fund at the academy seven years ago, and 69 Israeli researchers have already received the fellowships. The philanthropist and enthusiastic Zionist will celebrate his 92nd birthday this year. He began as a penniless Holocaust survivor from Romania who fought in the War of Independence, eventually becoming an entrepreneur in Montreal.
Adams will meet in Jerusalem with a number of graduates of the program who have returned to academia and hi-tech positions here after their post-doctoral work.
Miri Krupkin, a doctoral student in structural biology of Weizmann Institute of Science Prof. Ada Yonath – who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry a few years ago – is one of the recipients.
Krupkin, considered by Yonath as one of her best students, is studying the structure of ribosomes. She made aliya from Russia at the age of two and as a child in elementary school did experiments in a home lab. As a high school student she participated in summer camps for young scientists and in the Hetz Program for Young Scientists at the Weizmann Institute.
Another research student to receive the fellowship is David Tsivion, who is on a direct PhD track at Weizmann in the field of nanotechnology. He is an F-16 pilot with the rank of major, serving over 60 days a year in the air force reserves. The 32-yearold fellow was born in Rehovot and raised in Givat Ada. He found science fascinating from a young age and he completed his BSc at the Open University with honors during his military service, studying at night and on weekends.
Amit Daniely is a Hebrew University of Jerusalem doctoral student who had a strong passion for mathematics since childhood. He completed two first degrees in mathematics and computer science with high distinction, while working in a software company, but left a promising career to continue on to his doctorate. The 27-year-old Jerusalemite published his research in a journal of discrete mathematics, contributing to laying the firm mathematical foundation of machine learning.
Another Adams Fellow is Liel Sapir, who is on a direct track to his HU doctorate in physical chemistry. The son of an X-ray technician who immigrated from Iran, whose mother came as a teacher from Argentina, the 28-yearold scholar completed his first degree studies in the Amirim program and finished his second degree with a 99 percent average. He is studying osmolytes, which are used as protein stabilizers in the food, drug and biochemical industries.
Tslil Ast is another Adams Fellow at Weizmann and is researching molecular genetics. At the age of 26, she has shown much talent at synthesizing material and developing hypotheses.
Each student will also receive an exemption from tuition. The nine students will be presented with their fellowships at the annual Adams Seminar on May 20 at the Israel Academy of Sciences.
Graduates of the fellowship program are currently conducting postdoctoral training in universities around the world, including Columbia, Stanford, Berkeley, Princeton, Harvard, Yale and Cornell.
Adams, the founder of the fellowship fund, established the fund at the academy seven years ago, and 69 Israeli researchers have already received the fellowships. The philanthropist and enthusiastic Zionist will celebrate his 92nd birthday this year. He began as a penniless Holocaust survivor from Romania who fought in the War of Independence, eventually becoming an entrepreneur in Montreal.
Adams will meet in Jerusalem with a number of graduates of the program who have returned to academia and hi-tech positions here after their post-doctoral work.
Miri Krupkin, a doctoral student in structural biology of Weizmann Institute of Science Prof. Ada Yonath – who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry a few years ago – is one of the recipients.
Krupkin, considered by Yonath as one of her best students, is studying the structure of ribosomes. She made aliya from Russia at the age of two and as a child in elementary school did experiments in a home lab. As a high school student she participated in summer camps for young scientists and in the Hetz Program for Young Scientists at the Weizmann Institute.
Another research student to receive the fellowship is David Tsivion, who is on a direct PhD track at Weizmann in the field of nanotechnology. He is an F-16 pilot with the rank of major, serving over 60 days a year in the air force reserves. The 32-yearold fellow was born in Rehovot and raised in Givat Ada. He found science fascinating from a young age and he completed his BSc at the Open University with honors during his military service, studying at night and on weekends.
Amit Daniely is a Hebrew University of Jerusalem doctoral student who had a strong passion for mathematics since childhood. He completed two first degrees in mathematics and computer science with high distinction, while working in a software company, but left a promising career to continue on to his doctorate. The 27-year-old Jerusalemite published his research in a journal of discrete mathematics, contributing to laying the firm mathematical foundation of machine learning.
Another Adams Fellow is Liel Sapir, who is on a direct track to his HU doctorate in physical chemistry. The son of an X-ray technician who immigrated from Iran, whose mother came as a teacher from Argentina, the 28-yearold scholar completed his first degree studies in the Amirim program and finished his second degree with a 99 percent average. He is studying osmolytes, which are used as protein stabilizers in the food, drug and biochemical industries.
Tslil Ast is another Adams Fellow at Weizmann and is researching molecular genetics. At the age of 26, she has shown much talent at synthesizing material and developing hypotheses.
5 Reasons Why You Should Care About the Negev
To outsiders, the Negev Desert may look barren and inhospitable. But to the Israel Defense Forces, the Negev is vital for the defense of the state.
Let’s look into why that is.
The Negev covers more than half of Israel’s total land area — roughly 13,000 square km (4,700 sq mi) — but is home to only a small percentage of Israel’s civilian population.
In a country as small as Israel, any open space is precious. The
Negev is home to numerous IDF training bases and firing zones. In fact,
70% of the Negev is IDF training areas.
1) Less crowded. While fighter pilots in larger countries can easily train in their own airspace without worrying about crossing any borders, Israeli pilots do not have that luxury. When flying at twice the speed of sound, Israeli fighter pilots run out of space quickly. The only place in Israel where pilots have even a small amount of open space to train is the Negev.
2) The past. The Negev has been crucial to Israel’s security since the 1948 War of Independence, when it was first infiltrated by the Egyptians. As David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, said: “The Negev is the place where the Jewish people will be tested.”
3) The present. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thinks so nowadays as well:
4) Smart investments. As a result of the IDF’s move, large amounts of valuable territory in the center of the country will be returned to the state, and also there will be more development and job creation in southern Israel. The project, called “Bahad City” (“Training Base City”), is one of the most ambitious projects that the IDF has conducted in the past decade.
5) Zionism. Ben-Gurion dream’s was to make the Negev bloom. He also understood the importance of the Negev to Israel’s security. Following his retirement from politics in 1970, Ben-Gurion moved to Kibbutz Sde Boker, in the heart of the Negev. Upon his death in 1973, Negev University was renamed in his honor. His own words:
If you found this post interesting, you can check out news about the Southern Command or the IDF website. For live updates, follow us on Twitter.
Israel's map size in scaled comparison. (Source: AIPAC)
The Negev covers more than half of Israel’s total land area — roughly 13,000 square km (4,700 sq mi) — but is home to only a small percentage of Israel’s civilian population.
The Negev Desert is over half the size of Israel, 70% of which is IDF training zones.
1) Less crowded. While fighter pilots in larger countries can easily train in their own airspace without worrying about crossing any borders, Israeli pilots do not have that luxury. When flying at twice the speed of sound, Israeli fighter pilots run out of space quickly. The only place in Israel where pilots have even a small amount of open space to train is the Negev.
IDF Pilots Fly Over Israel's Negev Desert
2) The past. The Negev has been crucial to Israel’s security since the 1948 War of Independence, when it was first infiltrated by the Egyptians. As David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, said: “The Negev is the place where the Jewish people will be tested.”
3) The present. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thinks so nowadays as well:
“The value of the land is enormous… We [Israelis] are very concentrated in the center of the country, therefore, we must decentralize our national life in all main areas, with the IDF and security first and foremost.”In fact, the IDF is doing just that. These days, the army is moving its training bases from the center of the country and relocating them all to one huge site in the northern Negev.
4) Smart investments. As a result of the IDF’s move, large amounts of valuable territory in the center of the country will be returned to the state, and also there will be more development and job creation in southern Israel. The project, called “Bahad City” (“Training Base City”), is one of the most ambitious projects that the IDF has conducted in the past decade.
5) Zionism. Ben-Gurion dream’s was to make the Negev bloom. He also understood the importance of the Negev to Israel’s security. Following his retirement from politics in 1970, Ben-Gurion moved to Kibbutz Sde Boker, in the heart of the Negev. Upon his death in 1973, Negev University was renamed in his honor. His own words:
“The state of Israel, to exist, must go south.”
The construction of the Negev bases is already underway
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Israeli chef to the world
‘The ambassadors can talk for a year, but one good meal does just as much good,’ says Tel Aviv chef Shaul Ben-Aderet.
Shaul Ben-Aderet’s grandmother didn’t own a television set. So when she minded him while his parents were at work, she stood him on a chair and he helped prepare Iraqi dishes in her Tel Aviv kitchen.
Shaul Ben-Aderet’s grandmother didn’t own a television set. So when she minded him while his parents were at work, she stood him on a chair and he helped prepare Iraqi dishes in her Tel Aviv kitchen.
In a way, he’s still standing on that chair.
“When I was four or five, I already knew I would be a cook,” says Ben-Aderet, 48, owner and head chef of three Israeli restaurants. “Some children dream to be a doctor or policeman. Me — just put me in the kitchen.”
“When I was four or five, I already knew I would be a cook,” says Ben-Aderet, 48, owner and head chef of three Israeli restaurants. “Some children dream to be a doctor or policeman. Me — just put me in the kitchen.”
True, Grandma probably didn’t make the sort of dishes found on the menu at Kimmel, his flagship French restaurant in the trendy Tel Aviv neighborhood of Neve Tzedek: calamari stuffed with risotto and seafood in cream and garlic; chicken liver paté in calvados, honey and spiced carrot jam; flank steak in pepper, cream and bone marrow; shrimp in butter, Roquefort and nuts.
But the aroma from Ben-Aderet’s cuisine has wafted far and wide. He’s often featured on cooking shows and product promos. Israeli embassies in Brazil, Uruguay and Japan have flown him in to represent Israel at gala dinners. Last July, he and an Arab chef teamed up in an episode of the US Public Broadcasting Service show, Cuisine Culture.
And in January, he cooked a gourmet feast live on Turkish TV.
Whenever he travels, “I come wearing a chef’s shirt with the Israeli flag on it, so I feel like a minor ambassador,” he tells ISRAEL21c. “The ambassadors can talk for a year, but one good meal does just as much good.”
The producers of Israel’s Food Channel teamed up with TurkMax, a leading Turkish lifestyle channel, in their invitation to Ben-Aderet.
“Relations between Israel and Turkey are not so good right now — people are even afraid to go there — so I said to myself, ‘Why not?’ My wife, Orit, thought I was a little crazy, but that’s nothing new.”
His day in Istanbul yielded spinach shakshuka with cream; Caciocavallo cheese and truffles; squash salad with walnuts, mint, cranberries and Gorgonzola cheese; fillet of beef glazed with burned mustard and honey; and an Arab-style cake. Shakshuka is a traditional Israeli breakfast of eggs poached in a spicy tomato and vegetable sauce.
“In the show, I said I will invite the president of Turkey to come to Israel, and I will bring [Israeli President] Shimon Peres there. I said, ‘We’ll make some shakshuka and everything will be okay.’”
Beautiful Hands
Born in 1964 to parents of Iraqi and Greek descent, Ben-Aderet learned metal-working in his Tel Aviv high school because that was his father’s profession. His real education took place at the side of his maternal grandmother
"She taught me how to make everything perfect, even simple things like rice or chicken. She had beautiful hands. I always say the best cooking is not something you learn. You need the passion and the touch.”
Fresh from the army, Ben-Aderet opened an eatery in Ramat Hasharon serving staples such as hamburgers, pizza and French fries. His father helped him fix up the site, and lends his handyman’s touch to his son’s enterprises to this day. After six years, he sold the place and took Orit’s advice to renovate an Ottoman-era building in Neve Tzedek to become a French restaurant.
Opening Kimmel 19 years ago was a pretty daring move on the part of a chef who’d never been to France.
“I just read a little,” he explains. More than half the menu items have remained the same from the start; the rest were inspired by Ben-Aderet’s subsequent trips to France. With co-workers, he opened a bistro called Kimmel in the Gilboa two years ago in the Gilboa Mountains, and Blue Rooster last year in East Tel Aviv.
The three locations keep him and his wife busy all week long. “I wake up at 6 in the morning and take my children to school,” he relates. He and Orit have sons aged 17 and 13, and daughters aged 10 and seven.
“Then I come to Kimmel to cook with the staff till 1:00. I go to Blue Rooster till 3, then I rest two hours, and in the evening I am in Kimmel from 7:30 to 9, then till midnight at Blue Rooster. Saturdays I’m in Gilboa.”
Though she makes the family’s meals at home, Orit’s job at Blue Rooster is out front. “Orit knows how to take care of people,” says her husband. “They come to talk with her and see her, not only to eat.” But he’s not downplaying the importance of food. “If you want to make a contract or if you are angry with someone, if you drink and eat together everything will be okay,” he assures.
Bar Rafaeli Reebok Jukari Fit to Fly launch Madrid
Click To View Video
Reebok have partnered with Cirque du Soleil to create a first of its kind new workout and a brand new and revolutionary way to keep fit called Jukari- Fit to Fly. Jukari aims to bring the fun back into fitness. Reebok first had a major impact in fitness in the 80's with the introduction of Reebok Step, which became a fitness phenomenon worldwide and changed the way women worked out. The classes brought women together, enabled them to have fun while they worked out and introduced a welcome alternative to spending long, tedious hours in the gym. Jukari aims to bring back that fun and emulate the impact that Reebok Step had. It introduces a completely new way to move, a refreshing slant on a regular gym workout and is accessible to all women, regardless of fitness levels.
The hour long workout has been created on a specially designed piece of equipment called the Fly Set and has been inspired and based on Cirque du Soleil's amazing acrobatics. The result is a workout which gives the sensation of flying while strengthening and lengthening the body through cardio, strength, balance and core training.
41 Million to be invested in EILAT
Click To View Video
The Ministry of Tourism will invest 41
million NIS in the southern resort town of Eilat in 2012. The investment
will incorporate marketing, events, infrastructure and improving the
tourism product in the city. Under the agreement, the Ministry of
Tourism, in cooperation with the Hotels Association, will allocate about
30 million NIS for international marketing in 2012. In addition, the
program will include providing assistance to charter operators, creating
collaborations with wholesalers and travel agents as well as running
advertising campaigns aimed at domestic tourism.
Make a splash in Israel’s top 10 swimsuits of the year
Israel is the home of such iconic swimwear
labels as Gottex and Diva. ISRAEL21c takes a look at the top 10
swimsuits to wear this summer.
With its long coastline of blue Mediterranean beaches, Israel has always been a fertile source of swimwear design coveted in countries on all sides of the oceans.
Today, Israel’s annual swimwear exports total about $50 million. The best-known label is Gottex, founded just after World War II by Hungarian raincoat maker Leah Gottlieb. Gottex introduced Spandex and hard-cup bras into swimsuits, but it’s better known for adorning the bodies of international supermodels such as Bar Refaeli and Irina Shayk.
Tel Aviv-based Diva was founded even earlier, and is celebrating its 70th anniversary with special events and swimwear collections featuring cutting-edge fabrics.
ISRAEL21c asked Gottex creative director Molly Grad and Diva marketing director Adi Weiss to share their favorite styles for the 2012 season, and we’ve added another two representing the growing category of “modest” Israeli suits by MarSea, Sea Secret, HydroChic and Princess Modest.
1. Gottex “Empress”
“The 2012 collection is all about color — very bright and flattering colors — and beautiful prints. Color placed in significant areas flatters the body,” says Grad.
2. Diva “Katrina”
3. Gottex “Virginia”
Here’s another example of how color and prints placed just-so translate to a swimsuit that dazzles.
4. Silver by Gottex “Modern Day”
The Silver label is Gottex’s entry in the growing niche of swimwear purchased by cup size.
5. Diva “Mambo”
6. Profile by Gottex “Forbidden Love”
The fit-focused Profile line is less skimpy than the Gottex suits you’ll see in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition, but no less sexy.
7. Gideon Oberson “Ocean Beauty”
Swimwear design king Gideon Oberson added his line to Gottex in 2003, aiming to redesign beach fashion with “classic yet modern silhouettes.” Looks like he’s done it.
8. Diva “Shiraz”
This two-piece bathing beauty, pairing a leopard print with polka-dots, illustrates the trend away from matchy-matchy. “Dots are always in fashion,” says Weiss.
9. MarSea Modest “AquaSkort” and “Tie-Up SwimTop”
AquaSkort looks like a skirt, but it’s actually baggy pants with an adjustable drawstring on each leg. The Tie-Up SwimTop comes in a variety of prints and has four widely spaced buttons and a drawstring bottom.
10. SeaSecret “Diagonal Blue”
This semi-cover slimming swimsuit is one of SeaSecret’s bestsellers, and it comes with optional matching head covering and tights.
Source: ISRAEL21cdotcom
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