Pics from the Social Justice Demo in Rabin Sq

Simhat Torah Tel Aviv

This is Simhat Torah in Tel Aviv, the mayor takes to the stage for the blowing of the Shofah and the Jewish country celebrates the return of her missing son this year as well as the traditional annual Simhat Torah

A Place to Chill

I don't do much work every day and I find myself spending altogether too much time chilling out in the flat.

After watching High Fidelity and a host of other films I have come to realise that I am in urgent need of a place to go and chill with like minded schmoes where I can pass the day doing a little bit of work and a lot of talking about nothing in particular.

I have Zimmermans and Zeitchik to help me through the nights but what about the days?

From now on I am going to be auditioning a series of places and rating them on a whole range of different things, mainly their cheapness and the coolness of the people hanging around in them. It's jut hit me that maybe it's only in films where there are a bunch of mates hanging around doing not much more than saying witty things. I need a Seinfeld style environment or maybe a 'Friends' like place where I can go during the day and have some human interaction.

Anyone with any ideas feel free to let me know, otherwise I am going to be posting reviews of the places I try from now on and hopefully I'll find a funky place to chill and have adventures of the safe, coffee drinking kind.

Second Place

That's right Marc's Words readers you are now officially in second place! Now that I have my 'serious blog' over at the Jerusalem Post you are most definitely the blog I give a shit about less. You are the people that I bitch to, the ones I take for granted (I mean lets face it there are only about 4 of you anyway and 2 of you are my parents).

From now on this is going to be the place where I write down all that shit that I think to myself afterwards damn I shouldn't have written that! This is the place where in interviews later on in life when I have grown up and am rich and famous, interviewers will quote to me pieces where I will cover my eyes and say "Oh no how did you find out about THAT one?!"

In that vein I am going to stop writing now and go back to watching When Harry Met Sally (hey it's a good film!), just wanted you to know that you are now reading the unserious, unofficial Marc Goldberg page.

Enjoy

Yitzhak Rabin Memorial Defaced

The memorial to the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin has been defaced and graffiti saying "Free Yigal Amir" and "Price Tag" has been written on a nearby wall by a youth now in police custody.

Security guards at City Hall discovered a young man spraying "Price Tag" graffiti on and around the memorial at around 1:00a.m. on Friday the 14th of October.

The youth claimed to be angry at the release of over 1,000 terrorists in exchange for captured soldier Gilad Shalit. According to Israeli Channel 2 news.

He claimed to have lost at least one family member in the Sbarro bombing that took place during the Al Aqsa Intifada in August 2001.

Ahlam Tamimi, the woman who drove the suicide bomber to the target is scheduled to be released as part of the prisoner exchange.

The youth is currently in police custody.

The Price Tag vandalism began at an Israeli army base in the West Bank and has been gaining in frequency as well as audacity ever since the September 7th attack.

Gilad Shalit

It looks like Gilad Shalit is coming home after 5 years of captivity at the hands of Hamas.

According to Haaretz He is being traded for just over 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, who are going to be released in two waves, the first wave of 450 is broken down as follows:

110 prisoners will be released to their homes in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, out of whom 55 are Hamas men, with the rest belonging to Fatah and the other Palestinian groups. According to the deal, 131 Gaza residents will be released back to the coastal Strip, many of whom are reportedly top Hamas operatives. Another 203 prisoners will be expelled from the West Bank, 40 of whom will be deported overseas and the rest to Gaza.

I have been pretty critical of Noam Shalit and the family's campaign to have their son freed in this blog previously. Essentially they have run a slick campaign with one goal only and they have achieved their aim, their son is coming home.

Whether this is a good deal or a bad deal is impossible to say. There is no absolute truth in this grey area, some people will think it good others bad and the truth is that we will see the extent to which these soon to be released prisoners simply pick up where they left off.

One thing that should be remembered is that in the wake of Shalit's kidnapping a large number of Hamas politicians were arrested and have been held ever since as bargaining chips, that would be a proportion of the prisoners being released now.

For me the big question is, why now? He's been wasting away in a dungeon somewhere, probably in Gaza for years and now the government decide to give up 1,000 prisoners for him. This deal has been on the table and rejected for years. As early as August 2006 there was a deal proposed for the release of Gilad in exchange for 700 terrorists again reported in Haaretz. The head of the Shin Bet made cryptic references to the Syria situation as a factor for effecting his release now. I think the answer lies closer to home.

There has been an ongoing industrial dispute between the Ministry of Health and doctors which has resulted in several mass walk outs by hospital staff only for them to be forced by judicial decree to go back to work yesterday was the 3rd time they were forced at the threat of arrest to return to work. Yesterday lecturers at universities across the country went on strike themselves. The reports released by the Trajenberg committee have appeased no one in the social justice protest movement and there is a planned return to the streets in November over the government's failure to act on any of the demands made. Netanyahu's government is in a mess when it comes to the secular grassroots Israelis and the release of Gilad Shalit has handily distracted everyone from the problems being faced here in Israel on the ground.

I don't know how long this story will continue to gain traction but with prisoner releases coming in two waves and Gilad's release not coming for several days it appears as though Bibi has bought himself more than a little time at the expense of the no longer striking doctors.

Kol Nidre in Tel Aviv

The instant Yom Tov comes in the streets are completely clear of traffic, soon to be replaced by every child in the city and their bike!