The Ethiopian National Project (ENP) is presenting an Ethiopian cultural fundraiser, Sunday August 23rd, 2009, at the International Community and Cultural Center (ICCC), 12 Emek Refaim, Jerusalem. For a taste click here. The Ethiopian community is not a flashy and/or performative culture, so the video doesn’t show much, but it is rich with talent, intelligence and potential.
Not much can be expected of me today – No matter what the periodontist sees in my future, my present is pretty miserable. I can’t even read papers. Thank goodness all this pain and weakness is about making life more pleasant, not struggling for existence.
So I have been switching back and forth from news in English and Hebrew. There’s a big difference. Both of them are only partial, but the English news is so right-wing political and so focused on only a few aspects of the news that it is quite amazing. In English the only thing that is wrong with this country is the Arab population – the Fatach elections and the idea of a Jew-free Jerusalem. In Hebrew there are criticisms of Israel. Self criticism is very important, and it is one of the first things i admired in the news, but in the past years it has diminished – political criticism in particular. Stories emerge and disappear, like Barak’s visit of the synagogue in East Jerusalem. Is it self-censorship? Is there a political reason for this? Don’t be stupid, I hear voices calling. But the only evidence i have is the impression of growing blandness of the Hebrew news, and it is still a whole lot better than the English news.
