Archive | 2012 | February | 26

Volunteer doctors from Eye from Zion organization bring Ethiopian girl to Israel to remove rare tumor from her eye

A delegation of Israeli doctors and volunteers from the Eye from Zion organization traveled to Ethiopia recently to perform 160 cataract surgeries in a portable operation room donated by Chaim Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer. During their visit, they met Kavda Imsak, a 10-year-old girl who suffered from a large tumor in her eye.

Since Ethiopian hospitals are not equipped for such operations, Imsak had to live with the large growth until the Israeli delegation arrived.

At first the team, headed by Dr. Nachum Rosen, preformed a preliminary surgery to discern whether the tumor was cancerous or benign. Later on, they decided to bring her to Israel to remove it.

“The chances of recovery are very slim,” said Eye from Zion founder Nati Marcus, who insisted on bringing the girl to Israel. “As soon as I saw her I decided to take a chance,” he explained.

Once it was decided to bring her to Israel for surgery, arrangements were coordinated with MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation, the Foreign Ministry, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the surgeons who agreed to operate pro bono.

According to Marcus, many offered to help, including the best doctors in the country who asked to take part in the complex operation, and hospitals that offered to donate surgery and recovery rooms.

A complex team work

Imsak arrived in Israel with her older sister, and was admitted to Sheba Medical Center. After extensive examinations, she was successfully operated on by two eye plastic surgery specialists, Dr. Guy Ben-Simon and Dr. Nahum Rozen. In a few days she is expected be taken to Haifa, where Dr. Yoav Vardizer will fit her for a prosthetic eye. She is then to return home to Ethiopia.

“This is not a routine surgery and it can’t be done by a single person” said Dr. Ben-Simon. “I have consulted with many colleagues around the world before entering the OR.” According to Ben-Simon, a large team participated in the complex surgery, including an imaging team.

Ben-Simon said that although the tumor was benign it had life threatening implications for the girl, in addition to blindness and obvious aesthetic harm. Its size made it impossible to completely remove without harming important blood vessels, but the team removed as much as they could.

“The hospital performs orbit surgeries on patients from all over the world, and there aren’t many cases of tumors like this,” Ben-Simon said. Now that the surgery was successful everybody feels relieved, he added. Imsak is facing a long recovery, but the doctor said he hopes to participate in next year’s delegation to Ethiopia, and follow up on his patient there.

This is not the first pro bono operation for Ben-Simon. Together with friends and colleagues he volunteers in various places with Eye from Zion and independently. The delegations consist of volunteers who fund their own travel.

Eye from Zion operates in various places including Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Micronesia, Myanmar and Ethiopia, sending advanced equipment, specialists, operating room nurses and experts to remote locales.

According to Marcus, the volunteers are the best ambassadors Israel can ask for. “This is the pretty face of Israel,” he said.Ben-Simon said that although the tumor was benign it had life threatening implications for the girl, in addition to blindness and obvious aesthetic harm. Its size made it impossible to completely remove without harming important blood vessels, but the team removed as much as they could.

“The hospital performs orbit surgeries on patients from all over the world, and there aren’t many cases of tumors like this,” Ben-Simon said. Now that the surgery was successful everybody feels relieved, he added. Imsak is facing a long recovery, but the doctor said he hopes to participate in next year’s delegation to Ethiopia, and follow up on his patient there.

This is not the first pro bono operation for Ben-Simon. Together with friends and colleagues he volunteers in various places with Eye from Zion and independently. The delegations consist of volunteers who fund their own travel.

Eye from Zion operates in various places including Vietnam, Azerbaijan, Micronesia, Myanmar and Ethiopia, sending advanced equipment, specialists, operating room nurses and experts to remote locales.

According to Marcus, the volunteers are the best ambassadors Israel can ask for. “This is the pretty face of Israel,” he said.

Source: Ynetnews.com

Israeli film directed by Joseph Cedar, nominated in 2008 for him film ‘Beaufort,’ goes head-to–head with Iranian director Asghar Farhadi’s ‘The Separation’ in the Best Foreign Language Film category.

The team behind “Footnote,” the Israeli film that has been nominated for an Oscar award in the Best Foreign Language Film category, spent the weekend at a number of events hosted in Los Angeles in the run-up to the Oscars ceremony on Sunday.

The film’s director, Joseph Cedar, who also directed “Beaufort”, which was nominated in the same category in 2008, attended an event for films nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film category on Thursday.

Asghar Farhadi, the Iranian director whose film “A Separation” is also up for nomination, did not attend. The American Academy of Motion Pictures said that he did not attend because he was not feeling well. However, shortly afterwards he did attend a cocktail party organized for best foreign film nominees, entering the venue through the back door.

“Footnote” deals with the rivalry between a father and son, both Talmud scholars at Hebrew University. The movie stars Shlomo Bar’aba, Lior Ashkenazi and Alma Zack.

“Footnote” is one of five films nominated in the category. Other films nominated in the category are: “A Separation” (Iran), “Bullhead” (Belgium), “Monsieur Lazhar” (Canada), and “In Darkness” (Poland), with the Iranian and Canadian offerings both favorites to win.

This is the fourth time in the last five years (and the tenth ever) that an Israeli film has succeeded in being included among the five nominees of the prestigious prize. If Cedar wins this year, “Footnote” would be the first Israeli film to win the prize.

At Saturday’s 27th Annual Independent Spirit Awards, “Footnote” did not win the best screenplay award that it was nominated for. The winners were Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash for The Descendants.

Meanwhile, at the 37th Annual Cesar Awards Ceremony that took place on Friday, the silent film “The Artist,” directed by Michel Hazanavicius came out as the big winner, bagging a total of six awards from the French Academy of Cinema Arts and Technique.

“The Artist” is nominated for a total of ten categories in this year’s Oscars, including Best Film, along with “The Descendants,” “Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close”, “The Help”, “Hugo”, “Midnight In Paris”, “Moneyball”, “The Tree of Life” and “War Horse.”

Winners of the 84th annual Oscars will be announced at a Feb. 26 ceremony at Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre.

Source: Haaretz.com

After brief presidential campaign, celebrity businessman planning to visit Israel to consider investment in real estate, tourism

Billionaire businessman Donald Trump, a known supporter of Israel, met with Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov over the weekend. During the meeting the Israeli minister advised Trump to visit Israel in order to consider the possibility of investing in tourism and local real estate.

Trump is considered as one of the biggest real estate entrepreneurs in the US, with properties not only in the US but around the world. Recently, Trump became more politically involved, although his attempt to win the Republican Party’s presidential nomination was a very short one.
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“Your visit will signal the world that Israel is a safe place for tourists,” Misezhnikov said to Trump. The minister stressed that an investment in Israel is a smart financial decision and not only a statement of political support.

Trump responded positively to the offer, and requested Executive Vice President at the Trump Organization Michael Cohen to set preparations for the visit as soon s possible.

Source: Ynetnews.com

Yaakov Agmon (Photo: Merav Yudilovich)

Jaffa’s Arab-Hebrew Theater to hand annual award, dubbed “prize-titution,” for best satirical work in arts to encourage biting satire. Organizers: Need to deal with hard times through scathing humor

The Arab-Hebrew Theater in Jaffa has announced its plan to hand an annual award for the best satirical work in the arts. The award was dubbed “prize-titution” (“prastitutzia”), a term coined by Israeli poet Avraham Shlonsky intended to mock the eagerness of literary folk for prizes.

Its official launch ceremony will take place on March 1, as Israel’s best satirical works from the theater, press, television and more will be put on display.

The joint venture by Jaffa’s Arab-Hebrew Theater Director Yaakov Agmon and his Arts Director Igal Ezraty, promises to award the winner with NIS 10,000 ($2,691). The award committee members for 2012 include: Yaakov Agmon, Playwright and director Michael Gurevitch, television director Yoav Tzafir, director Yitzchak Shauli, actor Norman Issa and dance critic, and journalist and writer Gaby Aldor.

“The name (of the award) is only a declaration of intent and in no way meant to belittle the status of the award. We wanted to remind people that satire must take itself seriously but also ironically,” the organizers explained.

“The ground is burning. The papers remind us of that every morning, and the theater – especially one like ours which has acted under the banner of cultural dialogue between Arabs and Jews – must ask itself how it plans to fulfill its cultural duty. When the ground is burning, and the fringe burns in synergy – our small actions, we hope, have an impact,” Ezraty explained.

“The decision to launch the award is political and artistic in its nature and derives from the need to deal with the challenges of our times through scathing humor. This humor not only helps in accepting criticism and making the pill easy to swallow, but also sheds optimism on the diseases of our times… it’s a modest act which we hope will encourage cultural performances which won’t turn to escapism.”

Many of Israel’s actors and satirists are expected to make an appearance at the event and get a chance to pick their favorite satirical moments. Amongst those invited will be famous author, playwright and satirist Ephraim Sidon, renowned photojournalist Alex Levac, actor and comedian Uri Gottlieb, actress Einat Weizman and Avi Dangur, better known as “Avi the singer.”

Source: Ynetnews.com

A gigantic photo of a desert landscape at night served as the backdrop for Castro’s 2012 spring-summer show. The runway was a large slope resembling a dune, covered in shiny white linoleum. A sloped runway makes life harder for models who are already teetering on high heels. But if the stage set was unusual, it was ultimately successful. The same can be said of the collection which, despite its peculiarity, left an overall positive impression.

The spring show marked the festive launch of a new line of clothing. It is called “Black” and it joins the brand’s two existing lines, “Red” ‏(the casual line‏), and “Blue” ‏(jeans‏). The new line aims to be sophisticated and prestigious. The team of designers do this through complex cuts, high quality fabrics and bolder fashion brio. For years the brand has been plagued by near or complete misses in the small details. This is not the case with the new line as evidenced by a sneak preview of items, a few days before the show, at Castro’s Bat Yam showroom.

The overall look is more precise and refined than ever. This is immediately obvious in the rich spectrum of colors and mid-tones like sand, mocha, coffee and mint, as well as in the range of textures. If last winter the emphasis was on shiny satins, with the texture of crepe made from silk or polyester fabrics, this season is characterized by a more serene atmosphere in which natural fabrics prevail. Linen and Tencel fabrics, both suited to the local climate, enrich the collection and add a note of sophistication.

“We made a point of ‘cleaning up’ the cuts of the shirts and the jackets in the line, which for the most part are without lapels and with hidden zippers,” explains Dganit Hollinger-Ram, director of the women’s clothing department. “This has created a more serene and sophisticated look.” The prints in this line also have a more subtle presence. Instead of animal prints, for example, a print of spots in shades of brown underwent a digital process before it was chosen to adorn a light jacket.

The division of the collection into separate departments gave the designers more leeway to focus on a distinct style. So, for instance, the casual clothes, for both women and men, suddenly look freer and more streetwise. Cotton trousers in a wide range of vivacious colors − green, yellow, pink, turquoise and red − are a bright and variegated base for the wardrobe and can be paired with equally colorful striped shirts and tunics, some with African-style prints.

Easy in a local style

Back to the fashion show. The eclectic soundtrack of Avihai Partok and Uri Lichtig reflected the variety of influences in the collection, which ranged from African tribalism to Parisian elegance. However, the choice of this hybrid of electronic sounds with African and psychedelic elements, combined with samplings of classical music, sounded odd from the very first moment. It did not allow for an opening full of momentum. And at times it felt as though something wasn’t going quite right when the female models walked hesitantly in their high-heels and male models had to slow down their stride on the steep slope.

But the music didn’t spoil the show. The women wore floating evening dresses or long romantic robes embroidered with elongated gold beads, their hair bundled in intentionally nonchalant bouffant styles, with long gold dangling earrings. They looked like jet-setters who had survived the crash of a private plane in the desert − not a bad look. The men, hair flattened with gel, and eyes emphasized with dark makeup, seemed to evoke Lawrence of Arabia.

A similarly Middle Eastern spirit prevailed in the denim line as well. This isn’t the first time the brand’s designers have developed an entire wardrobe from the rough fabric. This year it received an additional touch of comfort and lightness that reflected local style: Alongside fitted and slimming shirt dresses, there were also soft caftan dresses, a set of harem pants and a shirt in a wide, square shape, and loose Bermuda shorts tied in the front like fisherman’s pants. The fabrics themselves were gossamer and especially suited to the Israeli summer. Slight changes in the proportions adapted the tailored styles to the local dress code without detracting from their elegance. In today’s competitive market, that is a great advantage for the brand.

One of the outstanding motifs in the collection is ikat − an ancient method of weaving in which the warp thread is tied and dyed before it is woven in a repeating pattern prepared in advance. The designers have imitated these rich weaving patterns in prints on shirts, trousers, dresses, jackets and overalls. At the showroom this group of garments was weak. The prints looked insipid, without the richness characteristic of this method of weaving. On the runway, however, the experience was different. A red suit in an ikat print topped by a bright red coat worn by one of the male models was amazingly photogenic ‏(the show was broadcast live on television and the Internet‏).

Sagiv Galam, head of the men’s clothing department, noted that all the styles previewed will be in Castro stores during the season, including those produced especially for the show, which will be marketed in limited editions.

In addition, there are quite a number of desirable items in the spring wardrobe.

Women can choose from loose linen dresses, sets of tailored jackets and pants and a selection of lace and fringed dresses. Men will no doubt rejoice to find viscose shirts in a wide cut divided into two different hues ‏(aqua and navy blue or yellow and white‏) along with a selection of light cotton jackets, buttoned shirts in a variety of styles and casual linen slacks.

A footnote: It is a bit jarring in a conversation with the brand’s designers to hear many English terms that are rendered in a kind of rag-trade Hebrish too weird to be translated back into proper English without tedious explanations. This may sound like a seemingly trivial detail, but developing a fluent discourse in the local language is essential for people creating original Israeli fashion.

Prices. For women: trousers, NIS 100 to NIS 300; shirts, NIS 40 to NIS 300; skirts and dresses, NIS 130 to NIS 400; jackets and coats, NIS 170 to NIS 1,200; accessories ‏(bags, shoes, scarves, etc.‏), NIS 100 to NIS 400. For men: trousers, NIS 130 to NIS 500; shirts, NIS 40 to NIS 260; jackets and coats, NIS 400 to NIS 750; accessories ‏(bags, shoes, scarves, etc.‏), NIS 30 to NIS 500. Store locations are listed at www.castro.co.il

Source: Haaretz.com

After the particularly rainy winter that took Israel by storm this year, there will no longer be a need to artificially raise the water levels of the Kinneret.

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