Lizrael Update

Category: conflict management/negotiation

  • What we learned at kindergarten today.

    “So what happened at gan today? Did everyone like your new backpack?” “Yep.” “What did you eat for lunch?” “שעועית” “Beans? And?” “Pasta.” “Beans and pasta!” “And shnitzel. Shnitzel shnitzel shnitzel.” “What else happened in gan today?” The thing about pretending everything is fine, that we have to keep acting ‘normal’ so the terrorists don’t…

  • #tomorrow12: Bloggers Q&A with Shimon Peres

    I’m the one who videoed the entire Q&A session that President Shimon Peres gave us bloggers at the Israel Presidents Conference today. Below is the whole uncut video, but below that are quotes from the topics discussed. (I’ll try and update when I splice it by topic.) I was a bit disappointed the questions all…

  • #tomorrow12: Prof. Kahneman talks decision-making and coaching leadership.

    Panel: Learning from Mistakes on the Way to Tomorrow The following are notes from a talk by Professor Daniel Kahneman, winner of Nobel prize in Economic Science, known for his work in psychology of judgment. It is not always easy to know if a mistake has been made. In the most important situations, it’s extremely…

  • #tomorrow12: Shimon Peres project for Israeli-Arab integration into hi tech.

    In this week’s episode of That’s! So! Shimon! I am pleased to present a new initiative of Israel’s President Shimon Peres and Cisco Systems CEO John Chambers “which promotes the integration of Arab academics into the Israeli hi-tech industry through a coalition of leading hi-tech companies and NGOs in Israel.” The project is called Ma’antech, and…

  • What it means to truck goods into Gaza.

    Yes, I’ve noticed your social media activity, Israel Defense Forces. I see you tweeting hashtags and Facebooking shares. And whatnot. Anyway, a lot of it is announcing the latest shipment of goods into Gaza. Did you know that every day, Israel sends truckloads of goods into Gaza? Could be worse. Here’s the IDF spokesperson’s  infographic:…

  • Co-op drama in Park Slope: Daily Show has it covered.

    I left America to avoid places like Park Slope. So I’ve been hearing bits and pieces of the local Brooklyn grocery co-op drama, where half the members wanted to ban Israeli products and the other half were protesting. Decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict? The most ravaged, tragic victims were in Park Slope Brooklyn all along… Of course,…

  • Thanks for keeping it classy, Beit Shemesh ladies.

    Since I’ve been ranting about the Beit Shemesh tolerance vs extremists issue, it’s only fair I follow up with a ray of hope in the form of Queen, or, well, 250 of them… with a Beit Shemesh women’s dance flash mob. On Friday, Jan 6th, 2012, a group of 250 women from Bet Shemesh decided…

  • Arabs and Jews, mothers and babies, Amalek and us.

    I don’t like getting political because I’ve been there and it’s an energy-sucking lifestyle. But a few events are coming together that make me have to say this. The Itamar murders were the utmost in terror and hate crime. Killing defenseless people – children – in their sleep is the utmost in cowardly and not…

  • Mediation memories.

    So today, at the real estate contract-signing (and last-minute negotiation) in a law office in Tel Aviv, my memories of my Masters degree education were revived. Two years after finishing my course in Conflict Management and Negotiation at Bar Ilan University, I found myself on one side of a glossy wood table, glass pitcher of water…

  • Ynet is the authority on Haredi weddings.

    Ynet did it again. This isn’t the second time I’ve noticed the blatant anti-religious fervor that an Israeli newspaper is purposely trying to spread. This is the 328975623th time. I used to actually enjoy reading Ynet. It was one of the central papers; sitting somewhere between JPost and Haaretz (in English, anyway). Their credibility has…

  • Fanning hatred on the 9th of Av.

    Can someone explain to me how publishing an article about which Israeli demographic hates which other Israeli demographic is supposed to be appropriate for Tisha B’Av? Why so negative, Ynet? Why stir the pot of hatred and conflict and darkness? As a Jew who studied for years and years about Jewish history, as a student…

  • Short film: Strangers.

    This short (7 minutes short) Israeli film is six years old, and I saw it for the first time today. Thought I’d share it further in case you’re not one of the 1.2 million people who have already watched it… Directed, written and produced by Erez Tadmor and Guy Nattiv. It’s a nice thought. I like…