After over a week of embarrassing results for the Israeli athletes Israel finally won a medal. National pride almost completely shattered, but is now somewhat restored. From Xinhua : (Photo : Reuters) Earlier Wednesday, Zubari, who was considered one of the Israeli Olympic team’s best hopes for a medal, won the bronze medal of the men’s RS:X at the …

There are endless blogs about Israel in English, but this one’s worth a special mention, and is relevant to a blogger conference I’m suppose to go to in Jerusalem this week. Benji Loviit, who writes the “What war zone?” blog seeks love with some traditional looking girls around Jerusalem in “Tu B’Av The Israeli Valentine’s Day…Can Benji Find a Date?” : It’s nice to see Israel through the eyes of a former American comedian. Go Benji.

Following is a letter written by a Chinese as a reaction to how the Beijing Olympics opening ceremony was covered by the Israeli channel 1 and a remark by Oren Nehari. It continues the series of posts regarding Sino-phobia in Israeli media and the use of extremely negative language against the Chinese people and government. Dear Sir or Madam, I am a Chinese citizen, currently staying in Israel. Today I am very pride, since it is the BIG DAY that all Chinese people have longed for. It is the opening day of the 29th Olympic Games. First I want to thank Israeli Channel …

Last week the Museum of Italian Jews in down-town Jerusalem celebrated Italian culture with lots of great food and arts from Italy. The Italian Jewish community in Jerusalem is small but vibrant, orbiting around the community synagogue and museum at the foot of Hillel Street downtown - and like most Italians, they know how to throw a party. Over three days in mid-August, the square outside the museum …

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Cats mating, dogs barking, traffic, fighting couples, my horrible roommates, ect. Taipei is SO noisy. How do you get sleep????
I was told to get ear plugs. but they dont’ work so well. I still get kept awake. Also they cause ear pain.
SO how do you deal with noise? Any bright ideas?

(source : Forumosa)
Let me add a few items to that list – construction, 500cc motorbikes, garbage trucks, okay – any truck, air conditioners compressors and car alarms. No, it’s not only in Taipei, it’s everywhere – it’s here in  Jerusalem. Whenever I visit my parents’ place, I can’t sleep beyond 6am, which is a problem since I usually go to sleep at around 1-2 in the morning, that is …

I can’t help it. I find the question of whether Taiwan is more similar to Israel or Palestine intriguing, even though one can also easily claim that it’s similar to both or to neither. Aluf Ben has an interesting article in Haaretz from a few days back titled “The Taiwan of the Middle East” : Three years after the disengagement, the Taiwan of the Middle East is taking shape in the Gaza Strip - a …