Roman Summer

Last night, instead of sleeping at a reasonable hour I was up late and came across Spielberg's Munich on HBO. Even though I've seen it many times, it's been awhile and I couldn't help but get pulled in. It's crazy to think that it's been fifteen years since it was released back in 2005. It feels like another lifetime ago.

I happened to be watching during the initial sequence abroad in Rome - the assassination of Wael Zwaiter, which took place in a deserted residential lobby along Viale Eritrea, just steps from Piazza Annibaliano. I never ventured to this part of the city or explored similar Roman neighborhoods in the north, but other recollections of my visit almost ten years ago this summer came flooding back. The same thing happened recently when I also found myself revisiting Bertolucci's La Luna, which spurred thoughts of Jill Clayburgh intertwined with those from my nearly two weeks in Trastevere and the late summer nights in local piazzas and along the Tiber. I will try to get to some of these things another time.

I later caught a glimpse of one of Gila Almagor's brief scenes as Avner's mother. This was the scene in the hospital in Tel Aviv just after the birth of his son and before his return to Europe. Not long after I finished my army service and returned from Rome, I began working at an office in central Tel Aviv on the corner of Kaplan and Ibn Gvirol. One night on my way back from work I happened to pass by HaBima Square and ran into Gila Almagor of all people outside a cafe terrace. It was only a brief encounter, with little more than a mutually exchanged acknowledgement and a few words of pleasantries, but there was an unspoken warmth and I still remember it all really well. There's a reason why she is an Israeli icon and the queen of cinema, and for one relatively new oleh still getting his feet after the army in Tel Aviv, it was a special moment.

Munich 2005

Upper Galilee, 7/27

IDF armoured and artillery units deployed in the Upper Galilee today following an attempted infiltration by Hezbollah fights on Mount Dov. IDF forces reportedly thwarted the attack on an army outpost. In the immediate hours after, the area was filled with IAF fighter jets, drones, and helicopters in preparation for any additional retaliation and to monitor for new intelligence. The incident comes in the wake of an IAF air strike in Syria last week that reportedly killed a top Hezbollah official embedded with Iranian-backed militia groups near Damascus. 

Jalaa Mareey/AFP

Clapham Common, 1940

British military personnel work to deploy anti-aircraft guns in Clapham Common, South London.

August 20th 1940

Imperial War Museum

Kikar Paris Protest, 7/25

Israelis in Jerusalem's Paris Square demonstrate against Prime Minister Netanyahu amidst current political turmoil over the economy and sweeping privacy overhauls that have granted the state new extrajudicial powers.

Olivier Fitoussi/Flash 90

Barcelona, 7/23

Locals gather at a lookout point over Barcelona as dusk falls.

Nacho Dose/Reuters

IAF Air strike in Damascus

Israeli Air Force jets reportedly attacked targets in Syria last night. According to Syrian reports, the air strikes hit targets near Damascus International Airport and causes casualties. Weapons depots and military positions of Iranian backed militias were reportedly struck. Hezbollah affiliated media appeared to confirm that five pro-Tehran militia fighters were killed. 

Syrian air defenses are activated. 7/20, AFP

Kikar Dizengoff

Israelis congregate for outdoor socializing at Dizengoff Square in Tel Aviv.

Miriam Alster/Flash 90

Hurricane Wedding

September 2011

Force maritime de l'aéronautique navale

The Lowlife

I was lucky enough to pick up and read Alexander Baron's The Lowlife close to a year ago. It's hard to emphasize enough just how much of a definitive Hackney classic it is. Among lost and forgotten London writers, Baron stands among the most intriguing. Many of Alexander Baron's titles had been out of print for years, but have now recently been republished by Five Leaves Publications. Baron's writings about Jewish and working-class East London life, both pre and post-war, are deep-rooted throughout so much of his work. Now his novels are thankfully being rediscovered by all new audiences. 

Perhaps more than anything, Baron's own personal experiences as a soldier in Sicily and Normandy during the Second World War left the deepest imprint, which resulted in his series of inter-related war novels such as From the City, From the Plough, There's No Home, and The Human Kind. I'm still just starting to explore other works from his collective oeuvre, but when I found myself in London for a brief visit towards the end of last year I was able search out more and dig a bit deeper. 

Jewish Brigade in Italy

Meet up in Italy between soldiers of the British Army's Jewish Brigade and Yugoslav partisans.

יהודה רוטשילד בריגדה

פלוגת החרושת 515 , REME

Jewish soldiers from Eretz Yisrael, serving in the British Army's Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, pose under a unit sign in their base training camp. Circa 1943.

jwmww2

Jerusalem, Winter '13

Throwback to the winter of 2013. From December 11th to the 15th the Middle East was hit with one of its most severe winter storms in decades. Record snowfall fell throughout the region and left substantial impact on countries such as Syria, Lebanon, and Israel.

The photo below is from outside the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Jerusalem.

Yehuda Asulin

Intimate Conversations

Circa 1942 

Hackney Archives

Hackney Marshes and Beyond

Crowds swelled throughout London last week as temperatures hit their highest levels of the year. Even though the UK has slowly began to open up, continued recommendations for social distancing have been in place. Clearly, there is still much room for compliance. Below are scenes from Hackney Marshes in East London and the beaches in Bournemouth.

Tolga Akmen/Getty Images/AFP.

Tolga Akmen. Getty Images/AFP

Packed sunbathers in Bournemouth. BNPS.

ימי צקלג

First edition copy of Yitzhar's still untranslated magnum opus Days of Ziklag.