From Brooklyn gangsters to South African prawns. District 9, film number four in my top-five countdown, is a science-fiction thriller that uses extra-terrestrial visitors – known colloquially in the film as ‘prawns’ – to deliver a potent statement about some of history’s injustices and outrages, including apartheid-era South Africa. Its title alludes to the real-life District Six, a Cape Town neighbourhood from which 60,000 inhabitants were forcibly removed during the 1970s.
The hero of the film, Wikus van de Merwe, is a comical yet admirable government agent who is forced to serve eviction notices on the prawns of District 9, a government camp in Johannesburg. During the evictions he begins to see things from the prawns’ point of view but ends-up paying a hideous price.
I’m interested and excited to learn that Noam Shalit – Gilad’s father – aims to stand as a Labor Party candidate in the next Knesset elections. “Following years of a public struggle, during which I got to know Israeli society thoroughly – both its beautiful and ethical sides – I have decided to join public life,” he said.
More power to him. Some of the most significant politicians in Israel’s history have entered politics following extremely challenging experiences. Natan Sharansky and Menachem Begin had been held by the Soviets. So had Yuli Edelstein. Benjamin Netanyahu lost his brother Yoni during Operation Entebbe.
None of these examples exactly match Noam’s, but they each have their similarities and they show that people who have faced some of life’s harshest challenges can offer much on the political stage. Best of luck, Noam, and thanks again for the grapes.
Meanwhile, in 10 days the Zionist Federation will deliver messages to IDF soldiers as part of the ‘Make a soldier smile’ campaign, set-up by Keren Hajioff, an IDF soldier from Finchley. So, if you want to make an Israeli soldier smile, please write a suitable message and email it to: office@zfuk.org
Have you seen The Iron Lady? Chris and I saw it in Oxford yesterday and were both mesmerised.
Meryl Streep plays a blinder as Margaret Thatcher, the story moves smoothly from era to era and the emotional conclusion had me blubbing into my Peanut M&Ms.
I’d love to hear your thoughts if you’ve seen it, and indeed your opinions on Lady Thatcher in general. I know she’s both loved and hated and it’s as intriguing when people admire everything she did as when people hold her in universal contempt. Can it ever be that simple?
(You might also like to read this post from three years ago, in which I discussed her mostly-positive relationship with Israel and the Jewish people in general.)
‘Lovers of this Middle Eastern delicacy take their shawarma very seriously,’ begins a recent Haaretz article. Damn right we do, as this passionate discussion on my blog showed.
The Haaretz article lists what it says are the top five shawarma outlets in Tel Aviv. I was pleased to see the inclusion my global favourite, Hakosem (The Magician). The others listed are Daboush, Kababa, Olei Tzion and Haj Kahil. I’ve not been to any of them – yet – and I’d love to hear from anyone who has. Also, does anyone have any further shawarma recommendations elsewhere in Israel? I’m particularly interested in Jerusalem.
Reading the Haaretz article has left me a) very hungry and b) all the keener to return to Israel soon. I’m thinking of April or May, actually. Meanwhile, myself and a shawarmaphile OyVaGoy reader from Berkshire are making the latest of our now regular road trips to Golders Green today. We have been known to eat two servings of shawarma during such pilgrimages. Oh me, oh my.
The trouble with ‘favourite film’ discussions is that sometimes people are so keen to impress that they choose the film they’d like you to think is their favourite, rather than their actual favourite. I’ve never been one for ‘guilty pleasures’, or pretending I’m more cultured than I am, so you can rest assured that I never pretend to like things I don’t.
Well, apart from one time. At a workplace I frequented some years back I grew so tired of my colleagues’ pretentious discussion of the arts that I opened a ‘What is your favourite film’ discussion purely so when it came to my turn I could pretend mine is The Railway Children.
Now, I do actually quite like The Railway Children. It’s perfect viewing when you’re feeling under the weather, for instance. But that’s not the point. I chose it merely to try and wind-up the snobs – and how successful I was. ‘What did you say?!’ shrieked one, ‘The Railway Children?!’ For weeks afterwards he kept approaching me in the corridor and saying ‘I just can’t get over the fact you like The Railway Children!’ before walking off, sighing in disgust. Haha, what an absolute knob he was.
So, news reaches me that the kosher McDonalds branch at Ben Gurion Airport has closed. I’m gutted – I used to love a quick nosh there on my way home from an Israel trip!
Can any Israelis reassure me that Burger Ranch – which is replacing McDs at Ben Gurion – is any good?
If not, then may the Ben Gurion McDonalds be rebuilt speedily in our days, amen.
Chris and I just returned from our now customary New Year’s eve stay in Amsterdam. We had a lovely time. The fireworks and oliebollen were as wonderful as ever. Whilst there, I visited an exhibition called Judaism: A World of Stories at De Nieuwe Kerk, on Dam Square.
A church is a strange venue to host a major exhibition about Judaism; it’s a bit like holding the World Cup final at Dagenham & Redbridge. That said, De Nieuwe Kerk actually ceased to be a functioning church in 1979 and is now one of the leading exhibition venues of the Netherlands.
Dam Square is a bit of fun in itself: trams and cyclists appear out of nowhere, pigeons swerve around a seemingly ever-present blind busker, and a man in a Freddie Krueger costume offers to pose for photos alongside any tourists who find themselves with more money and time than imagination.
Over the past few weeks, Israel has experienced a chain of unusual events. All are unrelated, except by the common thread of dramatic spectacle created by media coverage and politicians tripping over each other to express their respective stands on these “issues.” Judging from the political statements, I would say that the smell of next year’s elections is already in the air. Politicians feel the time is right to start exploiting random events to enhance their own reputations in the eyes of their potential voters in an effort to steer the undecided in their direction.
Ehud Barak is known for picking fights with the “settlers” or religious as a gimmick to boost his ratings and help his position amongst his voters. At times like these, Tzipi Livni remembers to be a women’s rights activist, and Lieberman’s party starts pushing for right wing votes – after enjoying three years in a government that has in effect frozen all building in Judea, Samaria and Jerusalem. Israel’s top executive politician, Mr. Netanyahu, never misses a beat or an opportunity to turn a crisis into a political advantage for him within his party and in politics in general.
Books I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan by Alan Partridge Eleven, by Mark Watson Martin Amis: The Biography, by Richard Bradford Jerusalem: A Biography, by Simon Sebag Montefiore Belieber: Fame, Faith and the Heart of Justin Bieber, by Cathleen Falsani
Films One Day The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 1 The Help Justin Bieber: Never Say Never Limitless
2011 OyVaJoys: Being spontaneously offered a free collection of new crockery by my friend Jonathan Sacerdoti, just hours after I’d been thinking we needed some new plates and bowls; the visit of the magnificent Hevroni sisters; the flops that were the so-called flotilla and flytilla.
Gone too soon Rob Daley
Amy Winehouse
Christopher Hitchens
The Fogel family
Gary Speed
2011 OyVaJoys: Making new friends, including Rabbi Lew, the Paull family in Windsor, Louise Hulland, Richard Sassoon, Sam Hailes, Elliot Davis, Alanah, and many more, including this lovely horse that lives in a field near me – I go and see him most days
2011 OyVaJoys: Seeing Natan Sharansky speak at the We Believe In Israel conference; the trips to NW London by the ‘Berkshire Shawarma Appreciation Society’; reaching number one in the HMV book charts with my Adele biography.
Gigs
Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds at the Roundhouse The Saturdays at Hammersmith Apollo
Justin Bieber at the o2
The Wanted at Hammersmith Apollo
(Actually, I only went to four)
I was 12 years old when I first heard The Clash. A friend of my older brother played me their debut album; they had me at Janie Jones. I was gripped by their energy, fury and passion. As I explored their music and story, I was particularly awestruck by their lead singer Joe Strummer, simmering as he was with enthusiastic idealism.
How overjoyed I felt to have discovered the greatest band of all time, though I was simultaneously dismayed to learn they had already split, so I would never see them play in-person.
Within a few years I did get to see Joe Strummer perform live. First, during the several stints he did with The Pogues, as a guest performer, stand-in guitarist, and even, for one wonderfully-strange tour, a stand-in lead vocalist. Then I got to see Joe in his various solo incarnations, first the Latino Rockabilly War, and then The Mescaleros.
What superb solo performances he delivered, particularly with the latter act. I’ve so many memories: the roof nearly tearing-off the Astoria during Safe European Home, the time they opened with London Calling at Brixton Academy, and played White Riot during the encore. It also did not escape my notice or approval that, just as with The Clash, his new band had a rather cute bassist.
Joe had struggled for much of his life with depression and then the burden of being Joe Strummer, an earnest character upon whose shoulders rested too much expectation. In the Mescaleros-era he seemed to have found contentment of sort, though that adrenaline-pumping fury and trademark snarl did emerge on-stage.
No performer before or since has ever meant so much to me as Joe Strummer. Which was why on that December day, nine years ago this Thursday, I cried when the radio told me he had unexpectedly died. An undetected, congenital heart condition killed him as he returned home from taking the dogs for a walk. I don’t often mourn a person I haven’t personally known, but I truly grieved that day for the loss of such a talented and decent soul. I still miss him terribly.
My favourite of all the tributes paid to Joe came when a friend of his was asked: “Did he fulfil his wish to change the world?” The friend’s response was: “Maybe not, but he changed the way a lot of people look at the world.” No small feat.
Here he is during happy times with The Mescaleros, performing my favourite ever Clash song. RIP, Joe. Thank you for your energy, music and inspiration – all three are eternal.
I wish my Jewish friends a happy Chanukah. Non-Jewish readers may be enlightened and entertained by this humorous guide to the festival.
I am grateful to the lovely Paull family for presenting me with a mini dreidel, a menorah and 44 candles following our Shabbat lunch on Saturday. They also handed me a guide to Chanukah, complete with a recipe for latkes. The recipe looks simple enough for me to give it a try in the kitchen, and I’d like to get in the spirit of the festival, albeit somewhat superficially and goyishly.
However, my rare attempts at cooking have sometimes resulted in atrocity. As a friend who sampled one ‘meal’ I ‘cooked’ remarked: “This is a day that will live in infamy”. If my so-called latkes go comically wrong I will post a photograph here for our amusement. But you never know, they might turn-out well — Chanukah is a time of miracles, after all.
Chris and I just returned from our now customary New Year’s eve stay in Amsterdam. We had a lovely time. The fireworks and 
