-
Home
- Art & Culture
Art & Culture
- Details
- Written by Silvia G. Golan
In an orange-themed emotional ceremony, the third Annual SASA Setton Children's Literature Award, was dedicated to Ariel and Kfir Bibas, the last remaining children held hostage by Hamas in Gaza
Ofri Bibas: "One of Ariel's favorite books as of late, is 'who wants a piggyback' by David Grossman. The moments reflected in the story, are little vignettes of father and son. Daily, routine moments. These simple moments, described in the book, are little moments that are daily reminders of their absence, they elicit deep longing for them. Ariel and Kfir have become symbols, but for us, they are firstly our family – and our family is incomplete. They must return – now! Time is running out."
Yesterday, December 27, 2023, the SASA Setton Children's Literature Award ceremony, held in Tel Aviv for the third consecutive year, was dedicated to Ariel and Kfir Bibas, who are still held hostage by Hamas in Gaza. The event was held in the presence of the Setton family's representative, Mrs. Sonia Gomes de Mesquita, the extended Bibas family, Israeli singer Yuval Dayan, author Lihi Lapid and other high-profile guests. The goal of the award is to support local literature and promote children's book creativity. The award is given to authors and illustrators who have positively contributed to the Israeli culture.
The event culminated with the release of 500 orange balloons. SASA Setton Organization decided to dedicate the only children's literary award in Israel to Ariel and Kfir, and as a homage to their fiery ginger hair, the event was entirely orange. The Bibas children are the only remaining minors in Hamas captivity, and the award intended to bring awareness to the return of all the hostages home. The best children's book for 2023 was "Shoshana the bored trash bug" from Agam publishing house, written and illustrated by Orit Bergman, who received a 35,000 NIS prize. Esteemed Author and Editor Yona Tepper was selected to receive the SASA Setton lifetime award and received a prize of 25,000 NIS. This year, a new category was introduced, for creative illustration. The winner was Nathalie Belhassen, who received a 25,000 NIS prize for her book "In Blanket Land" from Keter/Knafaim Publishing house.
Since the war started, Israel's culture sector was brought to a halt. Therefore, the Setton Family representative, Mrs. Sonia Gomes de Mesquita, through SASA Setton, chose to dedicate the award to raising awareness for the ginger kids Ariel (4) and Kfir (11 months) who are still held by Hamas with their parents, while also invigorating this sector. SASA Setton organization promotes education for hospitalized children in all 41 schools within hospitals across the country, for over a decade. The SASA Setton prize was created by Mrs. Hilda Setton to commemorate her late husband, Philippe Setton Z"L.
In addition to the awards, previous SASA Setton Lifetime award recipient, the author Galila Ron-Feder Amit, presented her project based on her beloved redhead protagonist, "from Gingi to gingers' – where the leader of the group resigned to allow Ariel to take his place, and for Kfir to serve as his deputy. Israeli singer Yuval Dayan accompanied the balloon flying ceremony alongside the extended Bibas family with two of her songs.
The award selection committee included Chairman Adi Rubinstein, a culture affairs journalist, Lihi Lapid, author and lecturer, Prof. Shai Rudin, a researcher and lecturer for children's literature in Gordon Academy, and Tal Marlmelshtein, editor of Israel Hayom's weekend magazine.
Sonia Gomes de Mesquita, the donor family's representative: "This is the third year we have held the SASA Setton Children's Literature Award, and it was clear to us we had to connect the story of the Ariel and Kfir, the beloved redheads to our award. Our goal was to raise awareness for the campaign to return them home as soon as possible. SASA Setton is proud to promote the field of Israeli children's literature. We congratulate our winners: continue your important work in promoting Israeli creativity and literature. We can't wait to see the Bibas family, and all the hostages, return home safely. “
Ofri Bibas, sister of Yarden Bibas: "One of Ariel's favorite books as of late, is 'who wants a piggyback' by David Grossman. The moments reflected in the story, are little vignettes of father and son. Daily, routine moments. It's been 80 days, without Ariel, Kfir, Yarden and Shiri. 80 days without a book before bedtime, playing with dad, a kiss to Kfir and a hug to mommy before crawling into bed. These simple moments, described in the book, are little moments that are daily reminders of their absence, they elicit deep longing for them. Ariel and Kfir have become symbols, but for us, they are firstly our family – and our family is incomplete. We want them home with us, to hug, console, love, restore. They must return – now! Time is running out."
Photos Silvia Golan
More Pics at Facebook Diplomacy Israel and Israel Diplo / Silvia G Golan
- Details
- Written by TAU
Tel Aviv University is offering the first academic course on the Israel-Hamas war that began on Oct. 7th, 2023. Targeting international students, the course was launched as early as the first semester of the current academic year. TAU officials explain that to offset the distorted, simplistic picture of the war currently presented on many campuses worldwide, the course aims to present an accurate, fact-based, and complex perspective on the conflict.
Thousands of students from all parts of the world study at TAU Lowy International School, from North and South America, Europe, India, China, Australia, Africa, and elsewhere. Now, for the coming academic year, TAU has initiated a new academic course led by top experts, on the Oct. 7th war. The course will review the background to the war, as well as its immediate implications for both Israel and the world at large, in different areas including conflict management, Middle East studies, economics, international law, security studies, national resilience, trauma studies, and more. In this way TAU aims to raise the international students' awareness of the war's causes and impact, in the hope that they will portray a more complex and accurate picture of it in their own countries.
Prof. Milette Shamir, TAU's VP International: "The horrendous statements heard on many campuses around the world, especially in North America and Western Europe, are often a byproduct of blatant ignorance coupled with the consumption of information from dubious sources on social media. As a counter measure, we offer students from all over the world an opportunity to learn about the war through exposure to well-founded facts, responsible research, and a complex ways of thinking. This is the appropriate response of academia to the venom propagated on campuses and in the social networks."
Dr. Nimrod Rosler, Head of the International Program in Conflict Resolution and Mediation: "The horrors we experienced on Oct. 7th and afterwards underline the need for a deep understanding of the dynamics of violent conflicts. Such an understanding can be obtained from the academic knowledge and experience of the prominent lecturers who will teach in the course, providing participants with tools for dealing constructively with the war now and with its consequences in the future. Positive ways for coping with the horrors are the key to resilience and hope for a better future."
The new academic course follows another initiative of the Lowy International School: a taskforce initiated by international students to assist Israel's national effort to tell the war's true and tragic story to the world. Participating students conduct dialogues on the social networks with people in other places in the world, providing them with materials and information that present Israel's narrative from the perspective of international students in Israel.
Prof. Ronen Avraham, Head of the Lowy School's Parasol Foundation International LL.M. Program: "This task force is a moving initiative of students, and I am proud that TAU provides it with logistical backing. We have already reached 1.3 million people and have thousands of followers worldwide. The events of Oct. 7th will enter the history books, not only of Israel and the Palestinians, but also of the entire world. We will not give up our efforts to spread the truth, for the benefit of both our contemporaries and future generations."
Photo credit: Tel Aviv University.
Tel Aviv University grants permission for the use of these photos/images for stories on TAU
- Details
- Written by Prime Minister's Office
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the Cornerstone-Laying for the Community of Ofir, named after the Late Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council Chairman Ofir Leibstein: "We will rebuild and expand the communities, and we will add more communities."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Wednesday, 29 November 2023), laid the cornerstone of the community of Ofir, in memory of the late Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council Chairman Ofir Leibstein. Those attending the emotional event, together with Construction and Housing Minister Yitzhak Goldknopf and local council heads from the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip, praised the courage of the late Ofir Leibstein and noted his heroic fight, together with his late son Nitzan, in battles against Hamas terrorists at Kibbutz Kfar Aza on Saturday October 7th.
Prime Minister Netanyahu to the local council heads from the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip [translated from Hebrew]:
"All of you endured very difficult days here. Friends were murdered. Leaders were murdered – men and women who fought, soldiers and police officers. It is simply unbelievable what happened here on the day of this ultimate test. The people of Israel hold onto our land by the fingernails, repelled the murderers, the monsters, and now we are in the midst of action that will continue to its end.
We established a state, an army, communities and cities. We welcomed immigrants, but the battle continues as it has for 100 years and more. It most definitely continued here on that terrible day and we will overcome them.
This construction expresses what we are now doing. Several months ago, we decided to establish a new community and called it 'Hanun' and today we are changing its name to 'Ofir' after the late Ofir Leibstein, a leader, a man of the Land of Israel, a builder and a man engaged in settling the land. Here children will grow up and be educated about his contribution, heroism and sacrifice.
We will continue to build, not one community but communities, here in this place. We will build and we will continue to build, here and all throughout the Land of Israel. We will rebuild and expand the communities, and we will add more communities."
Participating in the event were Sdot Negev Regional Council Chairman Tamir Idan, Sderot Mayor Alon Davidi, Merhavim Regional Council Chairman Shai Hajaj, Eshkol Regional Council Chairman Gadi Yarkoni, Sha'ar Hanegev Regional Council Acting Chairman Yossi Keren and Hof Ashkelon Regional Council Chairman Itamar Revivo. Also in attendance were Tekuma Authority Director Moshe Edri, head of IDF Home Front Command Maj. -Gen. Rafi Milo, the Prime Minister's Chief of Staff Tzachi Braverman, the Prime Minister's Military Secretary, Maj.-Gen. Avi Gil, and Prime Minister's Office Director General Yossi Shelley.
The cornerstone-laying for the community of Ofir is a direct continuation of the Government decision, by the Prime Minister and the Construction and Housing Minister on 5 February 2023, to establish a new community in the area adjacent to the Gaza Strip to be called Hanun (which was defined as a provisional name).
Photo credit Silvia G Golan ( this is one of the last photo of Ofir Leibstein - taken 2 days before the massacre )
- Details
- Written by Silvia
(6 December 2023 – Jerusalem) Yesterday's congressional hearings addressing antisemitism on university and college campuses highlight the willful lack of accountability when it comes to Jews, Israel and antisemitism on campus and in academia.
Yad Vashem is extremely alarmed by University Presidents of Harvard, MIT and UPenn refusal to claim that genocidal calls against Jews does not violate university policy and code of conduct. In fact, when the three presidents were asked point blank whether calls for the genocide of the Jews violated university rules or code of conduct their response respectively was it is a 'context dependent decision'. Yad Vashem is appalled that leaders of elite academic institutions would use misleading contextualization to minimize and excuse calls for genocide of the Jews. The positions taken by the three university presidents in their testimonies highlight a basic ignorance of history, including the fact that the Holocaust did not start with ghettos or gas chambers, but with hateful antisemitic rhetoric, decrees and actions by senior academics, among other leaders of society.
Institutions like Yad Vashem play a critical role in raising awareness about the history of antisemitism and the Holocaust. Both are essential to confronting the current acute situation and bringing about long-term solutions.
"Any university, institution or society that can “contextualize” and excuse calls for genocide is doomed," reacted Yad Vashem Chairman Dani Dayan. "I call upon university administrations to empower and train their faculty and students to better understand the dangers of antisemitism. We invite university leadership to visit Israel and Yad Vashem during this university semester break in order to learn what past calls for the genocide of Jews has led to - the Holocaust. Never Again must begin with education."
Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, was established in 1953. Located in Jerusalem, it is dedicated to Holocaust commemoration, documentation, research and education.
- Details
- Written by Silvia G. Golan & Stella Szpira
Today, November 26, 2023, 3rd day of liberation of the kidnapped persons by the terrorist group "Hamas", I had a conversation with Uri Geller, British-Israeli mentalist, worldly famous for his psychic abilities, reader of minds and bender of metals, whom I admire a lot and met personally in Jerusalem.
I remembered that he mentioned 15 days ago in the program "Ofira Vecatorza" that he warned about a Black Saturday exactly two months before the fateful October 7. I asked him: “Uri, did you really have premonitions of the coming catastrophe and you warned about it?”.
Uri: “Yes, exactly on July 13 I sent a special letter to authorized sources warning about the danger”.
The letter said: “Israel is like the Titanic traveling toward an iceberg. Israel is in a clear and immediate danger. We are busy with internal ears between us and we are sedated by politicians of all sides of the spectrum helped by all communication media. The retired generals and politicians tell us grandmother stories about being strong. In short terms we deal with a war with five scenarios at the same time: Siria, Iran, Lebanon, Gaza inside Israel”. For twenty years our enemies have gathered and have an arsenal of 250.000 missiles, they will launch 5.000 missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles everyday over Israeli cities``.
Geller warned that “at the same time there are 600.000 weapons in the Arab settlements, and that chaos will reign in streets of cities like in Shomer Homot. Many people don’t know the strength of Radwan of Hezbollah, which is the strength of command with thousands of soldiers whose aim was to penetrate the Lebanese border from Gaza to all the settlements. It is supposed that the situation is difficult with hostages, a massacre, we must be prepared for a total war with the FDI, which is based on the immediate reserve army”.
Geller concluded the letter with a call to equip the residents with weapons and recruit many for the combat service. The weapons must be redistributed between all the residents, each settlement along the conflict line must be equipped with weapons, food and medicines. The National Guard must be immediately established with 100.000 volunteers, religious, traditional and secular, armed and trained. We must be enlisted for combat service. “Am Israel Jai”.
Finally I asked Geller: How do you see the continuation and ending of this war?
Uri Geller answered me: “Firstly our goal is to bring back all the kidnapped people. We will have a few more days with a ceasefire, but at the end of the day we need to destroy Hamas, not only for the cruel murders they have carried out. In the world, there was no such thing, maybe in the time of barbarians hundreds of years ago, maybe because we need peace in the south, and that's why Hamas will disappear. As for the north, it is more problematic, but there too we will have to do something. I am an optimistic person and I believe that even in the north we will be able to restore peace of mind to the people, and return to their homes. Don't forget that we are now under attack by 7 countries. I am an optimist!
Photo Silvia G Golan
