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You might think that the social isolation required to fight the Covid pandemic would result in a desire to get back to a busy, socially active, world. What I seem to be missing most, though, is the ability to do remote explorations into the parts of the country that provide vast, sparsely-populated vistas where the locals are closely and intimately connected with the natural environment.
I suspect my wanting to be out in ‘empty’ nature comes from having watched too much riskiness during this pandemic among urban folk. However, it would be foolish to assume that people ‘closer to the land’ are somehow willing to follow standards derived from understandings of how disease processes work. As is often the case in rural areas, locals often see standards (‘government’) as the bad guys who interfere with their right to do what they please (regardless of impact on others). A sentiment you definitely see expressed along the roads in these areas.
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The picture itself? The picture was taken in 2014 from within Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge (one of those “damn big-government” interferences) in northern California on the Oregon border. Where I’m standing, and the farm lands in the distance, exist because ‘big government’ drained significant parts of the Klamath Basin in the 1940’s to create agricultural land (and keep the tribes away). I’m also standing on the edge of what was the WWII Japanese Internment Camp at Tule Lake (big government not at its best).
Getting away from culture, this particular landscape mystifies me – the large form dominating the picture looks like the remains of a mountain that somehow broke off and disappeared, but I can’t find anything specific about it. I am, though, on the north edge of the large lava field of Lava Beds National Monument.
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Go here, and watch the newest videos. It does require a logging in, but well worth it.
I know that, nearly every day, when talking with parents of neuro-typical children, at least one mom will tell me her son/daughter/both have signs of autism.
Now, we all know it's extra common these days, but do not panic. Be informed. Sure, it is life-changing, but in ways you would never imagine. My life is better. Beyond measure.
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And for those of you who are wannabees (seriously, it happens, A LOT), please don't overstate (read: exaggerate or make shit up about) your child's issues to a parent who is actually living with actual autism. It doesn't make us feel better, or like we think you understand. We are on to you. We *know* what you are doing. /soapbox
I might delete this part because it sounds like I am crazy and mean. And I am not mean. Usually.
HELP REQUIRED
By the spring of 1984 the pressure of a young family considerably curtailed my railway photography. Another aspect that also suffered was my record keeping of what I had actually taken and here is a case in point, a Agfacolour CT18 transparency of a Class 47 approaching Liverpool Street. The transparency mount has a date of February 1984 stamped on it so dating the shot to late 1983 or early 1984. The Class 47 has a Stratford “silver roof” and carries nameplates.
Any suggestions as to the identity of the Class 47 Gratefully received.
General consensus is this is 47579
Canon AT1, Agfacolour CT18
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin, Ufford, Suffolk
Upper Ufford is a pleasant place, and known well enough in Suffolk. Pretty much an extension northwards of Woodbridge and Melton, it is a prosperous community, convenient without being suburban. Ufford Park Hotel is an enjoyable venue in to attend professional courses and conferences, and the former St Audrey's mental hospital grounds across the road are now picturesque with luxury flats and houses. And I am told that the Ufford Park golf course is good, too, for those who like that kind of thing.
But as I say, that Ufford is really just an extension of Melton. In fact, there is another Ufford. It is in the valley below, more than a mile away along narrow lanes and set in deep countryside beside the Deben, sits Lower Ufford. To reach it, you follow ways so rarely used that grass grows up the middle. You pass old Melton church, redundant since the 19th century, but still in use for occasional exhibitions and performances, and once home to the seven sacrament font that is now in the plain 19th century building up in the main village. Eventually, the lane widens, and you come into the single street of a pretty, tiny hamlet, the church tower hidden from you by old cottages and houses. In one direction, the lane to Bromeswell takes you past Lower Ufford's delicious little pub, the White Lion. A stalwart survivor among fast disappearing English country pubs, the beer still comes out of barrels and the bar is like a kitchen. I cannot think that a visit to Ufford should be undertaken without at least a pint there. And, at the other end of the street, set back in a close between cottages, sits the Assumption, its 14th century tower facing the street, a classic Suffolk moment.
The dedication was once that of hundreds of East Anglian churches, transformed to 'St Mary' by the Reformation and centuries of disuse before the 19th century revival, but revived both here and at Haughley near Stowmarket. In late medieval times, it coincided with the height of the harvest, and in those days East Anglia was Our Lady's Dowry, intensely Catholic, intimately Marian.
The Assumption was almost certainly not the original dedication of this church. There was a church here for centuries before the late middle ages, and although there are no traces of any pre-Conquest building, the apse of an early-Norman church has been discovered under the floor of the north side of the chancel. The current chancel has a late Norman doorway, although it has been substantially rebuilt since, and in any case the great glories of Ufford are all 15th century. Perhaps the most dramatic is the porch, one of Suffolk's best, covered in flushwork and intriguing carvings.
Ufford's graveyard is beautiful; wild and ancient. I wandered around for a while, spotting the curious blue crucifix to the east of the church, and reading old gravestones. One, to an early 19th century gardener at Ufford Hall, has his gardening equipment carved at the top. The church is secretive, hidden on all sides by venerable trees, difficult to photograph but lovely anyway. I stopped to look at it from the unfamiliar north-east; the Victorian schoolroom, now a vestry, juts out like a small cottage. I walked back around to the south side, where the gorgeous porch is like a small palace against the body of the church. I knew the church would be open, because it is every day. And then, through the porch, and down into the north aisle, into the cool, dim, creamy light.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, 21st August 1644, Ufford had a famous visitor, a man who entered the church in exactly the same way, a man who recorded the events of that day in his journal. There were several differences between his visit and the one that I was making, one of them crucial; he found the church locked. He was the Commissioner to the Earl of Manchester for the Imposition in the Eastern Association of the Parliamentary Ordinance for the Demolishing of Monuments of Idolatry, and his name was William Dowsing.
Dowsing was a kind of 17th century political commissar, travelling the eastern counties and enforcing government legislation. He was checking that local officials had carried out what they were meant to do, and that they believed in what they were doing. In effect, he was getting them to work and think in the new ways that the central government required. It wasn't really a witch hunt, although God knows such things did exist in abundance at that time. It was more as if an arm of the state extended and worked its fingers into even the tiniest and most remote parishes. Anyone working in the public sector in Britain in the early years of the 21st century will have come across people like Dowsing.
As a part of his job, Dowsing was an iconoclast, charged with ensuring that idolatrous images were excised from the churches of the region. He is a man blamed for a lot. In fact, virtually all the Catholic imagery in English churches had been destroyed by the Anglican reformers almost a hundred years before Dowsing came along. All that survived was that which was difficult to destroy - angels in the roofs, gable crosses, and the like - and that which was inconvenient to replace - primarily, stained glass. Otherwise, in the late 1540s the statues had been burnt, the bench ends smashed, the wallpaintings whitewashed, the roods hauled down and the fonts plastered over. I have lost count of the times I have been told by churchwardens, or read in church guides, that the hatchet job on the bench ends or the font in their church was the work of 'William Dowsing' or 'Oliver Cromwell'. In fact, this destruction was from a century earlier than William Dowsing. Sometimes, I have even been told this at churches which Dowsing demonstrably did not visit.
Dowsing's main targets included stained glass, which the pragmatic Anglican reformers had left alone because of the expense of replacing it, and crosses and angels, and chancel steps. We can deduce from Dowsing's journal which medieval imagery had survived for him to see, and that which had already been hidden - not, I hasten to add, because people wanted to 'save' Catholic images, but rather because this was an expedient way of getting rid of them. So, for example, Dowsing visited three churches during his progress through Suffolk which today have seven sacrament fonts, but Dowsing does not mention a single one of them in his journal; they had all been plastered over long ago.
In fact, Dowsing was not worried so much about medieval survivals. What concerned him more was overturning the reforms put in place by the ritualist Archbishop Laud in the 1630s. Laud had tried to restore the sacramental nature of the Church, primarily by putting the altar back in the chancel and building it up on raised steps. Laud had since been beheaded thanks to puritan popular opinion, but the evidence of his wickedness still filled the parish churches of England. The single order that Dowsing gave during his progress more than any other was that chancel steps should be levelled.
The 21st of August was a hot day, and Dowsing had much work to do. He had already visited the two Trimley churches, as well as Brightwell and Levington, that morning, and he had plans to reach Baylham on the other side of Ipswich before nightfall. Much to his frustration, he was delayed at Ufford for two hours by a dispute between the church wardens over whether or not to allow him access.
The thing was, he had been here before. Eight months earlier, as part of a routine visit, he had destroyed some Catholic images that were in stained glass, and prayer clauses in brass inscriptions, but had trusted the churchwardens to deal with a multitude of other sins, images that were beyond his reach without a ladder, or which would be too time-consuming. This was common practice - after all, the churchwardens of Suffolk were generally equally as puritan as Dowsing. It was assumed that people in such a position were supporters of the New Puritan project, especially in East Anglia. Dowsing rarely revisited churches. But, for some reason, he felt he had to come back here to make sure that his orders had been carried out.
Why was this? In retrospect, we can see that Ufford was one of less than half a dozen churches where the churchwardens were uncooperative. Elsewhere, at hundreds of other churches, the wardens welcomed Dowsing with open arms. And Dowsing only visited churches in the first place if it was thought there might be a problem, parishes with notorious 'scandalous ministers' - which is to say, theological liberals. Richard Lovekin, the Rector of Ufford, had been turned out of his living the previous year, although he survived to return when the Church of England was restored in 1660. But that was in the future. Something about his January visit told Dowsing that he needed to come back to Ufford.
Standing in the nave of the Assumption today, you can still see something that Dowsing saw, something which he must have seen in January, but which he doesn't mention until his second visit, in the entry in his journal for August 21st, which appears to be written in a passion. This is Ufford's most famous treasure, the great 15th century font cover.
It rises, six metres high, magnificent and stately, into the clerestory, enormous in its scale and presence. In all England, only the font cover at Southwold is taller. The cover is telescopic, and crocketting and arcading dances around it like waterfalls and forests. There are tiny niches, filled today with 19th century statues. At the top is a gilt pelican, plucking its breast.
Dowsing describes the font cover as glorious... like a pope's triple crown... but this is just anti-Catholic innuendo. The word glorious in the 17th century meant about the same as the word 'pretentious' means to us now - Dowsing was scoffing. But there was no reason for him to be offended by it. The Anglicans had destroyed all the statues in the niches a century before, and all that remained was the pelican at the top, pecking its breast to feed its chicks. Dowsing would have known that this was a Catholic image of the Sacrifice of the Mass, and would have disapproved. But he did not order the font cover to be destroyed. After all, the rest of the cover was harmless enough, apart from being a waste of good firewood, and the awkwardness of the Ufford churchwardens seems to have put him off following through. He never went back.
Certainly, there can have been no theological reason for the churchwardens to protect their font cover. I like to think that they looked after it simply because they knew it to be beautiful, and that they also knew it had been constructed by ordinary workmen of their parish two hundred years before, under the direction of some European master designer. They protected it because of local pride, and amen to that. The contemporary font beneath is of a type more familiar in Norfolk than Suffolk, with quatrefoils alternating with shields, and heads beneath the bowl.
While the font cover is extraordinary, and of national importance, it is one of just several medieval survivals in the nave of the Assumption. All around it are 15th century benches, with superbly characterful and imaginative images on their ends. The best is the bench with St Margaret and St Catherine on it. This was recently on display at the Victoria and Albert Museum as part of the Gothic exhibition. Other bench end figures include a long haired, haloed woman seated on a throne, which may well be a representation of the Mother of God Enthroned, and another which may be the Coronation of the Queen of Heaven. There is also a praying woman in a butterfly headdress, once one of a pair, and a man wearing what appears to be a bowler hat, although I expect it is a helmet of some kind. His beard is magnificent. There are also a number of finely carved animals.
High up in the chancel arch is an unusual survival, the crocketted rood beam that once supported the crucifix, flanked by the grieving Mary and John, with perhaps a tympanum behind depicting the last judgement. These are now all gone, of course, as is the rood loft that once stood in front of the beam and allowed access to it. But below, the dado of the screen survives, with twelve panels. Figures survive on the south side. They have not worn well. They are six female Saints: St Agnes, St Cecilia, St Agatha, St Faith, St Bridget and, uniquely in England, St Florence. Curiously, the head of this last has been, in recent years, surrounded by stars, in imitation of the later Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception. Presumably this was done in a fit of Anglo-catholic enthusiasm about a century ago.
The arrangement is similar to the south side of the screen at Westhall, and it may even be that the artist was the same. While there is no liturgical reason for having the female Saints on one side and, presumably, male Saints on the other, a similar arrangement exists on several Norfolk screens in the Dereham area.
Much of the character of the church today comes from it embracing, in the early years of the 20th century, Anglo-catholicism in full flood. As at Great Ryburgh in Norfolk, patronage ensured that this work was carried out to the very highest specification under the eye of the young Ninian Comper. Comper is an enthusiast's enthusiast, but I think he is at his best on a small scale like here and Ryburgh. His is the extraordinary war memorial window in the south aisle chapel, dedicated to St Leonard. It depicts Christ carrying his cross on the via dolorosa, but he is aided by a soldier in WWI uniform and, behind him, a sailor. The use of blues is very striking, as is the grain on the wood of the cross which, incidentally, can also be seen to the same effect on Comper's reredos at Ryburgh.
Comper's other major window here is on the north side of the nave. This is a depiction of the Annunciation, although it is the figures above which are most extraordinary. They are two of the Ancient Greek sibyls, Erythrea and Cumana, who are associated with the foretelling of Christ. At the top is a stunning Holy Trinity in the East Anglian style. There are angels at the bottom, and all in all this window shows Comper at the height of his powers.
Stepping into the chancel, there is older glass - or, at least, what at first sight appears to be. Certainly, there are some curious roundels which are probably continental 17th century work, ironically from about the same time that Dowsing was here. They were probably acquired by collectors in the 19th century, and installed here by Victorians. The image of a woman seated among goats is curious, as though she might represent the season of spring or be an allegory of fertility, but she is usually identified as St Agnes. It is a pity this roundel has been spoiled by dripping cement or plaster. Another roundel depicts St Sebastian shot with arrows, and a third St Anthony praying to a cross in the desert. However, the images in 'medieval' glass in the east window are entirely modern, though done so well you might not know. A clue, of course, is that the main figures, St Mary Salome with the infants St James and St John on the left, and St Anne with the infant Virgin on the right, are wholly un-East Anglian in style. In fact, they are 19th century copies by Clayton & Bell of images at All Souls College, Oxford, installed here in the 1970s. I also think that the images of heads below may be modern, but the angel below St Anne is 15th century, and obviously East Anglian, as is St Stephen to the north.
High above, the ancient roofs with their sacred monograms are the ones that Dowsing saw, the ones that the 15th century builders gilt and painted to be beautiful to the glory of God - and, of course, to the glory of their patrons. Rich patronage survived the Reformation, and at the west end of the south aisle is the massive memorial to Sir Henry Wood, who died in 1671, eleven years after the end of the Commonwealth. It is monumental, the wreathed ox heads a severely classical motif. Wood, Mortlock tells us, was Treasurer to the Household of Queen Henrietta Maria.
There is so much to see in this wonderful church that, even visiting time and time again, there is always something new to see, or something old to see in a new way. It is, above all, a beautiful space, and although it no longer maintains its high Anglo-catholic worship tradition, it is is still kept in high liturgical style. It is at once a beautiful art object and a hallowed space, an organic touchstone, precious and powerful.
S, Mansur by Mansoor Saleem
Some notes ABOUT MY WORK (a brief sample of local or regional anthropology at micro level):
The word "Gravity" is a symbol of reality that exists. Similarly E=mc2 is a combination of symbols trying to express some reality. In similar fashion my depiction of flashes (kashf) should be conceived that they are equations not in math but in language that nature uses. Perhaps fate had dropped flashes in my lap and I am depicting these flashes for world to know how to derive knowledge out of these flashes. May be from Archetypal plane I am receiving flashes and transforming these into phenomenal plane, but for more perfect transformation, sponsorship is required, like flashes roughly depicted demands super realistic treatment or animations at some points, or arrangements in 3- Dimension or performing activities or etc. at some other points, because each of my work either illustrated or arranged for photo is a part of animation and is just a one shot from one angle of bigger reality, therefore I am not a sur-realist. For deriving knowledge from my flashes their access to wider researchers in form of website, book, Museum, CD, video, etc. are required. And due to unavailability of resources, most of the paintings were sold before I could photographed these works which basically are like the fossils of the time and region and are done with hope that in future in order to get some data out of these works, the dimensions of anthropology, psychology, historiography, neurology, neuro-physics and other aspects will also be taken into account and the result may benefit in understanding some aspect of the complex Nature. The importance of flashes can be realized from the ripple effect observable in art and multi-media community that somehow came in contact with the work and hijacked ideology out of these flashes, such benefits, scientific community has not taken yet. From art point of view the art community produced high quality variations out of flashes but their work lack archetypal dimension which is one of the aspect, useful for scientific community to explore.
For cataloguing purpose somewhere title or art terminology like: "oil on canvas", "collage", "performance", "installations", "construction", etc. are used has nothing to do with meaning of the work, flashes are independent of these terminologies borrowed from art for cataloguing purpose only, flashes are beyond art. Flashes can include any ism, any element, bizarre thing, anything or things we don't know, that's why thousands of my flashes goes waste due to lack of energy and resources. Besides colorful images, performance and animation, Flashes also comes in form of sound as well, for instance I heard the sound: "Quranic archaeology is a mighty subject," this flash took me into the archaeology.
Researchers are invited to reply on enigma of colorful flashes. From where they come? they come to all or to few,? Few interesting pieces of writing below could be the starting point for debate: One is by David V. Tansley in his book: 'Subtle body' , author writes,..."the pineal gland has been found to contain vestigial traces of optic tissue. Experiments have shown that nerve impulses arise in the pineal in response to stimulation by light. Galen claimed that the pineal was a regulator of thought, and the Greeks said that the soul was anchored there. According to esoteric tradition this gland is the focal point for the masculine positive energy of spirit which is represented by the first hexagram of l-Ching, its six yang lines symbolizing the primal power of heaven and the creative action of the holy man".
But spirituality or metaphysical dimension is relevant in my case or not is a question unsolved or perhaps I should confine myself to physical dimension of Flashes (or call it images) which stay in my eyes just for less than a half second, perhaps for 0.01 second and I simply illustrate these Flashes and what it holds for future Fine Art, Sciences, Meta-science or Spirituality, I do not know yet, so I isolate myself from dada and sur-realism because I avoid title and avoid mixing my imagination or experimentation in recording of Flashes which is very rare or unrecorded. In dada and sur-realism we do read about dreams and drug infused random thoughts, but not flashes, so far no word about flashes I find even in Freud or Jungian psychology, they talk about dream importance. And in Christian art history so far I have only observed mixing of dream and inspiration from Bible. No body so far I have read in Dada and sur-realism that somebody is claiming that he is depicting Flashes or depicting flashes without mixing his imagination or experimentation. After seeing the difference between two (1) Pure Flashes and (2) some of my work based on mixing of imagination or experimentation with Flashes, now I can pin point the Flash, mixed or unmixed. My major work which is unmixed are pure Flashes (1) and my mixed work (2) can be termed as sur-realistic which I did for commercial reason on client's demand who was mad of sur-realism, I wish I could destroy these sur-realistic works. Since I can now perceive the difference between Flashes and work based on mixing of imagination or experimentation, now I can pin point the Flash, mixed or unmixed, so my major work should not be equate with William Blake, Dali, De Chirico, Carra, Marcel Duchamp, Magrette, etc., because I am not competing in art aesthetic, or in painterly compositions, I have no experience of spirituality, so my work should not also be confuse with any oriental mystics or artists who refer to the metaphysical in some form or another.
My work from (1974-81) of installations, performances based on flashes is still unpublished, so new generation do not know about it, in South Asian art also so far, no artist has ever claimed flashes mixed or un-mixed. For future science world, un-mixed flashes will be more important. Please inform on email mansursalim@hotmail.com, if reader come up with something related to science of flashes, or near to it, for instance few near relevant things I found are:
Physicist Mitchell Feigenbaum (reported in the New York Times, 1984), that when inspiration came to Feigenbaum, it was in the form of a picture, a mental image of two small wavy forms and one big one. This gave him an idea about scaling, the way the small features of a thing relate to the large features, it gave him the path he needed. For period doubling, scaling showed not only when one value-a total population or a fluid speed-would break into two, but also just where the new values would be found, Scaling was an intimate feature of the peculiar world Feigenbaum was beginning to explore.
Arthur I. Miller in a discussion of "redefining visualizability" makes it clear...the experimental evidence prevents us from forming a mental image bridging the wave-particle duality, such an image is available by 'Anschaulichheit' (German term for intuition, plus more) of another kind. It is the kind of image the physicist Werner Heisenberg had in mind when he asserted that, although the causality of classical mechanics has no access to quantum theory, quantum mechanics should not be considered unanschaulich, that is, excluded from imagery (Miller, Imagery in Scientific Thought). One example of such image is Albert Einstein's famous thought experiment in which he demonstrated the equivalence of inertia and gravitation by imagining an observer pulled through empty space in a closed container. Such images, however, lead by degrees of abstraction to others limited to spatial diagrams of a theoretical situation. Sigmund Freud, for example, writes, "We assume that the psychic life has the function of an apparatus, to which we attribute spatial extension and which we imagine as being composed of several pieces, similar to a telescope or microscope" Although such an image provides complementarity with a concrete percept of its models, it would not seem to provide it with a representable reality. But some physicists disagree that Niels Bohr never apply his notion of complementarity to subject other than physics. But for some physicists the contrary is true. (From Rudolf Arnheim's essay: “Complementarity from the outside” in book: Rescue of art).
May be or may not be these above references are relevant here for flashes I do not know, but for scientific analysis it is important to state briefly here the background of how I realized the importance of these flashes, but for scientific cause I have to write what I should not. I hope my friends will forgive me for this cause, because for good Gestalt one should have all the possible details in mind, it is beyond humans to perceive Perfect Gestalt, only Allah knows everything. A year before Metric and much before Diploma in fine art, my art works (flashes, mixed and unmixed) since 1974 were on display at Atelier BM and at Indus gallery, and since then I am observing the ripple effect of those works. After solo show of my works at Pakistan American Cultural Center, January 1979, I went to CIAC, Karachi Arts Council, to check effects of my Flash-works among artists. Before flashes since 1973 I was only doing super realistic sort of paintings of surrounding and of interior Sindh culture and capturing the local environment to come up with something: Pakistani avant-garde which I displayed at PACC solo show in Jan. 1979. But was ignored by media, only small press coverage came with a suggestion: "Mansoor has to stick to his remarkably sound realistic style instead of delving into many styles". (Art show, Daily News, Jan. 9, 1979). But anyhow I was realizing the importance of my flashes which were inspiring the most intelligent and talented of artist community for example: Ghalib Baqar changed his Dali sort of Sur realism into experimental water color, other water colorists like Abdul Hayee, Ather Jamal, Zahin Ahmad, Hanif Shezad, etc. added Karachi and interior Sindh imagery into their work. But at the same time I was learning the techniques of art from them. From Hayee and Baqar I learned the techniques of water color, from Farhan Ehsan I learned the techniques of drawing and calligraphy, from Amir Khan Tareen I learned the techniques of Rembrandt, from Abul Fateh I learned the techniques of ceramics, from Dr. Sajid Khan and Naseem Khan I learned the techniques of photography, from A.G. Khalid I learned the techniques of using computer and so on.
One of world's best super realist artist Shakil Siddiquei changed his Rembrandt sort of style into super realistic abstraction, for instance his paintings of Book shelf, Notice board, door, windows, composition with Dawn news paper, Sindhi dari, fruit packing wooden peyti, Chilmun and etc., in subject matter, were directly inspired by my flashes in form of photos or artworks I shared with him. Art critic Dr. S. Amjad Ali in his article: "Growing trend towards realism", wrote;..."Saleem Mansoor was the first to begin this kind of realism in Karachi but he was well advised to give up after creating a few interesting pieces. It is a good way of gaining command over technique and then putting it to other use in which more thought and feeling comes into play." (Dawn, April 20, 1984).
Ejazul Hassan wrote in Page 17, 123 in the catalogue of 5th National Exhibition, 1985, Published by Idara Saqafat Pakistan, written by Ejazul Husan.
"Young Mansoor Saleem has his own unusual way with objects and space. He sometimes likes to call his work as "installation" in the environment around him. He always wants to place things where he thinks these should be placed. The coiled wire, with a crescent on top, placed on a gray composition is evidence of his restless imagination. The title "Pakistani Avant Garde" also shows his wit." (—page 123, Ejazul Husan)
"The young painter Saleem Mansoor....investigates new methods and techniques not only meant to widen the scope and definition of realism but also to discover fresh methods to stimulate the viewers' response. His 'painting' titled The Pakistani Avant-garde' is wittily fabricated with tan-gue-in-cheek humor making an apt comment on elitist attitudes and trends in modern art."—(page: 17, from the introduction of 5th National Exhibition by Ejazul Hasan)
Most helping and highly creative artist and multi media man Imran Mir in 1975 appreciated my work in high remarks when he was discussing with Bashir Mirza at Atelier BM. BM was telling him that before going to Canada what Imran observed in art scene was still the same when he returned after many years, that Ahmed Pervaiz is repeating Allen Davy, and Shakir Ali, Mansur Rahi and their students were repeating Picasso and Braque's cubism in Indian or Bengali styles and Jamil Naqsh, Lubna Agha, Mansur Aye, Mashkoor, and others are repeating the same compositions, Rabia Zuberi and Shahid Sajjad repeating Henry Moor and so on. Imran pointing towards my work replied: "he is the change"! and BM acknowledged it. Imran like Zahoor ul Akhlaque, also absorbed elements from my flashes (like geometry, etc) but both only absorbed post modern art-elements from my flashes (but they absorbed postmodern element from other sources like we see in work of Herbert Bayer, Jennifer Bartlett, Ross Blacker, Sean Scully and etc) which not much is my concerned.
During my slide show at NCA in 1981, Zahoor and his wife asked me about my future plan, they were surprised to hear that I will soon be joining Archaeology Department in some university because from inside I am an anthropologist also. All my work is not only a statement in anthropology, but is also a statement in neurology, physics, and other sciences. Imran sincerely wanted to bring post modern trends in the region, perhaps for variety he introduced me to many artists, for instance, one day Imran came to me and carried my work's photos in his car and took me to David Alesworth's house and showed my work to him and his wife Durriya and Imran told them to do something like that and after one month of that, Imran's wife Nighat, told me; "Mansoor! You know Durriya is taking your sort of Truck art from Karachi to Peshawar". Nighat was saying that because she much before this event has written an article in press on my 1977 Truck art collection and Sara Irshad has written on my 1981 work: "Taking art show on donkey cart to the folk". Durriya and David not only took the advantage of my flashes but others also followed similar ideology, for instance Ruby Chisti, Masooma Syed, Naiza Khan, Adeela Khan, Rashid Rana, Noorjehn Bilgramy, Huma Mulji, Farida Batool, Ali Raza, Sophie Ernst, Faiza But, M. Ali Talpur, Imran Qureshi, Ameen Gulgee, Jamal Shah, Nazish Ataullah, Aaisha Khalid, Risham Syed and many others who spread the ideology to Melbourne, Dubai, London, New York, Berlin, etc.
Before their first thesis, IVSAA'S principal invited me for slide show of my work, but to my surprise only the faculty staff was invited and not the students. After a month or so one of the faculty member Kamran Hamid told me, "Mansoor go and see student's thesis at IVSAA where teachers has influenced students to do work which is similar to your ideology"." Now it is a tradition there. Even their very architecture is based on the ideology of some of my old flashes and on article published in press. Against me, I even find wrong propaganda by hijackers of my work. And rather through lobby in media they even sensor or edit my interviews according to their need of representing me with those works which they have not preferred to hijack from my flashes. In Shisha, Shanakht, Carce, IVSAA, Fomma and VASL works I have observed direct influence of ideologies, imageries derived out of my flashes. For assessment of the influence, historiographical approach is required. For commercial reason, they can ignore me too but future history will not. Local art magazine and art book writers were chased to ignore me.
I also held slide show of the work at NCA in 1981, where Zahoor-ul-Akhlaque, his wife and his students saw the show. Salima Hashmi wrote an article on my exhibition at Alhambra gallery Lahore, in March, 1984. The effort bore its fruit, through historiography one can trace after 1981, the change in NCA and change in Zahoor, Ejazul Hasan, Salima Hashmi, Shahid Sajjad, Mehar Afroze, etc., and change in their younger generation of students. They and other agents and technology (since 1974 perhaps) spread the influence of my flashes abroad as well, for instance on Beverly Pepper, Nicole Eisenman, Anish Kapoor, Mohsin Zaidi, Susanne Kessler and etc.
All the names mentioned above have the right to disagree with me, these are just friendly assumptions for researchers to look at such debate too to guess what the Flashes are? I too was inspired by many but after receiving Flashes from nature, I painted these with realization that they are more important than Mona Lisa, E=mc2 or Taj Mahal. I have no solo shows in prestigious gallery abroad I have no big post, scholarship or any sponsorship or awards, etc. But what Nature has given me in form of Flashes is more important that they are prototype for all time to come, back to the future or forward into the past. All artists are free to make anything they wish or according to market forces but I have to make (for science) what I receive in form of Flashes. Historiographicaly speaking Flashes' influence is more than what the work of Shakir Ali, Sadequein, Gulgee, M.F. Hussain and etc. had. But no comment I see in the catalogue of 2007- National exhibition, even the Karachiets have ignored me too. Sindh Governor is not using his Legend Fund; I now in time of Parkinson disease need sponsorship to continue the mission, if possible Inshallah. ...MS
Mansoor Saleem's solo show, May, 2008
Shakil Ismail Art Gallery
Ground Floor, Marine Point, Block 9, Clifton Karachi. Tel: 0321-2409949, E-mail: shakilismailartgallery@yahoo.com
Gallery is not responsible what artists express freely
Chenggong (chinesisch 成功鎮, Pinyin Chénggōng Zhèn) ist eine Stadtgemeinde im Landkreis Taitung auf Taiwan (Republik China).
Inhaltsverzeichnis
1 Name
2 Lage, Klima
3 Bevölkerung
4 Wirtschaft
5 Sehenswürdigkeiten
6 Weblinks
7 Einzelnachweise
Name
Am Ort des heutigen Chenggong befand sich ursprünglich eine Siedlung der Amis, eines der indigenen Völker Taiwans. Der Ami-Name der Ansiedlung wurde chinesisch 麻荖漏, Moalaulau transkribiert. Während der japanischen Herrschaft über Taiwan 1895 bis 1945 wurde ein Fischereihafen erbaut und die Siedlung erhielt den Namen 新港街 (Shinkō machi, „Neue Hafenstadt“).[1] Nach der Übergabe Taiwans an die Republik China 1945 hieß der Ort Xingang (新港, „Neuer Hafen“, die chinesische Aussprache bei identischen Schriftzeichen). Da es noch zwei weitere Orte dieses Namens auf Taiwan gab (Xingang im Landkreis Chiayi sowie Sinkang - heute als Sinshih ein Stadtdistrikt von Tainan), wurde die Gemeinde nach 1945 umbenannt. Sie erhielt zu Ehren des chinesischen Eroberers Zheng Chenggong (Koxinga) den Namen Chenggong (成功). Wörtlich bedeutet dies „Erfolg“. Chenggong Zhèn (成功鎮) ist damit gewissermaßen die „Stadt des Erfolges“ oder die „Erfolgreiche Stadt“.
Lage, Klima
Die Gemeinde besteht aus einem langgestreckten Küstenstreifen, der zum Landesinneren hin durch das parallel zur Küste verlaufende Haian-Gebirge getrennt wird. Das Klima ist feucht-warm und wie das des ganzen übrigen Landkreises Taitung durch den Monsun geprägt. Die Regenzeit beginnt im Mai und endet im Oktober.[2]
ChenggongKlimadiagr
Nachbargemeinden sind Changbin im Norden, Fuli (Landkreis Hualien) im Westen, und Donghe im Südwesten und Süden. Chenggong ist in die folgenden acht Stadtteile unterteilt: Xinyi (信義里), Heping (和平里), Zhongren (忠仁里), Zhongzhi (忠智里), Sanmin (三民里), Sanxian (三仙里), Zhongxiao (忠孝里), Boai (博愛里).
Gliederung von Chenggong
Chenggong villages.svg
Boai
博愛里
Zhongxiao
忠孝里
Sanxian
三仙里
Sanmin
三民里
Zhongzhi
忠智里
Zhongren
忠仁里
Heping
和平里
Xinyi
信義里
Bevölkerung
Archäologische Funde weisen auf eine menschliche Besiedlung seit einigen Jahrtausenden hin. An einigen Orten finden sich Relikte der jungsteinzeitlichen Changbin-Kultur. Die Örtlichkeit Xiaoma gehört neben Baxiandong in der Nachbargemeinde Changbin zu den wichtigsten Fundstätten.[3][4] Die Mehrheit (etwa 50-60 %) der heutigen Bevölkerung gehört der Ethnie der Amis an. Die traditionelle Ami-Volkskunst und Folklore spielt dementsprechend eine bedeutende Rolle.[5] Die nach offiziellen Erhebungen in Chenggong im Jahr 2010 zu Hause gesprochenen Sprachen waren: 82 % Hochchinesisch, 55 % Hokkien, 42 % indigene Sprachen, 2 % Hakka und 2 % andere. Ein Großteil der Bevölkerung war mehrsprachig.[6] Die Bevölkerung nimmt seit mindestens den 1980er Jahren aufgrund von Abwanderung und Überalterung ab.[7]
Wirtschaft
Chenggong ist der bedeutendste Fischereihafen an der Ostküste Taiwans.[8] Hauptsächlich werden Echter Bonito, Schwertfisch, Goldmakrelen (Mahi mahi), Thunfische und Dorsche gefangen.[5] Durch langdauernde Überfischung sind die Fangerträge in der Vergangenheit kontinuierlich zurückgegangen. Landwirtschaftliche Produkte der Region sind Jackfrucht, Orangen, Pflaumen und Mandarinen.[9]
Die Hauptverkehrsader bildet die Provinz-Schnellstraße 11, die die Gemeinde in Nord-Süd-Richtung durchquert.
Sehenswürdigkeiten
In Chenggong gibt es unter anderen die folgenden Sehenswürdigkeiten:
Ami-Volk-Museum, ein Freilandmuseum zur Volkskultur der Amis[10] (Welt-Icon)
Chengguangao Mazu-Tempel, der älteste Mazu-Tempel des Landkreises[11] (Welt-Icon)
Taitung-Museum für Meeresbiologie mit Aquarium[12] (Welt-Icon)
Naturhistorisches Museum[13] (Welt-Icon)
Shiyusan (石雨傘), der „Steinerne Regenschirm“, eine Felsformation[14] (Welt-Icon)
Sanxiantai (三仙台), kleine vorgelagerte Felsinsel, die durch eine pittoreske Rundbogenbrücke vom Festland aus erreichbar ist[15] (Welt-Icon)
Chenggong Township (Chinese: 成功鎮; pinyin: Chénggōng Zhèn; Wade–Giles: Ch'eng2-kung1 Chen4; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Sêng-kong-tìn) is an urban township in Taitung County, Taiwan. It is a coastal town facing the Pacific Ocean. Fishery Harbor is just west of downtown.
History
Chenggong was originally an Amis settlement from which came the Hokkien name Moalaulau (Chinese: 麻荖漏; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Môa-láu-lāu).[1] During Japanese rule, it was renamed to Shinkō Town (Japanese: 新港街) of Taitō Prefecture. After 1945, to avoid confusion with Xingang Township of Chiayi County and to distinguish it from Tainan's Sinckan (now called Xinshi), it was changed to Chenggong, which commemorates Zheng Chenggong who expelled the Dutch.
Geography
The township has 14,943 inhabitants and its total area is 144.9938 km². The majority inhabitants of the township are the Amis people which makes up to 53% of the population.[2]
Taiwan (/ˌtaɪˈwɑːn/ (About this sound listen)), officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a state in East Asia. Its neighbors include the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the west, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. Taiwan is the most populous state and largest economy that is not a member of the United Nations.
The island of Taiwan, formerly known as Formosa, was inhabited by aborigines before the 17th century, when Dutch and Spanish colonies opened the island to mass Han immigration. After a brief rule by the Kingdom of Tungning, the island was annexed by the Qing dynasty, the last dynasty of China. The Qing ceded Taiwan to Japan in 1895 after the Sino-Japanese War. While Taiwan was under Japanese rule, the Republic of China (ROC) was established on the mainland in 1912 after the fall of the Qing dynasty. Following the Japanese surrender to the Allies in 1945, the ROC took control of Taiwan. However, the resumption of the Chinese Civil War led to the ROC's loss of the mainland to the Communists, and the flight of the ROC government to Taiwan in 1949. Although the ROC continued to claim to be the legitimate government of China, its effective jurisdiction had, since the loss of Hainan in 1950, been limited to Taiwan and its surrounding islands, with the main island making up 99% of its de facto territory. As a founding member of the United Nations, the ROC continued to represent China at the United Nations until 1971, when the PRC assumed China's seat, causing the ROC to lose its UN membership.
In the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization, creating a stable industrial economy. In the 1980s and early 1990s, it changed from a one-party military dictatorship dominated by the Kuomintang to a multi-party democracy with a semi-presidential system. Taiwan is the 22nd-largest economy in the world, and its high-tech industry plays a key role in the global economy. It is ranked highly in terms of freedom of the press, healthcare,[15] public education, economic freedom, and human development.[e][13][16] The country benefits from a highly skilled workforce and is among the most highly educated countries in the world with one of the highest percentages of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree.[17][18]
The PRC has consistently claimed sovereignty over Taiwan and asserted the ROC is no longer in legitimate existence. Under its One-China Policy the PRC refuses diplomatic relations with any country that recognizes the ROC. Today, 20 countries maintain official ties with the ROC but many other states maintain unofficial ties through representative offices and institutions that function as de facto embassies and consulates. Although Taiwan is fully self-governing, most international organizations in which the PRC participates either refuse to grant membership to Taiwan or allow it to participate only as a non-state actor. Internally, the major division in politics is between the aspirations of eventual Chinese unification or Taiwanese independence, though both sides have moderated their positions to broaden their appeal. The PRC has threatened the use of military force in response to any formal declaration of independence by Taiwan or if PRC leaders decide that peaceful unification is no longer possible.[19]
Etymology
There are various names for the island of Taiwan in use today, derived from explorers or rulers by each particular period. The former name Formosa (福爾摩沙) dates from 1542,[verification needed] when Portuguese sailors sighted the main island of Taiwan and named it Ilha Formosa, which means "beautiful island".[21] The name "Formosa" eventually "replaced all others in European literature"[22] and was in common use in English in the early 20th century.[23]
In the early 17th century, the Dutch East India Company established a commercial post at Fort Zeelandia (modern-day Anping, Tainan) on a coastal sandbar called "Tayouan",[24] after their ethnonym for a nearby Taiwanese aboriginal tribe, possibly Taivoan people, written by the Dutch and Portuguese variously as Taiouwang, Tayowan, Teijoan, etc.[25] This name was also adopted into the Chinese vernacular (in particular, Hokkien, as Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Tāi-oân/Tâi-oân) as the name of the sandbar and nearby area (Tainan). The modern word "Taiwan" is derived from this usage, which is seen in various forms (大員, 大圓, 大灣, 臺員, 臺圓 and 臺窩灣) in Chinese historical records. The area of modern-day Tainan was the first permanent settlement by Western colonists and Chinese immigrants, grew to be the most important trading centre, and served as the capital of the island until 1887. Use of the current Chinese name (臺灣) was formalized as early as 1684 with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture. Through its rapid development, the entire Formosan mainland eventually became known as "Taiwan".[26][27][28][29]
In his Daoyi Zhilüe (1349), Wang Dayuan used "Liuqiu" as a name for the island of Taiwan, or the part of it near to Penghu.[30] Elsewhere, the name was used for the Ryukyu Islands in general or Okinawa, the largest of them; indeed the name Ryūkyū is the Japanese form of Liúqiú. The name also appears in the Book of Sui (636) and other early works, but scholars cannot agree on whether these references are to the Ryukyus, Taiwan or even Luzon.[31]
The official name of the state is the "Republic of China"; it has also been known under various names throughout its existence. Shortly after the ROC's establishment in 1912, while it was still located on the Chinese mainland, the government used the short form "China" Zhōngguó (中國), to refer to itself, which derives from zhōng ("central" or "middle") and guó ("state, nation-state"), [f] A term which also developed under the Zhou Dynasty in reference to its royal demesne[g] and the name was then applied to the area around Luoyi (present-day Luoyang) during the Eastern Zhou and then to China's Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qingera .[33] During the 1950s and 1960s, after the government had fled to Taiwan due to losing the Chinese Civil War, it was commonly referred to as "Nationalist China" (or "Free China") to differentiate it from "Communist China" (or "Red China").[35] It was a member of the United Nations representing "China" until 1971, when it lost its seat to the People's Republic of China. Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become commonly known as "Taiwan", after the island that comprises 99% of the territory under its control. In some contexts, especially official ones from the ROC government, the name is written as "Republic of China (Taiwan)", "Republic of China/Taiwan", or sometimes "Taiwan (ROC)."[36] The Republic of China participates in most international forums and organizations under the name "Chinese Taipei" due to diplomatic pressure from the People's Republic of China. For instance, it is the name under which it has competed at the Olympic Games since 1984, and its name as an observer at the World Health Organization.[37]
Prehistoric Taiwan
Taiwan was joined to the mainland in the Late Pleistocene, until sea levels rose about 10,000 years ago. Fragmentary human remains dated 20,000 to 30,000 years ago have been found on the island, as well as later artefacts of a Paleolithic culture.[38][39][40]
Around 6,000 years ago, Taiwan was settled by farmers, most likely from mainland China.[41] They are believed to be the ancestors of today's Taiwanese aborigines, whose languages belong to the Austronesian language family, but show much greater diversity than the rest of the family, which spans a huge area from Maritime Southeast Asia west to Madagascar and east as far as New Zealand, Hawaii and Easter Island. This has led linguists to propose Taiwan as the urheimat of the family, from which seafaring peoples dispersed across Southeast Asia and the Pacific and Indian Oceans.[42][43]
Han Chinese fishermen began settling in the Penghu islands in the 13th century.[44] Hostile tribes, and a lack of valuable trade products, meant that few outsiders visited the main island until the 16th century.[44] By the 1700's visits to the coast by fishermen from Fujian, as well as Chinese and Japanese pirates, became more frequent.[44]
Opening in the 17th century
Main articles: Dutch Formosa, Spanish Formosa, and Kingdom of Tungning
Fort Zeelandia, the Governor's residence in Dutch Formosa
The Dutch East India Company attempted to establish a trading outpost on the Penghu Islands (Pescadores) in 1622, but were militarily defeated and driven off by the Ming authorities.[45]
In 1624, the company established a stronghold called Fort Zeelandia on the coastal islet of Tayouan, which is now part of the main island at Anping, Tainan.[29] David Wright, a Scottish agent of the company who lived on the island in the 1650s, described the lowland areas of the island as being divided among 11 chiefdoms ranging in size from two settlements to 72. Some of these fell under Dutch control, while others remained independent.[29][46] The Company began to import labourers from Fujian and Penghu (Pescadores), many of whom settled.[45]
In 1626, the Spanish Empire landed on and occupied northern Taiwan, at the ports of Keelung and Tamsui, as a base to extend their trading. This colonial period lasted 16 years until 1642, when the last Spanish fortress fell to Dutch forces.
Following the fall of the Ming dynasty, Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong), a self-styled Ming loyalist, arrived on the island and captured Fort Zeelandia in 1662, expelling the Dutch Empire and military from the island. Koxinga established the Kingdom of Tungning (1662–1683), with his capital at Tainan. He and his heirs, Zheng Jing, who ruled from 1662 to 1682, and Zheng Keshuang, who ruled less than a year, continued to launch raids on the southeast coast of mainland China well into the Qing dynasty era.[45]
Qing rule
In 1683, following the defeat of Koxinga's grandson by an armada led by Admiral Shi Lang of southern Fujian, the Qing dynasty formally annexed Taiwan, placing it under the jurisdiction of Fujian province. The Qing imperial government tried to reduce piracy and vagrancy in the area, issuing a series of edicts to manage immigration and respect aboriginal land rights. Immigrants mostly from southern Fujian continued to enter Taiwan. The border between taxpaying lands and "savage" lands shifted eastward, with some aborigines becoming sinicized while others retreated into the mountains. During this time, there were a number of conflicts between groups of Han Chinese from different regions of southern Fujian, particularly between those from Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, and between southern Fujian Chinese and aborigines.
Northern Taiwan and the Penghu Islands were the scene of subsidiary campaigns in the Sino-French War (August 1884 to April 1885). The French occupied Keelung on 1 October 1884, but were repulsed from Tamsui a few days later. The French won some tactical victories but were unable to exploit them, and the Keelung Campaign ended in stalemate. The Pescadores Campaign, beginning on 31 March 1885, was a French victory, but had no long-term consequences. The French evacuated both Keelung and the Penghu archipelago after the end of the war.
In 1887, the Qing upgraded the island's administration from Taiwan Prefecture of Fujian to Fujian-Taiwan-Province (福建臺灣省), the twentieth in the empire, with its capital at Taipei. This was accompanied by a modernization drive that included building China's first railroad.[47]
Japanese rule
As the Qing dynasty was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), Taiwan, along with Penghu and Liaodong Peninsula, were ceded in full sovereignty to the Empire of Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Inhabitants on Taiwan and Penghu wishing to remain Qing subjects were given a two-year grace period to sell their property and move to mainland China. Very few Taiwanese saw this as feasible.[48] On 25 May 1895, a group of pro-Qing high officials proclaimed the Republic of Formosa to resist impending Japanese rule. Japanese forces entered the capital at Tainan and quelled this resistance on 21 October 1895.[49] Guerrilla fighting continued periodically until about 1902 and ultimately took the lives of 14,000 Taiwanese, or 0.5% of the population.[50] Several subsequent rebellions against the Japanese (the Beipu uprising of 1907, the Tapani incident of 1915, and the Musha incident of 1930) were all unsuccessful but demonstrated opposition to Japanese colonial rule.
Japanese colonial rule was instrumental in the industrialization of the island, extending the railroads and other transportation networks, building an extensive sanitation system, and establishing a formal education system.[51] Japanese rule ended the practice of headhunting.[52] During this period the human and natural resources of Taiwan were used to aid the development of Japan and the production of cash crops such as rice and sugar greatly increased. By 1939, Taiwan was the seventh greatest sugar producer in the world.[53] Still, the Taiwanese and aborigines were classified as second- and third-class citizens. After suppressing Chinese guerrillas in the first decade of their rule, Japanese authorities engaged in a series of bloody campaigns against the mountain aboriginals, culminating in the Musha Incident of 1930.[54] Intellectuals and laborers who participated in left-wing movements within Taiwan were also arrested and massacred (e.g. Chiang Wei-shui (蔣渭水) and Masanosuke Watanabe (渡辺政之輔)).[55]
Around 1935, the Japanese began an island-wide assimilation project to bind the island more firmly to the Japanese Empire and people were taught to see themselves as Japanese under the Kominka Movement, during which time Taiwanese culture and religion were outlawed and the citizens were encouraged to adopt Japanese surnames.[56] The "South Strike Group" was based at the Taihoku Imperial University in Taipei. During World War II, tens of thousands of Taiwanese served in the Japanese military.[57] For example, former ROC President Lee Teng-hui's elder brother served in the Japanese navy and was killed in action in the Philippines in February 1945. The Imperial Japanese Navy operated heavily out of Taiwanese ports. In October 1944, the Formosa Air Battle was fought between American carriers and Japanese forces based in Taiwan. Important Japanese military bases and industrial centres throughout Taiwan, like Kaohsiung, were targets of heavy American bombings.[58] Also during this time, over 2,000 women were forced into sexual slavery for Imperial Japanese troops, now euphemistically called "comfort women."[59]
In 1938, there were 309,000 Japanese settlers in Taiwan.[60] After World War II, most of the Japanese were expelled and sent to Japan.[61]
Republic of China
On 25 October 1945, the US Navy ferried ROC troops to Taiwan in order to accept the formal surrender of Japanese military forces in Taipei on behalf of the Allied Powers, as part of General Order No. 1 for temporary military occupation. General Rikichi Andō, governor-general of Taiwan and commander-in-chief of all Japanese forces on the island, signed the receipt and handed it over to General Chen Yi of the ROC military to complete the official turnover. Chen Yi proclaimed that day to be "Taiwan Retrocession Day", but the Allies considered Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to be under military occupation and still under Japanese sovereignty until 1952, when the Treaty of San Francisco took effect.[62][63] Although the 1943 Cairo Declaration had envisaged returning these territories to China, in the Treaty of San Francisco and Treaty of Taipei Japan has renounced all claim to them without specifying to what country they were to be surrendered. This introduced the problem of the legal status of Taiwan.
The ROC administration of Taiwan under Chen Yi was strained by increasing tensions between Taiwanese-born people and newly arrived mainlanders, which were compounded by economic woes, such as hyperinflation. Furthermore, cultural and linguistic conflicts between the two groups quickly led to the loss of popular support for the new government, while the mass movement led by the working committee of the Communist Party also aimed to bring down the Kuomintang government.[64][65] The shooting of a civilian on 28 February 1947 triggered island-wide unrest, which was suppressed with military force in what is now called the February 28 Incident. Mainstream estimates of the number killed range from 18,000 to 30,000. Those killed were mainly members of the Taiwanese elite.[66][67]
The Nationalists' retreat to Taipei: after the Nationalists lost Nanjing (Nanking) they next moved to Guangzhou (Canton), then to Chongqing (Chungking), Chengdu (Chengtu) and Xichang (Sichang) before arriving in Taipei.
After the end of World War II, the Chinese Civil War resumed between the Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang), led by Chiang Kai-shek, and the Communist Party of China, led by Mao Zedong. Throughout the months of 1949, a series of Chinese Communist offensives led to the capture of its capital Nanjing on 23 April and the subsequent defeat of the Nationalist army on the mainland, and the Communists founded the People's Republic of China on 1 October.[68]
On 7 December 1949, after the loss of four capitals, Chiang evacuated his Nationalist government to Taiwan and made Taipei the temporary capital of the ROC (also called the "wartime capital" by Chiang Kai-shek).[69] Some 2 million people, consisting mainly of soldiers, members of the ruling Kuomintang and intellectual and business elites, were evacuated from mainland China to Taiwan at that time, adding to the earlier population of approximately six million. In addition, the ROC government took to Taipei many national treasures and much of China's gold reserves and foreign currency reserves.[70][71][72]
After losing most of the mainland, the Kuomintang held remaining control of Tibet, the portions of Qinghai, Xinjiang, and Yunnan provinces along with the Hainan Island until 1951 before the Communists subsequently captured both territories. From this point onwards, the Kuomintang's territory was reduced to Taiwan, Penghu, the portions of the Fujian province (Kinmen and Matsu Islands), and two major islands of Dongsha Islands and Nansha Islands. The Kuomintang continued to claim sovereignty over all "China", which it defined to include mainland China, Taiwan, Outer Mongolia and other areas. On mainland China, the victorious Communists claimed they ruled the sole and only China (which they claimed included Taiwan) and that the Republic of China no longer existed.[73]
A Chinese man in military uniform, smiling and looking towards the left. He holds a sword in his left hand and has a medal in shape of a sun on his chest.
Chinese Nationalist one-party rule
Martial law, declared on Taiwan in May 1949,[74] continued to be in effect after the central government relocated to Taiwan. It was not repealed until 1987,[74] and was used as a way to suppress the political opposition in the intervening years.[75] During the White Terror, as the period is known, 140,000 people were imprisoned or executed for being perceived as anti-KMT or pro-Communist.[76] Many citizens were arrested, tortured, imprisoned and executed for their real or perceived link to the Communists. Since these people were mainly from the intellectual and social elite, an entire generation of political and social leaders was decimated. In 1998 law was passed to create the "Compensation Foundation for Improper Verdicts" which oversaw compensation to White Terror victims and families. President Ma Ying-jeou made an official apology in 2008, expressing hope that there will never be a tragedy similar to White Terror.[77]
Initially, the United States abandoned the KMT and expected that Taiwan would fall to the Communists. However, in 1950 the conflict between North Korea and South Korea, which had been ongoing since the Japanese withdrawal in 1945, escalated into full-blown war, and in the context of the Cold War, US President Harry S. Truman intervened again and dispatched the US Navy's 7th Fleet into the Taiwan Strait to prevent hostilities between Taiwan and mainland China.[78] In the Treaty of San Francisco and the Treaty of Taipei, which came into force respectively on 28 April 1952 and 5 August 1952, Japan formally renounced all right, claim and title to Taiwan and Penghu, and renounced all treaties signed with China before 1942. Neither treaty specified to whom sovereignty over the islands should be transferred, because the United States and the United Kingdom disagreed on whether the ROC or the PRC was the legitimate government of China.[79] Continuing conflict of the Chinese Civil War through the 1950s, and intervention by the United States notably resulted in legislation such as the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty and the Formosa Resolution of 1955.
With President Chiang Kai-shek, the US President Dwight D. Eisenhower waved to crowds during his visit to Taipei in June 1960.
As the Chinese Civil War continued without truce, the government built up military fortifications throughout Taiwan. Within this effort, KMT veterans built the now famous Central Cross-Island Highway through the Taroko Gorge in the 1950s. The two sides would continue to engage in sporadic military clashes with seldom publicized details well into the 1960s on the China coastal islands with an unknown number of night raids. During the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in September 1958, Taiwan's landscape saw Nike-Hercules missile batteries added, with the formation of the 1st Missile Battalion Chinese Army that would not be deactivated until 1997. Newer generations of missile batteries have since replaced the Nike Hercules systems throughout the island.
During the 1960s and 1970s, the ROC maintained an authoritarian, single-party government while its economy became industrialized and technology oriented. This rapid economic growth, known as the Taiwan Miracle, was the result of a fiscal regime independent from mainland China and backed up, among others, by the support of US funds and demand for Taiwanese products.[80][81] In the 1970s, Taiwan was economically the second fastest growing state in Asia after Japan.[82] Taiwan, along with Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore, became known as one of the Four Asian Tigers. Because of the Cold War, most Western nations and the United Nations regarded the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China until the 1970s. Later, especially after the termination of the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty, most nations switched diplomatic recognition to the PRC (see United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758).
Up until the 1970s, the government was regarded by Western critics as undemocratic for upholding martial law, for severely repressing any political opposition and for controlling media. The KMT did not allow the creation of new parties and those that existed did not seriously compete with the KMT. Thus, competitive democratic elections did not exist.[83][84][85][86][87] From the late 1970s to the 1990s, however, Taiwan went through reforms and social changes that transformed it from an authoritarian state to a democracy. In 1979, a pro-democracy protest known as the Kaohsiung Incident took place in Kaohsiung to celebrate Human Rights Day. Although the protest was rapidly crushed by the authorities, it is today considered as the main event that united Taiwan's opposition.[88]
Democratization
Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek's son and successor as the president, began to liberalize the political system in the mid-1980s. In 1984, the younger Chiang selected Lee Teng-hui, a Taiwanese-born, US-educated technocrat, to be his vice-president. In 1986, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was formed and inaugurated as the first opposition party in the ROC to counter the KMT. A year later, Chiang Ching-kuo lifted martial law on the main island of Taiwan (martial law was lifted on Penghu in 1979, Matsu island in 1992 and Kinmen island in 1993). With the advent of democratization, the issue of the political status of Taiwan gradually resurfaced as a controversial issue where, previously, the discussion of anything other than unification under the ROC was taboo.
After the death of Chiang Ching-kuo in January 1988, Lee Teng-hui succeeded him as president. Lee continued to democratize the government and decrease the concentration of government authority in the hands of mainland Chinese. Under Lee, Taiwan underwent a process of localization in which Taiwanese culture and history were promoted over a pan-China viewpoint in contrast to earlier KMT policies which had promoted a Chinese identity. Lee's reforms included printing banknotes from the Central Bank rather than the Provincial Bank of Taiwan, and streamlining the Taiwan Provincial Government with most of its functions transferred to the Executive Yuan. Under Lee, the original members of the Legislative Yuan and National Assembly(a former supreme legislative body defunct in 2005）,[89] elected in 1947 to represent mainland Chinese constituencies and having held the seats without re-election for more than four decades, were forced to resign in 1991. The previously nominal representation in the Legislative Yuan was brought to an end, reflecting the reality that the ROC had no jurisdiction over mainland China, and vice versa. Restrictions on the use of Taiwanese Hokkien in the broadcast media and in schools were also lifted.[citation needed]
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Taiwan's special envoy to the APEC summit, Lien Chan, November 2011
Democratic reforms continued in the 1990s, with Lee Teng-hui re-elected in 1996, in the first direct presidential election in the history of the ROC.[90] During the later years of Lee's administration, he was involved in corruption controversies relating to government release of land and weapons purchase, although no legal proceedings commenced. In 1997,"To meet the requisites of the nation prior to national unification",[91] the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China was passed and then the former "constitution of five powers" turns to be more tripartite. In 2000, Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party was elected as the first non-Kuomintang (KMT) President and was re-elected to serve his second and last term since 2004. Polarized politics has emerged in Taiwan with the formation of the Pan-Blue Coalition of parties led by the KMT, favouring eventual Chinese reunification, and the Pan-Green Coalition of parties led by the DPP, favouring an eventual and official declaration of Taiwanese independence.[92][clarification needed] In early 2006, President Chen Shui-bian remarked: “The National Unification Council will cease to function. No budget will be ear-marked for it and its personnel must return to their original posts...The National Unification Guidelines will cease to apply."[93]
The ruling DPP has traditionally leaned in favour of Taiwan independence and rejects the "One-China policy".
On 30 September 2007, the ruling DPP approved a resolution asserting a separate identity from China and called for the enactment of a new constitution for a "normal country". It also called for general use of "Taiwan" as the country's name, without abolishing its formal name, the Republic of China.[94] The Chen administration also pushed for referendums on national defence and UN entry in the 2004 and 2008 elections, which failed due to voter turnout below the required legal threshold of 50% of all registered voters.[95] The Chen administration was dogged by public concerns over reduced economic growth, legislative gridlock due to a pan-blue, opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan and corruption involving the First Family as well as government officials.[96][97]
The KMT increased its majority in the Legislative Yuan in the January 2008 legislative elections, while its nominee Ma Ying-jeou went on to win the presidency in March of the same year, campaigning on a platform of increased economic growth and better ties with the PRC under a policy of "mutual nondenial".[95] Ma took office on 20 May 2008, the same day that President Chen Shui-bian stepped down and was notified by prosecutors of possible corruption charges. Part of the rationale for campaigning for closer economic ties with the PRC stems from the strong economic growth China attained since joining the World Trade Organization. However, some analysts say that despite the election of Ma Ying-jeou, the diplomatic and military tensions with the PRC have not been reduced.[98]
On 24 May 2017, the Constitutional Court ruled that current marriage laws have been violating the Constitution by denying Taiwanese same-sex couples the right to marry. The Court ruled that if the Legislative Yuan does not pass adequate amendments to Taiwanese marriage laws within two years, same-sex marriages will automatically become legitimate in Taiwan.[99]
I've photographed this bridge many times, and as the seasons change, and the years pass by, another photograph is required, because of the changes that take place over time.
I remember when this was a functioning bridge and farmers with loaded grain trucks would creep across the narrow bridge, their grain trucks seeming to fill up all the available space. As they would cross the old bridge, it would creak and moan its displeasure at the heavy load placed upon its aged members.
For a number of years, it was the responsibility of my engineering company to inspect and establish a load rating for this old bridge. Finally, the time came when I knew she had to be closed. I knew that decision would not be a popular one with farmers in Washington County or Jackson County, as this bridge connected the two counties, and closing it would certainly create some inconvenience for area farmers. But the alternative was to leave it open, and sooner or later, a loaded grain truck, and driver, would be on that bridge when it failed, and certain death was inevitable with the a long plummet into the river.
I remember coming out to this bridge at the end of a work day, when I knew I was going to be the one to make a formal recommendation to the Commissioners to close her down. I sat for a while on the stone abutments and tried to imagine when she was young, beautiful, strong, proud, and confident. A monument to bridge building in her day. But those days were long gone. Now she was old, rusted, weak, unsure, and unsafe. In a way, I felt sorrow.
I don't know why it bothered me so much to close this bridge, as I had the responsibility to close probably 50 or more bridges during my career. But I always keep coming back to this "old girl" and saying hello. When I visit I feel much like I felt when I would visit my stepmom and father in the nursing home. I would leave happy to have seen them, but sad for the state they were in.
This is the cycle of life that we all comprehend, but in the same way, we all compartmentalize, and tuck that part away as though it won't happen to us. We won't get old. And then bingo, we've zipped from 7 to 70 and somehow we wake up and realize what we had so safely compartmentalized somehow got out of the box when we weren't looking.
I'm chuckling now as I write, because I routinely discover great beauty with age, and that's something one just doesn't understand until they arrive at that destination. When I sometimes see women my age trying so hard to hide wrinkles, I wish they would stop and see the beauty in those creases -- the lines of life, of love, and living every day. When I sometimes see men my age trying so hard to stay young, I wish they would stop and be proud of where they are -- moving slower, but moving with purpose, standing shorter, but with more stature.
She's still a beaut, isn't she?
Sparksville, IN
2024
© James Rice, All Rights Reserved
In Albuquerque, NM, this may be described as a common view. However in March ! one block down from the home. Well it started out to be a normal day, like letting the dog do her thing, get the paper and start the coffee, as I opened the door heard a louder whoosh than normal, knew what it was already,, above my home 20 to 25 feet, ambling along slowly, this Commercial sized balloon with as the count turned out to be 12 morning adventurist. deposited on the ground Morning Visitors, stopped traffic, got camera /on / tis the moment, Enjoy !
LARGE: www.flickr.com/photos/amarcord108/4245034657/sizes/l/
texture by SkeletalMess: www.flickr.com/photos/skeletalmess/4238624066/
Deja Vu ~ Six Days After Seeing a Heron Take Out a Brown Rat I Was Fortunate To Observe The Same Thing Happen Once More ~ This Time I Got a BIF Shot and ' The Swallow ' Too !
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Copyright ©
All My Photographic Images Are Subject To Copyright ! Each Of My Photographs Remain My Intellectual Property ! All Rights Are Reserved And As Such, Do Not Use, Modify, Copy, Edit, Distribute Or Publish Any Of My Photographs ! If You Wish To Use Any Of My Photographs For Any Reproductive Purposes, Or Other Uses, My Written Permission Is Specifically Required, Contact Me Via Flickr Mail !
Nederland, Friesland, Gemeente het Bildt, 28-02-2016; buitendijks kweldergebied Het Noarderleech (NL: Noorderleeg), landaanwinning op de grens met het Friesche Wad.
Land reclamation, Friese Wad, northern Friesland, tidal flat.
luchtfoto (toeslag op standard tarieven);
aerial photo (additional fee required);
copyright foto/photo Siebe Swart
Seventeen years, seven months.
He requires attention. But it's worth it and he still has quality to his life. For how long I do not know, so I appreciate and marvel at him every day - even when he makes me a little bit crazy.
Kris asked about him, so I figured it was time for a bit of an update.
New to Western National in July 1957, VDV764 was pictured at Totnes garage on 3rd August 1976. This LS is shown as having been sold to a dealer in Barnsley in July 1976, so was presumably awaiting collection.(at-2200f)
My 1st Milky Way shoot. These require a lot more post-editing than I am used to. Trying to get a handle on layering so that I can get some background in there as well, but for now just going to focus on trying to get a clear shot of the galaxy. I guess I know what I'll be out doing tonight! Any tips or pointers would be appreciated! fineartamerica.com/profiles/1-jason-jacobs.html
Taken at Martin Nature Park in Oklahoma City.
A photo meetup hosted by Myke (mykeitphotography) with his @FrameXFrame group. The idea was to celebrate Spring as it had been warm leading up to the meetup, but on the day of the temperature plunged some 20 degrees.
Visiting Koh Samui Island Thailand by cruise ship requires tenders for the ship passengers to reach the shore. This would be the Westerdam tender doors.
An Amtrak Acela power car gets serviced at Amtrak's Wilmington Shops
© Hunter Lohse Photo, All Rights Reserved. Written Permission Required For Reuse.
There is a bit of background required to put this portrait in context. By mere chance, I discovered online that a fully-restored Boeing B-17G World War II heavy bomber was going to spend a week at the small airport in Kingston Ontario. Kingston is a beautiful, historic city three hours east of Toronto. It is also home to my son and his fiancée. While I wasn’t in a position to take a flight on Sentimental Journey, I was determined to see the plane, tour it on the ground, photograph it, and watch it take off and land.
When I saw it sitting on the tarmac of the Kingston Flying Club at the south edge of the airport, it was truly a thing of gleaming beauty. The plane is owned by the Commemorative Air Force, a nonprofit which is dedicated to preserving historic aircraft. It has chapters throughout the U.S. Sentimental Journey’s home base is in Phoenix Arizona but it tours and is available to the public every summer.
The man you are looking at was one of the volunteers who was available to explain about the airplane and answer questions and he was a treasure trove of historical and aviation information. Sensing my eager interest, he kindly made himself available to talk about airplanes and World War II and when I expressed interest in him, he also shared a bit about himself. Meet Bruce.
Bruce is a member of the Commemorative Air Force chapter in Indiana and he told me every year he likes to donate a couple of his vacation weeks to the organization. This summer he flew up to Toronto from Indiana on a commercial flight and met Sentimental Journey in nearby Peterborough Ontario. He spent that week hosting visitors and accompanying them on demonstration rides on the plane. He then accompanied the plane from Peterborough to Kingston where he is doing his last week of volunteering before returning to his “real life” in Indiana.
What is Bruce’s “real life?” Interestingly, it has nothing to do with aviation. He is a PhD research chemist at Purdue University in Lafayette Indiana. His work has to do with analyzing the quantities of medications in bloodstream samples and much of his work has to do with the pharmaceutical industry. He directs the university’s Metabolomics Facility (yes, that was a new one for me too.)
Understandably, most of our conversation was about Sentimental Journey and historic aircraft and it was clear that Bruce is a very informed student of history and lover of airplanes. He had a very warm, pleasant manner, which combined with is knowledge of the plane, made him the perfect tour guide. He had a very pleasant accent which I think was a mix of North Carolina where he did his PhD and Indiana where he lives currently.
When I explained my Human Family photo project to him, Bruce was interested and was happy to participate. We had a few minutes while other visitors were inside the plane and I suggested posing him inside the bomb bay, the doors of which were open and provided sheltered light on this bright day. We both had to duck to get into the bay and I took a couple of portraits with sample bombs hanging on the racks above his head. When I invited him to share a message with the project he thought for a moment and said “We should not glorify war, but we should not forget the past either. This plane serves as a memorial to the young men, often just 20 and 21 years of age who risked and lost their lives in these machines while serving their country.” He went on to reflect about the fact that many of the pilots, navigators, radio operators, and bombardiers were just kids and many of them had never been more than 25 miles from their Midwestern farm lives when they entered the military, were taught to fly and fight, and found themselves over the heart of Germany in the dead of night at 30,000 feet, dropping bombs and fighting for their lives. It is a sobering thought indeed. Bruce concluded with the comment “I wonder how many 20 year-olds would be able to manage that today?”
Thank you Bruce, for a fascinating conversation, a wealth of information about B-17s, and for participating in The Human Family. This is my 522nd submission to The Human Family Group on Flickr.
I hope you had a great two weeks of volunteering and return to your university job with fond memories of Canada.
You can view more street portraits and stories by visiting The Human Family.
#AbFav_TEXTURES
#AbFav_PHOTOSTORY
It is required that you keep the original packaging of anything that you buy for as long as it is under guarantee…
So, we had quite a number of empty boxes in our attic!
From camera and computer-stuff!
Emptied it for our move to our new house and discovered this!
EMPTY! A wasp’s nest.
We knew we had them at some point, but they didn’t come into the house itself, so we left it alone.
I had never seen this!
It is fragile (broke in half when we tried to remove it from under a beam), feather-light and paper-thin!
Beautiful and delicate, I could not resist photographing it in MACRO!
Here are some interesting facts:
The queen will build her nest with a papery material that she makes by chewing small pieces of wood and she mixes these with saliva to form a kind of papier-mâché.
There is a difference in the nest of the tree wasp.
The papery outside is usually a dark grey whereas the common wasp will be beige.
The queen commences the nest by producing a golf ball sized sphere inside which she constructs a series of about 16 to 20 cells into which she lays eggs.
About 7 days later the eggs hatch into grubs, the queen will catch insects and feed them to the grubs.
When each has fed until it is full it seals its self into the cell.
In the nest she will raise a few workers and these will start to enlarge the nest and help to rear the next generation of wasps.
Nest construction starts in earnest in June and will usually reach its maximum in size in September, but may not end until late November if the conditions are right.
If lots of wasps and other insects are seen on shrubbery or flowers it is most likely that they are simply feeding there.
A treatment is not required in such circumstances, as it would only kill the wasps that are present at the time.
The size of wasp colonies will vary from year to year, but at its maximum nests may contain between 5 – 10,000 wasps.
Unbelievable!
Thank you, M, (*_*)
For more: www.indigo2photography.com
IT IS STRICTLY FORBIDDEN (BY LAW!!!) TO USE ANY OF MY image or TEXT on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved
No water.... no soil required!!!!! The wax process requires that bulbs are jump-started with heat treatments to trigger the bulb to sprout. That readies them to produce blooms in three to six weeks after they reach the consumer. The roots are first removed from the bulb. It is then covered in wax which prevents the bulb from growing new roots.
So a month or so ago the afghan eyes I have for Millie poked out her eyelashes. And thinking it would be easy to glue them back in I attempted to fix them, no luck. My hands tremble far too much apparently to handle such delicate work, and now she's stuck with no eyelashes.
So I figured maybe someone knows of a company that sells good quality blonde/light brown eyelashes, because getting new ones might make it slightly easier, seeing as how her old ones had been reused before.
Also, some general tips on applying eyelashes would be appreciated, I tried with tooth picks and such but no luck.
Some background:
After the space-worthy conversion of the CVS-101 Prometheus and the SLV-111 Daedalus carriers, these ships were docked with the SDF-1 Macross and it became clear that this new gigantic vessel required a specialized unit with a heavy armament for medium range defense.
The resulting Space Defense Robot (SDR) Phalanx was tailored to this task. Development of the Phalanx began in a hurry, during the already ongoing Space War I in July 2009. Its systems and structural elements were, to save time and minimize development risks, taken over from a pre-war Destroid standard mass production model. The "Type 04" biped chassis from 2001 was common to several Destroid types, including the Tomahawk medium battle robot and the Defender anti-aircraft robot. The main frame from the waist down included a common module which consolidated the thermonuclear reactor and ambulatory OverTechnology system, and for the Phalanx it was combined with a new, jettisonable torso that was suited to space operations and could also act as a rescue capsule with modest independent propulsion. Thanks to this dedicated mission profile, the Phalanx was the best adapted Destroid to space operations, with the best zero-G maneuverability of any Destroid type during Space War I.
With this proven basis, the Phalanx quickly reached rollout in December of that year. Armed with dozens of missiles in two large launcher pods, the Phalanx made an excellent semi-mobile missile-based battery. On board of spaceships, the Phalanx also performed as a substitution deployment for the much more complex ADR-04-Mk X Destroid Defender, and it complemented this type with its longer-range guided missile weaponry. Minor Phalanx variants featured additional light close-range armament, such as a head-mounted gatling gun that replaced the original search light array, or more sophisticated sensor arrays. The latter led to the dedicated Mk. XIII version for space operations.
During the final battle of Space War I against the Zentraedi Bodol Zer Main Fleet, the Phalanx units, originally delivered in a sand-colored livery, were repainted in dark blue and refitted to fire long-range reaction warheads for use against space warships. The Phalanx’ on board of SDF-1 had their finest hour when the SDF-1 Macross broke through the Zentraedi fleet defenses and entered the interior of the massive Fulbtzs Berrentzs command vessel: all the Phalanx units unleashed their missiles and aided in the swift destruction of the enemy flagship.
However, Phalanx production only reached limited numbers, due to the type’s high grade of specialization and its inherent vulnerability in close combat - the Phalanx’ combat operation capability decreases substantially once the missile ordnance had been exhausted. Beyond the initial production on Earth, roughly 20 more Phalanx Destroids were also built aboard the SDF-1 Macross shipboard factories, and many of these were later updated from the Mk. XII to the Mk. XIII standard. Post-Space War I, Phalanx Destroids were deployed as part of defense forces on various military bases and used in the ground attack role as long-range infantry support artillery units, fighting from the second line of battle. Nevertheless, the Phalanx remained a stopgap solution and was quickly followed by the more versatile Destroid "Nimrod" SDR-04-Mk. XIV.
Technical Data:
Equipment Type: Space Defense Robot/heavy artillery
Accommodation: One pilot
Government: U.N. Spacy
Manufacturer: Macross Onboard Factories
Introduction: December 2009
Dimensions:
Height 12.05 meters overall (11.27 m w/o searchlight array)
Length 5.1 meters
Width 10.8 meters.
Mass: 47.2 metric tons
Powerplant:
1x Kranss-Maffai MT828 thermonuclear reactor, developing 2800 shp;
Auxillary Shinnakasu Industry CT 03 miniature thermonuclear generator, output rated at 970 kW.
Propulsion:
Biped, with limited zero-G maneuverability through many low-thrust vernier thrusters beneath multipurpose hooks/handles all over the hull.
Armament:
2x Howard SHIN-SHM-10 Derringer short-range high-maneuverability self-guided missile pods, one per arm, with 22 missiles each (missiles stored in two rows behind each other).
Production Notes:
The rather obscure Destroid Phalanx made its media debut in Super Dimension Fortress Macross, Episode 27, and it's actually the only occasion where it appears. Original mecha designer is/was Miyatake Kazutaka.
The kit and its assembly:
I have been pushing this build away from the workbench for a long time. I was – after building two conversions - missing a canonical Destroid Phalanx in my Macross mecha collection, and since I had one stashed away (you never know…) I tackled this project now. The kit is Bandai’s re-issue of Imai’s 1982 1:100 kit, a vintage “Matryoshka” construction (= build one element from two halves, place it between two more halves, etc.) which does not make the assembly process easy.
The kit was basically built OOB, but “under the hood” it received some mechanical mods and improvements. These primarily include scratched joints for the arms/launcher pods and the hip. The pods remained detachable through an internal styrene tube construction. An important improvement for the “04 chassis” is a completely now hip joint arrangement because the Phalanx’ OOB posture is pretty stiff, with the legs and feet facing straight forward. The mecha model is just supposed to just stand upright and with the model’s OOB joint options it is really hard to create a vivid poise at all, so that a 3rd dimension improves the posing options a lot. Furthermore, the bolts that hold the legs are prone to break off, even more so because the kit is from the 1st generation of mecha kits without vinyl caps and just a very tight joint fit to hold the appendages in place. My solution was the implantation of a new hip “bone”, made from plastic-coated steel wire, which is stiff in itself but can be bent in two dimensions. The thighs had to be modified accordingly, since the wire is much thinner than the original bolts, and it needs a rigid attachment point. Resulting gaps around the hip joints were filled with bits of paper tissue drenched in white glue.
Other visual improvements include launch tubes inside of the missile pods. These were made from thin plastic drinking straw material, they fill the (rather ugly and well-visible) blank space between the warheads. Additionally, the hollow “heels” were filled on their insides with putty.
While the kit itself is a pretty simple affair, fit is mediocre, and you have to expect PSR almost everywhere. A direly weak spot area is the shank’s rear: there’s a recession with a seam running right through, and there are side walls missing in the section, too. I tried to mend this through putty and decals.
Painting and markings:
Since I wanted to stick to the authentic OOB livery, I gave the model an overall basic color, a greenish-grey, dull beige (RAL 1019) from the rattle can. The canonical Phalanx also features some dark contrast highlights all over the hull, and these were created with RAL 7013 (Revell 46), an olive drab tone that looks, in contrast to the light beige, almost like a dull brown on the model. The box art suggests a very dark grey, but I found that this would not work too well with the overall light beige tone.
Strangely, the characteristic white trim on the lower legs that many Destroids carry was in this boxing provided with the decal sheet – other Destroid kits require them to be painted manually!
Otherwise there's hardly any other color on the Phalanx’ hull. The missile pod exhausts as well as the launcher interior were painted with steel metallizer (Humbrol 27003) and treated with graphite for a shiny finish, the inside of the launcher covers and the missile tips became bright red (Revell 332). The bellows in the knees became anthracite (Revell 06), later dry-brushed with a reddish brown.
Quite a challenge were the three search lights in the “head unit”, because they consist of massive molded opaque styrene. I simulated glass and depth through a bright silver base, with vertical stripes in thinned white and medium grey and a coat with white translucent paint on top of that. Finally, extra artificial light reflexes were added with opaque white paint and, finally, everything was sealed with glossy varnish, which also adds some visual depth.
The model was thoroughly weathered with a black-and-brown watercolor washing and a generous dry-brushing treatment with Hemp 168 (RAF Hemp). The decals came next, taken from the OOB sheet, the Bugs Bunny artwork on the lower right leg is a typical individual detail of many Destroids, taken from a WWII USAAF P-47D.
After some additional weathering with watercolors and some graphite rubbing around the many edges for a worn and beaten look, the model received an overall coat with acrylic matt varnish. After final assembly of the model’s elements, soot stains were added around the missile launchers’ openings as well as to the small thrusters, again with grinded graphite, and some mineral pigments were dusted onto the model with a soft, big brush, esp. around the lower areas.
A build that took some time because of the mediocre fit of the kit and the mechanical mods it IMHO requires. But I am quite happy with the outcome, “just a Destroid” in its gritty heavy ordnance look, and the dull beige suits the Phalanx well.
The crane operate looks on as riggers work to make adjustments to a newly arrived crane at this site in Richmond, Texas, near Houston. Big cranes need small parts and one is tossed up to to the guy so he does not have to hop down to get it. A more perfect throw and catch couldn't made by the Houston Astros team.
Adoption Requires Dedication to Righteousness
Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:5; Ephesians 1:5
If the Lord adopts us for his sons on the condition that our life be a representation of Christ the bond of our adoption, then unless we dedicate and devote ourselves to righteousness we not only, with the utmost treachery, revolt from our Creator, but also renounce the Savior himself.
Elliot Ritzema, 300 Quotations for Preachers from the Reformation (Pastorum Series; Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2013).
Get the blood pumping this weekend by climbing something. It's great exercise!, we all need it.
We only have six weekends remaining for 2013. Not many left to enjoy.
Have a safe weekend, people..
Generally speaking, the order that our trip through Israel took.
Here was our full schedule:
Saturday, May 25 – NEW YORK
Sunday, May 26 – WELCOME TO ISRAEL
•Bus departs Ben Gurion International Airport to Moshav Givat Chen
•Arrive Hendal’e Restaurant, Moshav Givat Chen
oIntroductions and welcome dinner
•Depart Hendal’e to Prima Millennium Hotel
On arrival, all alight from bus and proceed to group check in area
Overnight bags preferred
Overnight Prima Millennium, Ra’anana, 2 Ha-Tidhar St, Ra’anana (t: +972-9-763-6363)
Monday, May 27 – CENTRAL ISRAEL and GALILEE
•Breakfast at hotel
•08:00amCheck out and bags on bus
•08:10amDepart to Hod Hasharon
•08:30amWelcome to Israel -Israel 101- with Rabbi Leor Sinai, Co-Executive Director, Alexander Muss High School in Israel
•Depart Hod Hasharon
•Fureidis
oGuest Speaker: Ibtissam Machmeed, Womens Rights and Interfaith Activist
oGuest Speaker: Professor Esther Herzog, Beit Berl College
•Proceed north
•Arrive to Daliat El-Carmel
oLunch at Nora’s Kitchen
oGuest Speaker: Druze community
•Depart Daliat El-Carmel
•Visit to Capernaum (proper attire required)
•Depart Capernaum
•Arrive at Ramot Hotel
•Evening Presentation – Special in Uniform
oGuest Speaker: Lt Col (Res.) Tiran Attia
•Dinner
oGuest: Efi Talbi - “Mom, it’s me”
oGuest: Lt Col (Res.) Tiran Attia
•OvernightRamot Resort and Hotel, Moshav Ramot (t:011-972-4-673-2636)
Tuesday, May 28 –GOLAN HEIGHTS and NORTHERN ISRAEL
•06:30amGrab and go Breakfast at hotel
•Mt Bental on the Golan Heights – Briefing with Lt Col (Res.) Tiran Attia
•Depart Mt Bental
•Stop at Beit Asher site, Kiryat Shmona
•Academic visit to Tel Hai Academic College
oWelcome and introduction
oIndividual meetings with Tel Hai Faculty
•Depart Tel Hai Academic College
•Sandwich lunch en route on bus
•Buza Ice Cream – Coexistence in a cup
•Continue to Galilee Medical Center (GMC)
•Visit to Galilee Medical Center (GMC)
oGuest Speaker: Dr. Eyal Sela
oGuest Speaker: Dr. Masad Barhoum
•Proceed to Akko
•Mini tour of Akko with Michal Shiloah-Galnoor, Western Galilee Now
•Return to bus and depart to Haifa
•Arrival to Haifa and check in to Dan Panorama Hotel
•07:00pmAs applicable, individual meetings with Technion and University of Haifa Faculty
•OvernightDan Panorama Hotel, 107 HaNassi Blvd 107, Haifa (t:011-972-4-835-2222)
Wednesday, May 29 – HAIFA
•07:00amBreakfast at hotel
•07:30amBags on bus and check out
•07:45amDepart by foot to Promenade
•Bahá’i Gardens and view of Shrine from Terrace 19 See Appendix A
oGuest Speaker: Carmel Irandoust, Deputy Secretary General of the Baha’i International Community Secretariat See Appendix A
•08:50amDepart to The Technion
•Arrival to The Technion–Polak Visitors Center
•Academics escorted to meetings at Technion.
•As applicable, bus departs Technion to University of Haifa and Hecht Museum
•10:30amAcademic meetings at the Technion
oIndividual meetings with Technion Faculty
•10:40amAcademic meetings at University of Haifa
oIndividual meetings with University of Haifa Faculty
•12:00pmPick up from Technion and University of Haifa
•Sandwich lunch en route on bus
•Brief stop at Roman Aqueduct - Caesaria
•Arrival to Jerusalem
•Proceed to Knesset – view of government quarter
•03:00pmArrival at Knesset
•Visit to Knesset (Israel’s Parliament)
•Passports required to proceed thru security
•Visitors should note that in accordance with the Knesset dress code, entrance to the Knesset is permitted only in dignified and appropriate attire (no tank/spaghetti tops, crop tops, clothing with political slogans, shorts or ¾–length trousers, ripped trousers, short skirts and dresses, tracksuits or sweatpants, flip-flops, or clogs).
oTour of the Knesset
oMeeting with Member of Knesset, Sharren Haskell, Likud Party
oMeeting with Member of Knesset, Yehiel Tropper, Blue & White Party
•Visit and meetings at Jewish National Fund, USA Jerusalem office
oLight buffet style dinner
oIndividual academic meetings
•07:20pmA journalist’s perspective on the Middle East
oGuest Speaker: Khaled Abu Toameh, Israeli /Palestinian independent journalist
•Depart to hotel
•Arrive at Dan Jerusalem Hotel and check in
•OvernightDan Jerusalem Hotel, 32 Lehi Street, Jerusalem (t: +972-2-533-1234)
Thursday, May 30 – JERUSALEM - HEBREW UNIVERSITY and YAD VASHEM
•06:45amBreakfast discussion at hotel
•07:15amDepart hotel
•Overlook at Mt Scopus
•08:00amDepartures (as applicable) from overlook to Hebrew University Agricultural School and Weizmann Institute, Rehovot
•08:30amDepartures (as applicable) from overlook to Jerusalem area
oAs applicable, transfer to Hebrew University Mt Scopus campus
oAs applicable, transfer to Hebrew University Givat Ram campus
oAs applicable, transfer to Hadassah Medical School, Ein Kerem
oAs applicable, transfer to Jerusalem College of Technology (JCT)
•09:30amIndividual meetings with Hebrew University Faculty (Mt Scopus and Givat Ram)
oIndividual meetings with Weizmann Institute Faculty
oIndividual meetings with Hebrew University Agricultural School Faculty
oIndividual meetings with Hadassah Medical School, Ein Kerem, Faculty
oIndividual meetings with Jerusalem College of Technology Faculty
oTour of Hebrew University Mt Scopus with Faith Segal
•11:00am Commencement of multi-campus collections
•Light sandwich lunch at bus
•01:00pm Yad Vashem International Institute for Holocaust Research
oGuest Speaker, Holocaust Survivor and discussion
oGuided tour
•Visit and tour of City of David
•Optional dinner at hotel
•Overnight Dan Jerusalem Hotel, 32 Lehi Street, Jerusalem (t: 011-972-2-533-1234)
Friday, May 31 – JERUSALEM
•06:30amBreakfast at hotel
•07:15am Depart hotel
•Visit to and tour of Western Wall and Tunnels See Appendix A
•Tour of the Old City
oJewish, Christian, Muslim and Armenian Quarters, Via Dolorosa, Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Arab Shuk and Jaffa Gate
•Dome of the Rock (entry for Muslim faith adherents only)
•Lunch in a Pita – A traditional on-the-go Israeli lunch in the Jewish Quarter
•Individual academic meetings at Dan Jerusalem Hotel See Appendix B
•King David’s Tomb and Room of the Last Supper
•Mahane Yehuda market (schedule and time permitting)
•Return to hotel – free time
•06:59pmLighting of Candles before Shabbat (Sabbath) begins at sunset
•07:30pm Shabbat dinner at hotel - private room
oGuest Shabbat Hosts: Rabbi Dov and Mrs. Dina Lipman
oGuest: Ilan Regenbaum
oAfter dinner, informal discussion on terrace overlooking Jerusalem
•Overnight Dan Jerusalem Hotel, 32 Lehi Street, Jerusalem (t: 011-972-2-533-1234)
Saturday, June 1 – MASADA and DEAD SEA
•06:45amShabbat breakfast at hotel
•07:20amCheck out and bags on bus
•07:30am Depart hotel
•Photo stop at Sea Level
•Visit to Jordan River – Qasr Al Yahud
•Visit and tour of Masada National Park
•Visit to Dead Sea Premier Beach
oLunch
oDead Sea swim experience (bring swimwear and flip flops – it is recommended not to shave at least 24 hours prior to entry into the Dead Sea
•Depart to Be’er Sheva
•View of Be’er Sheva River Park, Amphitheatre, Promenade and site of future Alexander Muss High School in Israel
•Ethiopian Experience at Ronald Lauder Employment Center, Old City
oGuest Speaker: Naftali Aklum
oGuest Speaker: Tamar Gil
•OvernightLeonardo Be’er Sheva , 4 Henrietta Szold St, Be’er Sheva (t:011-972-8-640-5444)
Sunday, June 2 – BE’ER SHEVA
•07:30amBreakfast at hotel
•08:10amCheck out and bags on bus
•Meet JNF Shorashim Birthright participants
•08:20amDepart hotel
•08:30amArrive Ben Gurion University
•09:00amAcademic Visit to Ben Gurion University See Appendix A
oGreetings and address by Professor Limor Aharonson-Daniel, Vice Rector for International Academic Affairs
oWelcome by Shai Kaplan, ASU-BGU Partnership project manager
oArrange take away sandwiches for bus from BGU
•Depart Ben Gurion University. Proceed to Hura
•Visit to Hura and Project Wadi Attir and visit to Bedouin Traditional Hospitality Tent See Appendix A
oGuest Speaker: Dr. Lina Alatawna
oGuest Speaker: Dr. Yasmeen Abu Fraiha
oGuest Speaker: Ghadir Hani on the status and role of Bedouin women with Project Wadi Attir
•Depart Hura and proceed to Rahat
•Visit and tour of SodaStream
•Depart Rahat
•Visit to Kibbutz Nirim
oGuest Speaker: Adele Raemer
•Depart Nirim and proceed to Sderot
•Visit and tour of Jewish National Fund’s Sderot Indoor Recreation Center
oSpeaker: Yedidya Harush
oSpeaker: Michal Uziyahu
oLight dinner
•Depart Sderot and proceed to Ashkelon
•OvernightLeonardo Ashkelon, Golani Street (t:011-972-8-911-1111)
Monday, June 3 – SDEROT and NORTHERN NEGEV
•Optional - Morning walk along beach with guide
•08:00amBreakfast at hotel
•08:40amCheck out and bags on bus
•08:50amDepart hotel
•09:30amAcademic visit to Sapir College See Appendix A
oWelcome greeting by Dr. Ronen Arbel
oGuest Speaker: Dr. Willy Abraham
oPTSD – the effects of long term trauma living on the border
•Depart Sderot to Sde Boker
•Academic Visit to Ben Gurion University - Zuckerberg Water Institute at Sde Boker
oTour of institute
oIndividual academic meetings with Zuckerberg Water Institute Faculty
oLunch
•Visit to Ben Gurion’s grave
•Proceed to Mitzpe Ramon
•View of Machtesh Mitzpe Ramon
•Proceed to Kibbutz Ketura (via rest stop at Neot Smadar)
•Arrive Kibbutz Ketura
•Free time
•07:30pmBBQ Dinner with AIES staff and kibbutz residents
•OvernightKeren Kolot Guest House, Kibbutz Ketura (c: 011-972-53-941-9109)
Tuesday, June 4 – ARAVA
•06:45amBags on bus
•07:00amBreakfast on Kibbutz Ketura
oTour of kibbutz
oMethusaleh tree and new trees
•08:30amAcademic visit to Arava Institute of Environmental Studies (AIES) See Appendix A
oGreetings and introduction by Executive Director, David Lehrer and Director of Diplomacy, Cathie Granit
oAIES Faculty David Lehrer, Dr Tareq Abu Hamed, Academic Director and Director for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation, Dr Elaine Soloway, Director of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture, and Suleiman Halassah, research for the Center of Transboundary Water Management
oIndividual academic meetings with AIES faculty
oTour of Solar off-grid Village
•10:30amDepart Kibbutz Ketura
•Academic visit to Arava International Center for Agricultural Training (AICAT)
oDiscussion with Hanni Arnon, Director of Arava International Center for Agricultural Training
oIntroduction to Msc Plant Biology students from Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Kenya
oPresentation with AICAT Faculty and students
•12:30pmContinue to Vidor Center, Hatzeva
•12:50pmVisit to Vidor Visitors Center/Research and Development Station
oGuest speaker: Noa Zer, Regional Council Resources Development Director
oTour of research hothouses
oSandwich lunch on terrace
•02:30pmDepart Hatzeva to Tel Aviv (with rest stop en route)
•05:30pmArrive Nahlat Binyamin Arts and Crafts pedestrian precinct and Carmel Market, Tel Aviv
•Walking tour to hotel
•Check in
•07:30pmGuest Speaker in Private room – Former Member of Knesset, Merav Michaeli, Zionist Union/Labor Party (TBC)
•Free night
•Overnight Dan Panorama Hotel, 10 Kaufmann St, Tel Aviv (t: 011-972-3-519-0190)
Wednesday, June 5 – TEL AVIV
•07:00amBreakfast at hotel and informal discussion
•07:40amDepartures from hotel to:
oAs applicable, transfer to IDC Herzliya
oAs applicable, transfer to Volcani Institute
oAs applicable, transfer to Netanya Academic College
•07:45amBus departs to Tel Aviv University and Bar Ilan University
•08:30amAcademic visit to Tel Aviv University (TAU) See Appendix A
oGroup visit to Cymbalista Synagogue
oIndividual academic meetings with Tel Aviv University Faculty
•09:00amAcademic visits to Bar Ilan University, IDC Herzliya,and Holon Institute of Technology (as applicable)
oIndividual academic meetings with Tel Aviv University Faculty
oIndividual academic meetings with Bar Ilan University Faculty See Appendix B
oIndividual academic meetings with IDC Herzliya
oIndividual academic meetings with Netanya Academic College
oIndividual academic meetings with Volcani Institute
•10:30amCollections from IDC Herzliya, Volcani Institute, Netanya Academic College and Bar Ilan University to Ramat Aviv (as applicable)
•11:30amVisit and Guided Tour of Peres Center See Appendix A
oIntroduction and Guest Speaker: Nadav Tamir
•Quick bite on own at beachside kiosk
•01:45pmDepartures from Jaffa to (as applicable):
oTransfers to Tel Aviv University See Appendix A and Tel Hashomer
•02:05pmBus with remainder of group departs to Volcani Institute
•02:30pmAcademic visits to Tel Aviv University and Tel HaShomer,(as applicable)
oIndividual academic meetings with Tel Aviv University Faculty
oIndividual academic meeting with Tel HaShomer See Appendix B
•02:35pmArrive Volcani Institute
•Academic Visit to Volcani Institute
oGroup presentation
oIndividual academic meetings with Volcani Faculty
•04:00pmDepartures from Tel Aviv University and Tel HaShomer
•04:15pmBus departs Volcani Institute
•05:00pmTour of Old Jaffa (all vehicles meet and rejoin)
•06:30pmProceed to Dan Gourmet Cooking School
•Overnight Dan Panorama Hotel, 10 Kaufmann St, Tel Aviv (t: 011-972-3-519-0190)
Thursday, June 6 – TEL AVIV
•08:00amBreakfast at hotel
•08:30amGuest Speaker Joe Hyams – Start Up Nation – Honest Reporting
oChuck Fax – Positively Israel
•09:45amBags on bus and check out
•Walk Shalom Building/Bauhaus
•11:00amDepart Tel Aviv
•11:30amVisit to Rabin Center
oPrivate tour of center with Rabin Center guide
oPrivate room - Guest Speaker: Dalia Rabin, Chair of the Yitzhak Rabin Center and daughter of former Prime Minister, Yitzhak Rabin.
•Depart to Tel Aviv
•Pass by Rabin Memorial at City Hall
•02:00pmArrive Sarona
oOverview of Sarona and area by Jacob
oIndividual academic meetings at Sarona
oQuick bite on own at Sarona Food Hall/Market/Outdoor cafes
•03:00pmDepart Sarona
•03:30pmVisit to Biblical Forest at Neot Kedumim
•Opportunity for each participant to plant a tree
•Return to Tel Aviv
•06:00pmFarewell dinner – Keren and Yael at Lilienblum
oSpecial Guest: Titi Ayenew – Former Miss Israel and international model
oSpecial Guests: Israel's Gold medal Judo winners, Ori Sasson, Peter Palchik and Sagi Muki. The three will share their individual experiences, including having Israel's national anthem, Hatikvah, played for the first time in Abu Dhabi, and having games forfeited, decisions made by Iranian and Egyptian officials who would not allow their players to compete with an Israeli.
Appendix A
APPENDIX A: Program Component Background Information
Monday, May 27th
•Fureidis
Fureidis is a town situated on the coastal plain with approximately 10,000 predominantly Arab residents.
•Daliat El-Carmel
Sitting high on the slopes of Mt Carmel, this Druze town has an exceptionally unique character. It is a colorful town that offers wonderful hospitality with a smile and is also very interesting. The Druze is an ethnic group that split off from Islam in Egypt about 1,000 years ago. According to the Druze, their religion is the renewal of an ancient faith that became a secret known only to the group’s sages. Daliat El-Carmel was founded in the 17th century by Druze from Mt. Lebanon.
•Tiran Attia
Lt. Col. (Res.) Tiran Attia serves as Director of Special in Uniform, an innovative program that aims to integrate young people with autism and other disabilities into the IDF and, in turn, into Israeli society. After their service, Special in Uniform helps usher its graduates toward a self-sufficient life, through employment or other meaningful societal involvement, once they are discharged from the army.
Over the course of his distinguished 28-year career in the Israel Defense Forces, Lt. Col. Attia commanded a tank, the IDF's Technology and Logistics Forces training program, and the Sar-El program for army volunteers from around the world.
Tuesday, May 28th
•Tel Hai College
Tel-Hai College is the leading public academic college in Israel and an engine of change for the educational, economic and social development of the Upper Galilee. Since becoming an independent academic institution in 1996, Tel-Hai's innovative curriculum, diverse student life and pluralistic atmosphere, and growing reputation for academic excellence have attracted students from across the country to join in building our unique community of learning and gained the attention of scholars and researchers around the world. Tel-Hai strives for the best where it is needed most - doing our utmost to serve the people of the northern periphery of Israel and tap into the region's extraordinary potential. We believe we can see the future from here, and that we are building it every day in both the classroom and the community. We invite you to explore that work with us by learning more about our courses, our faculty and our wonderful students, as well as our passion to make the Galilee a place where more Tel-Hai graduates - and more Israelis - will want to live, work and make their home.
•Galilee Medical Center
Galilee Medical Center is a hospital located in the coastal city of Nahariya, and is the second largest hospital in northern Israel (after Rambam Hospital in Haifa). It was established in 1956.
The hospital located on the outskirts of Nahariya, three kilometers from the city center, serving half a million residents of the western Galilee, from Karmiel to the coast.
Since its modest beginning as a small maternity hospital, The WGH has grown into a 651-bed facility. The emergency room receives about 400 people every day and the number of hospitalizations is about 60,000 a year. Approximately 420 physicians’ practice in this government owned hospital, while the total number of employees is about 2200. The hospital staff is a reflection of the Multi-ethnic demography of the Western Galilee; consisting of Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze and others. In 2007, the Western Galilee Hospital was the first to appoint an Arab Israeli, Dr. Masad Barhoum, as its director.
•Dr. Eyal Sela
Dr. Eyal Sela, Director of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery, joined Galilee Medical Center’s administration in 2013. Since then Dr. Sela and his inspiring staff have been leaders in the medical revolution sweeping the Western Galilee by providing new and innovative services to the residents of Israel’s northern periphery.
As Head of the Ear, Nose, Throat, and Head and Neck (ENT) Student Program, Bar-Ilan University Faculty of Medicine in the Galilee, Dr. Sela is leading the training of Israel’s newest ENT practitioners. Formerly a lecturer at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology Medical School in Haifa, Israel (the "Technion"), Dr. Sela was recognized for his excellence in teaching for three consecutive academic years as an outstanding lecturer at Bar-Ilan University and the Technion.
Dr. Sela graduated medical school at the Technion in 1997 followed by a residency at the Carmel Medical Center in Haifa. Moreover, he completed a two-year Fellowship in Head and Neck Oncologic and Reconstructive Surgery at Jewish General Hospital, McGill
University, in Montreal, Canada during 2010 – 2012. Prior to his Fellowship, he was an
ENT Specialist on the full-time staff in the Otolaryngology Department at Carmel
Medical Center in Haifa, Israel from 2006 – 2010. Additionally, he served as a Facial Cosmetic Consultant and Surgeon, for Clalit Aesthetics during 2009 and 2010.
Dr. Sela has published numerous studies and presented at many national and international conferences. As the Head of the department of ENT, Dr. Sela is leading vast prospective and retrospective academic research along with his senior and junior staff and engaging medical students at the cutting-edge of medicine for new treatments.
Dr. Sela also acts as a key speaker for visitors and media outlets wishing to understand the treatment of victims of Syrian violence as head of one of the main departments caring for many of the more than 2,000 patients who have escaped Syrian violence to seek care at Galilee Medical Center since March 2013. Dr. Sela has received wide international attention for his presentation, highlighting some of the Department’s more unique trauma cases to arise from the care of Syrian patients. Dr. Sela is a shining beacon for Galilee Medical Center’s driving focus, “Adam l’Adam, Adam” meaning a "Person should relate to another person as a human being" or “People to People” medicine.
• Dr. Masoud Barhoum
Dr. Masoud Barhoum was born in Shefaram, Israel, to Arab Christian parents who emphasized the human values of moral integrity. Dr. Barhoum is married to Dr. Marie Barhoum, a pediatric endocrinologist, and they are the parents of 3 daughters.
Dr. Barhoum began his medical studies in 1979 at Rappaport Faculty of Medicine,
Technion Institute of Technology, and in 1985 completed his internship at Rambam Medical Center, Haifa. He was an internal medicine resident from 1986-1990, but chose to transfer to family medicine, partially in order to take upon himself an equal part of the tasks at home, including child-rearing.
In 1990, Dr. Barhoum and his family took up residence in Kibbutz Ramat Hashofet for the next 10 years, living as an integral part of the kibbutz family, while completing his residency in family medicine and receiving a Maste's Degree in Public Health
Administration from Haifa University. In the latter years of the 1990's, Dr. Barhoum was appointed director of the Clalit HMO’s Home Care System in Haifa and the Western Galilee, followed by director of its northern region Home Hospitalization Unit.
Wednesday, May 29th
•Bahá’i Temple and Gardens
Haifa is the international headquarters for the Bahá’í Faith, which began amidst persecution in Persia in the mid-19th century. They believe in the unity of all religions and believe that messengers of God like Moses, Jesus and Muhammad have been sent at different times in history with doctrines varying to fit changing social needs but bringing substantially the same message.
The beautiful gardens were originally planned by Shoghi Effendi, the late Guardian of the Faith, and they have recently undergone a massive redesign aimed at putting them on the world's horticultural map.
The Bahá’í gardens are now a geometric cascade of hanging gardens and terraces down to Ben Gurion Boulevard -a gift of visual pleasure to the city that gave the Baha'i religion its home and headquarters.
•Technion – Israel’s Institute of Technology
After some years of intense pioneering activities, with which Prof. Albert Einstein's deep involvement, the Technion opened its doors in 1924, becoming Israel’s first modern university.
The developing state created new demands on the veteran university. To meet these needs, Technion launched a variety of ambitious projects, including the establishment of the Department of Aeronautical Engineering in 1949, which laid the foundation for Israel’s successful aerospace industries and Air Force.
Recognizing the growing trend in interdisciplinary activity, Technion established several new departments, including Biomedical Engineering, Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, and the SolidState Institute. Throughout the upheaval and change, Technion remained at the forefront of the nation's activities – from producing technologies for guaranteeing Israel's future security, to planning cooperative regional research projects in subjects such as desalination and nuclear energy. The Technion's world-wide reputation for excellence has been strengthened through intensified research in various fields spanning from nuclear power options for Israel to a new program in marine engineering, and pioneer work in the field of industrial robotics. In 1998, Technion successfully launched the "Gurwin TechSat II" microsatellite, making Technion one of five universities with a student program that designs, builds, and launches its own satellite.
•Haifa University
The campus of the University of Haifa spreads along the Carmel Mountain ridge southeast of the city of Haifa and is surrounded by the Carmel National Park. The University was established in 1963 under the joint auspices of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Haifa Municipality. In 1972, it gained academic accreditation as a separate institution from the Council for Higher Education. The University of Haifa is the most pluralistic institution of higher education in Israel: sons and daughters of both veteran cities and development towns, kibbutzim and moshavim, new immigrants, Jews, Arabs, and Druze, IDF officers and security personnel—all sitting together on the bench of knowledge in an atmosphere of coexistence, tolerance, and mutual respect. The University considers the link-up between academic excellence and social responsibility as its flagship, and service to the community as one of its important goals.
There are over 17,000 students studying towards a degree (B.A., M.A., or Ph.D.). The University offers six Faculties: Humanities, Social Sciences, Sciences and Science Education, Law, Social Welfare and Health Studies, and Education and five Schools: Business Administration.
•Member of Knesset Sharren Haskel
Sharren Haskel is an Israeli member of the Knesset for Likud. She is the youngest member of Likud and the second youngest member of the 20th Knesset.
Haskel lived in Australia and volunteered at WIRES, an organization that rescue wild animals, treat them and release them back into the wild. She is active on environmental and animal rights issues, with a particular focus on water pollution coming out of areas under the control of the Palestinian Authority.
Haskel has been labeled the most active and influential Member of Knesset for civil freedom, individual rights and economic freedom in Israel for 2016. In May 2016 MK Haskel was recognized by the "Jewish Journal" the United States as a leader of new generation of woman in politics, mainly for her extensive work around the world to defend Israel’s policy and government.
•Member of Knesset Yehiel Tropper
MK Tropper was born in Jerusalem, one of nine children of Rabbi Daniel Tropper. During his national service in the Israel Defense Forces, he was part of the Duvdevan Unit. He subsequently became a social worker and earned a BA in humanities from the Open University and an MA in Jewish history and education from the Lander Institute. He worked for the Bat Yam municipality and also ran the Branco Weiss School in Ramle.
Prior to the 2013 Knesset elections Tropper was placed twenty-third on the Labor Party list but the party won only 15 seats. He was subsequently appointed as an advisor to Minister of Education Shai Piron. When Piron left the government in 2015, Tropper became Director of the Education, Welfare and Culture Division in Yeruham.
In the build-up to the 2019 elections he joined the new Israel Resilience Party founded by his friend Benny Gantz. He was elected to the Knesset as Blue and White.
Tropper is married with four children and lives in Nes Harim.
• Khaled Abu Toameh
Khaled Abu Toameh is the West Bank and Gaza correspondent for The Jerusalem Post and U.S. News and World Report. He previously served as a senior writer for the Jerusalem Report, and was a correspondent for Al-Fajr. He has produced several documentaries on the Palestinians for the BBC and many other networks, including ones that exposed the connection between Arafat and payments to the armed wing of Fatah and the financial corruption within the Palestinian Authority.
Mr. Abu Toameh was born in the West Bank city of Tulkarem in 1963 to an Israeli Arab father and a Palestinian Arab mother from the West Bank. AbuToameh received his BA in English Literature from the Hebrew University.
Thursday, May 30th
•Hebrew University
The dream of establishing a "University of the Jewish People" in the Land of Israel formed an integral part of the early Zionist vision. With the acquisition of the Gray Hill estate atop Mount Scopus, and the laying of the cornerstone for the university-to-be in 1918, the realization of the dream was on its way. Seven years later, on April 1, 1925, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem was opened.
Today, HUJI researchers figure at the forefront of international science - from biotechnology and computer science to astrophysics and cancer research, from microbiology to solar energy and genetic engineering, as well as the humanities, including Jewish studies, social sciences and law. Nearly 40% of all civilian scientific research in Israel is conducted at the Hebrew University. The University is home to 100 subject-related and interdisciplinary research centers. Thirty percent of all doctoral candidates in Israel are enrolled at HUJI. Sixteen percent of all the research conducted at the University finds application in high-tech industry.
More than 24,000 students are enrolled at the University, including 12,000 undergraduates, 7600 master's degree students, 2,600 doctoral candidates, and 1000 at the Rothberg School for Overseas Students.
•Yad Vashem
Yad Vashem, Israel’s national Holocaust museum, presents a profoundly Jewish memorial of the Shoah. You will listen to survivors’ testimonies, view personal possessions belonging to victims and examine state-of-the-art displays aimed at preserving the story of each of the six million victims. From its dramatic structure designed by world-renowned architect Moshe Sadie – which cuts through the mountain in the form of a spike – to its powerful exhibits, such as the labyrinthine Valley of the Communities.
The tour of Yad Vashem will be a special experience which will both allow you to explore the museum in a more independent manner.
Friday, May 31st
•City of David
The story of the City of David, known in Hebrew as Ir David, began over 3,000 years ago, when King David left the city of Hebron for a small hilltop city known as Jerusalem, establishing it as the unified capital of the tribes of Israel.
Years later, David's son, King Solomon, built the First Temple next to the City of David on top of Mount Moriah, the site of the binding of Isaac, and with it, this hilltop became one of the most important sites in the world.
Today, the story of the City of David continues. Deep underground, the City of David is revealing some of the most exciting archeological finds of the ancient world. While above ground, the city is a vibrant center of activity with a visitor's center that welcomes visitors for an exciting tour to the site where much of the Bible was written.
•The Old City
The Old City in Jerusalem, is a 0.9 square kilometers (0.35 sq. mi) walled area within the modern city of Jerusalem. Until 1860, when the Jewish neighborhood, Mishkenot Sha'ananim, was established, this area constituted the entire city of Jerusalem. The Old
City is home to several sites of key religious importance: the Temple Mount and its Western Wall for Jews, the Church of the Holy Sepulcher for Christians, and the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque for Muslims.
Traditionally, the Old City has been divided into four quarters, although the current designations were introduced only in the 19th century. Today, the Old City is roughly divided into the Muslim Quarter, the Christian Quarter, the Jewish Quarter and the Armenian Quarter. Following the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, the Old City was occupied by Jordan and the Jewish residents were evicted. Today, Israel controls the entire area, which it considers as part of its national capital. In 2010, Jerusalem's oldest fragment of writings was found outside of the Old City's walls.
•Western Wall and Tunnels
The Western Wall in the midst of the Old City in Jerusalem is the section of the Western supporting wall of the Temple Mount which has remained intact since the destruction of the Second Jerusalem Temple (70 C.E.). It became the most sacred spot in Jewish religious and national consciousness and tradition by virtue of its proximity to the Western Wall of the Holy of Holies in the Temple, from which, according to numerous sources, the Divine Presence never departed. It became a center of mourning over the destruction of the Temple and Israel's exile, on the one hand, and of religious - in 20th century also national - communion with the memory of Israel's former glory and the hope for its restoration, on the other.
The Western Wall Tunnel is an underground tunnel exposing the full length of the Western Wall. The tunnel is adjacent to the Western Wall and is located under buildings of the Old City of Jerusalem, Israel. While the open-air portion of the Western Wall is approximately 60 meters (200 ft.) long, the majority of its original length is hidden underground. The tunnel allows access to an additional 485 meters (1,591 ft.) of the wall.
•Shabbat
Six days a week, we compete with the natural world, building, subduing and struggling to overcome. On Shabbat, we experience a rest from this effort – it becomes a time for the spirit to rejuvenate, study, reconnect with family, friends and, just as important as oneself.
Shabbat offers the Jews a powerful spiritual opportunity to develop as individuals and as a nation. On the Sabbath, when we cease our daily activities, we allow our soul to dominate and perhaps, ascend to a higher spiritual plane. In a sense, each Sabbath is a chance for each individual to bring about the kabalistic principle of tikunolam, the mending of the universe. Shabbat is often referred to as the Shabbat Kallah, the Sabbath bride, a theme found throughout the traditional night prayers. Sixteenth century mystics of Safed created the Friday evening service, called in Hebrew, Kabalat Shabbat, which means Welcoming the Sabbath
•MK Dov Lipman
Dov, born in Washington D.C., served as a member of Knesset (2013-2015) with the Yesh Atid party. Lipman was the first American-born member in nearly 30 years. During this time, he served on several committees including the Finance Committee, The Immigration Committee, the Absorption and Dispora Affairs Committee, the Knesset
House Committee, and the special committee for the legislation drafting the ultraOrthodox into military and national service. Lipman earned his Master’s in Education at John Hopkins University and is an ordained Rabbi.
•Lone Soldiers
In the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), a lone soldier is defined as a serviceman or woman without immediate family in Israel. Lone soldiers serve in regular units and receive various forms of support from the IDF, Israeli government ministries and other organizations.
Their exact number fluctuates over time, but is consistently in the thousands; the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency reported in April 2012 that there were an "estimated 5,000". About 40% of them serve in combat units. According to an IDF spokeswoman, 8,217 personnel born outside Israel enlisted between 2009 and August 2012. The most represented countries of origin were Russia and the United States, with 1,685 and 1,661 recruits respectively.
Saturday, June 1st
• Masada
Masada (Hebrew for fortress), is situated atop an isolated rock cliff at the western end of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. It is a place of gaunt and majestic beauty.
Some 75 years after Herod’s death, at the beginning of the Revolt of the Jews against the Romans in 66 CE, a group of Jewish rebels overcame the Roman garrison of Masada. After the fall of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple (70 CE) they were joined by zealots and their families who had fled from Jerusalem. With Masada as their base, they raided and harassed the Romans for two years. Then, in 73CE, the Roman governor Flavius Silva marched against Masada with the Tenth Legion, auxiliary units and thousands of Jewish prisoners-of-war. The Romans established camps at the base, laid siege to it and built a circumvallation wall. They then constructed a rampart of thousands of tons of stones and beaten earth against the western approaches of the fortress. In the spring of 74 CE, they moved a battering ram up the ramp and breached the wall of the fortress.
The defenders, approx. 1,000 men, women and children, led by Eleazar ben Yair, decided to burn the fortress and end their own lives, rather than be taken alive. They cast lots to choose 10 men to kill the remainder. They then chose the one man who would kill the survivors. That last Jew then killed himself.
The heroic story of Masada and its dramatic end attracted many explorers to the Judean desert in attempts to locate the remains of the fortress. To the Israelis, Masada symbolizes the determination of the Jewish people to be free in its own land.
• Dead Sea
The Dead Sea is the lowest place on earth, roughly 1,300 feet (400 meters) below sea level. It is 34 miles (55 km.) long and varies between 11 miles (18 km.) and 2 miles (3 km.) in width. The Sea is 1,400 feet (430 m.) deep. This unique sea is fed by the Jordan River. There is no outflow; and the exceptionally high rate of evaporation (high temperatures, low humidity) produces large quantities of raw chemicals. These are extracted and exported throughout the world for use in medicine, agriculture and industry.
The Dead Sea is actually shrinking. The southern end is now fed by a canal maintained by the Dead Sea Works, a company that converts the Sea's raw materials, particularly phosphates, into commercial products
Naftali Aklum
Naftali Aklum was born in Ethiopia in 1979. The following year, in 1980, Aklum’s parents were among the first groups to make Aliya to Israel via Sudan in what later became known as “Operation Moses.” Aklum is the youngest of twelve brothers and sisters, his late brother Ferede Aklum was the first Ethiopian Jew to make the journey to Jerusalem via Sudan, with Ferede then setting the stage for others to follow: after reaching Sudan in 1978, the letter Ferede wrote requesting assistance to make Aliya found its way to Menachem Begin, who then set in motion the remarkable, secret operation in which
North America Jewry played such a vital role. In his footsteps, literally, over 8,000 – off 12,000 successfully reached Jerusalem after 2,500 years of yearning
Aklum was raised and educated in Beersheba. In the army he served as a firefighter. Afkum graduated from Ben Gurion University in 2008 with a concentration in politics, government, history and Middle Eastern Studies.
Aklum participated in a number of delegations, including a 1996 visit to the United
States with the Anti-Defamation League, and in 2002, he spent a year with “Israel at Heart,” sharing the story of Israel and Ethiopian Jewry. Aklum volunteeres to help children in the city of Beersheba through its Council for the Well-Being of Children, and he served as a mentor to other Ethiopian-Israeli academics to assist them in their job placement efforts
Since 2010, Aklum have played a critical role in ENP’s SPACE (School Performance and
Community Empowerment) Scholastic Assistance Program. In his capacity as Director of
Educational Programs. He is responsible for the emotional and social well-being of 150 7th through 12th graders and oversees 15 teachers who provide intensive scholastic assistance to ENP participants.
Through Naftali’s work over the years, thousands of children have been inspired and motivated to succeed, knowing they have a mentor, a friend and a big brother who will do everything in his power to help them succeed.
Sunday, June 2nd
• Ben Gurion University
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev was established with the aim to spearhead the development of the Negev, a desert area comprising more than sixty percent of the country. The University was inspired by the vision of Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, who believed that the future of the country lay in this region.
Today, Ben-Gurion University is a major center for teaching and research, with over
17,000 students enrolled in the faculties of Engineering Sciences, Health Sciences, Natural Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences, the Guilford Glazer School of Business and Management and the Kreitman School of Advanced Graduate Studies.
Ben-Gurion University is a world leader in arid zone research, offering its expertise to many developing countries. Its world-famous Joyce and Irving Goldman Medical School has become a model for community-oriented and global medicine. In keeping with its mandate, it plays a key role in promoting industry, agriculture and education in the Negev. Its students are known for their activities in the community, and thousands of them take part in special tutoring projects.
• Professor Limor Aharonson-Daniel
Prof. Limor Aharonson-Daniel, Vice-Rector for International Academic Affairs is the founding director of the PREPARED Center for Emergency Response Research at BenGurion University of the Negev. Limor has a BSc in Statistics from Tel-Aviv University and a PhD in Community Medicine from The University of Hong Kong. She joined BGU in 2008 after being the deputy director of The Israel National Center for Trauma and Emergency Medicine Research. In 2009 she opened and headed the Masters’ Program in Emergency Preparedness and Response (Dept. of Emergency Medicine). She then became head of the department of Emergency Medicine (2011-2016).
Limor is an expert in injury epidemiology. Apart from her contribution to international classification of injury, several of her studies resulted in innovative approaches and instruments to facilitate practically oriented studies of disasters and emergency situations. Among these are the Barell Matrix and the Conjoint Community Resiliency Assessment Measure (CCRAM). Limor has published extensively in peer reviewed journals and authored several book chapters both on Injury Research Methods and on Disaster Preparedness Assessment.
As Vice Rector for International Academic Affairs and head of BGU International, Limor strives to increase the number of courses and programs taught in English at BGU, and to increase student and staff academic mobility and exchange.
Project Wadi Attir
Located near the Bedouin town of Hura, Project Wadi Attir seeks to develop and demonstrate a model for sustainable, community-based agricultural enterprise, adapted to a desert environment.
It is designed to combine Bedouin aspirations, values and experience with sustainability principles, modern day science and cutting-edge technologies. The project was initiated in order to showcase a breakthrough approach to environmentally-sound sustainable development. It will make a real difference locally and will serve as a model for arid regions in other parts of the world.
•Ghadir Hani
Director, Public Relations, Project Wadi Atir and Organizer, Department of Economic Development, Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation, Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and Development.
•SodaStream
SodaStream International Ltd. is an Israeli drinks company best known as the maker of the consumer home carbonation product of the same name. The device, like a soda syphon, carbonates water by adding carbon dioxide from a pressurized cylinder to create soda water (or carbonated water) to drink. The company also sells more than 100 types of concentrated syrups and flavorings to make carbonated drinks.
The company was founded in 1903 in England. After the company merged with SodaClub in 1998, it was relaunched with an emphasis on healthier drinks. It went public on the NASDAQ stock exchange in November 2010. SodaStream is headquartered in Lod, Israel and has 13 production plants. Until 2015 its principal manufacturing facility was located in the Mishor Adumim Industrial Park in the West Bank, creating controversy and a boycott campaign. The boycott campaign resulted in the closing of the
SodaStream factory in Ma'ale Adumim in October 2015, with more than 500 Palestinian workers losing their jobs. The factory moved to a new facility in Lehavim.
•Adele Raemer
Born and raised in the Bronx, Adele Raemer, a former member of Young Judea Zionist Youth Movement, made Aliyah in 1973. She has lived in Kibbutz Nirim, on the border with the Gaza Strip since 1975, when she moved there as part of her IDF service. In recent years, Adele has become the unofficial voice of Israelis living in the Western Negev’s border communities. She gives talks about her region and tours of her borderlying kibbutz, helping visitors to understand the realities of living in the shadow of rockets and on the frontlines every day. During Operation Pillar of Defense, Adele became an unwitting war correspondent, being interviewed by various news media outlets. During Operation Protective Edge, she had the harrowing experience of escorting areporter into a terror tunnel located near her home.
Adele is a teacher of English as a Foreign Language, as well as a teacher trainer and counselor for the Israeli Ministry of Education. She blogs for The Times of Israel, and is the founder and moderator of the Facebook page “Life on the Border with Gaza.” Here Adele and her neighbors depict what life is really like in the Gaza envelope.
•Sderot
Sderot lies one kilometer (0.62 miles) from the Gaza Strip and town of Beit Hanoun. Since the beginning of the Second Intifada in October 2000, the city has been under constant rocket fire from Qassam rockets launched by Hamas and Islamic Jihad. Despite the imperfect aim of these homemade projectiles, they have caused deaths and injuries, as well as significant damage to homes and property, psychological distress and emigration from the city. The Israeli government has installed a "Red Dawn" alarm system to warn citizens of impending rocket attacks, although its effectiveness has been questioned. Citizens only have 15 seconds to reach shelter after the sounding of the alarm. Thousands of Qassam rockets have been launched since Israel's disengagement from the Gaza Strip in September 2005.
In May 2007, a significant increase in shelling from Gaza prompted the temporary evacuation of thousands of residents. Over 6,300 rockets have fallen on the city.
•Sderot Indoor Playground
In 10 short months Jewish National Fund (JNF) did what no one thought could be done – built the largest secure indoor recreation center for the children of Sderot.
Over the past few years, the Israeli communities on the border with Gaza have endured continual Kassam rocket attacks. These attacks are untargeted, but some have hit residences and schools, killing 11 citizens and hurting hundreds more. The city of Sderot, located on the border with Gaza, has been hardest hit — its children growing up in the shadow of violence, fear, and uncertainty.
To directly impact the lives of the children of Sderot and provide them with the chance to simply be kids, Jewish National Fund embarked on a massive project: building the largest indoor playground in Israel in Sderot. The all-inclusive Indoor Recreational Center opened on March 10, 2009 to provide Sderot’s youth, (also its senior citizens), with a place to have fun, connect with friends, enjoy stimulating classes, and be children, beyond the conflict. A place to feel strong and free, away from their daily helplessness and anxiety and parents can have peace of mind knowing that their children are playing and learning in an environment that is safe and secure.
Yedidyah Harush
Yedidya Harush is the community representative for Israeli residents living on the GazaEgypt border in the Halutza region, which was established after Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip (Gush Katif) in 2005. Growing up there, Yedidya was recruited to play basketball in the New York Yeshiva league, in a joint effort to help the children and young adults of Gush Katif evacuees lead a normal life while their families and homes were in distress.
Last year, during Operation Protective Edge, when repeated rocket attacks struck southern Israel, Yedidya’s reserve elite IDF unit and Halutza’s residents helped secure the local border and protect the country.
Yedidya is inspired to make Ben Gurion's dream in the Negev a reality. The community faces many challenges in this remote area, and building a medical center is a high priority.
• Michal Uziyahu
Michal Uziyahu is now the executive assistant to the Mayor of Eshkol regional council who is located on the border triangle with Gaza and Egypt. During the last four years she served as the Israeli Emissary in the Jewish Community in Colorado.
Michal was born and raised in Negev. After earning her Bachelors’ degree and her MBA, Michal and her husband decided to stay in the Negev and raise their three wonderful children.
Michal worked for the Negev Development Authority for six years and collaborated with JNF on developing the Negev. Michal’s Jewish identity was strengthened during her stay in the US. In addition, she was made aware of the importance of the US and Israel’s relationship.
Monday, June 3rd
•Sapir College
Sapir College is in the northern Negev. The beautifully landscaped campus is composed of dozens of buildings, in the rural setting of the surrounding kibbutzim.
Among members of Sapir’s teaching faculty are outstanding lecturers from Israel’s leading universities. Over 8,000 students, from Israel and overseas, are currently attending Sapir. Many of the Israeli students are from the Galilee, central Israel and, of course, from the south. They are offered a wide range of applied study tracks that assure graduates quick inclusion in the job market and admission to post-graduate degrees in universities in Israel and elsewhere.
•Ben Gurion University – Zuckerberg Institute of Water Research
ZIWR scientists use experimental and theoretical approaches to conduct fundamental research related to water in order to understand wide-ranging phenomena.
Our broad-based research encompasses nanoscience and pore scale phenomena and extends to pilot projects and field studies
.
Our interdisciplinary team includes hydrologists, soil scientists, geologists, chemists, microbiologists, and engineers. The result is a unique scientific environment facilitating the investigation of environmental challenges and the development of engineering solutions for water-related problems. Young and dynamic, the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research is open to change, and research topics are “fine-tuned" to remain responsive to constantly evolving needs and challenges
.
ZIWR members are actively engaged in research projects within Israel and collaborate with other scientists worldwide. Emphasis is placed on research and development of water resources in drylands in general, and on the local conditions of the Negev in particular. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev remains mindful of its founding mission to spearhead development of Israel's southern region while taking its place in the global scientific community.
• Machtesh Ramon
Machtesh Ramon is a geological feature of Israel's Negev desert. Located at the peak of Mount Negev 85 km south of the city of Beersheba, the landform is not an impact crater from a meteor nor a volcanic crater formed by a volcanic eruption but rather is the world's largest "erosion cirque" (steep head valley or box canyons). The formation is 40 km long, 2–10 km wide and 500 meters deep, and is shaped like an elongated heart. The only settlement in the area is the small town of Mitzpe Ramon ("Ramon Lookout") located on the northern edge of the depression. Today the area forms Israel's largest national park, the Ramon Nature Reserve.
Kibbutz Ketura
Ketura was founded by a small group of young North Americans, graduates of the Young Judaea Year-In-Israel Course, at the close of the Yom Kippur War in November 1973. The first years of the kibbutz's existence were marked by great difficulties and frustrations, leading many of the founders to leave. In time, the core group of these who remained were joined by other Young Judaeans, a variety of immigrants, and graduates of the Israeli Scout movement. As Ketura grew, a more stable lifestyle was created, and the members began raising families in this, their new home. Today, Ketura has grown to be the second largest settlement in the region, with 140 members and candidates and over 147 children. One-third of the members are native Israelis; most immigrants come from English-speaking countries, with a smaller number from Europe and the former USSR.
Tuesday, June 4th
• Arava Institute
The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies (AIES) is the premier environmental education and research program in the Middle East, preparing future Jewish and Arab leaders to cooperatively solve the region's environmental challenges.
Affiliated with Ben-Gurion University, AIES’s academic programs, research, and international cooperation initiatives cover environmental concerns and challenges.
Students at AIES study a range of environmental issues from a trans-boundary and interdisciplinary perspective while learning peace-building and leadership skills. With a student body comprised of Jordanians, Palestinians, Israelis, and students from around the world, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies offers students a unique opportunity to study and live together for an extended period of time; building networks and developing understanding that will enable future cooperative work and activism in the Middle East and beyond.
Here, the idea that nature knows no political borders is more than a belief. It is a fact, a curriculum, and a way of life.
•Cathie Granit
Cathie immigrated to Israel from New Zealand. She currently holds the position of Director of Diplomacy at the Arava Institute of Environmental Studies. Cathie lives on Kibbutz Ketura with her husband and children.
•Dr. Tareq Abu Hamed
Dr. Abu Hamed from East Jerusalem holds a Bachelor and a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from Gazi University (Turkey), and a Ph.D in Chemical Engineering from Ankara University (Turkey), and has completed two terms of postdoctoral research at the Environmental Science and Energy Research Department of the Weizman Institute (Israel), and the University of Minnesota’s Mechanical Engineering Department Solar Energy Lab.
In 2008, he established the Center for Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation
(CREEC) at the Arava Institute. He left the Institute in 2013 to become the Israeli Ministry of Science’s Deputy Chief Scientist, and later the Acting Chief Scientist, the highest ranking Palestinian in the Israeli government. He returned to the Arava Institute in 2016 as Director of CREEC and Academic Director.
Dr. Elaine M. Solowey
Dr. Solowey was born in 1953. She has studied commercial horticulture, desert agriculture, land reclamation, and tree surgery. She received her BSc from the University of California-Davis, her MSc from Penn State University, and her PhD from Weber State University. A member of Kibbutz Ketura since 1975 she has planted and managed orchards, introduced new crops, and founded the Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies. In 2005, she notoriously cultivated a date tree from a biblical age-seed found in the excavations of Masada. Dr. Solowey has been teaching at Institute since 1996, and she continues to work on the cultivation and domestication of rare medicinal plants.
•Suleiman Halasah
Acting Associate Director, Center for Trans-Boundary Water Management
Suleiman Halasah is an electrical engineer with a BSc. from the University of Jordan, and a MSc. from Ben Gurion University. After completing his first degree, Suleiman worked as a research assistant for the Department of Computer Engineering at the University of Jordan. He also served as a control engineer for the Jordan Valley Authority in the Jordanian Ministry of Water and Irrigation. In this position, he was responsible for the SCADA System in the Southern Ghors Irrigation Project.
While working on his M Sc., Suleiman continued his professional work in the field of renewable energy, water and the environment. Suleiman became a cofounder of Global Sun Partners, a renewable energy company that works on building solar energy PV power plants in several countries in the world. Suleiman has served as a panel member on the topic of water security and climate change at the UN Department of Public Information/ NGO Conference in New York in 2007. In the same year, he was invited to speak at the First International Conference on Sustainable Energy as a Catalyst for Regional Development at the Eilat/Eilot Regional Council. Suleiman established Integrated GREEN Solutions (i.GREENs) which aims to improve the environmental awareness and introduce green solutions in Jordan and the Middle East.
•Arava International Center for Agricultural Training (AICAT)
Located in Sapir, the regional service center for Central Arava, AICAT aims to establish itself as the national and international leading authority in sophisticated arid lands agricultural studies and training and is a central platform for global collaborations in the agriculture arena. AICAT provides not only an invaluable contribution to developing countries and their students who attend it, but also provides additional workplaces for residents and extra working hands to the local agricultural industry. Under a single roof, with a multitude of cultures and shared human attributes, students receive professional agricultural training and live a unique experience that enables them to discover their capabilities and the means for fulfilling their potential.
Over the years the Center has received students from various Asian countries, including
Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Nepal, Vietnam, Laos, Philippines, India, Ethiopia,
Southern Sudan, Jordan and Tibet. As the number of participating countries increases and the center becomes the global hub for agricultural training, the student population will more than triple over the next five years bringing the need for a larger campus.
•Hanni Arnon
Hanni Arnon is the founder and director of AICAT. AICAT was established in 1994. Hanni has lived on Moshav Idan since 1986.
•Vidor Center
The Vidor Center introduces you to the Arava in all its variety, covering topics such as the region's uniquely advanced agriculture alongside its water and soil challenges, the history of the Arava communities, geology, aquaculture, the local fascinating colorful crops and much more.
•Noa Zer
Born and raised in the suburbs of Tel Aviv, Noa Zer moved to Moshav Paran in the
Central Arava in April 2011 and heads the Resource Development Department at the Central Arava Regional Council, where she is responsible for fundraising as well as foreign affairs and connections to Jewish communities in the Diaspora. Zer is married to a second-generation farmer from Paran and together they are starting their second agricultural season as pepper growers. She is also writing her master’s thesis for the department of public policy at Tel Aviv University.
•Hatzeva
Hatzeva is a moshav in southern Israel. Located in the Arava, 12 kilometers north of Ein Yahav. It falls under the jurisdiction of Central Arava Regional Council. In 2017 it had a population of 584.
Hatzeva was founded in 1965 as a Nahal settlement near the Arava Road and became a moshav in 1968. It was named after the nearby Hatzeva Fortress. In 1971 its location changed slightly. Near the moshav's access road lies the Hatzeva field school (Gidron), located where the moshav was until 1971.
•Merav Michaeli
Merav Michaeli was a Member of Knesset where she served as faction head of the Labor
Party and Opposition Whip. Former MK Michaeli played an active role as Chair of the Caucus for Female Knesset Members and was a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committees.
Her legislative agenda focused on economic justice and women’s rights, with successes in revising bankruptcy law and increasing financial support for Holocaust survivors. As a prominent journalist, TV anchor, radio broadcaster, and activist, she is known for her powerful feminist voice, her ability to challenge conventional views, and as a fierce defender of minority rights, equality and democracy in Israel.
Wednesday, June 5th
•The Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya (IDC)
IDC Herzliya was established in 1994 by Prof. Uriel Reichman, as the first private institution of higher education in Israel. Now in its second decade of activity, its schools and research institutes have won renown internationally.
Since its establishment, IDC Herzliya has been an academic avant-garde. As such, its faculty takes part in the fascinating process that is reshaping Israel. They deal with constitutional and governmental reconstruction, economic growth, reevaluation of Israel’s strategy and policies of foreign relations, as well as the country’s social and moral agenda.
IDC Herzliya is unique in its educational methods, which are based on an interdisciplinary approach, teaching of information technology and global markets. IDC combines theory with real world experience and provides its students with proficiencies. Its basic outlook, which is rooted in the twin concepts of individual freedom and responsibility, emphasizes student’s entrepreneurship and leadership alongside commitment to community service.
•Tel Aviv University
Located in Israel's cultural, financial and industrial heartland, Tel Aviv University is the largest university in Israel and the biggest Jewish university in the world. It is a major center of teaching and research, comprising nine faculties, 106 departments, and 90 research institutes. Its origins go back to 1956, when three small education units - The Tel Aviv School of Law and Economics, an Institute of Natural Sciences, and an Institute of Jewish Studies - joined together to form the University of Tel Aviv.
In addition to its basic functions of research and teaching, Tel Aviv University contributes its expertise to the welfare of society at large; plays a part in all aspects of national life; and addresses regional and international issues.
Faculty members serve in the Knesset and the Cabinet, in government agencies, and in professional organizations and public bodies. Students are encouraged to tutor disadvantaged children, volunteer services to the elderly, and aid the community through a broad range of social involvement programs, such as TAU's wide-scale Price-Brodie
Initiative in Jaffa.
Middle Eastern history, strategic studies, and the search for peace are central concerns for Tel Aviv University researchers. The Institute for Diplomacy and Regional Cooperation, founded by the Peres Center for Peace, the Armand Hammer Fund for Economic Cooperation in the Middle East, the Moshe Dayan Center for Middle Eastern and African History, the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies, the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research and the Morris E. Curiel Center for International Studies are respected sources of information for government and private institutions, the press and the public.
•Bar Ilan University
Bar Ilan University is the second largest university in Israel, with a student population of approximately 24,500 at the main campus in Ramat Gan, and at the four regional colleges operating under its auspices – in the Jordan Valley, in Safed, in the western Galilee and in Ashkelon.
The university regards the sacred principles of Judaism as the manifestation of the Jewish people's uniqueness, in accordance with the principles defined upon its establishment. The university's basic roles include supporting the safeguarding of these principles out of love and with the purpose of training and producing scholars, researchers and men of science knowledgeable in the Torah and imbued with the original Jewish spirit and love of one's brethren. Aiming to excel in research, in recent years Bar-Ilan University has placed ma
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