Lemon Tree Movie - Reality, Hope In Israel and Palestine

Lemon Tree Movie - Reality, Hope In Israel and Palestine

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem, Israel ---- March 28....(INA) - It is ever so rare that a truly good and thought provoking movie appears in cinemas around the world. And even much more rare that such a movie could objectivity capture the reality and suffering of those who live in Israel and Palestine.

The Lemon Tree, directed by Israeli Eran Riklis and co-produced by Eran Riklis Productions, Heimatfilm, MACT Productions and Riva Filmproduktion embraces the very essence of life in Israel and Palestine. That is, the little life, that ever so limited contact between two very distant communities which have so much in common and yet so little.

The Lemon Tree, much like Middle-Eastern foods such humus, pita, tehina, falafel and the oven baked Sahara winds of the hamsin and sharav, serves as yet another common denominator, a natural element that both sides share. But from two sides of a cement and cultural wall. The Lemon tree whose flowers are so attractive but the fruit so bitter to eat represents our mornings, afternoons and nights from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to Ramallah and Gaza.

The review of such a movie is almost a breathtaking literally challenge. Almost like an ascent on Mt. Everest, never knowing which wind may attempt to take you down. The Israel right wing is ever so ready to criticize this writer for using the word Palestine, but I do so only for search engine optimization purposes. There is no Palestine, but there is a Palestinian people.

The Israeli left wing is ever so ready to criticize me for stating that the Lemon trees should be trimmed for Israel's security. While those who live in Palestine are curious as to where I come from, how sincere, how objective can I be as an Israeli to review this movie.

Last but not least, there are those in Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah who have not seen The Lemon Tree and would be more than pleased to put a bullet through my head.

As for the rest of the world, I only beg that you see this film.
To forget all that you have ever heard or seen about Israel and Palestine and come to this creative and well produced movie with an open mind. To focus on the people of Israel and Palestine, not the war, the rhetoric, the terrorism or the politics.

Without giving the plot or narrative away, the Lemon Tree illustrates the so little contact and the so very sensitive conflict between both cultures. That the newly appointed Israel Minister of Defense, played by Doron Tavory, moves into a Jewish community on the Green Line with his suburban home directly facing the lemon orchards of his Arab neighbor, played by Hiam Abbass. The Minister's wife eyes her Arab neighbor, Salma, from over a wire fence and a smile develops between both women. It is that smile which brings hope to the movie and to the lives of thousands of Israelis and Palestinians seeking a true and lasting peace.

The Lemon Tree is not a "peace" film. Nor is it a war movie. The Lemon Tree merely represents daily life as it really is in Israel where we do all we can to defend our civilian population from terror attacks. And life in Palestine, where innocent Arabs are caught up in a Web of conflict between Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Hezbollah whose only wish is to destroy Israel. Both people want peace. But the incessant call from Iran and Syria for Islamic Jihad (holy war) and the anti-Semitic, racist education and propaganda holds an entire Arab population at gunpoint.

The middle-aged, lonely but attractive Arab woman who protects her families generations old lemon tree orchards by going through the Israel justice system rather than throwing a grenade epitomizes the balanced and rational approach that Palestinians need to take. Israel is a democracy. The only free democracy in the Middle-East where Israeli Arabs are afforded a fair and just day in court.

The Israel secret service claims that the lemon grove is a threat to the security of the Israel minister. The Shabak states that Islamic terrorists could hide among the trees in their attempt to infiltrate a terror attack on the minister or other Jews in Israel. Salma decides against all odds to fight for her trees. And her legal and global media battle take her to the Israel High Court. On the other side of the grove, Mira Navon, the Minister's wife, is also undergoing a major change in her life. After fulfilling her duties for so many years, and despite the new house and her husband's new and powerful job, she feels unhappy. The events around her invisible new Palestinian neighbor gradually make her disgusted with her husband's approach to the whole affair and she finds herself defying what is expected of her.

The Lemon Tree becomes a symbolic battle of Salma vs. the Israel Minister of Defense: A struggle over principles, humanity, land, history, hate and one woman's struggle against the system.

The acting, photography, editing and detailed insights into Israel and Palestine life could not be more objective, more professional, more real or profound.

The Lemon Tree stands tall between Jews who are attacked daily by Qassam rockets coming from Gaza and by Palestinians who cannot and will not stand up to Islamic terrorists who impoverish them financially and emotionally.

The Lemon Tree does not take sides. It merely portrays real life among these ancient people. But the message that it sends out is very clear. Israel's separation wall which is credited for dramatically reducing terror attacks and the land for which it divides is not the real issue. The Lemon Tree is about real people on both sides of the divide who need to know, understand and communicate with one another - not through bullets, but rather through coffee, tea and lemonade.

That Israelis need to see the cost of their security on those Palestinians who mean them no harm. And for Palestinians to wake up and take the guns and rockets away from Islamic terrorists and replace them with jobs which will provide a better quality of life.

That neither those from Israel or Palestine need not retreat to the US or Europe to find normalcy. Instead, that the Palestinian Authority with the help of Israel, the US, the EU and every democratic nation stops the vile and barbaric media incitement against Israel and the Jews, replaces Islamic propaganda with business trips to factories in Tel Aviv, Ra'anana and Rishon Letzion.

That Palestinians confront both Iran and Syria and demand that they are no longer used as puppets or agents for those in power in Damascus and Tehran. That Jews in Israel make every attempt to help these Palestinians find a normal and secure life. For as soon as the Islamic propaganda and incitement against Jews is replaced with sweet lemonade, the children on both sides of the wall can then start to take it down.

Israel director Eran Riklis has delivered a potent fictional story, that is in so many ways a microcosm of the struggles between Israel and Palestine, a dispute about land, security, fears and displacement.

"It's a film about people who are trapped in a political situation," said Riklis after the contemporary film, based loosely on true stories with a cast of Israeli and Palestinians, made its world premiere at the Berlin Film Festival on Friday.

"It's a film for all audiences."

The Lemon Tree won the award for Best Film at the Berlin International Film Festival

The Lemon Tree, a movie directed and supported by both Israelis and Palestinians, is a shining, courageous and honest step forward for both people. It is using the media to support peaceful change rather than selling newspaper space and television time through the blood and tears of those who live among the lemons.

Israel: 10,000 Divorced Children At Risk, Shared Parenting Urged

Israel: 10,000 Divorced Children At Risk, Shared Parenting Urged

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem, Israel ---- March 25....(INA) - After a series of high profile demonstrations by Fathers Rights and Children Rights groups, Israel's Welfare and Social Services Ministry is now preparing to implement stricter guidelines for child welfare social workers. The Ministry states that these new rules will be enacted to avoid gender bias discrimination in custody disputes.

Thousands of divorced and single fathers in Israel have complained that the current governmental system does not give equal consideration to men who want to parent their children.

Also released this week were disturbing facts that there were over 3,758 divorce cases last year where Israel social workers had to intervene to protect children due to serious disputes between the parents. This marked an 18 percent increase from the year before.

The Jerusalem Post and Haaretz reported that about 10,000 children in those families are considered to be in "high risk" due to high conflict between the parents. A small number of children have needed to be hospitalized because of suicide attempts, anorexia or other severe psychological problems.

The figures show that one out of three divorce cases are accompanied by a particularly serious dispute between the parents. There were 11,000 divorces in 2007, the Central Bureau of Statistics said.

Israel family courts and child welfare departments from Tel Aviv, Ra'anana and Rohovot to Hadera, Hafia and Jerusalem have ignored hard evidence from leading psychological associations which state that children could avoid being in high risk if shared parenting and joint custody became the norm.

The American Psychological Association (APA) states: "Children from divorced families who either live with both parents at different times or spend certain amounts of time with each parent are better adjusted in most cases than children who live and interact with just one parent."

The APA research was based on a meta-analysis of 33 studies between 1982 to 1999 that examined 1,846 sole-custody and 814 joint-custody children. The child psychology studies compared child adjustment in joint physical or joint legal custody with sole-custody settings and 251 intact families. Joint custody was defined as either physical custody - where a child spends equal or substantial amounts of time with both parents or shared legal custody - where a child lives with primarily one parent but both parents are involved in all aspects of the child's life. The article appeared in the March 2002 issue of the Journal of Family Psychology, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

"Children in joint custody arrangements had less behavior and emotional problems, had higher self-esteem, better family relations and school performance than children in sole custody arrangements," the APA research found. "And these children were as well-adjusted as intact family children on the same measures," said psychologist Robert Bauserman, Ph.D. The APA stated that these positive finding were the result of where joint custody was documented in providing the child with an opportunity to have ongoing contact with both parents.

These findings indicate that children do not actually need to be in a joint physical custody to show better adjustment but just need to spend substantial time with both parents, especially with their fathers, said Bauserman. Also, joint custody couples reported less conflict, possibly because both parents could participate in their children's lives equally and not spend the time arguing over childcare decisions. Unfortunately a perception exists that joint custody is more harmful because it exposes children to ongoing parental conflict. In fact, the studies in this review found that sole-custody parents reported higher levels of conflict.

The Israel Welfare and Social Services Ministry stated that as a direct result of recent complaints from men about unfairness in the family courts and child welfare, had prompted the Israel ministry to establish an internal ministry committee, headed by Prof. Vered Slonim-Nevo from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev which would review the role of social workers in custody disputes and to present its findings as soon as possible. The committee is expected to complete its report within the next month.

The author of this article, who is also the director of Fathers 4 Justice Israel, is presently seeking joint custody or at the very least equal access with his children. He has requested that a social worker be assigned to him so that an informative decision may be given to the family courts by child welfare in Ra'anana, Israel. By the time of this report, the city of Ra'anana has not provided a social worker to this writer, yet the his child's mother has a social worker. Ra'anana, is a northern suburb of Tel Aviv.

"Gender bias discrimination against men who seek more quality parenting time with their children could not be more evident than what one finds in Ra'anana," said a respected child psychologist who practices in Ra'anana. "The Revacha or child welfare department in Ra'anana is dysfunctional. Many of the social workers are young and inexperienced, they do not return phone calls, they are not assigned to men and they are supervised by a woman who believes that the 'child belongs to the mother'. Only one person can take responsibility for how sick this Israel child welfare department operates and that is the mayor of Ra'anana, Nachum Hofree who continues to ignore professional reports sent to him to reform child welfare in Ra'anana."

The Israel Social Services Ministry released statistics illustrating an 18-percent rise last year in the number of divorcing couples in Israel assigned by the family courts to welfare officers for evaluation. Of those evaluated in 2007, 2,867 women were granted sole custody of their children, compared to only 534 men. Only 167 couples were given joint custody.

Social Services Minister Herzog stated that "individuals must be allowed the chance to challenge a welfare officer's recommendation."

In Israel today, couples that cannot agree on issues such as who will be their children's primary caretaker must turn to the family courts. The judge appoints a welfare officer from the ministry to assess the situation and makes a recommendation on whether joint custody is possible or whether custody should go to only one of the parents.

While these officers do not make the final judgment, their opinions are highly regarded by the courts. In many cases, the intricate evaluation process and the ongoing appeals process leaves thousands of children caught up in divorce battles.

Monday's report on children in Israel also indicated that limited manpower has left 2,375 cases, involving thousands of children, unresolved.

"The system needs to operate in an open and equal way in order to allow the best process for the children," said Herzog, adding that he had already proposed increased funds to improve welfare services.

One Israel father who is currently in a custody dispute over his nine-year-old daughter and is not allowed to see her said in an interview on Monday that the social worker assigned to his case had not even met with him.

"I never realized until recently how biased this whole process is against men," he said. "Restraining orders are given far too quickly by judges."

The Justice Ministry's Schnitt Committee, which has been charged with reevaluating the controversial Tender Years Presumption Law, a 1967 law that presumes a mother should take full responsibility for the child until the age of six, is also expected to release findings in the next few months.

Changes to this family law could have an impact on the role of welfare officers in determining custody battles.

More than 1,500 fathers in Israel requested custody of their children in 2007, about 15 percent of all divorce cases. Other requests from fathers may not have been reflected in the social workers' statistics, because the requests were only made to the courts, which do not collect such statistics.

In 850 cases, both parents demanded sole custody, and in 700 cases only the fathers demanded sole custody.

In almost 2,900 cases, social workers in Israel recommended that the mother be awarded custody, a small increase over 2006. In 534 cases, they recommended the father have custody, a 20 percent drop from the previous year. In 167 cases, joint custody was advised.

The Israel court-appointed social workers prefer joint custody, but this is only possible when relations are good between the parents, said Ronit Tzur, the chief national welfare officer.

"People divorce when they have severe differences of opinion," said Niv Amit, director of Israel Fathers Injured By Israel Judge Rivka Mekayes.

"If the parents can't decide and agree on the basic elements in their marriage, how can they then agree on who will have custody of their children? The mother knows that the laws in Israel work against the father and many women use their children as a weapon in divorce battles. The State then decides by discriminating default that the mother has sole custody which then leads to the father being turned into a visitor. Once the loving dad becomes a visitor given only a few hours a week with his children, the kids become alienated (PAS - parental alienation syndrome) against the father and eventually lose all contact with most fathers."

Amit concludes: "And we know very well the documented and devastating result of children who lose a father role model - a dramatic increase in anxiety, loss of self confidence, depression, drug use to substitute for the good feelings of having a protective family and an increase in criminal activity. The tears have to stop. Israel fathers will continue to intensify a public educational awareness campaign in Israel addressing the suffering that children experience as a result of their fathers being separated from them by Israel family courts and Israel child welfare departments which still operate under discriminating gender bias laws that go back to 1962."

ISRAEL NEWS AGENCY

Internet Marketing SEO Professionals ask:
Can People Find Your Website?

Israel PR Finds A Friend In YouTube Videos, SEO For Sderot

Israel PR Finds A Friend In YouTube Videos, SEO For Sderot

By Joel Leyden
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem ---- March 12....(INA) - The Israel public relations machine, which has been ignored, battered, bruised, abused and sent out to committee by several Israel prime ministers, may have finally found an ally in YouTube.

Founded in February 2005, YouTube.com describes itself as "the leader in online video" and "the premier destination to watch and share original videos worldwide through a Web experience."
People are able to see first-hand accounts of current events such as the hanging of Saddam Hussein, US F-16's as they attack Islamic terrorist bases in Iraq and today the resignation of New York Governor Eliot Spitzer.

In October 2006 Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) acquired YouTube for $1.65 billion in a stock-for-stock transaction. Following the acquisition, YouTube has operated independently preserving its successful brand and passionate community. The YouTube Google team could not have been more powerful.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. And according to social scientists and psychologists, over seventy percent of human communication is non-verbal. We relate to the visual far better than to the written word. PR and advertising firms have recognized this for several past decades using TV shows and TV ads to get their messages across to the masses.

Today, we have YouTube. YouTube provides each and every human being the delivery system to launch their creative payload. And if the video is good, the masses will say yea. Viral marketing and Web 2.0 embraces such videos spitting them out to millions worldwide. Lastly, SEO or search engine optimization helps the global village to find these videos - whether they be of art, politics, history, science, sports, sex or of Israel being attacked by Qassam, Katusha and Grad missiles from Gaza.

Israel has always had the brain power but has lacked the funds for the delivery of public relations messages that form and shape critical public opinion. YouTube has changed this. When Saddam Hussein was hung, it was recorded by a simple telephone camera. That video was then uploaded at no cost whatsover to YouTube reaching millions worldwide.

When Britney Spears would screw up with her children or be found lacking panties - YouTube was the first place to find her. And the same went for any other celebrity and or issue such as Lisa Guerrero, George Clooney, Black Mamba Snakes, David Paterson, college basketball, the Virginia Tech shooting or Gilligan's Island.

So it was no great surprise that a few creative people in Israel were also able to see the light or rather the image.

The present Israel tourism marketing, advertising and PR campaign being waged by the Israel Ministry of Tourism and the Israel Ministry for Foreign Affairs deserves compliments for being modern, creative and professional. Professional being that some of the most powerful and creative ad agencies in Israel and the US have worked on a PR campaign using images of beautiful Israel people for close to a year. Utilizing tons of market research and dozens of scientific focus groups, the Israel Ministry of Tourism was made aware of what works and what does not.

About a year ago, Israel consular officials, Israel advertising associations and both Israel and New York advertising ad and PR organizations came up with a novel idea for changing Israel's war-torn, terrorism hit state's public image. Targeting American guys with disposable income to visit Israel.

"We have to find the right hook," consulate spokesman David Saranga told Newsweek. "And what's relevant to men under 35? Good-looking women!"
(Ah David, please be aware that good-looking women are also relevant to men over 35!)

"We found that Israel's image among men aged 18-38 is lacking," explained David Saranga, Israel consul for media and public affairs at the consulate, "so we thought we'd approach them with an image they'd find appealing."

"When you see beautiful women, good-looking people, on the beaches of Tel Aviv, you understand that Israel has to deal with the conflict, it's true, and there are religious elements in its society, but there are also other things," Saranga told the UK's Globe and Mail. "I want people to know that Israel is much more than a conflict, that people in Israel have normal lives."

The beautiful models in Israel, Saranga said, were a "Trojan horse" to present Israel as a modern country with nice beaches and pretty women. "Many Americans don't even know we have beaches," he said.

The projection of these beautiful Israel models in a fun manner used over YouTube viral marketing videos was critical to maintain and improve Israel's economy. Today, the same clever, cost-effective use of video footage is being utilized to educate public leaders from the US, England and France to India, China and Japan that Israel is once again defending herself. Defending her civilian populations in Sderot and Ashkelon, Israel from Qassam, Katusha and Grad missiles being launched by Hamas in Gaza.

Who are the real victims? The people of Israel or those in Gaza? Actually both are being terrorized by Hamas, Islamic Jihad and al Qaeda. But it is Israel which took the peace initiative of leaving Gaza unilaterally in September 2005. But even with Israel making an exit, Hamas and other Islamic terrorists were not satisfied. They wanted and still want Tel Aviv, Hafia, Hadera, Kiryat Shomona, Tiberius and even Masada. So over 7,762 rockets have been launched at Sderot, Israel in the past few years - murdering men, women, children and Jewish babies in this small desert city which sits on the Gaza border.

But rather than condemn the murdering of innocents and supporting Israel's right to defend her borders from terror attacks, the United Nations Human Rights Council has condemned Israel's military action in Gaza at the behest of Pakistan and other Muslim states. This absurd action makes headlines in newspapers around the world and John Doe reads the headlines. They don't get the full, objective story.

Now enters an Israel video production company. They compile footage of Hamas terror attacks on Sderot. But of greater potency their creative juice starts pouring out with different approaches.

One video entitled: "What can you do in 15 seconds?" sounds very curious.
No mention of Israel, Gaza, Hamas or Sderot. But rather the video opens with a man taking a piss, then moves to a scene of a couple starting to kiss, then on to watch a glass of beer being poured, to a woman shampooing her hair, to pouring a cup of coffee, doing laundry, brushing teeth, getting dressed for work to a child playing with puzzles. Ordinary things that ordinary people all over the world do every day in every country. The twist comes at the end of the one minute and 15 second video where white words appear on a black background: "For the people of Sderot, 15 seconds are a matter of life and death."

You hear air raid sirens, people crying, screaming and rushing for cover. You witness Israel under attack - unprovoked and with civilians being traumatized.

A YouTube user named Israeligirl67 placed that video illustrating life and death in Sderot, Israel on YouTube back in early February. In just a few weeks over 112,322 people have viewed this video on YouTube.

There is no knowing whether Israelgirl67 is an Israel government employee or a Jew or Christian living somewhere in Texas, Paris or Jerusalem. But the bottom line - Israel has finally discovered an effective delivery system which is fast, creative and cost-effective to get its messages out. PR messages which form public opinion which then affect what happens on the ground in Israel and in Gaza. YouTube just might become more effective than the United Nations in educating the world population on issues such as famine in the Sudan and global warming.

YouTube.com combined with the volunteerism of a few creative, professional and dedicated YouTube video producers and a couple of Internet marketing SEO professionals in Israel may just save a few lives. Perhaps even a small, democratic nation in the Middle-East by securing public support for Israel's defense rather than being eliminated by rampant propaganda. Falsehoods and lies fueled by oil rich Arab nations and executed by their Islamic brothers who wage a media Jihad or holy war through incitement using Al-Jazeera, the BBC and several other conventional global media outlets.

They say the word is mightier than the sword. Today, we can safely state that video is mightier than the sword.
Let's pray that this new and powerful weapon is used not to show Islamic beheadings like that of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl or the support of racist neo Nazis but rather to project the naked truth of a tiny, democratic, peace seeking Israel fighting for its very existence.

ISRAEL NEWS AGENCY