Posted on 06/03/2008 1:54:17 PM PDT by forkinsocket
In 2006, after the Lebanon war, Israel's foreign ministry decided that the country had a p.r. problem on its hands. The solution? Let the world know that Israel, far from being a place of war and terror, was in fact a land of sunny beaches and beautiful women: in other words, a country that was fundamentally normal. And, so, Israel retained the p.r. firm Saatchi and Saatchi, which promised a campaign to help the Jewish state build a "narrative of normalcy." Then, last July, the Israeli consulate in New York arranged for the men's magazine Maxim to publish a spread of minimally dressed Israeli women. When feminists and Orthodox Jews protested, the consulate's spokesman explained that his aim was "to promote Israel as a normal country, particularly among the magazine's young male readership."
A normal country? Israel? That idea may sound far-fetched to Americans. Yet, as anyone who has ever lived here knows, the desire for normalcy is deeply etched in Israel's national psyche. For 60 years, the Jewish state has struggled to attain a "place among the nations," to quote Benjamin Netanyahu's book by the same name, in which Israelis would live harmoniously with their surroundings the way other, "normal" countries do.
And, in some respects, Israel does seem to be edging toward normalcy. The year 2007 saw a lull in attacks, with only one suicide bombing and fewer Israelis killed than in any year since 2000. Freed from fighting terrorists, Israel's police have turned to ordinary crime, resulting in a 20 percent drop in both homicides and robberies. Tourism is up, as is immigration. The economy remains strong.
The picture, however, is not all rosy.
(Excerpt) Read more at tnr.com ...
Well, I thought I was going to read something about Iran, etc. But then we get this...
“The picture, however, is not all rosy. For one thing, normalcy has come with an ugly downside:”
And then listed a bunch of investigations of politicians being crooks. Hey, that’s an upside to me. How about our own country, why isn’t that magazine investigating how rezko laundered a $300,000 benefit to the Obamas via a land transaction?
Ahem.....pics of Israeli babes on the beaches of Tel Aviv please?
I know of no other country that is threatened with annihilation more than Israel!
I prefer to see some of the ladies in the Israeli Defense Force. Some of them are hot hot hot. Something about a good looking woman carrying a weapon does if for me.
Now we’re talking!
/johnny
Most of whom have been in the Army and will shoot the balls off any terrorist scum that threatens them, their children or their country.
Bttt
Bttt
Bttt
One of my local PBS stations this past Monday showed a great show on Israel called “Visions of Israel.” I rarely watch PBS since they are all too often very leftist, but I took a chance and watched this show. In my opinon, it was excellent. No lefty agenda that I could detect, just a beautiful visual tour of a beautiful country.
Check it out at: http://www.visionsof.org/israel/
The show aired on Maryland Public Television, and I got it via their Annapolis station. I was shocked that a show put together by Israel’s Tourism Ministry was allowed to be aired on normally very lefty public TV, but this is pledge time, so that may explain why they aired it. Whatever, it was a beautiful program and it warmed my heart.
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