God! 60 made very wrong picture on the life in Israel, people might think that there isn't a safe place in israel and those who live in Tel-Aviv are the only ones who can have fun. Israel was always a safe place, Terroirst are in everyway in the world, I live in a small village near by a big city, I have never saw war zone, terrorist attack or any war crime. And I travel all over israel from north to south in a completely safe. True, in the between 2000-2005 there were dozens of terrorist attacks all over israel, but today Israel is safer than it ever has been and it's open and lovely place to visist for everyone. Those who watch this program may be afraid of visiting Israel, as an Israel this was a completely bulsh*t, Israel is a safe place, the military prepares itself for a future war, and it happens in everyplace in the world. There isn't even one israeli who afraid from terrorism, we can defence ourseleves and we don't prevent ourseleves from walking freely everywhere.
I totally agree. The people of Tel Aviv lives in a bubble, you can ask every Israeli who doesn't live there. They rarely serve in the army, and the people who does don't serve in combat units, so they are not aware of what happens in the occupied territories and they believe stories that we (the army) are acting there not in a totally humanity way. And don't get me wrong, I want peace, and I want to end the occupation but it is not that simple as it looks. We are dealing with people who glorify terrorism and child and women murder, people that seems that they don't really want peace but rather war and glory and to stay in the world's headlines as long as they could. That journalist you've interviewed (Gidon Levi) is known to be one of the most radical left hand extremest. To summarize, what I've meant to say is first that Israel is safe and we don't live in a feeling that everyday we could die (and most of our mothers do cry when there son turns out to be gay). The people of Tel Aviv really just lives in a bubble and have no idea what's happening outside their backyard. Most of Israelis hate Tel Aviv. Secondly, we do want peace and to end the occupation, but we are realistic and understands that it's really complicated - far more complicated than the world press is showing it. I truly believe that the Palestinians are much more to blame for there situation than us.
Great piece. Too bad they didn't mention Gideon Levi is a radical left coloumnist and a "trusted reporter" covering the palestinian end as suggested.
And btw Tel Aviv is definitely the most leftist city in Israel, and the lack of constant obsession with the conflict that Levi preaches to is what keeps the place sane.
Yet another "Should Israel Exist?" piece. If anything shows the bias of this report it's the face-time (oh, and how much of it) given to Gideon Levi. Not only that, but he is being portrayed as a run-of-the-mill journalist and "one of very few" Israelis who are in contact with Palestinians. This is what Gideon Levi would like everyone to believe as is gives him credit and credentials he doesn't deserve. Gideon Levi is mostly recognized in Israel as a radical left journalist who at times even embarrasses the Palestinians with his zeal. It's very convenient to describe Tel-Avivians as numb and un-political when in fact they are very active politically. Yes, in recent years the Palestinian-related demonstrations have not drawn in the huge crowds of the 80s and 90s but the economic and social related demonstrations have drawn hundreds of thousands of demonstrators and influenced the entire country. Nevertheless, many Tel-Avivians meet with Palestinians on a regular basis and identify with their plight much more than with their Jewish counterparts in "the West Bank." This is easy to ignore as the point this piece was trying to make is that Tel-Aviv is a place of hedonism and oblivion. This just goes to show that the old media format of reporters telling us what "is" and "is not" should be put to sleep. We can contact people from all over the world online and discuss things in person. This conduit is flawed, biased and nurtures division and hatred as they provide better income.
Nice story but again Bob Simon shows his bias. The term "West Bank" was invented by the Jordanian Arabs, and the term "occupation" was invented by Arafat's PLO. Judea and Samaria, which Simon calls "the West Banks", were legally obligated to the Jewish homeland, Israel, by the San Remo Conference in 1920 under the League of Nations, an obligation that carries forward to the United Nations. Consequently, there is no "occupation"; those territories belong to Israel and were illegally occupied by Jordan during their war of annihilation against the Jews in 1948, until liberated by Israel in 1967. One day, just maybe, Bob Simon and CBS 60 Minutes will do a piece that is fair and accurate toward Israel and the Jews. Maybe.
Nice story but again Bob Simon shows his bias. The term "West Bank" was invented by the Jordanian Arabs, and the term "occupation" was invented by Arafat's PLO. Judea and Samaria, which Simon calls "the West Banks", were legally obligated to the Jewish homeland, Israel, by the San Remo Conference in 1920 under the League of Nations, an obligation that carries forward to the United Nations. Consequently, there is no "occupation"; those territories belong to Israel and were illegally occupied by Jordan during their war of annihilation against the Jews in 1948, until liberated by Israel in 1967. One day, just maybe, Bob Simon and CBS 60 Minutes will do a piece that is fair and accurate toward Israel and the Jews. Maybe.
To Whom it May Concern: Setting aside that it played as if authored by the Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Simon's piece contained a glaring inaccuracy: all Israeli men are most definitely NOT required to serve in the military. Indeed, on the very same day that your travelogue for Tel Aviv aired, the New York Times Sunday Review carried a piece by Jerusalem bureau chief Jodi Rudoren about the 58,000 draft age orthodox men who currently are not required to serve, and the enormous tensions this is creating within Israeli society. Look, I don't expect a fluff piece on Tel Aviv to mention the 200+ nuclear weapons at Dimona or even the proliferation of West Bank settlements, but if you all are so proud of your "real news" credentials, please get your facts straight instead of just taking AIPAC's word for things.
Even when 60 Minutes gets it right, they get it wrong. Dancing on the Titanic? Those doomed Jews who, unlike those Jews on the staff of Sixty Minutes, just insist on not assimilating, on trying to live as a free people in their own land, same as anyone else. What was the point of this story? That Tel Aviv is filled with sybarites, degenerates and computer geeks dancing blithely away as armageddon approaches? Thank God, but the threats posed by Gaza and even Hizbollah are not existential threats to Israel's existence. Iran is another issue, but considering that we in the US lived for decades with the imminent threat of nuclear annihilation, Pelly's disingenuous questions, his wide-eyed, "don't you realize that you're about to die?" attitude reflects all too well the underlying attitude that the self-appointed arbiters of truth and justice who produce this show has been toward Israel and Jews for decades: You have no business existing. Just get on with intermarrying, assimilating and destroying the heritage that gave us the values of open inquiry, mental discipline and intellectual honesty in the first place. Too bad you've abandoned those values along with the rest.
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Over-weighting of the subject.I live in Haifa, distant 100 km from Tel Aviv. Sorry ... I do not feel like in a war zone.
If you want to see the spirit of Tel-Aviv:
http://www.langeasy.com/hebrew7/tlv.html
To summarize, what I've meant to say is first that Israel is safe and we don't live in a feeling that everyday we could die (and most of our mothers do cry when there son turns out to be gay). The people of Tel Aviv really just lives in a bubble and have no idea what's happening outside their backyard. Most of Israelis hate Tel Aviv.
Secondly, we do want peace and to end the occupation, but we are realistic and understands that it's really complicated - far more complicated than the world press is showing it. I truly believe that the Palestinians are much more to blame for there situation than us.
And btw Tel Aviv is definitely the most leftist city in Israel, and the lack of constant obsession with the conflict that Levi preaches to is what keeps the place sane.
If anything shows the bias of this report it's the face-time (oh, and how much of it) given to Gideon Levi. Not only that, but he is being portrayed as a run-of-the-mill journalist and "one of very few" Israelis who are in contact with Palestinians. This is what Gideon Levi would like everyone to believe as is gives him credit and credentials he doesn't deserve. Gideon Levi is mostly recognized in Israel as a radical left journalist who at times even embarrasses the Palestinians with his zeal.
It's very convenient to describe Tel-Avivians as numb and un-political when in fact they are very active politically. Yes, in recent years the Palestinian-related demonstrations have not drawn in the huge crowds of the 80s and 90s but the economic and social related demonstrations have drawn hundreds of thousands of demonstrators and influenced the entire country. Nevertheless, many Tel-Avivians meet with Palestinians on a regular basis and identify with their plight much more than with their Jewish counterparts in "the West Bank." This is easy to ignore as the point this piece was trying to make is that Tel-Aviv is a place of hedonism and oblivion.
This just goes to show that the old media format of reporters telling us what "is" and "is not" should be put to sleep. We can contact people from all over the world online and discuss things in person. This conduit is flawed, biased and nurtures division and hatred as they provide better income.
Setting aside that it played as if authored by the Ministry of Tourism, Mr. Simon's piece contained a glaring inaccuracy: all Israeli men are most definitely NOT required to serve in the military. Indeed, on the very same day that your travelogue for Tel Aviv aired, the New York Times Sunday Review carried a piece by Jerusalem bureau chief Jodi Rudoren about the 58,000 draft age orthodox men who currently are not required to serve, and the enormous tensions this is creating within Israeli society.
Look, I don't expect a fluff piece on Tel Aviv to mention the 200+ nuclear weapons at Dimona or even the proliferation of West Bank settlements, but if you all are so proud of your "real news" credentials, please get your facts straight instead of just taking AIPAC's word for things.