City Notes: Ma’alot Tarshiha launches nature-based art exhibition

NORTH This week an art exhibition called Adama (“land”) opened in Ma'alot-Tarshiha, with an opening ceremony in the presence of Mayor Shlomo Bohbot as well as artists and sculptors taking part in the exhibition. Thirty-nine Israeli artists have contributed to the exhibition, which features a wide range of works. The artists use authentic materials from the land to create interpretations of nature. Through various styles and techniques, such as drawing, photography, digital photography, sculpture and video, social, political and economic ideas are explored. The exhibition is open to the general public, free of charge, at the Apter Barrer Arts Center in Ma'alot-Tarshiha. 40 olim join group to protect Galilee and Negev Forty English-speaking immigrants joined last week a group called Hashomer Hehadash (“The New Guardian”), formed to help protect farms in the Negev and the Galilee. MK Dov Lipman (Yesh Atid) was among the members of the group, which helped build a 50-meter terrace to prevent cows from ruining fields, stayed up all night to prevent robberies, and worked the fields. The group was founded in 2007 to protect farmers whose businesses were collapsing due to constant robberies. The immigrant group was arranged by Jay Shultz of Tel Aviv Internationals. Lipman said of the experience: “It was powerful to connect to the land in this way right before Passover, the holiday of spring. We are so focused on our day-to-day lives of earning a living and raising our children, and can easily forget the integral connection which we should have to the actual Land of Israel. I encourage all English-speaking immigrants to consider volunteering for Hashomer Hehadash with their children to tangibly reconnect to the land and help fellow Jews in the process.” Jeff Swartz, former CEO of Timberland and board member of Hashomer Hahadash, remarked: “What begins in caring for the embattled rancher or farmer extends far beyond, to an emerging vision for Zionism reinvented and reinvigorated around ageless principles and contemporary circumstance.” Hashomer Hehadash's Einat Bin-Nun-Israel thanked Lipman for his participation, saying: “MK Lipman rolled up his sleeves and worked along with all the other volunteers. We look forward to a fruitful partnership with him and all English-speaking immigrants who approach the project with their unique Zionistic spirit.” CENTER Five injured in underworld café explosion in Ramle. An explosion and fire at a café in Ramle injured five people last week. Police initially believed that the explosion was caused by an exploded gas container but later said that the incident likely occurred as a result of a business dispute. The cafe is located on Yitzhak Sadeh Street, near the city's fruit and vegetable market. Magen David Adom's Merhav Ayalon branch received a call reporting the fire, and dispatched paramedics to the scene, sending motorcycles, ambulances and mobile intensive care units. The paramedics treated five casualties, who all suffered burns all over their bodies. Among the casualties, two men in their 50s were severely injured, a 65-year-old man was in satisfactory to serious condition and two other men in their 50s were lightly injured. MDA evacuated all five of them to either Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer or Assaf Harofeh Medical Center. MDA paramedic Ophir Shish, who arrived first at the scene, said that there was a big fire and a lot of soot. Outside the building, the five injured people lay on the sidewalk after being rescued by firemen and passersby. Woman dies in apartment fire A woman died in a Tel Aviv apartment fire early Sunday morning, Magen David Adom reported. The woman, who lived in an apartment on Hagihon Street, was estimated to be about 60 years old. SOUTH Police seize hundreds of illegally held weapons in large-scale operation Southern district police seized hundreds of unlawfully held weapons last week in an extensive crime-busting operation. The operation was launched in light of the ongoing battle against criminal activity of this kind, with the aim of reducing the illegal possession of weapons among citizens. Hundreds of southern district police officers took part in the operation. In the operation, police seized weapons of many types, including 9mm. guns, 0.22mm. pistols, dozens of rifles, a shotgun, an air-gun and ammunition. “It is a huge number of weapons that were seized, and they could have easily fallen into the hands of criminals, and could have been used for criminal activities and terrorist activities,” said District Commander Yoram Halevy upon completion of the operation. “This operation was part of a series of moves carried out in the district, as part of the struggle against serious crime, improving the lives of citizens and maintaining the well-being and safety of the public.” Environmentalists protest oil shale project in Adullam Park Some 2,000 people turned out at a protest in the Adullam Park in the Shefela last Friday, against an oil shale project. The protest was organized by roughly a dozen environmental organizations and regional authorities. “Adullam is a region full of the most unique natural features and landscape,” Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel spokesman Dov Greenblatt told The Jerusalem Post's sister publication in Hebrew, The Post. 'The area is a major tourist attraction for masses of travelers who visit the area for leisure and recreation. The area must not be turned into an experimental field for the oil industry!” In the morning, the SPNI, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael- Jewish National Fund and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority led guided tours of Hurvat Madras, Hurvat Borgin and Hurvat Itri. Visitors received explanations of the value of the land and the threat the oil shale industry posed to it. At the end of the protest hundreds of people gathered in the heart of Adullam Park and created a human banner with the aim of stopping the oil shale project and protecting the park's landscape, Greenblatt told the Post.

City Notes: Ma’alot Tarshiha launches nature-based art exhibition

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City Notes: Ma’alot Tarshiha launches nature-based art exhibition

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