Jeremy's Life In Israel Continues

has everyone got a blog

2006-04-09T15:54:00.000-07:00

did they always? i mean i never thought i was unique but now it seems stupidly cliched.

anyway, hello anyone who reads this. just thought id waste some more time before finishing doing the annoying administrative crap that you have to do if youre freelance and want to get paid. it really is much easier working for a company who work out ur tax and pay you directly. all these invoices and stuff seem just like work you dont get paid for.

oh well.
i must say its been quite a while. anyone miss me?
things have been ticking along ok, apart from my administrative struggles.
adriana came. then she went back. her dad had a heart attack and it was all alittle stressful and now hes getting better and sitting there recovering watching footie on telly in bogota.
it really is hard for me to imagine what its like there.
well i wont need to much more. cos sooner rather than later im off to colombia.

and thats the thing. im still working. EJP, jewish news and the much more recognisable and well read Jerusalem Post.
these days i wouldnt say i love the post, but im sort of a bit of a fixture in the office and i like that people read stuff on the web and in the paper.
ive had a few things published.
also, i lovvvvve betar, whatever the problems. and there are. and i go for free every week if i want to. and i do! its all up and down at te moment. i hope this stupidfrench manager just leaves at the end of the season. he pisses me off no end. especially cos he cant speak hebrew or english so everything has to be translated, its a nightmare.
although the translator, yonni, is interesting and im supposed to be interviewing him sometime soon.

also my column has been gaining pace. i still dont get paid for it but its fun to write it. doesnt take me long and i get to write whatever i like and erm some people read it. dunno how many, especially cos its in the paper on a monday which must be one of the least popular days to buy the post in israel and how many people read the sports pages anyway, who knows. doesnt matter its all good experience.

right i got to go.
i must thank mr frankie sachs for giving me the opportunity.
send me an email if u read this. im not doing any pr this time.
jeremylast@yahoo.com
jeremy

ISRAEL V ENGLAND

2006-01-30T06:03:00.000-08:00

i must admit that on Friday i was busy cooking and waiting for the man from HOT tv to come and finally connect me to cable TV and i forgot about the draw for the European Championship qualifiers. england and israel have never been drawn in the same group and as much as i loved the idea of england playing here in my new homeland i never thought it would really happen. the closest weve got is when israel played ireland in march last year which was great fun (i was up till 4am drinking with the irish after the game) but it wouldnt compare to watching england.

ive been a big supporter of the national team since i was very young. i nevr had a proper club team to follow when i was a kid (i used to "support" liverpool) but gave up after the hooliganism in heysel in 1985. but ive always lived a few minutes drive from wembley stadium and from when i was about seven years old i used to go to nearly all the home games. ive seen the best play and not manage to beat england - from brazil in 1987 (1-1 draw) to the great 1988 holland team (2-2) as well as the emerging French side in 1992 (cant remeber the score!).

so u can imagine the shock i got when my brother andrew rang me from work all over excited that england had just been placed in group E with england. "of course im going to fly out for the game" my bro said.

it of course got me thinking about the age old questoin of whowould you support in such a match. england have never played israel in a competitive game, and the last friendly was about 20 years ago! for me theres no doubts - its got to be england. so hopefully im going to get andrew to get tickets from the fa and we can sitwith the hooligan travelling support and see rooney, beckham and co wallop avi nimni and tal ben haim.

by the way, i have started writing a column for the jerusalem post about football. the first one was published today. heres a link to it http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1137605944103&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull and ill copy it below. (its called The Last Word and theres even a little pic of me in the paper on page ten, although not on the internet!)

jeremy

Israel vs England - who to root for?By JEREMY LAST

Having made aliya, most olim aim to immerse themselves into Israeli society and take on the local culture. The national soccer team's matches in Ramat Gan have always provided an opportunity for newly-arrived and long-term residents of Israel to join together with their fellow countrymen and show their true Zionist values.
Who can forget the atmosphere in March last year as Israel somehow managed to gain credible draws against Ireland and France?
However, on Friday, the thousands of Englishmen living in Israel were handed both an exciting prospect and a test of their commitment to this country when England and Israel were drawn together in Group E of the qualifying round for the 2008 European championships.
Now the age-old question, "Who would you support if England played Israel?", has to be answered. Never before have the two countries faced each other in a competitive game.
Many of the Brits who will be fervently cheering on Rooney, Beckham and Co. during this summer's World Cup (if they can afford the pay-TV prices) will be willing to forgo their national upbringing and pledge their allegiance to Dror Kashtan's side.
But for others it won't be so easy. Growing up in England, the national team is pervasive, especially during major tournaments. When England is playing in a World Cup or European Championship finals, the team's fortunes seem to be the main news story and talking point wherever you go, and a lifetime of support may leave its mark on some.
There were few soccer fans, for example, who stayed in bed that Friday morning in June 2002 when England played Brazil in a World Cup quarterfinal.
What soccer fans always crave is that little bit of quality to go with the passion. And the Israel vs England game promises to provide just that, and more. On paper it seems that Israel has no chance to beat the English. Israel has only ever qualified for one major tournament - the 1970 World Cup - and is 35 places below England in the FIFA rankings.
However, the Israelis have clearly been improving in recent years and only just missed out on qualification for this summer's World Cup. Another home draw against a top team is not out of the question
Yossi Benayoun's success at West Ham and the potential of Yaniv Katan to gain Premiership experience alongside him can only help the national team.
There is also the prospect of emerging youngsters such as Betar Jerusalem's Maor Melikson and Aviram Bruchian and Maccabi Haifa's Shlomi Arbitman making an impact, as well as the other more established stars.
For its part, England's experience and class can not be doubted. The team exudes quality, from John Terry in central defense through to Lampard and Rooney. But, the side lacks strength in depth and, with a few injuries, England could be vulnerable, as seen in its shock defeat to Northern Ireland in last year's World Cup campaign.
One thing the two sides will have in common will be a new manager/coach at the helm. Kashtan, one of the most successful Israeli coaches, has already been named as the man taking charge of the Israeli team, but as yet we do not know who will replace Sven Goran Eriksson. If, as feared by many fans, Bolton boss Sam Allardyce gets the job, then who knows what will happen!
Either way, whenever the matches will be held (all the teams in the group will meet next month to decide the schedule), they will be full of excitement and passion. Expect two unforgettable nights. Let's just hope the English fans behave themselves as well as the Irish did when they came to Tel Aviv.
jeremylast@yahoo.com

back in israel, poor sharon!

2006-01-20T13:31:00.000-08:00

i just read an entry on a friends blog saying how he had just returned from a 3 week holiday in england and was even contemplating going back for a bit - his justisfication was that he was an israeli so theres no reason why he couldnt live abroad!

my friend has so far not acted on his instincts and decided to continue his job hunting in israel. but it made me think. ive just come back from a 6 day break in england, the second time ive been back since i made aliya, and i feel completely the opposite to my friend. i remember the first time i went back, in august last year, i said i was going home, then felt bad, like i should feel like israel was my home but i still felt more at home in england. but despite this, the whole time i was back, i just couldnt wait to get back to israel. this time i really didnt feel like england was my home and again was really looking forward to coming back here.

i am feeling more and more at home here. i know i cant call myself a proper israeli yet but i always knew it would take time. israel is of course not an easy country. the people arent overly polite, its someteimes a nightmare to get things sorted out. but the thing is i had been here many times before i made aliya so i think i was used to alot of the negative things and had aleady accepted them before i came.

there was another suicide bomb on thursday afternoon, the day after i got back. it again hit home how these terrorists can strike anywhere at any time. i thought it was funny that the bombing got little international coverage, simply because no one was killed. the bbc decided to not even put it on their front page. it seems bad reporting to me, but as i know after working in journalism for a few years, its just not as big news. the fact is the bomber wanted to kill as many people as possible and just failed in his task. the intention was there. when i found the story in the bbc middle east section i saw they said "one killed in suicide attack". the one killed was of course the suicide bomber. thats a bit silly isnt it. when someone commits suicide they arent killed, they kill themselves!

one other thing i wanted to mention was about our, currently "incapacitated", prime minister ariel sharon. poor man. its been a strange few weeks. its now been more than 2 weeks since he was rushed to hospital with a "severe stroke". that wednesday night i stayed up till 4am listneing to the radio and watching the news thinking he was going to die. by friday he still hadnt died but everyone thought he was going to over the weekend. friday night i had dinner at my cousins and we spent an hour and a half watching the channel 2 news where people were paying tribute to sharon.
but he didnt die! and by the next thursday when i flew to london things were looking up and reports were talking about how the doctors were going to bring him out of the induced come and he could recover. that hasnt happened and a week later he still seems completely comatosed. i wonder if he will ever wake up.
whats been amazing for me has been to see how ehud olmert went from being a relative political nobody to prime minister in just a few days.
u never know in politics!

2006-01-09T10:34:00.000-08:00

crazy sakhnin fans

2006-01-09T10:32:00.000-08:00

betar owner arkadi gaydamak is clearly living in a dream world. he has donated lots of money to bnei sachnin and told me he thinks he can bring peace between the two teams....clearlynot

2006-01-09T10:31:00.001-08:00

the broken window that gave me a cold

2006-01-09T10:31:00.000-08:00

the teams line up before the game

2006-01-09T10:30:00.000-08:00

the brick that broke the window

crazy riots in sachnin

2006-01-09T10:22:00.000-08:00

here i am tucked up in bed in jerusalem, but it all could have been so different.
last night i saw first hand the ugly side of israeli football. i was asked to travel to the arab town of Sachnin to cover the Bnei Sachnin Vs Betar Jerusalem game for the Jerusalem Post.
its fair to say that the fans of the two teams dont get on. Betar are the right wingest club in israel and the only team to never field an arab player; while sachnin are the only arab team in the israeli top division.
tensions were clearly high during the game, but when it finished, as i was sitting in the vip area furiously typing up my match report, things got out of hand.
i saw the 500 or so betar fans running on to the pitch. as they got near the halfwayline they were surronded by police and local security.
i have since been told the sakhnin fans started the problems by pelting the israelis with stones, forcing them on to thepitch.
the minor scuffles which followed were on thingm but i needed a rde home.
i had travelled to sachnin on egged, via haia with no way of getting back. finally i found out there were caoches taking people to jerusalem, bt when i dound the coach in the car park some of the windows had been smashed by crazy sakhnin fans.
in the end i got back to jerusalem safely, albeit in a cold bus with a window missing.
this is just not the way it should be. im worried someone is going to get killed or seruously injured in the next game.
and ive got a really bad cold!
j.

2006-01-02T15:08:00.001-08:00

2006-01-02T15:08:00.000-08:00

2006-01-02T15:05:00.001-08:00

the soup was lovely! a mexican restaurant in interlaken!

2006-01-02T15:05:00.000-08:00

how strange. u can learn israeli martial arts in the tiniest little town in the swiss alps

2006-01-02T15:04:00.001-08:00

me and adriana in interlaken, switzerland in november. how cute!

2006-01-02T15:04:00.000-08:00

me and barak yitzchaki. a future superstar. it was an honour. i was starstruck.

2006-01-02T15:03:00.000-08:00

me and lior asulin. at the press conference anouncing fernandez's appointment.

2006-01-02T15:02:00.000-08:00

me and aviram bruchian. the new nimni.

2006-01-02T15:01:00.000-08:00

a betar press conference. from the left: vladamir shklar, betar president; jerome leroy, betars french signing (first game on sunday v sachnin); arkadi gaydamak, betars russian billionaire owner; luis fernandez, betars french manager; philip soloman, fernanez's advisor/translator

2006-01-02T14:59:00.000-08:00

2006-01-02T14:58:00.000-08:00

jamie and ben came to stay with me in israel in august. we had a good time. this was friday night dinner in a restaurant in jerusalem. very posh!

2006-01-02T14:57:00.000-08:00

the boy levin! hes a soldier. this was a few months ago not long after he started. thats his girlfriend chava there with him. hes been in the sanchanim paratropper unit for about five months now. www.orev.co.il

back once again

2006-01-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

er hi,

today someone told me they saw my blog. my blog i asked? i havent written anything there for about six months. but they seemed to like it, at least they had looked at the pictures. so i thought why not, im going to write something again. maybe ill start it up again.

i dont think i can sit here and write everything ive done in the last six months. ive been busy enough. met some new people, done some new things.

the best thing thats happened to me is that ive been working regularly for the jerusalem post. of course this is ironic after what happened with me and the post earlier last year (scrol down a bit and u can read about how pissed off i was). but this time its been better and also good for me. before i was just sitting at home on my bum and now i have been able to have another job where i get out the house and speak to people! ive been mostly editing the sports pages which is fun and also writing some sports and features (mostly about betar)

if u want to read - heres one: this is one of the features i did, although i cant find it on jpost.com but its here - http://www.unitedjerusalem.org/index2.asp?id=671167

ive been going alot to betar still, even though mikes now in the army so i hardly go with him.
the teams doing alot better this season, and the gaydamak money hasnt even had an impact on the team except with the management.

im excited about all this because its rare that the team you support becomes the focus of the nation and gets all the money.i feel like those fulham fans after al fayed put all that money into the club. hopefully we will be more like chelsea though.

whatsbeen cool was that iam now apparently the jerusalme post betar correspondant. on sunday im sypposed to be going to sachnin and covering the betar v bnei sachnin game. i hope i gcan get a lift. it will be a bit dodgy up there in the arab town. but will make a good story for the paper. im going to try and interview some sachnin fans and some betar fans.

anyway, its bedtime
work to do in the mornng
heres some picutures

a little explanation - me and adriana went on holiday to switzerland in november and she iscoming here next week.

jeremy

THE BLOG IS BACK

2005-06-05T05:46:00.000-07:00

marc zoe and me in olive restaurant on emek 2 weeks ago (great steak) - theres a tree in the restaurant!

IM BACK

2005-06-05T05:13:00.000-07:00

i started think all my fans mustve given up on me. its been a long time since ive written anything on this blog.

but then i realised, people rely on me, they care. they want to know if im still here.

so here we go. yes im still alive and im still in israel and to be honest not much has changed.

the ulpans finishing next week, but since pesach ive realised i clearly do not go. ive had mixed reactions to this - lots of people say im stupid not going cos im wasting an opportunity. but it just wasnt for me. i couldnt concentrate on learning and repeating millions of times verbs and stuff. and i never had good teachers. theydidnt make it interesting or practical or interactive so i just sat there bored out my head. i decided i can learn more hebrew on my own by reading the papers and writing little essays and if i mix with israelis. admittedly i havent made as much effort as maybe i could have done but the thing is i will. this is only the start and ive been working and sorting myself out.

WELL thats my confession over. feel like ive got it off my chest. i truly believe i will eventually fit in and become an israeli.

so, its been a long time since i put any pics up or anything. since i last posted its been my birthday, adriana came to visit and we spent the weekend on a kibbutz on the kinneret, i celebrated yom haatzmaut with a barbeque here, we had a eurovision party and saw shiri come fourth, zoe and marc came to visit from london and we saw all the family. and this weekend i was in gush katif for shabbat with ruthie.

ill put some pics below this. enjoy. more to come. spread the word
jeremy

ps hi to hannah and yisroel!

2005-06-05T03:41:00.000-07:00

the little cohn twins!

2005-06-05T03:40:00.000-07:00

how cute? tehilla cohn

2005-06-05T03:39:00.000-07:00

yael, udi, levy and me at yaels mexican birthday party (after many margheritas!)

2005-06-05T03:37:00.000-07:00

the yom haatzmaut bbq

2005-06-05T03:35:00.000-07:00

me, zoe and marc at melech hafalafel

2005-06-05T03:34:00.000-07:00

me and adriana in dnd

MY PESACH VISIT TO THE GAZA STRIP!!!

2005-04-28T08:28:00.000-07:00

the entrance to the jewish settlement bloc in gaza - see how someone has put grafitti over the words in arabic!

my pesach visit to the Gaza Strip

2005-04-28T07:53:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I did what i had wanted to do since ive been in israel - i visited the Gaza Strip - home to some 1.2 million arabs. One reason i am excited to be in israel at the moment is because this seems to be a very interesting time politically because of sharon's planned disengagement from gaza.

only about 7,800 jews live in the gaza strip, nearly all in the gush katif settlement bloc, but the disegagement plan has been hugely controversial and the main talking point amongst alot of people over the last few months due to its significance. this would be the first time israel would give away/back (depending on your politics) a large bloc of land conquered in 1967. and the controversy has been heightened because 1. it is unilateral, ie the palestinians have not been involved in the process and have not made any commitments to halt terrorism if we leave gaza; and 2. because there was no referendum on the issue and sharon seems to have done a complete political uturn as he was elected on a platform of not leaving.

so after 3 and a half months of having this as a debate and discussion i finally was able to see what all the fuss was about. i had found out on the internet about a day trip to the region organised by the insanely right-wing pro-settlement organisation Arutz Sheva (who used to run an illegal radio station but it was shut down so now only have a website). i knew there would be lots of anti-disengagement propoganda but i didnt mind. i just wanted to go to the place and see for myself what it is, especially as there doesnt seem much time left to go there with the disengagement slated forjuly 20th although likely to be put off till august 20.

i must make the point that i am still undecided about whether the disengagement is a good or bad thing. on one hand i want peace and there is an argument that if you get the ball rolling it might help. but it just seems so unlikely that leaving the strip could bring peace as it is, as i said above,unilateral, and the area, which houses an estimated 1.2m arabs, is not exactly pro-israel! theres another argument that it is all just a waste of army resources for just 7,800 settlers; but the security argument, that the strip provides a buffer zone from the arabs, seems to make more sense.

who knows if we will really evacuate these people, but one thing is for sure. a large percentage of the people there not only do not want to leave, think it is never going to happen. more on that in a sec.

our trip basically consisted of going into the strip via the kissufim junction, having lunch on a grassy patch in a small settlement called gadid, visiting the settlement of atzmona, having a little flag waving in neve dekalim and then a barbequw in nitzarim - the most isolated and dangerous jewish yishuv in all israel!

it was, i must admit, fascinating to see the place. it really is just built on sand dunes and i am impressed with these people that they managed to grow stuff and build a life for themselves in this area. nothing i saw managed to convince me either way. some people have this idea that if u see the places it makes a difference. it was just like i expected it to be, and does feel a little dangerous with the arabsurrounding you just a few kilometeres away.

what was funny was that despite that, i didnt really feel overly uncomfortable, maybe something to do with having have lived in efrat for two years when i was in yeshiva i am used to the isolation. the thing was we were supposed to go to this massive rally that was being held prodisengagement that i was interested in seeing but due to time restrictions we didnt go. only while i was munching on my burgers and sausages at the barbeque we had in nitzarim (the most dangerous place in israel) did i find out that two katushas had been fired at the rally narrowly missing anyone.

we all arrived back safely at about 11.15pm, annoying cos i had missed the liverpool v chelsea game, but it was ok. it turned out it was only 0-0.

ive still not made my mind up on the disengagement. alot of the people really are some of the craziest ive met yet. but at least i did it and survived! lets see if i can survive the football on saturday evening now! YALLA BETAR!

2005-04-28T07:53:00.000-07:00

me and mike in gush katif!

2005-04-28T07:52:00.000-07:00

the march was full of lots of crazy orange people. we just saw it from the bus!

2005-04-28T07:51:00.000-07:00

we ate matza in gadid!

2005-04-28T07:50:00.001-07:00

the kiddies playground in atzmona

2005-04-28T07:50:00.000-07:00

this was the exhibition in atzmona - it was about the settlent - past, present and future (they seem to think there will be one!)

2005-04-28T07:49:00.001-07:00

houses in neve dekalim, with khan unis in the background

2005-04-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

i decided to stake a claim!

2005-04-28T07:48:00.001-07:00

mike and chava are also zionists!

2005-04-28T07:48:00.000-07:00

theyre still building - 10 weeks before the expected disengagement!

chol hamoed in herzaliya with CHARLIE

2005-04-26T09:24:00.000-07:00

thank you to mr and mrs daniels for buying me lunch! great place the dan accadia herzaliya, although u do feel like ur in bournemouth or london!

2005-04-26T09:21:00.000-07:00

charlie wanted a mention, i think he thinks this is some world leading website when in fact i have a feeling its just the same 10 people who have looked at it.

yesterday was the first day of chol hamoed pesach. which is strange cos it was still yom tov in london. its lovely in israel over pesach. really nice. makes you realise how cool it is to have a jewish state where jewish festivals are national holidays whether ur religious or not.

my friend from london charlie is staying at the dan accadia hotel in herzaliya with his family for pesach so i went up to chill with him at the hotel. its a great place. really nice and spacious and good quality. so many of the hotels in israel are a bit crappy, mostly cos they havent had many guests over the last 4 years since the start of the intifada. but this one is kept quality. it was a funny place, nothing else in the area apart from the new shopping centre and it was full of english people. we had a nice relaxed time and a good chatabout where his lifes going. even got to watch some snooker together on eurosport.

in the evening i had to go back through tel aviv so i met up with my cousin yael and went to the cinema in dizengoff centre. saw a nice and relaxed film - in good company with dennis quaid.

2005-04-26T09:20:00.001-07:00

we went to the marina in herzaliya. lovely boats

2005-04-26T09:20:00.000-07:00

charlie, at a crossroads! (its a metaphor, for those who get it!)

2005-04-25T01:44:00.000-07:00

on our way to metulla me and mike found the betar bus in the arlozorov bus station in tel aviv. had to get a photo. classic huh!

ice hockey (- u what??)

2005-04-24T01:17:00.000-07:00

since the first week ive been here, every few weeks or so my room mate mike would dissapear off to matula in the north of the country to play ice hockey.

for a rediculous reason there is only one ice rink in israel and it is in the most irrelevent difficult to get to place in the country. mikes team, lod are the best team in the (5 or 6 teaM) LEAGUE.

so last week, the last game of the season i went up to metula to watch a game. ive never seen ice hockey before but what a crazy game. there was this one guy who played for the opposition team, metula, whos american and is on a year off before university. as it was the last game about 40 of his mates came to watch him so he played up to crowd and started loads of fights. which apparently is normal in hockey.

what wasnt normal was at the start of the third period (theres 3 20 minute periods) avishai, mikes american mate who we stayed at after the game, got hit in the hand. he chased after the bloke, tried to beat him up and started a massive bundle. when the ref tried to get involved and stop the fight one of the metula guys hit him over the head with his hockey stick and cut his head open forcing him to stop the game (see pic above).

afterwards we all went to the local pizza place and drank the traditional league clinching celebratory drinks of five bottles of vodka and alitre of wiskey. good fun had by all.

ANYWAY.
i know ive been a bit rubbish with the blog.

wanted to say to u all CHAG SAMEACH< happy pesach.
first time ive ever been out of the uk and away from my family for pesach.
im going to ivor and miriam for seder tonight. ill write all about it tommorrow.
j

2005-04-23T01:24:00.000-07:00

he really plays ice hockey!

2005-04-23T01:23:00.000-07:00

mike avishai and patrick - the only americans in the side. all the rest are russians

2005-04-23T01:22:00.001-07:00

the russians like drinking vodka outside the pizza place after a big win. not so rare considering they win every game!

2005-04-23T01:22:00.000-07:00

me and mike, before we drank lots and lots of vodka

2005-04-23T01:21:00.000-07:00

the russians did this crazy thing where they put all the team's medals in a glass, filled it with vodka and passed it round

2005-04-23T01:20:00.001-07:00

DOWN IT

2005-04-23T01:20:00.000-07:00

avishai took his turn

2005-04-23T01:19:00.000-07:00

me and ivan. something was funny.

amhiras going back to bombay.

2005-04-22T08:23:00.000-07:00

lex amhira tali and karen in oconnells

shes indian and shes jewish!

2005-04-22T08:21:00.000-07:00

ahmiras leaving drinks.shes going back to bombay on sunday

IM FAMOUS!!!!!!!

2005-04-17T08:28:00.000-07:00

finally my dream has come true. i am a true betar jerusalem fan. the team has a fan website and if you look carefully at the pics below you may be able to find me.

go to http://www.fcbj.net/gallery2.php?id=300&rowNum=16&pageNum=3 for more pics of the fans and the game.

the pic was taken last night at the betar vs hapoel tel aviv game i went to in blumfield stadium tel aviv. we drew 1-1. doesnt look like were going to finish third which is annoying cos me and mike wouldve gone to europe for a uefa cup game!

i had a really nice weekend. i went to see my room mate mike play ice hockey on friday night and then went to ramon and susan for shabbat lunch on saturday which was lovely. i hadnt seen them for ages, and then betar sat night.

more pics from the hockey and sinai to come soon.
love u all.
j
ps happy pesach. hows all the prepartion going? were cleaning the kitchen and house tommorrow cos mikes having his gibush (army training selection test thingy) on wed and thursday. his girlfriends family are coming on thursday and were making a surprise slap up dinner for them at our place.

2005-04-17T08:02:00.000-07:00

wheres jeremy?

2005-04-14T15:12:00.000-07:00

Last night i worked out how to use the self timer on my camera, so now i can show you my bedroom! this is me on my bed in my bedroom. big isnt it! i just started putting posters up but havent got round to putting them round my bed. the walls are more light blue, just the camera makes them look light!

2005-04-14T15:10:00.000-07:00

my couch in my room

ive moved the counter up again. - eeeemail me. comeoooon. i only get emails from nev - does no one else care?? - jeremylast@yahoo.com

2005-04-14T01:53:00.000-07:00

come on people, keep clicking, it gives me an ego boost. and email me -jeremylast@yahoo.com or post a message on here.love u alljeremy

BEN SHAFFER's WEDDING

2005-04-13T07:21:00.000-07:00

Ben Shaffer got married to a South African girl called Gina last week. It was a lovely wedding. the chupa was on the roof at the dan panorama hotel just near jaffa gate of the old city.

2005-04-13T07:20:00.001-07:00

me and lex

2005-04-13T07:20:00.000-07:00

from the left - vigs wife alma, ashley's wife ariella (u may have seen her in the betar game photos), ash and me with vig behind

2005-04-13T05:11:00.000-07:00

OK RAFI - your famous now!!!!

some work ive done

2005-04-12T06:21:00.000-07:00

i just thought, i might as well post up some more of the work ive done (i got one positive comment about the jose piece andit wasnt even so good!). some of it goes on the english website of yediot ahronot.

this one i liked, its about strawberries being banned in the uk by kashrut authorities.

Strawberry ban confuses Brits

UK religious authorities ban strawberries because bugs that infest the berries are not kosher; London Beth Din rejects prohibition By Jeremy Last, European Jewish Press

One of the UK's most prominent Jewish religious authorities has banned the consumption of strawberries, generating confusion among the British Jewish community.

CLICK FOR THE REST OF IT

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3064648,00.html#n

But my harry potter ones my favourite:

Is Harry Potter Jewish?

British conference to examine book's origins; presenter: Harry's a 'yiddishe neshama' By Jeremy Last, EJP

The bizarre question of Harry Potter’s Jewish identity is to be discussed at a three-day conference covering the entire spectrum of the magical children’s book.

AGAIN CLICK BELOW FOR THE REST -

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3070468,00.html

theres more about there on the web, ive been writing for the boston jewish advocate as well as my old friends at london jewish news (who i hear are advertising for a new senior reporter just a few months after making me redundant because they couldnt afford so many reporters - strange huh. well im happy in israel. but steve burns - think about it mate.)

jose mourinho in israel

2005-04-11T12:58:00.002-07:00

jose mourninho came to israel as a guest of the peres centre for peace.

heres my article in full from EJP

Coaching football for peace
By Jeremy Last in Tel Aviv
Updated: 29/Mar/2005 10:42

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho (C) with Israel's vice-premier Shimon Peres (R)
Photo: Jeremy Last, EJP
Page tools
Email to friend
Print this page
Bookmark this page
One of Europe's top football coaches visited Israel this week to encourage peace and cooperation between Israelis and Palestinians.
Jose Mourinho, the Portuguese manager of London-based team Chelsea, spent two days touring the country and showing his support for programmes organised by a peace centre headed by Israeli vice-premier Shimon Peres.
The trip attracted massive media interest, not only as it is the first visit of this type by a European football legend, but also because of the controversy that Mourinho has generated since he started working in the UK in August.
He is currently being investigated by UEFA, the European football federation, on a number of charges including harsh criticism of a Swedish referee.
But Mourinho put his troubles aside as he handed out medals to Palestinian and Israeli children who play together on Sundays. Later that afternoon he played in a five-a-side tournament with older players from both sides of the conflict.
Bridging the divide
Speaking at the medal ceremony at the Vinter stadium in Tel Aviv, Mounrinho said he hoped to use his fame as a sports’ coach to encourage peace in the Middle East.
“I want to thank Mr. Shimon Peres for giving me the chance to come to this country. My sports world is very different to this one and it is great to come to the pure reality.” he said.
“Sometimes in my world we think we are very important people. I think the real heroes of life are the people who work for very important causes.”
The Chelsea supreme spent just a few days in Israel but stressed that he would like to come back.
“I will be quite far in London or Portugal but I will be thinking of all of you and every time you need my support you can count on it,” he declared.
Extra lessons
As well as speaking about the Middle East conflict, Mourinho also gave a lecture on football tactics and management to Israeli and Palestinian coaches.
Betar Jerusalem coach Eli Ohana, who was among the audience, told EJP: “I am very impressed by Jose Mourinho. It will definitely help bridge the divide between the Israelis and Palestinians, how much we will know in the future.”
Ron Pundak of the Peres centre said he hopes the trip will prove a point to people in the region and in the rest of the world.
“We are trying to send a message to world Jewry that there is a chance for peace in this area,” he told EJP.
“We are here using sport as a vehicle, it is almost a language. We are creating a common ground and dialogue between the two sides. Football speaks to everybody and when people play together it sends a message,” he added.
Email to friend
Print this page
Bookmark this page

CHELSEA MANAGER JOSE MOURINHO'S VISIT TO ISRAEL

2005-04-11T12:58:00.001-07:00

the assembled media throng

2005-04-11T12:58:00.000-07:00

joe and peres with israeli and palestinian children

2005-04-11T12:57:00.000-07:00

"Emma Hurd, Sky News, Tel Aveeeev" (with bbc's james reynolds next to her!)

2005-04-11T12:56:00.000-07:00

jose the five a side superstar

2005-04-11T12:54:00.000-07:00

MOURINHO speaks

2005-04-11T12:53:00.000-07:00

jose's genius - building a team

2005-04-11T10:28:00.000-07:00

and at the end i met the manager of betar jerusalem eli ohana who i even quoted in the story i wrote about the mourinho visit for EJP (even though betar seem to play withoutany tactics eli seemed to think he hadnt learnt anything for jose the master).

the beach and israel v france march 30th

2005-04-11T10:20:00.000-07:00

dad had gone home and me and andrew had chilled for a few days (see above, i just realised ive done all this in the wrong order!).

anyway, i worked really hard in the morning and wrote 3 stories for EJP then me and andrew went up to tel aviv and met up with dave and a few of his mates. we had a great barbeque on the beach and then headed off to the footie.

not a bad game in retrospect. there was much more atmosphere, first cos we hate the french and also i think cos people were getting used to thestadium (alot of people had been at the irelandf game a few days before). one man was hated the most though - the french keep fabien barthez had made some comments before coming to israel aabout how he didnt want to come cos of the security situation or something and every time he got the ball the entire stadium booed!

ended 1-1 with another arab walid badir scoring the winning goal.

2005-04-11T10:17:00.000-07:00

dave and ofir made a barby on the beach before we went up to ramat gan for the israel france game

2005-04-11T10:16:00.000-07:00

steak was quality dont u think bro

2005-04-11T10:15:00.001-07:00

chillin on the beach

2005-04-11T10:15:00.000-07:00

tel aviv beach at sunset

2005-04-11T10:14:00.001-07:00

joels an amazing juggler. he did stuff like flip it onto his neck and all that

2005-04-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

mike me ofer and dave

bit more of an atmosphere at the france game

2005-04-11T10:13:00.000-07:00

bit m

2005-04-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

israel v france

israel v ireland sat night march 26

2005-04-11T09:04:00.001-07:00

its wierd cos this was weeks ago now, but i thought id share the pics and update my life.
i thinkive become obsessed with this camera. i just came back from sinai and realised i took 150 pictures in 4 days.
why not. doesnt cost anything!
anyway, footie was fun, arab bloke scored in the last minute or something.

2005-04-11T09:04:00.000-07:00

me dad and andrew at the footie

2005-04-11T09:03:00.001-07:00

everyone got one of these t shirts with 15 on the back for yossi benayoun, supposedly a great player

2005-04-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

he teams line up

2005-04-11T09:02:00.000-07:00

israel v ireland

2005-04-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

me, mike and his girlfriend chava in the shopping centre in ramat gan after the game

2005-04-11T08:59:00.000-07:00

the pubs in tel aviv went irish crazy

2005-04-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

crazy irish fans dancing on the bar at 2.30am after the game

i went to see the ireland team train

2005-04-04T07:10:00.001-07:00

i tried to get interviews with some of the ireland players but it just wasnt happening.
it was fun to see them train though, but maybe not worth spending half my day there.
we all know what happened after wards at the game (see above, once i put the pics up!)

2005-04-04T07:10:00.000-07:00

irish journaist being interviwed by israeli tv

2005-04-04T07:09:00.001-07:00

ireland training

2005-04-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

roy keane getting on the bus, he wouldnt talk to me

2005-04-04T07:08:00.000-07:00

robbie keane on the bus. he wouldnt talk to me either

2005-04-04T07:07:00.000-07:00

former palace striker clinton morrison resting

im doing this backwards

2005-04-04T07:03:00.000-07:00

these are pics from when my brother and dad came to stay. theres more to come, but now ive realised they will be on top instead of underneath so i need to put the more recent things up first.

anyway, im gonna try and make it make sense.

have a browse
j

2005-04-04T04:31:00.000-07:00

andrew wanted to buy a nachman hat in the shuk but the bloke selling it got all upset cos he thought we were making fun of it (which we were, sort of