Northern residents block road to protest negligence

A roundup of local stories from across the country.

By COMPILEDTAMARA ZIEVE
Tel Aviv marathon 2015 (photo credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
Tel Aviv marathon 2015
(photo credit: POLICE SPOKESPERSON'S UNIT)
NORTH
Dozens of northern residents from Gilboa, Beit She’an and Afula took part in a demonstration Sunday at the Beit Hashita junction, to protest the neglect of Highway 71 by the Transportation Ministry.
The demonstration was held in conjunction with road safety NGO Or Yarok (Green Light); protesters blocked the road, causing heavy traffic, with buses, tractors and heavy work vehicles piling up.
This was the first protest in a campaign to repair Route 71, which is considered one of the most dangerous roads in Israel according to Or Yarok. Since 2005, over 1,000 accidents have occurred along the 24-km. road, which took the lives of 30 people and resulted in thousand of injuries, 111 of them serious.
Campaign organizers say roadwork is currently being carried out, but only that connected with building the new Valley Railroad. The campaigners assert that these works will do nothing to prevent the fatal accidents occurring along the road, or address any of the safety issues.
The campaign began last month when members of the regional councils joined forces with area residents, Or Yarok, the heads of the Gilboa and Emek Hama’ayanot regional councils and the mayors of Afula and Beit She’an. They say they will not stop campaigning until the Transportation Ministry repairs the road.
Haifa exhibition marks International Women’s Day
A festive event will be held in Haifa on Sunday to mark the opening of an exhibition that celebrates women, in honor of International Women’s Day (that same day – March 8). The exhibition will be open until March 20 and features 40 artists, reflecting “the evolution and adjustment of any artist in their field – a key tool for the survival of women in society... The goal of feminism in art is to allow women to express themselves freely, through their female perspective.”
Exhibition organizers note that “just as women are different from men in build, sometimes in thought and in their physical experiences, feminist art also has its own characteristics. And it has a right to exist equally.”
CENTER
Bat Yam opens Israel’s first interactive language school
In recent years, schools in Bat Yam have adopted an interactive approach to learning, drawing children to learn the core subjects. At the Gordon School in particular this approach is being implemented, and last Thursday it launched an interactive language center – which the administration says is the first of its kind in the country.
There, children can play, create and enjoy themselves while learning to read and write, enriching their Hebrew vocabulary and improving reading comprehension.
The center employs exhibits and multi-sensory games, using sounds, animation, screening texts, group games, multimedia and creativity.
For the past six years, Gordon has been gradually moving beyond the traditional school framework to a more personal education. This is based on the school being a warm and supportive home, enabling dialogue, cooperation and learning though a connection with the real world, as well as developing of social activism and creativity among pupils and staff.
Most of the school’s children are from immigrant families for whom Hebrew is their second language; as a result, they experience difficulty in learning to read and write and their vocabulary is weak. The usual Hebrew classes aren’t always enough to improve their language; thus, the interactive language center was suggested, which will both support these children and offer activities to those who already have the language skills.
The project is being operated in cooperation with the Bat Yam Municipality and the PlayPlus company, which specializes in creating interactive learning spaces that cater to different ages, alongside a contribution by the Foundation for the Memory of the Grosgoel and Dalbergo Family. The center will eventually be used by all schoolchildren in Bat Yam.
Hakfar Hayarok celebrates Purim
Hakfar Hayarok is ushering in Purim with its Florentin Circus. “The Russian Swing” show provides a circus experience for the whole family, with aerial acrobatics performances, a giant Ferris wheel and a massive wall, rope walking, bold balancing exercises and a 15-meter- high swing; it includes a variety of colorful characters who will greet children and their parents.
Visitors may also take part in workshops and can try an array of circus tricks, such as tightrope-walking, juggling and blowing bubbles. Tickets cost between NIS 60 and NIS 79; the show will take place on March 5 and 7.
The circus was founded 13 years ago in Tel Aviv’s Florentin neighborhood, and was later moved to the agricultural school.
Circus manager Nir Dov-Kaplan said, “From the first days of the circus, we have been working to break down barriers and create a world of magical and fascinating visual content for every age. We work in every area in which you can entertain, delight and bring a smile to someone’s face, and can give others the opportunity to gain experience in circus skills.”
Marathon runners donate 700 kg. of warm clothes
Samsung Electronics Israel announced that participants in the Tel Aviv Marathon, which took place last Friday, had donated 700 kilograms of warm clothes. The donations were made possible by the Pay It Forward project; the runners donated the warm clothes that they took off at the starting line. The clothes were washed and delivered to nonprofits that deliver them to those in need. At last year’s marathon, a similar amount of clothing was donated.
Anna Lipnik Levy of Samsung Israel’s corporate responsibility division said that some 10,000 Israelis had also volunteered during the week at the “good deeds shop” at Rabin Square. Volunteers did good works for someone they knew or a stranger via the NGO Latet, posted their deed on Facebook and received a cupcake as a reward.
Artist donates work to new Sheba unit for young cancer patients
 Israeli artist Zoe Sever has contributed works to the newly opened Kaufman Foundation Oncology Unit for Adolescents and Young Adults at Tel Hashomer’s Sheba Medical Center. The unit was made possible by a generous donation from the Mark Kaufman Charitable Foundation.
An inauguration ceremony was held for the unit at the hospital’s cancer center last week; it was held in the presence of donor Prof. Mark Kaufman, Sheba director Prof. Ze’ev Rotstein and other leading oncologists.
In his opening address, Rotstein highlighted that “according to the center’s concept, the beautiful urban design of the new facilities will create a supportive atmosphere for unit patients.”
Designed by Lupovitch-Weisner Architects Ltd. and decorated with Arie Berkovich’s woodworks and Daniel Landau’s video art, the oncology unit space is also colorfully adorned with works donated by Sever.
“I’ve chosen cityscapes among my variegated output, since they suit the entire concept of the urban unit design best. I am happy and proud that my positive works will support the patients of the oncology unit in their courageous fight with cancer,” she enthused.
“That said, I would be happier if nobody sees my works there at all – in other words, if the wards stay empty!”
SOUTH
Southern residents protest unemployment on Rothschild
On the heels of layoffs and an employment crisis in the South, southern residents on Monday joined the cost-of-living demonstrators on Tel Aviv’s Rothschild Boulevard to protest their increasingly difficult situation. Hundreds of workers from the Dead Sea factories, the Bromine Company and other factories around the country arranged to meet with unions and members of the Dror Israel movement in the Center, who support their cause.
This comes after a wave of layoffs in the South, with no alternative employment solutions offered to residents, and follows protests in Arad, Beersheba, Beit Kama and Dimona. About a year ago, the Rotem Amfert Negev factory of the Israel Chemicals Ltd.
(ICL) group fired some 140 employees; last October, 180 people were made redundant from the Arad Towels factory; and hundreds more are losing their jobs – including 140 Bromine Co. employees and 135 Dead Sea factories workers, who received letters of dismissal from ICL group management. In addition to the ICL layoffs, 80 people working for the Sderot Municipality were dismissed, and 60 workers from the CHS factory in Ashdod were also fired.
Demonstrators were set to protest outside the home of ICL CEO Stephen Burgess, who lives on Rothschild Boulevard.