CENTER A group of Swedes living in Israel protested last Friday in front of Stockholm's embassy in Tel Aviv, urging the Swedish government to take a stronger stance in condemning the spate of Palestinian attacks, many carried out by minors, since September against Israeli civilians and soldiers. The demonstrators called on Sweden to condemn any acts of violence against civilians and to make demands on the Palestinian Authority to prevent children from becoming terrorists. “Rather than condemn the terror against civilians, the Swedish foreign minister and the government of Sweden have shown an unparalleled level of understanding for the perpetrators and concern with the attackers rather than the victims,” read a statement from the demonstration's organizers. “We, Swedes living in Israel, Jews and non-Jews of a wide variety of political opinions, want to call the Swedish government to its senses.” The demonstration came amid a recent dip in strained ties between Jerusalem and Stockholm after Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström earlier this month spurred controversy with remarks regarding Israel's response to the current wave of Palestinian violence. Celebrities join kids with cancer for Hanukka party More than two dozen celebrities and artists participated in an end-of-Hanukka celebration on Monday night at Kibbutz Ga'ash for hundreds of children battling with cancer. Some 400 children from across the country attended the festivities at the Hatira castle on the kibbutz, located between Herzliya and Netanya. Among the various celebrities involved in the party, organized by the NGO Lehoshit Yad, were singer Ninet Tayeb and actors Lior Raz, Daniel Litman and Michal Yannai. Also in attendance were former soccer player Itzik Zohar, model Nataly Dadon and supermodel Bar Refaeli's mother, Tzipi. The Israeli-Ethiopian hiphop band Cafe Shahor Hazak performed at the event. Ra'anana to plant garden commemorating child Holocaust victims Ra'anana is set to become the first city in Israel this coming Tuesday (December 22) to join a global effort to plant 1.5 million daffodils in memory of the same number of children who perished in the Holocaust. Students from the city are slated to plant the flowers on Tuesday morning. The project originated in Ra'anana's sister city – Atlanta, Georgia – under the initiative of the Holocaust education nonprofit organization Am Yisrael Chai. The Ra'anana Municipality will oversee the city's contribution to the international project, which aims to plant at least 75,000 daffodils around the world in 2016. According to Am Yisrael Chai, the yellow flower is used for the endeavor due to its color and shape, which resemble the yellow Star of David that Jews were forced to wear during the Holocaust. NORTH Haifa art museum opens exhibition on modernization The Haifa Museum of Art held the grand opening last weekend for the exhibition “From Andy Warhol to Present Day: Culture, Color, Body.” The exhibition addresses works from the second half of the 20th century until the present day and explores effects that technological developments have had on art, artists and the creative process. The free display includes two group exhibits and 10 solo exhibits. The exhibition displays works by international and Israeli artists including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, James Rosenquist, Victor Vasarely, Yigal Tumarkin, David Tartakover, Eliezer Sonnenschein, Gary Goldstein, Jenifer Bar Lev, Sergio Segre, Eran Shakine, Ayelet Carmi, Ido Shemi, Guy Yanai, Pnina Reichman, Osvaldo Romberg and special guest Federico Solmi. The exhibition is scheduled to run until January 5. Man plummets to death at Hadera construction site A construction worker in his 30s died on Monday after plummeting some 20 meters from a construction site in Hadera. Magen David Adom paramedics pronounced him dead at the scene in the city's Givat Olga neighborhood. SOUTH Ashkelon Holocaust survivors celebrate bar and bat mitzvas Thirteen Holocaust survivors, who now reside in Ashkelon and were unable to have their bar or bat mitzvas during World War II, celebrated the life-cycle event alongside their family members at the Western Wall in Jerusalem last week. The project was organized by the Ashkelon Municipality in collaboration with the Western Wall Heritage Foundation. “There was a lot of excitement among all of the participants who took part in a powerful and unique experience. For Holocaust survivors, this stands as a triumphant call and tying up of loose ends,” said Ariela Sadon, the municipality's director of services for the elderly. Ashdod customs officials thwart cosmetics smuggling Narcotics and customs officials in Ashdod foiled the attempted smuggling of tens of thousands of cosmetics items, many that comprised dual-use materials that are prohibited for security reasons, the Tax Authority announced this week. The thwarted smuggling attempt took place in October after authorities conducted an undercover investigation of the company Transworld Trade Ltd. owned by east Jerusalem resident Tamim Tamimi. Investigations indicated that tons of the more than 1,200 cartons of smuggled materials posed a potential security threat, as they could be used for making weapons. The Ashkelon Magistrate's Court oversaw Tamimi's arraignment.
(photo credit: COURTESY ASHDAR)Updated: Read More