Bye, bye Helen

The power of the internet is fascinating. A teenager and his father, Adam Nesenoff and Rabbi David Nesenoff, were pretty far down the media food chain, but after interviewing media icon Helen Thomas during the American Jewish Heritage Month celebration on May 27 at the White House, they became a media sensation.

They went around asking notables if they had any "comments on Israel," and as the world now knows, Helen Thomas sure did.

"Tell them to get the hell out of Palestine," the doyenne of the Washington press corps said, and laughed. "Remember, these people are occupied, and it's their land."

Nesenoff asked where she thought they should go.

"Go home," she responded.

Asked to elaborate, Thomas said, “Poland, Germany,” and after more prompting by the rabbi, added “and America, and everywhere else.”

The video was only posted on June 3, and quickly gained national attention, unleashing a flurry of demands for Thomas’ marginalization, if not dismissal.

On Monday, Thomas, 89, heeded the calls and quit. It was a rapid fall for a woman who had become a liberal icon.

Thomas, the child of Lebanese immigrants, was known to be a fierce critic of Israel, but it took a citizen journalist to initiate her fall.

You can see the video here.

Shimon Peres launches YouTube channel

“Welcome to my YouTube channel. I am so glad to speak to you and no less, to listen to you. I would like to share with you my dreams, my thoughts, and I would like also to hear your dreams and your thoughts”.
No, this isn’t a quote by Beyonce, but rather the launching of a completely different channel, the blog IsRealli reports.
After staying on top of almost every global trend, the President of Israel now has his own YouTube channel. At a special event held in Jerusalem, President Peres hit the publish button and uploaded his first ever clip: “The freedom of speech belonged for many years in history to the strong, to the mighty, to the privileged. They have had the microphones and we have had to listen to them. Today we really enjoy free speech. We can talk to each other, no matter where are you, no matter who are you, no matter who I am, as a person to a person, directly. With a great interest and full hope, join in me, in dreams, in hope, in conversation. I think it will enrich you, I am sure it will enrich me.” said Israeli President Peres.
Joining Peres at this event was Chad Hurley, YouTube’s founder who hopes this channel and others will serve to promote peace and understanding: "I could have never imagined when we started this site five years ago that we would be considered a vehicle for peace. Today, we are breaking down boundaries so that people get to see the other side. People see that everyone around the world really shares the same dreams and have the same fears.”

Renate in SL Israel

I love Machinima. Well, some of them. Yes, I know, there are some poorly done ones, and yes, the one you can see here might not be the most exciting one, but you know what, it covers SL Israel and for those of you who understand German, it might be fun to see.