Orly Weinerman stands by her Gadhafi
Orly Weinerman, a 1990s Israeli actress and model, has found her way back into the gossip magazines. Weinerman, who has appeared in several Israeli TV shows, admitted to a six-year relationship with Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, son of deposed Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi. She reportedly begged former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to save the life of the younger Gadhafi, who is now on trial in Libya. The improbable couple got together in 2005, and stayed together until Libya’s civil war began in 2011. Another obstacle to their happiness: Weinerman’s parents objected to her marrying a Muslim.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz remembers Jerusalem
Debbie Wasserman Schultz is either the queen or the clown of the Democratic convention, depending on your partisan colors. The Florida congresswoman wrenched arms to get the Democrats’ platform committee to reconvene and re-insert Jerusalem language into the platform — so three cheers! But she also is the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee — so how did it get there in the first place? She got a standing ovation at a packed training session for Jewish volunteers when she urged them to tell their personal stories when reaching out to voters, and recounted hers: The realization when she felt a lump in her breast that she was a “job loss away from being uninsured and uninsurable.” But then she denied a reporter’s claim that, during the same session, she cited Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren as bashing Republicans for making Israel a partisan issue. Even after Oren pushed back and the Washington Examiner reporter, Phil Klein, produced audio, she stood by her contention — earning her Four Pinnochios from the Washington Post fact checker. So queen, clown or fairy tale marionette? When she gavelled the convention into business, resplendent in white (the day after Labor Day!) and newly set golden curls, the crowd erupted in applause, leaving little doubt where they stood.
Sarah Nurit leads the march
Sarah Nurit, 35, organized and led a kippah-themed protest march Saturday against anti-Semitic violence in Berlin. She put together the event using Facebook in response to the Aug. 28 attack against Rabbi Daniel Alter and his daughter by a gang of young men in the German capital. Nurit, who works in a day-care center and is a single mom with three boys (all circumsized, according to the newspaper Die Welt), led 100 marchers — Jewish and non-Jewish alike — through downtown Berlin, accompanied by a handful of policemen and about a dozen journalists. As part of its coverage of the event, the German newspaper Berliner Zeitung ran front-page photos of well-known Berliners wearing yarmulkes under the headline: “Berlin wears a kipah.”
Inbal Pezaro starts Israeli medal rush
Israel’s reputation as a powerhouse at the Paralympic Games is well known — the country’s athletes having won more than 300 medals since first competing in 1960 — and this year Inbal Pezaro started her country’s medal parade. Paralyzed since birth, she won a bronze in the 50-meter freestyle final in the S5 disability swimming class last week. In the following days, other Israelis shared the glory, including: sharpshooter Doron Shaziri, who won a silver medal; hand cyclist Kobi Leon, who also came in second; swimmer Itzhak Mamistvalov, who captured a bronze in the men’s 200-meter freestyle; and Shraga Weinberg and Noam Gershony, who shared a bronze in wheelchair tennis doubles. This Sunday, fans of the Israeli delegation will have a dilemma: Should they root for Weinberg or Gershony in the semi-finals for men’s single quad tennis? Read more about the stories behind the athletes.
Red Hot Chili Peppers play Tel Aviv (finally)
Over a decade ago, as an avalanche of terrorism rocked Israel, the popular band Red Hot Chili Peppers announced that it was pulling out of a planned performance in Tel Aviv, a concert that was supposed to have been one of the country’s biggest ever. This Monday, thousands of Israeli fans will finally be able to see the group play live. What many fans probably don’t know is that the rockers have some Jewish-Israeli water under their bridge. The band’s original guitarist and founding member was born in Haifa, and later died of a drug overdose. Its current guitarist, Josh Klinghoffer, is related to Leon Klinghoffer, who was murdered by terrorists aboard the Achille Lauro cruise ship in 1985. And to boot, the opening act will be the indie band Fool’s Gold, whose singer, Luke Top, is good friends with Klinghoffer and a Sabra himself. Top is even planning on singing a few songs in Hebrew before the Peppers Californicate the stage. .
