AbbaNibi.com

Rehabilitation Program For the Dead Sea

As a result of the Israeli Government decision to accept the recommendations of the Minister of Tourism and Minister of Environmental Protection to rehabilitate the Dead Sea region at a total investment of NIS 850 million over the next five years, senior representatives from the hotel and tourism industries met with architects and engineers in order to discuss the development of the Dead Sea region (between Hamei Zohar and Ein Bokek.)

The Dead Sea Preservation Government Company (DSPGC), together with a national interdisciplinary team, is in charge of creating a comprehensive plan to be submitted to the Minister of Tourism. DSPGC CEO, Shimon Daniel, emphasized that the plan will also upgrade the existing hotels, and not only the reconstruction of new ones. The plan is also based on creating attractions outside of hotels such as restaurants, shopping centers and more. Other aspects of the plan include creating new tourism infrastructures, ensuring that the architecture integrates into the desert landscape and the construction of a boardwalk along the Dead Sea shores.

The Dead Sea was the most crowded leisure destination in Israel in 2011, with 857,000 visitors during the year. According to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics in 2011, the hotel occupancy in the Dead Sea was 77% as opposed to 75.3% in Tel Aviv, and 67% in Eilat, with a consistent growth rate of 43% in the last five years. Hotel revenue in the area reached NIS 1.096 billion in 2011.

As part of the Law to Encourage Capital Investment, the Ministry of Tourism has allocated NIS 9 million in grants for entrepreneurs interested in developing or expanding hotels in the Dead Sea region as specified in the conditions for the grant. Grant requests can still be submitted until August 15, 2012.

"This is an opportunity to design the region for generations," Minister of Tourism, Stas Misezhnikov, is quoted in an official press release, "We have made a significant step in the rehabilitation of the Dead Sea region and the tourism facilities in the area. According to the schedule – within nine months a new plan will be presented with the suggested design for hotels and tourism in the area."

2 of Israel’s Biggest Divas, 1 Song

Yardena Arazi and Dana International, two of Israel's biggest Divas, made a rare duet released to the Israeli radio yesterday. Arazi, one of the biggest female solo singers in Israel's history, whose career spans from the 1970s until today, recorded a song called 'Kshehagvarim Rokdim' ('When Men Dance') with Dana International, who became the world's most successful transgender vocalist since she won the Eurovision Song Contest for Israel in 1998.

The rumors of the duet spread on Israel's radio stations for weeks, and now that the song is finally out, it is no wonder that it topped Israel's Radio Airplay Chart on the same day of its release. The song was written by Yoav Ginai (who wrote Dana's winning Eurovision song in 1998) and composed by Israeli veteran and acclaimed musician Yehuda Poliker. The song was produced by Dor Dekel, who masterfully inserted a sample from Poliker's 1992 hit "Le'Eynaich Hakchulot" ('For Your Blue Eyes').

"If you had told me when I was 13 that one day I would record a duet with Yardena Arazi, it would have seemed like you were telling me that one day I'd land on the moon," Dana International said in the official press release of the song. "Yardena marks the soundtrack of my childhood, but not only that, she also symbolized another side of Israel, beautiful and more innocent."

"In addition to being a great performer, Dana International is one of Israel's great ambassadors in the world," said Yardena Arazi, "and I thank her for that."

'When Men Dance' marks Dana International's first official studio recording since 'Ding Dong' in 2011. Dana, who this year marks 20 years of her musical career in Israel, continues to perform around the world (this week she just came back from a show in Madrid). Her first solo single from a brand new
album is scheduled to be released within the next couple of months.

Sacha Baron Cohen Visits His Grandmother in Bat Yam

A moment after landing at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel, Sacha Baron Cohen rushed to Bat Yam, a small town just south of Tel Aviv, to see his beloved grandmother Liesel Weiser who recently turned 97(! ) Baron Cohen and his family showed up at Weiser's residential home this afternoon, and took her (and her Philippino caretaker) to 'Tzipora' restaurant, one of the most well known restaurants in Bat Yam. Israelis who recognized the famous actor asked to take a photo with him, but Baron Cohen refused, saying that he's not allowed to have his photo taken without his Dictator costume.

Baron Cohen arrived in Israel for a personal visit with his wife, actress Isla Fisher and their two kids. They will stay in Israel for a week, and during the week it's planned they'll meet President Shimon Peres.

Just to prove that talent runs in the family, here's a video of Baron Cohen's grandmother teaching exercises for seniors over 60.

Daniel Smith Gives You Tools to Handle Your Anxiety

Author Daniel Smith has published articles, essays, and reviews in The Atlantic, New York, The New York Times Book Review, The New York Times Magazine, and Slate, among other places, and his work has appeared in The Best American Science and Nature Writing. But apparently, even successful writers can have anxiety attacks, and instead of being embarrassed by the attacks, he masters them in a new book, released today in America.

"For a lot of people the fear of exposure is certainly very powerful," Smith says in explaining the book in an exclusive interview with Abbanibi.com "Not for me, though. I'm not sure why this is. I worry about many things: abandonment, failure, success, cancer, the health and well-being of my family and friends, to name just a few. But I don't worry about what people will think of me because of my anxiety. In fact, it's sort of a relief to indulge in this level of self-exposure; it means that I can get on with the business of being myself, unapologetically."

"I'm not sure I needed to write a book to accomplish this, and it certainly wasn't my goal setting out," he says. "My goal was to write a book that describes what it feels like to live in a body hard-wired for systemic doubt. I'd encountered lots of books about anxiety in my life - clinical books, theoretical books, self-help books, scientific books. But I hadn't encountered a book that told how anxiety colors, influences, and shapes a life. It seemed like a worthy project."

Smith's Jewish upbringing uniquely colors the way he thinks about his anxiety. His writing goes a level deeper, tapping into our culture's subconscious in a way that will resonate especially with others raised in Jewish homes. He at once pays homage to the great voices of contemporary Jewish anxiety-Philip Roth, Woody Allen-and contributes a fresh new perspective of his own. In a recent op-ed published in The New York Times, he explores further the concept of Jewish anxiety and Jewish identity.

"I am able to control my anxiety attacks today," Daniel reveals. "That doesn't mean I don't still have them. I do. But I have certain tools that help to tamp my anxiety down, and even to train my mind to work in a more salutary way."

"The two most reliable tools I have are Buddhist meditation and cognitive-behavior therapy, particular the kind of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) associated with the psychiatrist Aaron Beck - arguably the most influential figure in mental health since Freud. These are similar tools in that they both encourage the anxious person to be mindful of his or her thoughts. Our mind is always working, producing thoughts the way a gland produces hormones. But not all of these thoughts are productive, logical, or conducive to sanity."

"The first job is to learn how to be aware of these thoughts as they come, so your reaction to them isn't automatic and unreflective. The second job is where these two methods diverge. Buddhist meditation tells us to notice but then disregard our thoughts. Let them arise and let them fall away. Recognize that thoughts do not necessarily equal truth."

"CBT of the sort I'm talking about tells us to pick the thoughts up and assess how much truth they contain. Does the thought survive logical analysis? Are you telling yourself the correct things? Or, like most people, are you telling yourself things that are harmful and self-defeating? This summary, of course, doesn't begin to touch the nuance of either approach. But the point is, the more I practice - the more I use these tools - the less anxious I am."

'Monkey Mind: A Memoir of Anxiety,' by Daniel Smith (Simon & Schuster). Out Now.

International Zumba Queen Films Clip in Israel

International Zumba star, Tanya Beardsley from the United States, was recruited last week to encourage tourism to Israel. Beardsley, considered an indisputable queen of the world of Zumba, came to Israel in order to teach three Zumba workshops, each attended by about a thousand dancers. In-between, Beardsley filmed a clip for the Ministry of Tourism.

The Ministry of Tourism's Advertising Department, together with the Israeli Zumba Association, produced a number of videos for the star who has no less than two million registered fans worldwide. In the videos, Beardsley is seen dancing Zumba in Jerusalem and the Dead Sea. Accompanied by dozens of dancers from the workshops, she tells about her experience in Israel. The videos will be used by the Ministry of Tourism to promote Israel worldwide and brand Israel as a popular destination offering history, culture, music and fashion. The videos will be distributed via the International Zumba and Israeli Zumba Associations and social networks, among others. Within just a few days, the video registered close to 10,000 views.

"It's very powerful to see how people from all around the world are so different, but there's something that bonds them, you just have to be open enough to see that and experience it," Beardsley says, "so it's a blessing to be able to come here and experience Jerusalem with Zumba."

Axl Rose in Israel

The legendary lead of rock band 'Guns n Roses,'Axl Rose, has landed this morning (Monday) in Israel. Preparing for a concert tomorrow in Tel Aviv, Rose and his entourage landed at Ben Gurion Airport, and immediately got into a private van that was waiting for them, to be taken to the Presidential Suite at the Dan Tel Aviv hotel, the same suite that had Madonna and her kids less than two months ago. "I'm glad to be here again," Rose told Israeli website Mako shortly after landing.

According to the tradition, the Israeli media published Rose's special requests for behind the scenes, which are a little bit exaggerated. Rose requested that a private gym be built, 9 rooms with baths and soaps with nice smells. He also requested the best masseur and chiropractor that the production can find in Israel, and the icing on the cake: he asked that each room will have a vase with 6 white roses and 6 red roses. Exactly.

The Guns n' Roses concert will be held tomorrow in Ganey Yehoshua Park, as part of Tel Aviv's Summerrock 2012. But before they take the stage, there will be two more rock bands performing: Ugly Kid Joe and the successful Israeli rock band 'Hayehudim'

Max Maven in Israel: Anyone Can Be Fooled

Max Maven, one of the greatest magicians in the world, premiers his new reality show on Israeli TV. The show is called 'Lehapil Et Ha'Master' (free translation: 'Amaze the Master') where he'll try to find an Israeli magician who will truly amaze him. Just before the show goes on air, Maven met Yonatan Gat of Ynet, to talk about magic (and his new show).

"Anyone can be fooled," Maven says, "I've enjoyed a lot of Israeli magicians, Asi Wind in New York, Amos Lefkowitz in Los Angeles and quite a number of others. Overall I think there's some very good magic happening here. The one thing I think is missing... the originality level is not quite as high as I would like to see."

Maven also talked about keeping a secret in the internet generation, when the 'solution' to his magic can be often found on YouTube. "It's less difficult to keep a secret than you know. Yes, on the internet there are foolish people who explain tricks, and it's usually tricks that are not theirs and that they had nothing to do with creating, but the people who did create those tricks always come up with new ones."

Also, on 'Lehapil Et Ha'Master,' every week, besides Israeli magicians, we'll also see famous people as apprentices. On the first episode, for example, you'll be able to see Miri Bohadana and Ilanit Levi, both former-Israeli-beauty-queens turned supermodels and talk show hosts. "The [apprentice’s] clothes are usually kind of prostitution-like, I've always wondered where they get these clothes from," laughs Bohadana,"It's okay, you know, behind closed doors, but not in front of an audience."

Remembering Amy

Mitch Winhouse, father of Amy, recalls on People magazine this week, that just a few weeks before her tragic death last year, they sat down together to watch TV. “She said to me,’Dad, give me a cuddle,’” he tells the magazine. “I sat with her in my arms for an hour. That was extremely unusual. It was lovely; it really was.”

And a few weeks later, on July 23^rd 2011, Amy was found dead at 27, what her father calls “a terrible, unfortunate accident.” A year later, at the same date, Mitch Winehouse marks the first anniversary with the publication of a book entitled ‘Amy, My Daughter.’

“She felt the 12 steps [programs] wasn’t for her,” says Winehouse, “She thought, ‘I can do it my own way; I’m going to come out of this the other side.’ But she didn’t. She should’ve saught psychiatric help. She never dealt with the underlying reasons.”

Even with all the memories in the new book, what the still-grieving father doesn’t do much these days is listen to his daughter’s music or watch videos of her performing. “It really is difficult to look up on screen,” he says, “and there you see Amy, vibrant and alive.”

Ayelet Zurer Celebrates Her Birthday in Israel

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AYELET! The most successful Israeli actress in Hollywood, Ayelet Zurer, celebrates her birthday today, and she's doing it with her friends and family in Israel.

Accompanied by her 7 year-old-son Liad, Zurer has arrived in her native country on an El Al flight, where she met kids who struggle with cancer, on their way back from a "dreamy holiday" in Los Angeles, organized by the Israeli non-profit organization 'Lehoshit Yad.' The kids were excited to see the celebrity, asked for photographs and received signatures.

Zurer, whose next role on the big screen is going to be Superman's mom in 'Man of Steel,' is turning 43 today.

Matisyahu Releases New Single in Israel

Matisyahu's new song 'Sunshine' in which he presents his new clean-cut image, was officially released to the radio stations in Israel this week.

As always, Israel is the one territory that Matisyahu really cares about, after he declared in an interview last year that he really wants to make Aliyah and to live in the Holy Land permanently. Moving his music to a new distribution company in Israel (Asia Music), the official press release of the new song this week, described him as "no more a Hassidic reggae star. No more gimmicks."

The PR statement also emphasis the strong connection of the new album to Israel. Some of the songs were written and recorded there with producer Koool Kojak (who worked with Nicki Minaj) , including a song called 'TelAviv'n.' Other songs feature Israeli artists, including Matiyahu's best friend Daniel Zamir and Ravid Kahalani ('Yemen Blues,' 'The Idan Raichel Project').

"Matis never gets anyone involved with decisions regarding his career,' says Daniel Zamir about the recent image change, "he's very independent with his way of thinking, for better or worse. Right now it looks like he gave up on his Yarmulke and knotted fringes, but it wasn't a quick process. It's something that has been going on for a few years, and only recently it came to a point where there's a physical change seen."