Are you fed up with your local media continually publishing or posting negative stories about Israel and peddling revisionist history which denies any Jewish connection to the country, asks Michael Kuttner

Is this one sided reporting a regular feature of news bulletins and opinion pieces by so called “experts” peddling a particular party line?

If the answer is yes, “On the other hand” offers you the opportunity to access alternative facts which can be easily forwarded to friends and family.

TIKUN OLAM 

Repairing the world is spoken about by many and is touted as an important component of Judaism’s concern for our planet.

Rather than convening conferences which generate plenty of hot air but in practice fail to achieve results, Israel and Israelis involved in innovation get stuck in and introduce life saving improvements to lives.

Everyone knows that Africa is in dire need of help in various fields.

See how one group of Israelis is bringing hope and a better quality of life to millions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3340CiSCcY

DEMOLISHING MYTHS 

We are bombarded on a daily basis by lies masquerading as truth. One can switch off, tune out or instead access the real facts.

Here is an Israeli Arab citizen who devotes his time to revealing what the mainstream media never reports. It should be widely circulated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRhbAqX6Hfc

SHATTERING STEREOTYPES 

Nobody can deny that there are tensions between various ethnic and religious/secular sections of Israeli society.

What is hardly ever reported however are the multitude of daily interactions between disparate groups and an ongoing move towards more tolerant attitudes.

Also underreported are the major changes taking place which are resulting in increasing numbers from all sectors learning from each other. Charedi young men joining the IDF and the workforce and secular Israelis becoming more involved with Jewish traditions are just some of the revolutionary changes taking place.

You won’t hear about it because this sort of positive news is ignored by the media in favour of reporting about fanatics rioting or politicians inciting.

Israel has had considerable success in past Eurovision competitions. In order to choose an Israeli entrant there are a series of local auditions.

Recently one such event took place with well known judges, including Neta, a past Eurovision winner, adjudicating.

One of the aspiring contestants literally swept the judges off their feet not just because of his performance but also because he represents a sector of Israeli society which nobody up until now believed would ever be part of such a contest.

Watch this video and understand that reality is really changing here – slowly but surely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq99EZ27_Ag

Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel. 

[This article was originally published on J-Wire and is reproduced here with permission from Michael Kuttner.]