This is your Tikva: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38tXQDBdlUg This is Avigdor Lieberman: This is your Tikva on Avigdor Lieberman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Givs-xoRbMM And these are some funny renditions of that evening from 2011, conveniently being posted ahead of the elections. Let's begin with the never-ending, pre-symphony tuning version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=QUYl26y7rd4 And then move on to the inspiring jazz rendition: http://youtu.be/-ywhZyyhDM8 And a great cover to the already famous jazz rendition: http://youtu.be/VGRtVebmWkI And top it off with some young, hip bass thumping: http://youtu.be/NPuFbxlmhBM

When it comes to the issue of refugees, or 'infiltrators,' emotions often get the best of those who are defending one term or another. But facts are facts, apples are apples, oranges are oranges. I was reminded of the above when reviewing Oren Ziv's images of the mother and daughter being arrested at a kindergarten in the Hatikva neighborhood of Tel Aviv. Naturally, no human can deny the human emotions as evident in the photos. Some will say that the Left is exploiting such images to make those who are for deportation feel and look bad. The Left will use…

A firecracker was hurled into an Eritrean bar in south Tel Aviv late Saturday night, the latest incident in mounting violence against the African asylum seeker community in Israel. On Eritrean customer was injured in Saturday night's incident. The bar, located in the Hatikva neighborhood of Tel Aviv, has been the target of several attacks in recent months, most notoriously on May 23, when a demonstration against the growing African population in Israel turned violent. The bar was one of several refugee-owned properties that were damaged, its windows smashed and contents looted. Read more on that night's events here. Sigal…

Israeli governments have neglected the poor neighborhoods of Tel Aviv for decades. Today, Knesset members use the asylum seekers to channel the anger of local residents and score easy political points. For a moment, at around 11 p.m., it seemed that things were really getting out of control: Each report from the Hatikva neighborhood in south Tel Aviv was worse than previous ones: A couple of journalists – Haggai Matar from +972 and a reporter from Haaretz – were attacked and rescued by police; a mob of roughly 100 people tried to storm the Central Bus Station, considered a meeting…

Last night I had to flee a raging mob not too far from my home in south Tel Aviv. After long speeches of incitement by right-wing parliamentarians, the masses stormed after me and a fellow journalist, and then turned on African asylum seekers, their businesses and their homes. This is how it happened. It started out as a fairly quiet demonstration - or demonstrations, to be precise. One small demonstration took place in Shapira, my neighborhood, where several weeks ago an Israeli young man threw Molotov cocktails into asylum seekers' homes. The dominant discourse here was, as is typical of…

Coalition MKs incited the crowd against the refugees and asylum seekers during a protest in south Tel Aviv, which was followed by attacks on African immigrants and confrontations with police. A Likud MK called for the prosecution of Israelis giving shelter to Africans. More than 1,000 Israelis protested this evening (Wednesday) against the African refugees and asylum seekers who have settled in South Tel Aviv in recent years. According to eyewitnesses' reports, the crowd grew angry and ultimately violent, following speeches from Knesset members, including members of the government coalition. It was one of the most violent protests Tel Aviv…

Just a week after an Israeli threw Molotov cocktails at four apartments that are home to African refugees and an African kindergarten in the Shapira neighborhood of South Tel Aviv, another residence has been attacked with firebombs.  Two Molotov cocktails were hurled at the home of Nigerian immigrants in the HaTikva neighborhood in South Tel Aviv on Saturday night, according to Maariv (Hebrew). The firebombs did not penetrate the structure, which is located near the HaTikva market. No injuries were reported and no arrests have been made in connection with the incident. The 20-year-old Israeli who was arrested in connection…

The storm about Supreme Court Justice Salim Joubran's refusal to sing the national anthem shows us just what a 'Jewish State' means. A political storm broke out last week, when it turned out Supreme Justice Salim Joubran declines to sing the Israeli national anthem, "Hatikvah" (The Hope). Many Jewish Brotherhood MKs suffered from an unusually farcical attack of national erection. This was indeed another occasion to note that there is no practical (or even ideological) difference between Kahane's representative in the Knesset, Michael Ben Ari, or Yisrael Beitenu's David Rotem, or the Likud's Danny Danon and Moshe Feiglin. But that…

A sound and slideshow by Eyal Warshavsky, with national anthem Hatikva as the crescendo, illustrates the powerful sense of a shared national cause emerging from the demonstration last Saturday night. What began as an outcry over high housing prices is taking on ever-larger dimensions, and Israelis of all stripes have rallied to the cause of economic injustice surrounding a range of issues. In the past, wars and security issues have always been the greatest unifying factor of Israeli identity, but there is a powerful bond forming around the protests that could perhaps even transcend left and right. At the 20,000-or…

By Oded Feller After the anti-immigrant demonstration in South Tel Aviv ended, I decided to hang around. I went to the market, walked down Etzel Street, watched the people on the Hagana Road, turned to Yigal Alon, and kept walking as far as Hilhel Avenue. Evening came and the avenue was calm and silent, its sights and smells familiar and soothing. Nowhere in the world can you feel like this; nowhere but home. I sat on a bench. About an hour ago, MK Michael Ben-Ari (National Union) roared from the podium: "I am not a guest here, in this neighborhood.…

After 62 years, the Ministry of Education has finally decided to introduce Arabic language studies starting from the fifth grade. The new initiative will allow students at 170 public schools in northern Israel to learn the second official language in Israel starting from a relatively young age. Today, students are obligated to study Arabic during junior high school but then it becomes optional during high school days. Students can choose to continue studying Arabic, French, Russian or Amharic as a second language at the latter stage. The new suggested program will require Arabic studies during elementary school which is usually…