Month: February 2017

Israellycool, Thomas Friedman February 27, 2017November 5, 2021

Critics fear Trump Mid-East Policy may cause renewed outbreak of Thomas Friedman

(We originally published this story on Israellycool in 2017)

By Yuval Weiss

Last Updated 2/27/2017 at 12:30 PM

Washington: With the Trump Administration’s controversial new Middle Eastern policy of ~~not being Iran’s bitch~~ renewed skepticism toward traditional adversaries and not telling allies where their nation’s capital is, critics fear that if things don’t change quickly, the region may face a renewed outbreak of Thomas Friedman.

Noted author, New York Times columnist, and pundit Thomas Friedman, who had something relevant to say as recently as Bill Clinton’s second term, is somewhat of a worst-case scenario, involving baklava anecdotes, talking to the audience on Face the Nation like he’s talking to a somewhat slow four-year old, and the inevitable name-dropping reference to the late King Hussein of Jordan. The Daily Freier spoke off the record with several Inside-the-Beltway experts about their fears.

“The Administration really needs to tone it down.” explained a career diplomat from a Western European nation currently stationed in Washington. “The moment Trump announced that he might move the Embassy, I was like ‘Oh boy. It’s only a matter of time before Thomas Friedman makes some goofy metaphor involving Shimon Peres, the New England Patriots, and his latest Uber Driver.’ I just wish Trump’s team would be more cautious. We’re dealing with serious stuff.”

“Do those guys want Friedman to write another sequel to the Lexus and the Olive Tree???” admonished a retired Army Officer from his Northern Virginia home. “Because this is how we get another sequel to the Lexus and the Olive Tree.”

“Brookings is having a free lecture tomorrow that’s open to the public.” explained a prominent Congressman from the West Coast. “But I’m afraid to attend. Because we are like THIS close to Thomas Friedman entering an out of control vortex where he somehow strings together his Beirut landlord in the early 80’s, the new iPhone, and Anwar Sadat’s eye doctor.”

The Daily Freier is currently working on a drinking game involving Mr. Friedman’s inevitable lecture tour on this fascinating subject.

the-mold-colony-in-your-tel-aviv-apartment-asked-you-to-co-sign-his-new-lease-daily-freier

Start Up Nation, Tel Aviv Living February 25, 2017July 14, 2021

The mold colony in your Tel Aviv Apartment just asked you to co-sign his lease

By Aaron Pomerantz

Last Updated 2/25/2017 at 6:30 PM

Tel Aviv, Bograshov Street: The colony of mold that lives in the wall between your bathroom and your laundry room has decided to stay in your Tel Aviv apartment for at least another year. But your landlord wants a co-sign on the lease. So the the mold, who goes by “Yossi”, has asked for your help. Yossi explained his decision to stay another year to the Daily Freier.

“The apartment is right off of Bograshov Street. Despite the fact that it’s basically turned into France, the location is amazing.” Yossi explained, as he slowly continued his expansion into the apartment’s communal hallway. “Plus the landlord is just the best. Doesn’t do anything that would cause problems for me, like modernizing the plumbing, weatherproofing the windows, or replacing the old wooden cabinets. I basically have the run of the place.”

Yossi went on to describe just how hard it was to find a place to live in Tel Aviv. “I tried everything. I checked for apartment on Secret Tel Aviv, but it was nothing but freaks. I even tried Keep Olim in Israel, but in the time it took me to post to the site, I somehow got in an argument about Binary Options.”

Yossi says he is going to split the rent with Boaz the cloud from the Golan Heights who saved his IDF platoon from an ISIS ambush. But Boaz is still finishing up the Army and won’t move in until some time in the late Summer after his post-Army trip to India, so your landlord really wants someone else to co-sign. And other than him asking you to try to help maintain a kosher kitchen, and occasionally releasing spores into the air that make you sneeze and cough, he is kind of low maintenance. Come to think of it, he’s probably the most normal housemate you’ve had so far in Israel.

Al Naqba, BDS February 22, 2017March 18, 2017

Palestinian satire site accuses Daily Freier of Occupying its Bandwidth

By Mark Levy and Yuval Weiss

Last Updated 2/22/2017 at 3:30 PM

Ramallah: The satire community of the Levant is in a state of chaos today as a prominent Palestinian blog made very serious accusations against the Daily Freier. The Daily Majnoon is a satirical site out of Ramallah that pokes gentle fun at the big things and little things in life. Famed musician/activist/dick Roger Waters sometimes guest writes for them. Hanin Zoabi also writes a weekly column when she is not out sailing. The Daily Majnoon also serves as a sign of a thriving Palestinian civil society, for just as the Daily Freier feels free to mock Israeli leaders like Netanyahu, the Daily Majnoon also feels free to mock Israeli leaders like Netanyahu. Only in Arabic and stuff. The Daily Majnoon held a press conference in Ramallah this morning where they described this whole Naqba of a controversy.

The Daily Majnoon’s Web Administrator, Yusuf B., who goes by the username “Stillnotover1948“, explained their plight to the assembled journalists. “We are indigenous to this bandwidth, and have operated this website for thousands of years. And as proof I present to you these underwear labels, a set of keys to a file cabinet, and a menu from a hummus restaurant in Umm El Fahm.”

A journalist from the New York Times asked Yusuf if he would accept a deal where the Daily Freier gave up part of its bandwidth to the Daily Majnoon. Yusuf said he would accept such a deal, but would still retain the right of return to direct web traffic from the Daily Freier to the Daily Majnoon.

Reaction to the accusation was swift, with Haaretz writing a scathing editorial accusing the Daily Freier of Land bandwidth theft, cultural appropriation, ethnocentrism, and mansplaining. The editorial was read by thousands of people in Haaretz’s worldwide English edition, and as many as 27 people in its Israeli Hebrew edition.

In the spirit of compromise and good faith, the Daily Freier offered to help the Daily Majnoon find a suitable workspace where they could truly expand their operations. In Atarim Square.

When the Lefty-But-Totally-Not-Bonkers Tel Aviv Blog “+972” heard of the Daily Majnoon’s plight, they offered to give the Daily Majnoon two-thirds of +972’s bandwidth.

Start Up Nation, Tel Aviv Living February 20, 2017February 14, 2019

Tel Aviv bar under investigation for only having 12 owners

*Legal Disclaimer: The bar depicted in this photo has NOTHING to do with this story. But it may or may not be located in the new Shuk Rothschild/Allenby. And the author may or may not have enjoyed a good Alma Lager and a good Shapira Pale Ale for a total bill of just 30 Shekels. With tip. Just needed to share.

By Aaron Pomerantz

Last Updated 2/20/2017 at 1:30 PM

Tel Aviv, Rothschild: The city’s night life and social scene are in turmoil today as news leaked out of a disturbing secret: that there’s a bar in Tel Aviv with less than 17 owners. Normally, going out in the city means that at any given time you are out at a bar there is a 10% chance that you are actually a part owner of the establishment. But there’s a new bar in town. With only 12 co-owners. And it’s got people talking. The Daily Freier spoke with members of Tel Aviv’s Office of Code Enforcement concerning their investigation.

“In this city, it’s all about enforcing standards.” explained Chief Code Enforcement Officer Smadar T. “I mean, just last year we had to move against your newspaper the Daily Freier when it ran a fake story about a guy selling his adult movie collection on Secret Tel Aviv after a guy in real life went and sold his “someone else’s” adult movie collection on Secret Tel Aviv……So when we found out that this bar had only 12 owners, we became concerned. Incidentally, we are also investigating a bar on Dizengoff without any stools and long tables outside and where the waitstaff act like they actually want to be there.”

Of course, the bar owners in question are quite unhappy about the investigation. the Daily Freier was able to find one of the 12 owners, ‘Alon’ (but his real name is ‘Ron’) to get his side of the story.

“I don’t know what I would do if I lost the bar. I mean, it’s everything to me.” explained Alon. “Well, everything to me and the other 11 owners: my cool cousin Tomer, my idiot cousin Tomer, my vaad bayit, Yair, Benny my friend who only ate sunflower seeds for his first six months in the Army , Yoni, my neighbor’s dad, my dad’s neighbor, Yaniv, that guy who sat next to me in second grade, and Shuki.”

In its continued quest to investigate suspicious activity, the Code Enforcement Department also announced plans to investigate a professional dog walker in North Tel Aviv who walks only walks 9 dogs at a time, and a Tel Aviv startup that doesn’t have a ping-pong table on its roof.

Israeli Politics, The IDF February 16, 2017February 23, 2017

Haredim end Anti-Draft Riots “because it was starting to feel like a job”

By Yekutiel Bornstein

Last Updated 2/16/2017 at 3:00 PM

Jerusalem, Mea She’arim: The rioting by some members of the Haredi Community against conscription in the Israeli Army began to break up today, because after a week of activity many of them complained that it felt like a job. Like where you have to show up to work at the same time and place every day or something. The Daily Freier’s resident Semi-on-the-Derech reporter Yekutiel Bornstein was on the scene getting all of the facts.

“At first, everything was fine.” noted protester Moshe D. “We beat up a Haredi guy who volunteered for the Army, blocked traffic, and pulled the tail of a police horse. Good times…. But after a few days, it just got weird. Being expected to show up. Day in, day out. No matter the weather. And being expected to do things. It felt like a…..like a…. not sure the word for this.”

“Like a job?” interjected the Daily Freier helpfully

“Yeah, that’s it. Like a job. And we’re not having that.”

The Daily Freier also tried to get to the heart of the matter by learning the motivations of the protesters. “The Government’s rules are ridiculous. I mean, it’s not like the Torah instructs us to defend Eretz Yisrael with our life or anything like that. So we really want the public to understand our situation and sympathize it.” explained semi-permanent Yeshiva student Yakov C. “That’s why we decided to block traffic during rush hour and call Law Enforcement officers ‘Nazis’ and female officers ‘Shiksas’. I think we’re making real progress.”

Finally, the Daily Freier asked the Law Enforcement who responded to the riots for their perspective on the events. Jerusalem Police Sergeant Avner H. gave his impression. “This was a difficult protest to break up. These guys were tough, lots of fight in them.” The Daily Freier asked Sergeant Avner if there was a way to prevent such riots from occurring in the future. Avner thought for a moment and replied “That’s a good question. If only there was some sort of organized activity that channels the aggression and energy of young men while providing them discipline and structure…..But I can’t think of anything right now, can you?”