Your daily spiel for Wednesday, Aug. 3

THOMAS WANTS FOOD INSTAGRAM PHOTO

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SickKids pays tribute to Tel Aviv terror victim. A new, non-clinical healing space at the Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) has been named after Canadian Marnie Kimelman, who was killed in 1990 at the age of 17 during a terrorist attack on a Tel Aviv beach. Marnie’s Studio, which officially opened in the spring, is a 1,400-square-foot space located on the hospital’s fourth floor that has been transformed into a multi-dimensional hub where young patients and their families can play and express themselves through art, music and dance. 

Did they not know that was an IDF soldier? A Lebanese entertainment company was quickly scrutinized on social media after running an ad campaign that featured a photo of an Israel Defence Forces soldier accompanied with the tagline, “Keep your eyes on us, o hero.” The goal of the campaign was to honour the Lebanese army on the 10th anniversary of the 2006 Lebanon War against Israel. After the ad went viral, the company removed the photo and apologized.

Now THAT’s a dog who knows how to eat. You know all about foodies on Instagram, sure, but have you ever seen a canine document his food adventures through photos before? Thomas Wants Food is an Instagram profile featuring images of some of the most delicious things to eat in Israel – alongside Thomas, a seven-year-old golden retriever who is becoming a bit of a celebrity in Tel Aviv, where he lives with his owner Yael Kraus. On Instagram, you can find photos of Thomas eating all your favourite Israeli staples, like sabich, bamba, falafel, watermelon on the beach, and halva.

Let’s hope the irony isn’t lost on them. As a terrorist organization, Hamas openly supports the murder of innocent Jews and Israelis, pushing its disciples to engage in terror attacks – whether car rammings, suicide bombings, knife attacks, etc. Heck, they’ve even released videos that help guide wannabe-terrorists in carrying out such attacks. Despite this, in its official newspaper, reports Israel’s Arutz Sheva, a new article condemns Israel for defending itself against such attacks by fatally shooting terrorists. Israel should only arrest these culprits, the article claims (which, by the way, Israel aims to do when possible). So basically, Hamas is encouraging people to kill Israelis, but scolds the very Israelis being attacked for defending themselves. Double standard much?

Amar’e ain’t messing around. Fresh off of signing a two-year deal with the team he partially owns, Amar’e Stoudemire vowed yesterday that he will do for Hapoel Jerusalem what LeBron James did for the Cavaliers: win. “I am coming to win both the Israeli League and Cup, and also the EuroCup,” he said at a press conference yesterday. Should Maccabi Tel Aviv be scared? 

Fighting cancer with cancer. One of the first things 19-year-old Alyssa Kahane did after she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer is start raising money for a program at Princess Margaret Hospital (PMH) that focuses on helping younger adults with cancer. “I got the idea to raise money myself and donate it to a fertility clinic for young cancer patients. Then I realized that it would be better to work with an organization that issues tax receipts. Within a few of days of my diagnosis, I had a [fundraising] web page at PMH going,” she told The CJN. So far, her campaign, which allocates some of the funds to cancer drug development, has brought in more than $15,000.

SodaStream vs. Bibi. During a new interview with the Times of Israel, SodaStream CEO Daniel Birnbaum attacked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, claiming it’s his fault that 500 of his Palestinian employees lost their jobs, and not due to BDS. “It pains me to say that I believe this administration is nurturing the conflict in all its evil manifestations. They nurture the hate and the boycott and they nurture separatism,” he said, referring to Bibi as “the prime minister of conflict.” Birnbaum’s claims deal a severe blow to the Bibi administration, as it’s been using Birnbaum’s experience as an example of how BDS is detrimental to both Israelis and Palestinians. The SodaStream CEO said he tried to maintain his employees after moving his factory from the West Bank to the Negev, but that the government refused to comply with his requests. An official on behalf of Netanyahu said Birnbaum’s “lack of gratitude is appalling.”

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