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July 14, 2006
Holiday far from home
Canadians and Americans gather for celebration.
EVA COHEN
While Canadians were partying with the red and white on July 1,
many of their national counterparts in Israel missed out on the
national festivities. But the Association of Americans and Canadians
in Israel knows how patriotic North Americans are and held its joint
annual U.S. Independence and Canada Day Celebration for about 2,000
people on July 3.
The event was months in the making, according to AACI event co-ordinator
Chana Shapiro.
"This is much bigger than last year's," said Shapiro.
"When the second intifada happened, we stopped holding the
event in open areas and held it at the zoo, but this year we are
back outside with a large event."
Shapiro said that the celebration showcases the best of U.S. and
Canadian representation in Israel.
"We are not only showing a good time but also that [North America]
is interested in making a positive impact in Israel and that we
are here to contribute," she said. There are a lot of organizations
here."
The crowd was mostly American, but Shapiro said there was a "fair
share of Canadians" each year from all over the country, including
Toronto, Montreal, Winnipeg and Vancouver.
The event began at 4:30 p.m. and ran until just past nine, with
several activities for both adults and children. The semi-annual
AACI Yard Sale ran in conjunction with the event, drawing many people
from the Jerusalem community to join in the festivities.
Two of the evening's showcase events were flag football exhibition
games between the Israeli men's and women's national teams against
pick-up squads. Steve Leibowitz, president of the American Football
in Israel Association, was on hand as a referee for the games and
was very pleased to be a part of the celebration.
"It's a real chance for Jews from America who live here to
act like Americans from the old country – like we never did
when we were actually living there," said Lebowitz. "We
miss American sports and American culture. Here, we get to hear
American music and see people from the community that we don't get
to the rest of the year because of work."
The event was held for the first time at Kraft Family Stadium, which
was built by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. Leibowitz
said he is glad it was held at this location because it is the American
sports centre in Israel.
"It's great that the flag football and the AACI are gathering
together for this event and I hope it continues in future years,"
said Leibowitz.
Following the flag football, there was a puppet show for children,
stand-up comedy by David Chinitz, live music from a stage at Kraft
Family Stadium and other programs. Canadians and Americans got to
join in for their national anthems that for many, was the first
time they had been able to sing them in a long time.
The finale was Hatikvah, the Israeli national anthem, followed by
fireworks, reminding the crowd that they were truly Canadian and
American in Israel.
Eva Cohen is Canadian freelance writer currently working
in Israel.
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