Culture

The Israeli Budo for Peace program aims to strengthen participants' physical, mental and cognitive abilities and break down barriers, by teaching traditional martial arts such as Karate, Judo, Aikido, and Taekwondo. The program operates within Jewish, Muslim, Arab and Druze communities.

Ze-Ze is an Israeli social organization that took interest in street musicians and decided to bring them together to play as a group with a steady income. The Israeli street philharmonic has already given two concerts, with participation of local musicians.

40weeks is a 3D digital guide that aims to provide parents with all the information relevant to pregnancy, following the development of the fetus week by week. It is soon to be launched in Israel and then as an international version, and is accessible via the internet or as a mobile application.

The municipality of Tel Aviv, known as the gay capital of the Middle East, this week painted selected cross walks across the city in the colors of the gay flag, in anticipation of the gay pride parade on June 8.

An Israeli Instagram user decided to launch a photo-campaign against violence, following several violent events in Israel. Within less than 24 hours his outcry went viral, attracting hundreds of Instagram users, who submitted striking images worthy of art shows. Click to view the images.

Dream Doctors is an Israel project that builds a professional community of medical clowns to make hospital experience less traumatic for patients. Required to have academic training, these doctors are active in 20 hospitals across the country, reaching more than 100,000 patients annually.

A new bar-restaurant co-op, founded by organizers of last summer's social justice protests, already has 60 shareholders. The bar, located in Tel Aviv, is planning to open its doors next month. All administrative decisions will be made by vote only.

Thanks to new technology, the simple click of a mouse can bring mounds of information, artifacts or artwork on display in museum galleries across the globe straight to your computer's desktop and, as classic museology redefines itself in the digital age, such "virtual visits" are becoming more interactive than ever.

Following the success of the online campaign Israel Loves Iran, the Tel-Aviv based startup Rounds decided to contribute to the cause by introducing a Facebook app for Israelis and Iranians who want to become friends. The technology enables users to hold video chats and play games to bypass politics.

TheHive is a new startup incubator for people who recently moved to Israel. It offers them a six-month program to provide them guidance and tools to find local opportunities and connections.

International rapper Shyne and Israeli music exporter Oleh! Records launch a pilot project to help children at risk in Belize. The project, called Let’s Fill This Town With Musicians, aims to provide these children with an alternative to violence.

A young Israeli artist found a way to turn his creative process into a blast. Literarily. BLAST is an innovative project by Guy Mishaly, who uses explosives to make unique stools. The graduate of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design ensures that this way, no two items are ever the same.

At the age of sixteen Morad Azva was attacked in his home village of Kalansua - and lost the ability to speak. After medical treatments showed no progress, he was sent to the Dolphin Reef in Eilat for "dolphin therapy". There, he began to communicate through the interaction with dolphins, until he finally returned home four years later.

The "Friendship Park" in Ra’anana, Israel, is not just any park. The playground was built in a way that allows both disabled and non-disabled children to enjoy all facilities.The park encourages all children to play with each other and to accept difference. Other countries are now showing interest in building similar playgrounds.

An Israeli company launches a new TV channel In the United States, targeted to dogs. The channel features images of happy dogs, people playing soccer and relaxing piano music. The company says the content is backed up by research, which shows the programs relax dogs and stimulate their imagination