Lisbon is a very rich city in Portugal with historical and cultural attractions. Some of the significant attractions in the city are located in Santa Maria de Belém, which is a civil parish (Freguesia in Portuguese) in Lisbon, also known as just Belém. Located about 6 kilometers to the west of Lisbon’s downtown, Belém is the Portuguese translation of the Palestinian city of Bethlehem. The neighborhood’s founders copied the name from the Palestinian city to have a religious blessing from the city in which Jesus was born.

A real touring in Lisbon must include visiting the monuments in Belém. The attractions include Mosteiro dos Jerónimos (Jerónimos Monastery), Torre de Belém (Tower of Belém), Museu De Marinha (Maritime Museum), Museu da Electricidade (Electricity Museum), Museu da Presidência da República (Presidential Museum), and Museu Berardo. Museu De Marinha is a museum for the Portuguese navigation history of different times since the 15th century up to present day.

Museu Berardo is a museum of modern and contemporary art located within the Centro Cultural de Belém (Belém Cultural Center) premise. The Belém Cultural Center is the largest cultural center in Portugal; it accommodates cultural and artistic events around the year such as exhibitions, conferences, operas and ballets. Museu da Electricidade is a museum presenting the energy-development history in Portugal and promoting renewable energy to the visitors. The Museu da Presidência da República compound was the residence of the Portuguese royal family before establishing the republic; after that it became the official President of the Portuguese republic. In 2006 the government decided to convert the building to a national Monument.

Jerónimos Monastery is one of the main monuments in Lisbon. Any tourist in the city must see it; the capital of Portugal is very rich in historical and cultural attractions. The Monastery was a church built in the 15th century by the order of Prince Henry the Navigator (Infante D. Henriqu) to enlarge a small chapel, which served sea travelers. After that, King Manuel I of Portugal ordered the building of the large monastery after taking the permission from The Holy See. The Holy See is the head of the Catholic Church in the world, based in Rome.

The construction of the monastery was complete 100 years after the first order. It was designed in the Manueline-style architecture, a Portuguese architectural style representing the influence by the eastern Indian temple design. This was discovered during voyages of two famous Portuguese explorers, Vasco da Gama and Pedro Álvares Cabral, to the east.

In 1983 Jerónimos Monastery and the Belém Tower became UNESCO World Heritage Sites. It’s worthwhile to visit inside the Monastery, which is opened for all visitors, not only for prayers. The Tower of Belém was built in the same era as the monastery, with the same architecture style. It would be a great idea to go inside the tower than just looking to it from outside as well: you will have a great view of the Tejo River and Belém neighborhood.

Other than historical and cultural attractions, Belém has some beautiful gardens such as Jardim do Ultramar (The Garden of Ultramar) which is a tropical botanical garden with lakes, water birds and peafowls. Jardim Vasco de Gama (Vasco da Gama Garden) which is a 4.2 hectare garden close to the Jerónimos Monastery.

Belém is well connected to other parts of Lisbon through public buses and a tram network, and well served with taxis, hotels and restaurants of different budgets. The big secret to save money in Lisbon is that most of the monuments are free on Sunday mornings.

Image Courtesy : Debarshi Ray

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The Radio City Christmas Spectacular Rockettes show at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, Tennessee celebrates their 85th anniversary celebration and prove, once again, the true meaning of Christmas. Their show will be in Nashville from November 16-December 24.

The performance immediately showcases why the Rockettes are world renowned; the girls are able to dance and sing beautifully while perfectly on beat with one another. There are twenty girls total and they all played a wide range of characters, from elves to Raggedy Ann dolls to wooden soldiers.

The performance is divided up into twelve scenes taking the audience through the stages of Christmas and popular Christmas songs. Their dancing ranged from classical ballet, in “The Nutcracker,” to high-energy tap dance, in “The Twelve Days of Christmas” where each Rockette has a different routine for each verse of the ever-popular song. Each scene was very different from the previous, which made the performance absolutely unexpected and enchanting.

The degree of precision also varied, but perhaps the most impressive execution of precision was during “The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers.” As the title suggests, each of the Rockettes were wooden soldiers who moved robotically and ultimately lined up like dominoes and fell onto each other in extreme slow motion. The Rockettes enthralled the audience with their talent.  The first eleven scenes were about the typical Christmas hoopla—Santa, Frosty the Snowman, Mrs. Claus, and every other iconic Christmas figure.  However, their last scene, “The Living Nativity,” was the most powerful.

“The Living Nativity,” involved re-creating the Biblical story of Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethlehem where Mary gave birth to Jesus. The program included a full paragraph entitled “One Solitary Life” to prelude this amazing re-creation of the nativity story, “Two thousand years have come and gone, and today He is the central figure for much of the human race. All the armies that ever marched and all the navies that ever sailed and all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as this ‘One Solitary Life.’”

There was a narrator reciting the paragraph to the audience as the living nativity was being assembled. The show included bringing in live camels, sheep, and donkeys. The Rockettes were dressed lavishly or simply, depending if they were wise men or shepherds. The wise men walked through the aisles in the audience. In the center of the stage stood the stable and the key characters to the story arrived accordingly to when the narrator brought them into the story. As the narrator mentioned the shepherds following the Star, the shepherds and sheep took their places on stage. The narrator quoted Biblical passages and included extra information, like the symbolism behind why the wise men brought frankincense, myrrh, and gold.

Unlike in the other scenes, the Rockettes were not singing or dancing; instead, they reverently reenacting this miraculous story. The reverence and Christian message behind this scene was very unexpected from the Rockettes, but showcased a very powerful message. At a time when people can get wrapped up in the presents and the traditions, sometimes it is prudent to take a step back from the holiday mania and remember why we celebrate Christmas to begin with. The Rockettes certainly showed the typical holiday iconic characters, but definitely showed the audience the true meaning of Christmas in their final and most powerful scene. The true meaning of Christmas is not all about the presents, but it is instead a time of faith and a time to be near those you love best.

Image Courtesy : The Rockettes

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New York, U.S.A. – From a village near Jenin that borders on the 1967 line, OneVoice Palestine youth activists and locals released into Israel hundreds of helium balloons carrying the text of the Arab Peace Initiative on Saturday, April 28 drawing attention toward this historic opportunity.

Hundreds of locals, wearing flag caps of countries supporting the regional peace plan, participated in the activity, which was co-sponsored by Jenin’s governor and the municipality, to mark the document’s tenth anniversary.

They called on all Israelis to pressure their politicians into accepting the initiative as a framework for serious regional negotiations to achieve the two-state solution and end the Arab-Israeli conflict. Jenin Deputy Governor Ahmad al-Qassam, Minister of Prisoner Affairs Ashraf al-Ajrami, Fatah spokesman Mahmoud Labadi, and other municipal officials also attended the headline-grabbing event.

“We’re urging the Israeli public to demand from their government a real response to the Arab Peace Initiative,” said Samer Makhlouf, executive director of OneVoice Palestine. “The document has never been withdrawn or rejected by any Arab state, but despite its apparent resilience, we cannot expect it stay on the table forever.”

Exactly 10 years ago, the 22 Arab League member states came together in Beirut to propose a peace plan to end the Arab-Israeli conflict. The Arab Peace Initiative offered a comprehensive resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the normalization of relations between Israel and its Arab neighbors. It represented an abrupt about-face, from the League’s refusal to engage with Israel to the potential for a new era of regional stability and cooperation. While not an end-point for negotiations, the document sets a positive new starting point.

Unfortunately, Israel never accepted the Arab Peace Initiative as a basis for peace discussions. Among Ariel Sharon’s 14 reservations to the 2003 Road Map, reservation #10 explicitly rejected the Arab Peace Initiative. Since then, it has lain dormant.

“Accepting the Arab Peace Initiative as a framework for serious regional negotiations is a far better approach than outright rejection wrapped in unsupportable assertions that Israel has done everything it can for peace over the past 64 years and the Palestinians have only been obstructionist,” said OneVoice CEO Howard Sumka.

The event is part of OneVoice Palestine’s campaign, launched in February, demanding the Israeli government to halt its settlement policy and return to negotiations on the basis of the Arab Peace Initiative. From tree plantings in Hebron and Bethlehem and distribution of flyers and bumper stickers across the West Bank, to an online campaign with banners on top local news sites – OneVoice Palestine is creating momentum for the peace plan.

Separately, OneVoice Israel is complementing the effort though parallel action, igniting conversations about the Arab Peace Initiative across their eight university chapters, from Haifa to Sderot. Next month, they will mobilize people in the heart of Tel Aviv, bringing prominent public figures to make soap-box speeches while a giant ice cube containing the Arab Peace Initiative text slowly melts away. Working with the growing Two-State Solution Caucus, they will then deliver their message loudly in the Knesset.

OneVoice is an international grassroots movement that aims to amplify the voice of Israeli and Palestinian moderates, empowering them to demand a two-state solution. The movement educates and trains Israeli and Palestinian youth in leadership skills, non-violent activism, and democratic principles.

Image Courtesy of   Ryan Rodrick Beiler / Shutterstock.com

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