ALMOG, Palestinian Territories: At his farm near the Dead Sea in occupied Palestinian territory, Israeli Guy Erlich remixes blends of perfume and incense that he believes were used by royalty in the biblical era.
He claims to have re-created a scent that Cleopatra may have dabbed on her skin and oils that anointed ancient Jewish kings.
With a passion for ancient plants, Erlich set out in 2008 to try to grow them himself to turn into fragrances and other products, on a small hill in the West Bank, near the Israeli settlement of Almog.
He now cultivates around 60 biblical plants, from which he creates creams, perfumes, soap and honey, and attracts tourists who come to learn about the rare plants and take in their scents.
Erlich, 48, dreams of bringing back into widespread circulation the balm of Gilead, used medicinally during the ancient Roman era and referenced in the Bible.
He’s even named his farm after it.
The balm is thought to have been used by the ancient Greek physician, Galen, to heal infections and wounds, he says.
He mentions Jewish teachings from the Talmud and Christian sources that name it.
A farmer before making a job out of his fascination for biblical agriculture — some of which has long disappeared — Erlich says he has read everything he can find on the subject.
Elaine Solowey, a desert agriculture specialist at Israel’s Arava Institute for Environmental Studies, helped him to identify some of his plants.
Speaking to AFP, she said that she could not say for sure if Erlich’s plants were those found in biblical times since more research was necessary.
“The species produced by Mr.Erlich are probably those cultivated in the region during antiquity, but we can’t be certain,” Solowey said.
“Many plant species mentioned in the Bible have disappeared and it is vital that we figure out how to study the subject,” she said, adding that more funding was needed.
Erlich makes honey with the flowers of Boswellia trees that yield frankincense — one of the offerings to the baby Jesus in the Bible’s New Testament.
The trees grow in places like Somalia, Yemen, Ethiopia and Oman but Erlich has planted them at his Balm of Gilead Farm.
For now, the small leafed species takes up only a limited part of his farm, but the honey he produces sells at a premium price: $1,000 (900 euros) per kilogram.
The farm is currently quite spartan and he hopes in time to be able to develop his tourist center, a simple, wooden structure that shields visitors from the sun next to his fields.
Wearing boots and a large hat, he explains to visitors the story behind each plant and its name.
Erlich is seeking to attract investors but says it is difficult since his farm is in occupied territory.
For Palestinians, his work has more than a whiff of controversy, given the location of the farm.
Abdallah Abu Rahma, a Palestinian Authority official who monitors Israeli settlements, was unequivocal when asked about the project.
“Everything produced in the settlements is illegal,” he said. “That’s why we call for a boycott of such products.”
Settlement expansion has accelerated under Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a policy that detractors say reduces the chances of a two-state solution to the Jewish nation’s conflict with the Palestinians.
But Erlich is undeterred.
Noting the ancient Egyptians’ use of fragrances and the possibility that several of the plants he grows were used at that time, he advertises his perfume as a type used by Cleopatra.
“Offer your wife Cleopatra’s perfume, the fragrances of antiquity, the scents of Rome,” he tells visitors.
Erlich also claims to have re-created fragrances used at the time of the two biblical-era Jewish temples, the first destroyed by the Babylonians in 587 BC and the second by the Romans in 70 AD.
“On your right hand, you have the scent of the first temple, on the left hand the second temple, and if you rub them against each other, you will smell the incense that will be burned in the third temple,” Erlich said.
According to Jewish tradition, the third temple will be built when the Messiah comes.
Erlich sells his products from his farm.
He has so far sold four kilos (8.8 pounds) of his frankincense honey in 30-gram (one-ounce) bottles and hopes to increase production.
Visitors can also buy a five-milliliter (0.2 ounce) bottle of fragrance for 100 shekels ($29, 26 euros).
“These products have a history, a specificity,” he said. “They are unique.”
Israeli farmer remixes ancient scents near Dead Sea
Israeli farmer remixes ancient scents near Dead Sea
- He claims to have re-created a scent that Cleopatra may have dabbed on her skin
- “Everything produced in the settlements is illegal”
‘Bridgerton’ actress says she was warned not to campaign for Palestinians
- Nicola Coughlan: Hollywood insiders told her advocacy could harm her career
- Irish star feels ‘moral responsibility’ to campaign for ceasefire, continue to fundraise
LONDON: Irish actress Nicola Coughlan has revealed that she was told her Palestinian advocacy could harm her career.
The “Bridgerton” and “Derry Girls” star told Teen Vogue she had been warned by people in Hollywood not to be openly supportive of Palestinian rights, but has continued to campaign for a ceasefire in Gaza and still publicly wears an Artists4Ceasefire pin.
“You do get told, ‘you won’t get work, you won’t do this,’ but I also think, deep down, if you know that you’re coming from a place of ‘I don’t want any innocent people to suffer,’ then I’m not worried about people’s reactions,” she said.
“My family lived in Jerusalem back in the late ‘70s, early ’80s, before I was born, so I heard first hand stories about them living there.”
She said her father, who served in the Irish military, went to a “lot of war-torn regions after the conflict and try and help rebuild,” and this had left a profound impression on her.
“I’m so lucky I’ve gotten to this point in my career, and I’m privileged as a white woman, first off.
“Then the fact that I get to do the job I love and travel the world and meet amazing people, I feel a moral responsibility to give back.”
She has made a point of continuing to campaign and raise money around the issue, adding: “To me, it always becomes about supporting all innocent people, which sounds oversimplified, but I think you’ve got to look at situations and just think, ‘Are we supporting innocent people no matter where they’re from, who they are?’ That’s my drive.”
Coughlan said social media plays a role in driving advocacy but it requires nuance. “More of us should be trying to understand how upsetting and traumatising this is for Jewish people, and how horrific it is that all these innocent people in Palestine are being murdered,” she added.
A number of Hollywood figures have faced repercussions for their open support of the Palestinians or criticism of Israel.
Mexican actress Melissa Barrera was fired from the latest “Scream” film over social media posts in support of Palestine, while director Jonathan Glazer caused controversy for using his acceptance speech at the Oscars for his film “The Zone of Interest” to criticize the Gaza war.
‘Game of Thrones’ star Liam Cunningham says world will ‘not forget’ those who stayed silent on Gaza
- Irishman has been vocal advocate for Palestinian causes for decades
LONDON: Irish actor Liam Cunningham has said the public will “not forget” those who have not voiced support for Palestinians during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza.
The “Game of Thrones” star has been a vocal advocate for Palestinian causes for decades. Speaking during a demonstration in Dublin led by Irish-Palestinian Ahmed Alagha, who has lost 44 family members in the recent Israeli assault on Gaza, Cunningham said he has been commended by his peers in the past for his activism.
“What concerns me is that the people who do care and are not doing anything are, in my opinion, worse than the people who don’t care,” he said.
Cunningham was asked if he had spoken to other actors to convince them to show support for the Palestinian cause, but responded by saying he could not speak for others, The Independent reported.
However, he added, “The internet doesn’t forget. When this comes around, when the ICJ (International Court of Justice) and ICC (International Criminal Court) hopefully do their work honorably, it is going to come out,” he said.
“And the people who didn’t talk — it is not going to be forgotten. It’s livestreamed, this genocide, and (saying) you didn’t know is not an option. You did know. And you did nothing. You stayed quiet. I need to be able to look in the mirror, and that’s why I speak,” he added.
A month after Israel launched its onslaught on Gaza in response to Hamas incursions on Oct. 7 in Israeli territory in which nearly 1,200 people were killed and around 250 hostages were taken, Cunningham said that for Irish people to ignore the treatment of Palestinians would be to “betray” their history.
“If we allow ourselves to accept this behavior, then we allow it to happen to us,” he said at the time. “We have to stand up for standards. We have to stand up for international law and it reduces us as human beings if we don’t.”
Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, around two-thirds of them children and women, according to Hamas-run health authorities in the enclave.
Saudi Film ‘Hajjan’ wins 6 nominations at Critics Awards for Arab Films
DUBAI: Saudi Arabia-based film “Hajjan,” directed by Egyptian filmmaker Abu Bakr Shawky, is nominated for six categories at the eighth Critics Awards for Arab Films.
The movie is competing in the best feature film, best screenplay, best actor, best music, best cinematography and best editing categories.
“Hajjan” tells the story of Matar, a boy who embarks on a journey across the desert with his camel, Hofira.
The movie is a co-production between the Kingdom’s King Abdulaziz Center for World Culture, or Ithra, and Egyptian producer Mohamed Hefzy’s Film Clinic.
The movie, which is written by Omar Shama from Egypt and the Kingdom’s Mufarrij Almajfel, stars Saudi actors Abdulmohsen Al-Nemer, Ibrahim Al-Hsawi, among others.
The awards ceremony, scheduled for May 18 on the sidelines of the Cannes Film Festival, is organized by the Arab Cinema Center in Cairo and assessed by a panel of 209 critics representing 72 countries.
Sudanese director Mohamed Kordofani’s inaugural feature film, “Goodbye Julia,” and Tunisian filmmaker Kaouther Ben Hania’s Oscar-nominated documentary, “Four Daughters,” scored nominations in seven categories.
Jordanian filmmaker Amjad Al-Rasheed’s “Inshallah A Boy” and Palestinian-British director Farah Nabulsi’s “The Teacher” have six nominations.
Emirati designer Hamda Al-Fahim dresses Anya Taylor-Joy for Tiffany event
DUBAI: US actress Anya Taylor-Joy this week was spotted at the Tiffany & Co. celebration of the launch of Blue Book in Beverly Hills wearing a dress by Emirati designer Hamda Al-Fahim.
The actress from “The Queen’s Gambit,” who is the ambassador for the American luxury jewelry label, impressed her fans in a head-turning dark golden brown dress that featured a corset-styled bodice paired with a fitted velvet skirt that flowed down, culminating in a short train trailing behind her.
The dress is called the Velvet Canyon and is from Al-Fahim’s Earthy collection.
Al-Fahim took to Instagram to share pictures of the star championing her design with her 498,000 followers.
“Anya Taylor-Joy (looks) stunning in our Velvet Canyon,” she wrote on her Stories.
For her jewelry, Anya chose a glitzy diamond necklace embellished with red rhinestones, accompanied by matching earrings and a ring. She completed the ensemble with a statement chunky silver bracelet.
She styled her blonde hair with a side part, which cascaded in soft waves past her shoulders.
Taylor-Joy was accompanied by a star-studded lineup of celebrities, including Olivia Wilde, Emily Blunt, Gabrielle Union, Quinta Brunson, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Harrier, Suki Waterhouse and Aimee Song, among others.
Wilde flaunted a black figure-hugging dress with a plunging neckline, Blunt was radiant in a white sequin dress, Union opted for a custom-made Staud dress in black and white, Brunson wore a black velvet midi-gown from Roland Mouret and Huntington-Whiteley chose a white Carolina Herrera dress.
Al-Fahim is an Abu Dhabi-based designer known for her elegant and ethereal aesthetic, often featuring intricate embellishments, delicate fabrics and flattering silhouettes. Her creations combine femininity and sophistication, blending traditional craftsmanship with modern sensibilities.
Seen on red carpets, premieres and high-profile events worldwide, Al-Fahim’s creations have captured the attention of international celebrities including Rihanna and Jennifer Lopez.
Al-Fahim has also previously teamed up with US luxury handbag designer Tyler Ellis on a limited-edition capsule collection in 2022.
REVIEW: Sofia Boutella’s heroic efforts can’t save ‘Rebel Moon — Part Two’
DUBAI: “Rebel Moon — Part One: A Child of Fire” drew scathing reviews (our writer described it as perhaps “the most discombobulating collection of mismatched sci-fi tropes ever committed to film”). “Part Two: The Scargiver” simply adds to that legacy.
The story: Former Imperium soldier Kora and the surviving band of ragtag warriors she’s recruited return to the moon of Veldt — home to simple farming folk in danger of being blown to bits by the mighty Imperium for failing to supply the unreasonable grain quota demanded of them. With just a few days before the deadline, Kora and her band must train the villagers to fight (and harvest the grain in just three days to provide a bargaining chip). What Kora doesn’t know is that Admiral Noble, the bad guy she ‘killed,’ is still alive. And bent on vengeance.
Before the enemy arrives, the warriors tell their life stories in a trust-building exercise — one of the clunkiest pieces of exposition ever written. There are slow-mo shots of the harvest gathering and a brief interlude to show that Kora and farmer Gunnar are very much in love.
Then, thankfully, we’re into the battle(s). Here, at least, director Zack Snyder doesn’t disappoint, even giving an original twist to the ‘spaceship plummeting from the sky’ trope by staging a showdown between Kora, Gunnar and Admiral Noble on a floor that becomes increasingly vertical. Below them, the villagers fight heroically against odds very much stacked against them, even with the help of Nemesis and her two flaming definitely-not-lightsabers.
The well-constructed battle scenes, though, aren’t enough. Not even with a cast fighting as heroically as the villagers to salvage something. Sofia Boutella, as Kora, emerges with most credit, proving herself a convincing action hero who deserves better than this material to work with (spoiler alert: perhaps even material that allows the heroine to kill the bad guy herself, without the intervention of her boyfriend).
Yes, no one’s sitting down to watch an “epic space opera” in the expectation of thought-provoking dialogue, but “Rebel Moon” is like the result of forcing a seven-year-old to watch all things “Star Wars” and “Star Trek” in random order, then asking them to write down what happened. The best thing to say about “The Scargiver” is that it finishes — but even that comfort is tainted by Snyder’s cynical setting up of a potential part three. Possibly because that seven-year-old fell asleep before writing an actual ending.
