Yikes! Nigeria?

Now we're really in trouble.

Nigeria has a West Bank: -

Nigeria: West Bank Urges FG to Develop Framework On Climate Change

Or was that a simple spelling error?

The Federal Government has been called upon to develop a strategic framework for tackling climate change challenges.

Country Representative of the World Bank in Nigeria, Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, said a strategic framework would enable Nigeria address climate change issues like water shed management.

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Tragedy at the West Bank; A Settlement May Be Involved

The west bank of the Chicago River at Rogers Park, that is:-

...Concrete barriers and a stop sign were later installed where Roman's cab entered the water on the west bank, but no protective measures were placed on the east bank.

That's where police believe 25-year-old model Irma Sabanovic drove her car over a curb at the end of the 1100 block of West Blackhawk Street and into the river during the rainy early morning hours of May 12. Sabanovic, who drowned, was found Saturday inside her submerged Ford Focus.

"I would blame Chicago once again for not putting something up on both sides," Lorraine Roman said Monday. "Chicago should have put barriers up. They should have built something there on both sides of the river. They should have built a high cement wall."

Sabanovic, a Bosnian immigrant who lived in the West Rogers Park neighborhood, was driving to meet friends at Exit, a bar on the west side of the river on North Avenue, a few blocks north of Blackhawk. About 2 a.m., she texted a friend that she was lost. She was never heard from again.

And a settlement may be involved:-

Roman's estate sued the city and received a $500,000 settlement in 1997, according to court records. The settlement did not require the city to admit liability or require that changes be made to the street, said Jennifer Hoyle, a spokeswoman for the city's Law Department. Officials said they do not recall any lawsuits involving similar incidents at that location, Hoyle said.

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West Bank Story - So, It Won

Well, the film I previously blogged about (here) won the Oscar for "BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM".

Here's Ari Sandel talking about this film which cheapens the conflict in my opinion:-

I made a comedy musical about Israelis and Palestinians that takes place between two falafel stands in the West Bank. It is a story about peace and hope and I made it with the intention of showing a subject, that is typically portrayed as hopeless, from a new perspective. I wanted to convey my belief that peace in the Middle East can and will happen and that both sides are more alike than they think. I thought a comedy was the best way.

Everyone told me I couldn't make the movie. It was my first film and my graduate thesis. People warned me that I would piss off everyone on BOTH sides, I would kill my career before it started, I would never be able to make LA look like Israel, and most of all, they told me that you can't make a comedy out of the tragedy in the Middle East. I believed them and so I stopped writing the film. My co-writer, Kim Ray, and I shelved it for 5 months but as I told more people the idea of West Bank Story (all I had was a title at the time), I could see people's eyebrows raise and then they would say "its called what!?" I knew I was on to something so we started again. Once we formulated the competing falafel stand premise it wrote itself.

In finally making the movie, I defied every piece of advice a short film director gets..."Don't do period pieces or foreign environments because it will be too expensive" - we turned a set, in Santa Clarita of all places, into an Arab village in Israel -- no small feat.

...It has screened on every continent except Africa and has even received accolades from audiences that have nothing to do with the conflict -- Spain, Switzerland, China, Canada, and the list goes on! Most importantly it screened in Dubai (a country that does not recognize the State of Israel) [really, I think actually it does] and was received warmly and openly as it was the first time that Arab audience had seen the subject in this light. It has played in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv and the reactions have been the same. [er, Ramallah? Jericho? Shschem? Hebron?]

We made the movie to counter the wave of informative but negative and seemingly hopeless documentaries and news reports about the situation. We wanted to make a film about hope and I think that message is what people have embraced. It has been the most personally fulfilling project I have ever worked on.

...What was the hardest challenge/obstacle on the movie?
1. Keeping this movie even-handed and balanced was our biggest obstacle. This movie was about balance in every aspect. I knew it would be scrutinized by both sides and the credibility of the film would be questioned if it was deemed biased to any one side. I didn't want to have anyone walk out of the movie before they got the message of hope. For every joke about Palestinians, we had to counter it with one about Jews. For every endearing moment with the Jews we had to have one with the Palestinians. I think we did a pretty good job with the balance.