Noa recieves the Gemona Award (Italy)

Moreover / A language everyone understands By Gideon Levy © www.haaretzdaily.com Sunday, Gemona, Italy So who danced better? The Croat woman or the Czech woman? The argument went on into the night, for as long as the party lasted. The Croat was more stylish but the Czech was more rhythmic; the Czech more modern, the Croat a little old-fashioned. The Maltese woman has an unforgettable body, if you like broad women, like the Polish woman. The two Armenian women were sexy, too, the Bulgarian was a bit vulgar. The Guatemalan woman huddled with the Albanian woman in Italian. Simona, the curly-headed Italian, changed her skirt for tight pants to dance better. But the most beautiful of all, by general consensus, was Anna, the tall Russian woman, always wearing a hat and a white dress and sporting a dreamy look. A hundred young people from around the world, 80 girls and 20 boys, came for a month to Gemona, a town at the foot of the Italian Alps that was totally devastated in a 1976 earthquake, lying not far from the border with Austria and Slovenia. The International Laboratory for Communications, a combination of a serious seminar on Italian culture with a little Club Med in the evenings, is an impressive project, which has also produced more than a few trans-oceanic weddings and heartrending romances that were born and died in the 40 years of its existence. It was only from the Arab states that no one came this year: the Italians do not issue visas to citizens of those countries, because of terrorism. This evening there is a prize ceremony. The international singer Noa is receiving the seminar's annual prize for her activity on behalf of understanding and peace. It's 4,000 euros. She arrived at 7:15, Ahinoam Nini, of Israel, like a true superstar, to judge by the fact she is 45 minutes late and by the excitement her arrival causes. Her children, Eineha, a Hebrew name, and Ayehli, an Indian name, stayed in the hotel in Venice with their grandmother and the nanny; her husband, a pediatrician, was on duty in a hospital in Israel. The previous day she appeared in Germany, the next day she will sing in Venice and next week in Spain. She is an honorary citizen of half the cities in Italy - there is no other Israeli singer of this era who has enjoyed a comparable international success. Only Bassem Eid, from Jericho, has never heard her name before. Her success seems to sit well on her. In a half-open black blouse, black pants stuffed deep into brown boots, a beautiful necklace (designed by Michal Negrin), she won the hearts of the seminar participants in no time. Sitting with legs crossed on the chair, flowing American English, tons of self-confidence and personal charm, even for those who are not wild about her mannerisms. Motherhood and territories, Israel and America, career and occupation, singing and journalists - she talked about everything articulately, touching the hearts of her listeners. Afterward they stood in line to get her autograph and went to dance until dawn in the student dorms. Hala Khoury, a beautiful young woman from Fasuta, in Galilee, danced to Arab music. During her month in Gemona she is staying at the estate of the physician Dr. Shalom Silberschmidt, a former Israeli from Moshav Yogev - a childhood friend of Major General (res.) Uzi Dayan and a friend of Hala's mother, Jerais Khoury - who for 30 years has been healing backaches and headaches in Gemona by means of jaw treatment. Nini returned to Venice, to the children, and in the alleys of Gemona a torch procession was held as part of a medieval festival taking place here. "Fire to purify the world," cried the costumed

Noa quiere escribir una canción para Pedro Almodóvar © EFE Roma.- La cantante israelí Noa sueña con componer una canción para una película del cineasta español Pedro Almodóvar, afirmó en la localidad de Gemona del Friuli (Italia), donde este fin de semana recibió un galardón por su labor humanitaria. "Escribir una canción para un filme de Pedro Almodóvar es uno de mis sueños", aseguró la artista en unas declaraciones que este lunes recogen medios italianos. Noa recibió antenoche en Gemona del Friuli el premio Gamajun International, otorgado por el Laboratorio Internacional de Comunicación de esta localidad a personalidades de la cultura, el arte y la comunicación que hayan trabajado por la dignidad del hombre. La cantante citó al escritor colombiano Gabriel García Márquez para señalar que "hay dos modos de ser artista: el primero es estar en lo alto, por encima de todo; y el otro es estar donde están todos, mezclándose con la multitud". "Yo no quiero comprometerme por dinero y por éxito comercial; sólo quiero seguir haciendo la música que me gusta y que me da emociones", continuó. La cantante, de la que los miembros del Laboratorio Internacional de Comunicación destacaron su compromiso contra el odio que enfrenta a los pueblos palestino e israelí, lamentó que sobre esta cuestión "ya se ha perdido demasiado tiempo y demasiadas vidas, por una y otra parte". "Me gustaría que mis hijos tengan un futuro por delante", señaló, antes de insistir en que "es necesario hallar una solución lo antes posible, les corresponde a los políticos encontrarla". El premio Gamajun International fue creado en 1990 y desde entonces ha reconocido la labor de personalidades como el escritor marroquí Tahar Ben Jelloun, la actriz italiana Alida Valli, la ministra argelina de Cultura Jalida Tumi Messaudi o el ex presidente de la Comisión Europea y político italiano Romano Prodi