Gilad Atzmon: Jewish Boat On its Way

September 27, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Cultural Criticism, Jewishness, Palestine, Zionism, identity

Haaretz reported this week that a boat carrying Jewish activists from Israel, Germany, the U.S. and Britain set sail on Sunday for Gaza, hoping to breach Israel's blockade there and deliver aid.

9 Jews will participate in this brave mission: amongst them is Rami Elhanan, an Israeli peace activist whose daughter Smadar was killed in a suicide bombing in 1997. Elhanan rightly maintained that it was his moral duty to act in support of the Palestinians in Gaza because reconciliation was the surest path to peace. "Those 1.5 million people in Gaza are victims exactly as I am," he said.

Refusnik Israel Air Force pilot Jonathan Shapira, another passenger aboard the ship, told Haaretz that "we hope that the soldiers and officers of the Israeli navy will think twice before they obey orders to stop us." Shapira also reflected on recent Jewish history: "Let them remember the history of our people, and those who followed orders and later said we were only following orders.”

Elhanan and Shapira make a lot of sense, for they speak in the spirit of humanism and universalism.

However: when it comes to Jewish political activism, there is always one ‘righteous person’ who insists on providing a glimpse into what is still a deeply Judeo-centric agenda.

Richard Kuper, an organizer with the U.K. group, ‘Jews for Justice for Palestinians’, said “one goal is to show that not all Jews support Israeli policies toward Palestinians.”

Well done Richard. Let me get it right : amongst the Jewish population of 18 million people, worldwide -- all you have managed to apparently represent, speak for and collate, is 9 humanist souls who are not happy with Israeli policies.

Gilad Atzmon: On Jewish Loyalty

September 20, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Britain, Cultural Criticism, Ideology, Israel, Jewish Power, Jewishness, Palestine, Philosophy, Politiks, Zionism, identity

Recognizing Israel as uniquely Jewish is one of the key demands made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the latest talks with the Palestinians. However, Foreign Minister Lieberman took it one step further. He demands all Israelis swear an oath of loyalty to the Jewish state. Liebermann’s campaign slogan is "no loyalty, no citizenship."

"We can't continue to ignore issues like that of Hanin Zuabi, who identifies completely with the other side," Said Lieberman on Sunday. He was referring to an Israeli Arab member of Knesset who was stripped of her parliamentary privileges after sailing aboard the heroic Mavi Marmara, and being witness to the Israeli massacre in high seas.

So here we are : Israel is basically a Western liberal ‘multi cultural’ society where all different ethnicities and minorities are demanded to swear loyalty to the ultimate form of chauvinist Jewish tribal practice.

Gilad Atzmon: BBC Panorama, An Exemplary Work of Clumsy Journalism

August 17, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Cultural Criticism, Israel, Jewish Power, Zionism

BBC’s Panorama failed yesterday in its attempt to cover the Israeli Massacre on the Mavi Marmara. 'Death on the Med' is an exemplary work of clumsy journalism. It broadcasted video footage stolen from peace activists on board. It repeated Neocon terminology by referring to Islamic driven political activism as 'Islamism'. It promised to provide some new evidence. But, instead, it recycled footage presented by the Israeli military that has long since been proven (and admitted as) faked.

To Watch BBC Panorama;

Pt 1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SXrzF0IOQYE

Pt 2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nfo91FQVr7M

Gilad Atzmon: Bravery and Morality in Israel

August 11, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Cultural Criticism, Ideology, Israel, Jewish Power, Jewishness, Zionism, identity

Update on the flotilla enquiry developments

Israel's Defense Force's Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi testified today before the Israeli internal probe into Israel's deadly raid on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla. He defended the military from politicians' accusations that it botched the operation.

"The commandos exhibited calm, bravery and morality… Their actions were proportionate and correct", Ashkenazi told the inquiry.

Let’s, once again, watch the video of Israeli soldiers executing a peace activist on the Mavi Marmara so we know what the words "bravery, morality, proportionate and correct" stand for in the Jewish State's lexicon.

Gilad Atzmon: Israel Cannot Handle Its Past

July 31, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Cultural Criticism, Israel, Jewish Power, Jewishness, Palestine, Zionism, identity

Israel cannot handle its past. Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu decided this week to extend from 50 to 70 years the time state archives remain classified. Israel realizes that it has too much to hide.

Haaretz reported this week (in its Hebrew edition only), that the first documents will be released to the public only in 2018 (1948+70). Many of the documents that are stored in the archive are relevant to the history of the first 20 years of the Jewish state: the mass expulsion of the Palestinian people, the massacres in Deir Yassin, Tantura and many others, the 1956 Suez conflict, the Israeli nuclear project and so on. Disclosing such documents may bring to light some facts that could “shatter myths and cause embarrassment to many entities and individuals” said the Israeli paper. I guess that president Shimon Peres is one of those ‘many individuals’.

Israel Braces Itself for a UN Fact Finding Mission by Gilad Atzmon

July 24, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Cultural Criticism, Ideology, Israel, Zionism, identity

Israel faces another disastrous report as an 'Independent and impartial' fact-finding team appointed by the UN Human Rights Council will look into Israel's 'violations of international law' during her commando raid on the Gaza-bound Turkish ship.

Seemingly the UN Human Rights Council wasn’t overwhelmingly impressed by Israel's own ‘truth finding’ missions. I guess that this is understandable. The Israelis should accept the UN concerns. It is very uncommon to let the murderer or the rapist investigate himself.

The UN team is expected to travel to Israel, Turkey and Gaza in August to interview witnesses and gather information before reporting back to the Council in September.

I guess that in order to complete its job satisfyingly, the UN mission should consider taking advice from some Old Testament experts who can elaborate on the cultural and spiritual heritage that led to the current state of Israeli barbarism. As I've mentioned many times before, Zionism , is an attempt to revive the ancient Israelite nation. Hence it shouldn’t take us by surprise to discover that this has created a contemporary Israeli who follows the most sinister possible interpretation of the Judaic text.

Strictly Dancing by Gilad Atzmon

July 19, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Cultural Criticism, Israel, Jewish Power, Jewishness, Satire, Shoa/Holocaust, Zionism, identity

Some Jews and Israelis seem to be rather jolly lately.

We recently encountered a glimpse of a Jewish family celebrating their survival of the Holocaust by exploring some different disco manoeuvres with the landscape of Auschwitz in the background.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GIuv2PRjEU

I honestly think that nothing is categorically wrong about it. At the end of the day, Jews found many ways to deal with their past. Dancing is no doubt preferable to killing in the name of Jewish suffering.

IDF soldiers are also finding the time to dance when they are not murdering in the name of ‘Israeli security’.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIrVofeRh0g

In fact, one possible interpretation is that the IDF’s dance routine was a form of protest against their army and terrorist state. I guess that we would all prefer Israeli soldiers to dance than kill. Regardless, if Israelis feel the urge to boogie they better do it in their own streets.

Yet, Kosher Bollywood may be the way forward for the contemporary Jewish dancer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ktQOLO4U5iQ

Give History a Chance by Gilad Atzmon

July 15, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Britain, Cultural Criticism, Ideology, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jewish Power, Jewishness, Zionism, identity

A talk given at the "Debunking the War on Terror" Symposium on July 14th

The War on Terror Within

1 The more pain we inflict on others the more we become familiar with evil, aggression and brutality.

1.1 The more cruel we are towards others, the more devastated we are by the possibility that the subjects of our brutality may also be as nasty as we happen to be.

1.2 According to Freud this is what projection is all about.

1.2.1 Otto Weininger refines it, ‘we hate in others, that which we don’t like in ourselves’ he says.

1.3 As it happens, the dynamic of projection is amplified once the subject of our terror is hopeless and defenseless.

1.3.1 The reason is obvious. The more hopeless the subject of our terror is, the more we are inclined to face our relentless viciousness first hand.

2 Israeli treatment of the Palestinians is a devastating example of the above. The more hopeless and defenseless the Palestinians are, the more vicious the Israeli becomes.

2.1 And yet, the more vicious the Israeli is, the more he or she is horrified by ‘terror’.

3 In reality, the Israelis are actually horrified by their own cruelty which they project onto others.

4 The recent cold-blooded murder of 11 peace activists in the high seas by Israeli Navy commandos was nothing but a shocking exposure of that lethal dynamic. The more ethically transparent, innocent and harmless the humanitarian mission to Gaza is, the more lethal the Israeli becomes.

Touching Left, Islam, Israeli Lobby, Chomsky and Many other Hot Topics

June 27, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Cultural Criticism, Ideology, Israel, Jewish Power, Jewishness, Zionism, identity, interview

Discussion with Gilad Atzmon by Miriam Cotton

Introduction by Miriam Cotton

Gilad Atzmon is a world renowned saxophonist and musician with a deep political passion for humanist issues and concern for the fate of the Palestinian people. He has written extensively about the issue and been published widely. As a self-exiled, former Jewish Israeli and IDF soldier, Atzmon’s perspective within the raging public discourse on Palestine is relatively unique. His views are bitterly opposed by some among anti-Zionist Jewish groups, who accuse him of anti-Semitism and of being a ‘self-hater’.

Atzmon fiercely resists the charge of anti-Semitism and insists that he is concerned with a proper and thorough examination of the ideology of what it is to be Jewish – in particular about how the notion of the Jews as ‘a chosen people’ has led, as he sees it, inexorably to the rise of Zionism and its present disproportionate influence on world affairs.

Atzmon also takes issue with the Western Left which he believes has failed either to recognize the true extent of Zionist influence (he singles Noam Chomsky out for criticism) and of not understanding how western Marxist/socialist ideologies are incompatible with Islamic societies and therefore can be of no use to them. These and other issues are discussed with him below. There are many things in what Atzmon says below that beg further question and comment but hopefully the exchange has served to illustrate his interpretation of the Palestinian situation and to provide an insight on a less frequently aired or understood perspective.

The Crucifixion of Kindness by Gilad Atzmon

June 10, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Cultural Criticism, Ideology, Israel, Jewish Power, Jewishness, Palestine, Zionism, identity

Panic is detected in Israel. Strategic affairs minister, Moshe Boogi Ya'alon who served as acting PM during last week's massacre in the high seas said yesterday that “someone failed to prepare a standard operating procedure.” A senior IDF official was quick to respond "If there wasn't a standard operating procedure, why didn't he make sure there was one. He was the acting prime minister and it was his responsibility.” War criminal Tzipi Livni is also unhappy with the Government for failing to take responsibility. Two days ago she led a no confidence vote in the Israeli Knesset.

Seemingly the Israelis are starting to blame each other. This may look like a positive move, however, not a single Israeli is yet to ask for forgiveness. Seemingly no one in Israel grasps the scale of the atrocity in the high seas. No one in Israel comprehends the level of outrage amongst the nations. Israelis, are instead concerned with their Hasbara failure, their military operational mistakes and so on. Up until now, they fail to see that in the high seas, they have managed to kill Christ again.

A Glimpse Into Jewish Collective Morbidity-introduction By Gilad Atzmon

June 05, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Cultural Criticism, Jewish Power, Jewishness, Politiks, Zionism, identity

As I was reading in the Guardian that nine Turkish men on board the Mavi Marmara “were shot a total of 30 times and five were killed by gunshot wounds to the head.” I came across "We Con the World', a new Israeli video production. ‘The greatest bluff’ they call the Free Gaza humanitarian mission . Considering the emerging news regarding Israeli execution on the Mavi Marmara, one would expect the Israelis to restrain their so called ‘Jewish humour’ for a while.

As it happens, the collective sickening morbidity is spilling over. It can’t be contained anymore.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOGG_osOoVg

Our leaders better start to think seriously how to dismantle this lethal nation before it turns all of us into an ash cloud.

Update: The pathetic Israeli Hasbara initially sent the video as an Official Hasbara video. Not before too long they realised that the film was counter effective for it presented the true Israelis for what they were. Ynet reports: "But just 20 minutes after the email was sent, another followed saying, 'Today we mistakenly sent a link to a video clip we have, which was meant for personal use and not for wider distribution.'"

The message is clear, the Israelis lost the capacity to self reflect. This is exactly why they are a murderous collective.

Not Much Time Remains for Israel- A Film Review by Gilad Atzmon

May 05, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Cultural Criticism, Film Review, Israel, Jewishness, Palestine, Philosophy, identity

The London Palestinian Film Festival opened this year with Elia Suleiman’s latest feature “The Time that Remains” (105min), a monumental reflective and poetic take on Palestine since 1948.

To a certain extent Suleiman’s latest film reminded me of Ramzy Baroud’s book My Father Was a Freedom Fighter. Both works chart a personal and devastating expedition into hopelessness. Both accounts are saturated with repeated failures and betrayals, both Baroud and Suleiman are courageous enough to criticise their collective narrative and yet, both pepper their story with some staggering wit, hope and humour. They make you smile just when you are about to sob.

To watch trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmUPHXAC3Lk

Well Done Frankie Boyle!!! By Gilad Atzmon

May 01, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Cultural Criticism, Jewish Power, Satire

Scottish hero comedian Frankie Boyle has accused the BBC Trust of cowardly behaviour.

Boyle published an open letter describing the situation in Palestine as "in essence, apartheid" and lamenting the fact that the BBC was "now cravenly afraid of giving offence and vulnerable to any kind of well-drilled lobbying".

Back in 2008 Boyle made an astute joke on BBC’s Radio 4 programme Political Animal. "I've been studying Israeli army martial arts. I now know 16 ways to kick a Palestinian woman in the back. People think that the Middle East is very complex but I have an analogy that sums it up quite well. If you imagine that Palestine is a big cake, well … that cake is being punched to pieces by a very angry Jew."

Welcome to the Jewish Comedy Club by Gilad Atzmon

April 27, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Cultural Criticism, Israel, Jewish Power, Jewishness, Politiks, identity

Last weekend the American National Security Adviser, General James Jones, spoke at the 25-year anniversary gala of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy*. Mindful that the crowd consisted of many Jews, General Jones believed would be an appropriate, friendly gesture to launch his speech with a Jewish Joke. He was obviously wrong.

Holocaust Tax Allowance by Gilad Atzmon

April 24, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Cultural Criticism, Jewishness, Satire, Shoa/Holocaust

I do think that taking Tax from Jews is nothing less than Anti Semitism in practice. After the Holocaust and 2000 years of Jewish suffering we should accept that Jews have the right to hide some money from the tax authorities, just in case the horror repeats itself.

The BBC reported today that A US watchmaker told the American court that he “hid $10,000,000 in a Swiss bank account because of ‘survival behaviour’ learned from the Holocaust”. The 65 year-old watchmaker, Jack Barouh, argued his secretive behaviour was motivated by his “fear as a Jew of persecution and sudden loss.” Indeed with 10 million dollars Barouh could barely survive; he could for instance, hire a private jet that would fly him anywhere in the world, he could settle in 5 star hotels in the most beautiful sea resorts, yet, no one could guarantee Barouh a constant supply of matzo balls and gefilte fish and this may well be the true meaning of Jewish fear.

Polanski's Ghost Writer - a film review by Gilad Atzmon

April 21, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Cultural Criticism, Film Review, Ideology, Jewish Power, identity

It is somewhat puzzling that director Roman Polanski, who has managed to evade justice for more than three decades, decided to make a film chronicling a disgraced British PM in his attempt to escape the War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague.

Polanski's latest movie is based on Robert Harris’ bestseller (The Ghost). It tells the story of a ‘fictional’ ex British MP Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan) who though once hugely popular, is now totally despised. Lang is in exile in the USA with his wife Ruth (Olivia Williams). He fears extradition to The Hague Tribunal.

Symbolic Identifiers and Jewish Stereotypes by Gilad Atzmon

April 18, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Cultural Criticism, Israel, Jewish Power, Jewishness, Zionism, identity

Jews are usually proud to define themselves as Jews. Some Jews may, for instance, proudly carry the Jewish banner (Jews for Peace, Jews for Justice, Jews for Jesus and so on) as if they believe that the ‘J’ word contains special righteous attributions. However, they also will be gravely offended if they are called a ‘Jew’ by others. Suggesting to a Jew that “he is a Jew” or “behaves like a Jew” can be regarded as a serious ‘racist’ offence.

It is linguistically noticeable that the symbolic identifier ‘Jew’ or ‘Jewish’ operates as both noun and as an adjective. As much as the term points to a ‘thing’ it is also descriptive. However, I assume that symbolic identifiers associated with ideological and identity politics tend to function in a dual grammatical mode. The words ‘feminist’, ‘socialist’, ‘Nazi’ and ‘white supremacist’ can point to a human subject but they can also be descriptive. I guess, for instance, that a feminist who proudly carries the feminist flag may also accept that being called ‘a feminist’ will also assign some particular characteristics and ideological beliefs. Crucially, we also accept that being a feminist, a socialist, a Nazi or a white supremacist are matters of political choice. People are not born feminists or as socialists. They adopt those ideologies or identities later in life.

The Boomerang Effect By Gilad Atzmon

April 13, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Cultural Criticism, Ideology, Israel, Jewish Power, Jewishness, Politiks, Satire, Shoa/Holocaust, Zionism

In case you didn’t know, in Britain the Holocaust is part of the National Curriculum. Thanks to the ‘The Holocaust Educational Trust’ our children are guaranteed to learn how bad the Nazis were. This is probably much easier for our kids to acknowledge than to look into the ways in which the embarrassing legacy of the British Empire reverberates throughout almost every contemporary disastrous conflict on this planet. It is deemed far easier for our kids to learn about Anne Frank than to absorb the fact that Britain is directly responsible for the robbery of Palestine and the Palestinian ordeal. Learning about Auschwitz is also far easier than accepting the devastating reality created by Britain’s latest illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, a colossal crime which has cost more than 1.5 million innocent lives so far. Thanks to The Holocaust Educational Trust we can brush history and our current crimes aside. Learning about the bad Nazis is far easier on our children than learning about the complicity of Britain in the holocaust. I guess that toughening British immigration laws to stop Jews escaping to Britain in the 1930s is not a prominent chapter in our kids’ text books.

The Shylocks meet the Fagins by Gilad Atzmon

April 08, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Cultural Criticism, Ideology, Israel, Jewishness, identity

Western cultural heritage provides us with a few interesting fictional characters who may be able to throw light on the current moral state of Israel and the latest organ trafficking affair in particular.

In Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice Shylock is a Jewish moneylender, a character who has become a name of the ultimate heartless usurer. In the play Shylock lends money to his Christian rival, Antonio, setting the bond at a pound of Antonio's flesh. Once Antonio fails to pay his loan back, Shylock demands the pound of flesh in return. Though Shylock is just a fictional character, the willingness to attach a price tag to blood or human flesh is rather revealing.

Soap Opera by Gilad Atzmon

March 29, 2010 by Gilad Atzmon in Analysis, Cultural Criticism, Palestine, Shoa/Holocaust

“Montreal Jew sells concentration camp soap”, says today’s Ynet.

Abraham Botines, the owner of a World War II collectibles shop, is under fire for selling bars of soap made in 1940 Nazi death camps. The items are for sale for just $300.

Botines, 73, the holocaust souvenir merchant, is the owner of a small antiques shop in Montreal and has recently added the soap, made in the concentration camps in Poland, to his list of collectibles.