THINK TRIBAL, SPEAK UNIVERSAL by Gilad Atzmon

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14.12.06

I may as well be the King of The Jews. I have achieved the unachievable, accomplished the impossible. I have managed to unite them all: Right, Left and Centre. The entirety of the primarily-Jewish British political groups: the Zionists the anti-Zionists, Jewish Socialists, Tribal Marxists, The Board of Deputies, Jewish Trotskyites, Jews Sans Frontieres, Jews Avec Frontieres for the first time in history all speak in one single voice. They all repeat exactly the same misquotes. They all hate Gilad Atzmon.

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The politics of anti-Semitism by Gilad Atzmon

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12.12.06

http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/gilad_atzmon/2006/12/gilad_atzmon_responds_to_david.html

In an article published by the Guardian’s Comment is Free, David Hirsh an ultra-Zionist academic, accused me of being “anti-Semitic” and an “anti-Jewish racist”. Yet, even though the piece looks like it is fully researched, Hirsh fails to present one single argument that can support his accusations. On the occasions that he attempts to do so, when he seems to be getting close to substantiating his accusations, it is only because he takes my words completely out of context, crudely diverts their meaning and in doing so, deliberately misleads his readers. This is something you might expect from a politician but not from an academic.

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Ziotacticus Autisticus by Gilad Atzmon

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Thursday, March 29, 2007

Hecklers

In the beginning they heckled me during my concerts. I can recall the first time, it was back in 2001, three days after 9/11. It was at the Hull Jazz festival in a sold out room. During the break, I was asked by a Palestinian Solidarity activist to announce a fundraising event for ‘Palestinian Medical Aid’. Just to be on the safe side, I approached the promoter and asked him whether or not I am allowed to mention the event. With his approval at my disposal I let myself go in between two tunes. It didn’t take seconds before a female Zionist heckler cut into my speech “and what about the Jews?” She shouted in a funny, high-pitch squeaky voice. I was bewildered. I didn’t expect it. Back in 2001 I was still very naïve. I realised that shouldn’t shout back, I had a microphone in my hands and I was backed by a massive PA system. Calmly, I addressed her query. “The Jews? I don’t really know. I assume that they are still consuming chicken soup in vast quantities.” The entire room burst into laughter. It was a kind of comic relief. The heckler lady wasn’t happy at all, she stood up in anger, dragging her obedient husband with her, and left the room with outrage. The audience were watching them make their public way out, giggling to themselves. I was rather shocked with myself.

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Self-Haters Unite By Gilad Atzmon

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26.4.06

More than two months ago, following the cartoon scandal and the outrage of the Muslim world that ensued, a group of Israelis announced their own anti-Jewish cartoons contest (http://www.boomka.org/). At the time, they received very wide coverage in the Israeli media and Jewish supportive press around the world. At the end of the day, the Israelis in particular, and Jews in general, insist on being ‘seen’ as open-minded beings, people who can easily handle self-mockery.

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Peace is not Shalom and Shalom is not Sharon by Gilad Atzmon

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A Hebrew Lesson

Peace is not Shalom and Shalom is not Sharon

For the last few days we have been reading some flattering reports concerning the latest political moves of Sharon undertaken in his newly born peace loving persona. Sharon, a notorious war criminal, a man who has managed to prove time after time that he is totally lacking in any sense of moral guard or ethical consideration, has now managed to convince the Western media that he is the Israeli ‘voice of responsibility’. Make no mistake, Sharon and the Israeli people are indeed devoted ‘peace’ lovers, yet, it is rather critically important to mention that the Israeli notion of peace is pretty remote from any notion of peace familiar to the rest of humanity. When we think of the Hebrew word for peace we traditionally refer to the word ‘Shalom’. But apparently, shalom and peace aren’t exactly the same. In fact they are very different. While shalom refers to the freedom from conflict while achieving a general sense of security, peace has a far broader meaning. Peace is a true resolution. Peace is the search for harmony between people. Peace is all about reconciliation.

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The Plot Against America a book report and a reality check by Gilad Atzmon

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As it happened, on the day the Iranian President decided to share his thoughts regarding the legitimacy of the Jewish state with some four thousand students, I picked up Philip Roth’s latest book. This was nothing but a mere coincidence. Already a year ago, I was advised by a few friends to pay attention to Roth’s ‘Plot Against America’. The chunky hardcover book was awaiting my attention beside my bed since last Christmas, yet somehow I couldn’t find the time and energy to launch into a journey through Roth’s imaginary world. It was only a chance occurrence that just when I decided to begin my solitary walk through Roth’s labyrinth, the entire international community joined forces against President Ahmadinejad. But it wasn’t just the international community that voiced its indignation on cue, it was principally every Western media outlet and even the odd Palestinian opportunist politician who was probably craving for a glimpse of CNN exposure.
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The J word, the J people and the J spot by Gilad Atzmon

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Many of us, the critical voices of Zionism and Israel, have already realised something: it is advisable to avoid using the ‘J’ word. Once you use the ‘J’ word you had better expect some serious trouble. But in fact, this is not entirely true. You can safely apply the ‘J’ word, you just have to make sure you say the right things. For instance no one is going accuse you of being a racist for flattering the ‘J’ people with some incredible positive superlatives. No one will cause you any trouble for saying that the J’s are very intelligent or a nice bunch of people. You can even lie and say that they are extremely good looking and by far the kindest people on earth. It is only when you say what you really think that the real trouble starts. As soon as you become slightly genuine you will have to face an orchestrated smear campaign, you will be then called an ‘anti Semite’, a ‘new historian’ and even a ‘holocaust denier’. If you happen to be a ‘J’ yourself you will probably end up being labelled a ‘self-hating J’, no doubt a pretty prestigious club to be a member of.
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Israeli People's Most common Mistakes by Gilad Atzmon

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22.8.03


The most common mistakes made by Israelis are as follows:

1. To fail to realize that there is no essential difference between Tel Aviv and a Jewish settlement in the West Bank.

2. To believe that the creation of the state of Israel was an outcome of the Holocaust.

3. To regard themselves as innocent people and thus as victims of the Israeli­Palestinian conflict.

4. To believe that they live in a democracy and therefore that their atrocities are legitimate.

5. To be convinced that they live in an open society which enjoys political and ideological diversity.

6. To believe that the ghetto is behind them.

7. To be convinced that the 'Jewish state' is a legitimate concept.

8. To think that Israel is a shelter for the entire Jewish people and the best answer to anti-Semitism.

9. To regard themselves as humanists.

10. To be sure that Israel is immortal.

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To Sit in the Dark, Victimhood and Jewish identity by Gilad Atzmon

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March 24th 2005

 A talk at the SOAS Palestinian Society 23.4

I am sure that some of you are familiar with the old Jewish joke: What does it take for a Jewish mother to change a light bulb? Then impersonating an elder Jewish mother, applying a high pitch east European accent you spit it out: ”no vorries I vill sit in the dark”. As it seems, the Jewish mother embodies the essence of modern Jewish existence. To be a Jew is to sit in the dark, to be a Jew is to be a victim and to enjoy your symptoms. If we analyse this bizarre tendency in the light of Freud’s pleasure principle, we might mistakenly deduce that the Jewish mother finds pleasure in inflicting pain on herself. Some may even diagnose the Jewish mother as a mythical masochistic figure. In fact, it is the other way around, The Jewish mother doesn’t enjoy her own suffering at all. The Joke is supposed to reveal a very different message. The Jewish mother, instead of improving her general state of being, rather than enjoying reading the ‘Jewish Chronicle’ in the light, she voluntarily offers to sit in the dark, she gains satisfaction initiating some remorse feeling amongst the Other, whoever the Other is. Usually it is her beloved kind (son) but it can as well be her partner, the neighbour, the social worker, the Swiss banker or even the United Nations. The Jewish mother vill sit in the dark as long as someone there is happy to feel guilty for her sitting in the dark.

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The Separation Wall and The Myth of the Israeli Left by Gilad Atzmon

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Gilad Atzmon

10.7.04

Since the earliest days of Zionism, the question of polarity between right-wing and left-wing Zionism has been more than a little confusing. Where Zionism is concerned, it is difficult to determine who is the dove and who is the hawk. It was Ben Gurion, the legendary labour leader who led the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous population of Palestine in 1948. It was Menachem Begin, the legendary hawk who signed the peace deal with Egypt in 1977. It was Rabin, the labour minister of defence, who ordered the Israeli platoons to break the arms and legs of Palestinians (first intifada). And now, it appears, it is the Israeli 'Peace Now' movement who support Sharon's unilateral withdrawal. Many of the elder doves support the separation wall, unsurprising considering the fact that it was Haim Ramon, a labour minister who was the first to come up with the idea of such a wall. At the end of the day, Jewish peaceniks love the two state solution. More than simply loving peace, they actually want to live in peace.

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'NOT IN MY NAME’ – An analysis of Jewish righteousness by Gilad Atzmon

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13 June 2004

‘There are no English, French, German or American Jews, but only Jews living in England, France, Germany or America.’
Chaim Weizman August 1897, at the First Zionist Congress

I understand Zionists, I think that they are the biggest threat to world peace, I argue that they are war criminals, I fight them and I try to bring them down. I write about them, I compose music against them but I understand their logic. I understand their tricks, I know exactly where they are aiming and I do my best to stop them.

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