Gilad Atzmon: Jewish Clandestine Operation Exposed

Below you will find an embarrassing 'call for action' circulated (selectively) by Naomi Wimborne-Idrissi, a prominent UK Jewish ‘anti Zionist’ and one of the founders of 'J- Big', an exclusive Jewish cell, advocating the boycott of Israeli goods.

Wimborne-Idrissi's intentions are ambitious: she wants to form an 'Anti Atzmon party' or, in her words- “We are organising a meeting to discuss this developing situation (Atzmon’s popularity), and to arrive we hope at an agreed strategy for countering it.” You may as well notice that this Judeo-centric sectarian attempt is taking place at a time Palestinians seem to be united.

Wimborne-Idrissi’s argument is staggering -- on the one hand she is criticising me for suggesting that "Jewishness is a tendency towards segregation" -- and yet, her call for action ends with the following sentence: “this invitation is not intended for wider circulation.” It is obviously clear that instead of a ‘wider and open Palestinian solidarity discourse’, the Jewish ethnic campaigner actually prefers to operate within small segregated cells as I suggested above.

Wimborne-Idrissi is devastated by the success of our May 3rd Panel Event, "Zionism, Jewishness and Israel". While our panel discussion was a public event, open to all, Wimborne-Idrissi and her half a dozen Jewish ‘comrades’ seem to prefer to operate 'underground', in a clandestine mode.

It is obvious to all that their defeat is colossal. I wonder, why don’t they just admit it and move on?

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Gilad Atzmon: The Next Israeli President

In case you didn’t know, London Jewish Chronicle is the best paper around.

It  somehow manages to dig out the best kosher quotes ever. 

The following  was reportedly said by Dominique Strauss-Kahn in 1991 during the Gulf War

"Every Diaspora Jew, wherever he is, and this includes France, must help Israel. This is the reason why it is important for Jews to take political responsibilities. In my position and in my daily life, I modestly try to help to build Israel."

I suspect that Dominique Strauss-Kahn may have exhausted his chances to become the next French President.  However, bearing in mind his loyalty to Israel and his reported libidinal enthusiasm, he may as well consider running for the Israeli office.

Anayat Durrani: Exposing dangerous myths (Al Ahram Weekly)

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Al-Ahram Weekly Online

Anayat Durrani interviews jazz musician extraordinaire Gilad Atzmon, discovering a secret weapon that Palestinians have in their struggle for freedom

 

World-renowned Israeli-born jazz saxophonist Gilad Atzmon brought his ensemble to the United States on his third annual North America Jazz tour 4-15 May, crisscrossing the country from New York, to Chicago, Dallas and San Francisco, finishing up in Colorado. The concerts' theme was "Music for Palestinians' Resistance", and the tour was used to raise awareness and fundraise for various humanitarian causes concerning Palestine.

Atzmon described his multi-city tour as giving him an opportunity to "talk about Israel, Palestine and the power of beauty". His tour included a stop in Oakland to attend a benefit for the Bay Area's flotilla passengers set to embark on the US-flagged Audacity of Hope in June to break Israel's illegal naval blockade of Gaza. The novelist, political activist and writer, who now makes his home in England, said he began visiting the US four years ago and comes once a year for two weeks. He said he has a lot of fans in the US and believes the exchange of ideas is crucial.

"I visit as many cities as I can, I meet a lot of people, I give interviews. I believe that true spiritual and intellectual exchange can lead towards a shift of consciousness. It is crucial for me to unveil the spirit and ideology that drives the Jewish state and Zionists around the world," Atzmon told Al-Ahram Weekly. "I believe that we are dealing with a unique ideology and practice and I am also aware that due to self censorship, not many people can discuss openly some of the topics I touch on, such as the fact that Zionism is a continuation of Jewish ideology."

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Gilad Atzmon: My Visit to the USA

My visit to America was once again a great educational adventure: I had the chance to meet with so many interesting people. The Palestinians and the solidarity activists I met seem more determined than ever.  I also met some Jewish spiritual and political leaders who, for the first time, were courageous enough to debate my thoughts.  It is more than clear that the message and call for justice is more and more appealing, more and more urgent, and more powerful.

In NYC I gave a talk about music and ethics, and debated with journalists and Jewish political activists. One of the leaders of JVP summarised our meeting saying, “we agree on very many things, and we disagree on a few,” which is a statement I consider to be a constructive and optimistic way to look at things.  That said, it is also true that some healthy dispute adds inspiration, and can only be beneficial to our debate and discourse -- when I asked a Jewish activist whether it is at all possible to fight the ‘Jews Only State’ while operating within just another ‘Jews only club,’ the activist agreed with me that such a discrepancy is indeed a reason for a concern. "However" the Jewish activist said, “Gilad you have to accept it; you are engaged in an intellectual discourse, whilst we are running a campaign here.” And I guess that is an acceptable answer. I do not know much about campaigns: I have been subject to many smear campaigns, but I have never run one myself.

In Chicago I gave a talk at Columbia College. June Terpstra wrote an excellent report of the event.

Identity without Supremacy

http://www.gilad.co.uk/writings/dr-june-c-terpstra-identity-without-supremacy.html

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Uprooted Palestinian: He did it, Hassan Hijazi returned to Yafa (Java) - Millions will follow

http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2011/05/he-did-it-hassan-hijazi-reurned-to-yafa.html

Palestinian Bouazizi


”The old will die and the young will forget (Nakba).” David Ben Gurion, first Zionist prime minister said in 1948, 35 years before the birth of Hassan Hijazi, the Palestinian Bouazizi.

Unlike the Tunisian revolution icon, Hassan, was a clerk at Syrian ministry of education, though, he as all uprooted palestinians in Syria enjoyed the same civil right of the granted to Syrians, his dream was to return to Yafa, where his father and grandfather were born. . It was a dream that come true, Hassan Hijazi, 28, one of hundreds uprooted Palestinian who crossed the the mined Wadi Al-sarkhat, and several military fence seperating occupied Majdal Shams from Syria, he took a public bus to Jaffa in search of what his parents' former house. My friend Dr. Franklin Lamb, hope the Nakba day may pave the way for "making some basic civil rights for Lebanon's refugees in Lebanon.

The Israeli media described Hasssan as a "Syrian" civil servent and called him an "infiltrator", no surprise, Golda denied the existance of Palestinians. ‘Only Jews have the right to infiltrate Arab lands’

For more click here

Gilad Atzmon: Israel’s Doomed Fate

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“There will be no return-- time has come to tell Palestinian refugees they will not be returning to the State of Israel,” writes Nahum Barnea, a prominent Israeli ‘liberal’ columnist.

It is becoming clear that Israel lacks the means to cope with Palestinian resilience. Despite Israeli barbarism; despite sixty-three years of oppression, racial discrimination and mass murderous tactics-- including the usage of WMD-- the Palestinian people have remained determined to return to their land.

This week they reminded the Israelis, world Jewry and the rest of the world that the Palestinian cause is not going to fade away. If anything, in 2011, Palestinians seem more decisive, firm and united than their parents’ or grandparents’ generations. 

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Merna Alazzeh: 1948 - Al Nakba: a family's collective memory*

 

"The old will die and the young will forget." This was the prediction of the first Israeli Prime Minister David Ben Gurion. 63 years later, I still wonder what made him think so. Would the Jewish masses - or indeed any of the other groups of people - that suffered the Holocaust ever forget?

As far as I know, having lived in a refugee camp for most of my life, there has always been much space in the tiny alleys of the camp for the collective memory of Israeli massacres, systematic displacement and ethnic cleansing. These images have been printed in the minds of Palestinian refugees both young and old. 

I never forget that 2003 Spring when my grandmother and I “went back” to our destroyed village Beit Jibrin.  We managed to get there despite the checkpoints and high level of security. It isn’t easy although the actual distance that separates my refugee camp from the village is less than an hour’s drive. I’d been there a few times before but never with her. This was the first time. I walked behind her climbing up a hill in the village. She seemed much stronger and able to walk faster than I remembered. She knew where exactly we were going as if she was there yesterday.

Under a fig tree we sat and my grandmother smiled

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I´m sick of 63 years of Israeli occupation

I´m sick of The Wall*
I´m sick of the checkpoints between Palestinian cities
I´m sick of illegal Israeli settlers and settlements
I´m sick of having the Hebrew language on my ID card
I´m sick of people not knowing anything about our history
but knowing so much about Jewish history
I´m sick of people ignoring the Palestinian Right of Return
and accepting the Jewish Law of Return
I´m sick of the Oslo Agreement which no one here
wanted in the first place
I´m sick of the Palestinian Authority
having zero authority
I´m sick of watching my father being humiliated at checkpoints
by people my age and younger
I´m sick of my international friends having to lie about
coming to visit; being interrogated, stripsearched
and sometimes deported in the process
I´m sick of people not understanding
what "Occupation" is
I´m sick of being scared all the time
I´m sick of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
being a normal state of being here in Palestine
I´m sick of how ineffective the UN has become
I´m sick of International Humanitarian Law
not applying to the State of Israel
I´m sick of how fighting for basic human rights for Palestinians
or being critical of Israeli policy
is so often labelled "anti-Semitic"
I´m sick of the fact that everybody forgets I´m a Semite
I´m sick of hearing Israelis complain about discrimination
when the State of Israel was founded on a principle of ethnic purity
I´m sick of living in a time
when racial profiling has become acceptable
I´m sick of constantly being treated as a suspect
I´m sick of how mainstream media portrays us and our situation
I´m sick of the whole world caring about Gilad Shalit
when there are more than 7000 Palestinians inside Israeli prisons
I´m sick of trying to defend myself, friends or countrymen
and being labelled a terrorist
I´m sick of the fact that everywhere I go
I can see The Wall, a settlement or Israeli soldier

I´m sick of

63

years

of Israeli occupation

 

*I try to find out who is the poet behind these moving words. In case you know, please let me know.

Tonight in Denver

Sat., May 14, 9:00pm

After growing up in a rather secular Zionist family, Gilad Atzmon discovered Charlie Parker’s With Strings at seventeen while preparing for his compulsory service in the Israeli Defense Forces. The album blew him away, inspiring him to buy a saxophone and listen to American jazz legends like Sonny Rollins, Joe Henderson and Hank Mobley. “After one month with a saxophone shoved up my mouth,” Atzmon writes, “my Zionist enthusiasm disappeared completely. Instead of flying choppers behind enemy lines, I started to fantasize about living in NYC, London or Paris.” Atzmon's alto sax chops combine the intensity of John Coltrane with the speed and dexterity of Charlie Parker. Atzmon, who is also a writer and activist, will give a talk on Israel and Palestine at 7 p.m.

Mercury Cafe

2199 California St; Denver CO