Remi Kanazi: The Dos and Don'ts of Palestine – A Poem



don't call it genocide
we don't want to offend anyone
if we offend them
they'll never listen to us
we have to be reasonable

1,400 is just a number
no names
no death
we want peace and negotiations
don’t mention Zionism
if you mention Zionism
they’ll call you anti-Semitic
and people will believe them

don’t ever be angry
if you’re angry
they’ll call you angry
if they’re angry
everyone will call them
understandably emotional

we have to be pragmatic
pragmatism is not a euphemism
for concessions
although it may feel that way

don’t mention Allah or martyrs
it reminds them of Al Qaeda and 9/11
it’s not your job to fix their ignorance

don’t talk about refugees
boycott
or a one-state solution
if we want to win
we have to compromise
the road to peace is just ahead

don’t make analogies that include
the Holocaust, Nazis, or the Warsaw Ghetto
only Israelis are allowed to do this
when discussing wars on
Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, and Iran

don’t mention Yaffa, Haifa, Safad
or where your family is from
but if you do
nod when random people say they love Israel
it doesn’t matter where you came from
you can’t go back

don’t
just don’t
and that will lead to doing.

Panel Event Update: Zionism, Jewishness and Israel

 

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160038250722935

Time:    Tuesday, May 3 · 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Location: We will meet outside Cavendish Campus’ main entrance, University Of Westminster, 115 New Cavendish Street, London W1W 6UW

Speaker's Include:

Alan Hart:

Author, former Middle East Chief Correspondent for Independent Television News and former BBC Panorama presenter specialising in the Middle East.

Sameh A. Habeeb:

Palestinian Journalist, Palestine Telegraph.

Gilad Atzmon:

Jazz artist and author.

Karl Sabbagh:

Writer, television producer and publisher.

This is promised to be the event of the year.

Don’t miss it.



Gilad Atzmon: What Are They Afraid of?

in , , , , , , ,

UK Zionist network, together with half a dozen Sayanim* within the Jewish Palestinian solidarity network, seem to be strongly united this week.

Acting as a joint effort, they are trying to stifle freedom of speech: they seem to be horrified by the idea that a panel of intellectuals, journalists and an artist plan to explore the intriguing bond between Israel, Zionism and ‘Jewishness’, and thus far they have harassed panelists, threatened an academic institute and have spread lies, smears and defamation. 

And yet in doing so they have unwittingly provided us with a tremendous glimpse into a contemporary Jewish secular tribal operation.

And what is at the root of their hysteria? For some peculiar reason, both Zionists and UK Jewish so-called ‘anti Zionists’, insist that discussing ‘Jewishness’ is a taboo which should never be explored, certainly not in public, and definitely never outside of the ghetto.

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VERA MACHT: THE HOUSE OF NASSER AND HIS CHILDREN WAS BOMBED

Thursday evening I got the call. From Inge, my ISM colleague, who is still in Gaza. "Nasser's house was bombed," she just said. "The paramedics are evacuating the family now. I'll keep you updated.” It took about an hour before I knew that all are alive. One hour, in which the images were passing behind my eyes, the days we spent purchasing all vital things for the family, the bright eyes of the children, when they saw their new stuff, the hope we were able to give all of them. We, and all of you who have donated. The hope that Nasser's family equally gave to all of us. Hope that also at a place like Gaza, a place where misery is found everywhere you turn, that also there there is something you can make okay. "I have never seen them so happy", Inge had told me in our last conversation, when I asked her about the children. "They played outside, and looked forward to the new house. "Gaza is not the place for happy endings", I was once told by a friend from Gaza. Gaza is no place for happy endings, I had this sentence in my ears when I got the terrible news. Nasser's house was bombed. Four times. Four whole times. Everyone has survived, Inge told me after an eternal seeming hour, but little Maisa, 5 years old, and Ala, 10 years, had been buried under the rubble of the house. And with them everything we all had worked for for the past few months. For psychological support, the processing of the death of the mother, a stable livelihood, and above all – for a feeling of security. A little bit of childhood and joy amidst this hostile place. "Maisa was brave", said Inge. The small Maisa is always brave, and in her 5 years she has been through things you can’t get through at any age. Ala was in shock. Four bombs on a family house that is well known to the Israeli military. Such a blatant cruelty turns any sense of right and wrong in pain. Gaza is no place for a happy ending.


But all survived. Traumatized all over again, with a destroyed house, destroyed belongings, but all survived. And that means to look forward, over and over again. Gaza is not the place for a happy ending, we cannot and we aren’t allowed to give in to that. The psychological care will continue. We will build a new house, as planned. We will create a little happy end, also and especially in Gaza.

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No Cancellation !!!

The London JC reported  today that Westminster University cancelled anti Zionist event.

The event is not cancelled!!!  We will be there and explore different aspects to do with Zionism, Jewishness and Israel. We will get to the bottom of it.

My internet stalker Tony Greenstein promised to organise a picket against the event together with his Jewish so called ‘anti Zionist’ friends. I really hope that they keep their promise. 

 

Panel Event: Zionism, Jewishness and Israel

Time:    Tuesday, May 3 · 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Location: University Of Westminster - Cavendish Campus

A panel discussion examining Israeli Criminality in the wake of the Goldstone Retract.

Alan Hart, Gilad Atzmon and others

 



Ghada Karmi’s Pullout Update

In spite of Jewish 'anti Zionists' bragging about themselves being the force behind Ghada Karmi's 'pullout' from a panel event with me this Tuesday,  Ghada just wrote to me and asked me to quote her.  

"I'm delayed here (in Jordan) and will not be back in time for the event, and that is the reason for my not attending."

I guess that Tony Greenstein and his Jewish political allies may want to consider  being  slightly more gentle with the Palestinians whom they claim to support.

It may as well be important to mention that John Rose also made it clear that he would attend a panel discussion with me anytime. His reason to pullout was due to a disagreement with organizers of the panel event regarding the title of the event.  I guess that he may have a point. Though, I am very happy with the title (Zionism, Jewishness and Israel), I agree that other panellists should have been consulted.

 

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160038250722935

Panel Event: Zionism, Jewishness and Israel

Time:            Tuesday, May 3 · 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Location: University Of Westminster - Cavendish Campus

A panel discussion examining Israeli Criminality in the wake of the Goldstone Retract.

Alan Hart, Gilad Atzmon and others

 



Gilad Atzmon: Drama in London

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A panel discussion titled ‘Zionism, Jewishness and Israel’ will take place at The University of Westminster - Cavendish Campus on Tuesday May the 3rd, from 6:30pm - 8:00pm.

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=160038250722935

As one may imagine, the Zionist operators in Britain are not happy about the meeting at all: 'Green Engage', a Zionist anti-BDS campaign group launched an immediate campaign, soon after the announcement of the panel. Far from being surprising, within hours, they were joined by Tony Greenstein  and  the so called Jewish ‘anti Zionist’ network.

The original panel was supposed to include John Rose, Ghada Karmi, Alan Hart and myself.  

The venue as well as the panelists (except myself funnily enough) came under severe pressure that verged on abuse: one of the panelists admitted to the organisers that he had received twelve phone calls from different Jewish ‘anti-Zionist’ activists, who insisted that -- ‘for the sake of Palestine’-- no one should share a stage with Gilad Atzmon.

Now, interestingly enough, when I asked the panelist whether any Palestinians had actually called to preach for the ‘sake of Palestine’ -- the answer was a resounding negative. I guess  that Jewish ‘anti Zionists’ know better than everyone what is good for Palestine, they are chosen after all. 

John Rose and Ghada Karmi pulled out, and that is understandable: not many can endure such a level of abuse – as we learnt recently, Judge Goldstone has also surrendered, and by doing so, has severely damaged his credibility and reputation.

In the early days I myself struggled a lot: on a daily basis I would hear from one  ‘progressive’ Jew or another who I should like and who I should hate.  Being a rebel, I never followed any of these ‘instructions’. It took me years to develop a very thick skin, to believe in myself and to believe in ethical thinking. And, having done so, I am now happier and free, and I continue in the spirit of humanism and resistance.

Resisting Zionist tactics then, the organisers of the event and the venue are undeterred, standing strong, and determined to continue with the original plan:  a list of Palestinian intellectuals and journalists stepped immediately in place of Ghada and John. I advised the organisers not to publish their names for the time being, simply to save them from the unnecessary irritation, annoyance and abuse.  However, I myself made sure that they are fully aware of the possible trouble ahead.

This event is promising to be a turning point -- The relentless attempts by Jewish political bodies to gate-keep the discourse needs to be confronted and exposed.  

And I guess that what we see here proves beyond doubt my arguments regarding the duplicity that is tragically manifested all too often by different bodies and individuals within the Jewish ‘anti-Zionist’ network.

Come and support freedom and intellectual exchange 

Panel Event: Zionism, Jewishness and Israel

Time:            Tuesday, May 3 · 6:30pm - 8:00pm

Location: University Of Westminster - Cavendish Campus

A panel discussion examining Israeli Criminality in the wake of the Goldstone Retract.

Alan Hart, Gilad Atzmon and others

 

(Facebook event Announcement)

"Despite the huge pressures from certain Zionist and "anti-zionist" groups, John Rose and Ghada Karmi have pulled but have been replaced with a number of other high profile and brilliant speakers.

A lot of criticism has been mounted about the fact that the event is putting "Jewishness" into the debate with Zionism and Israel. The fact that Israel calls itself the "Jewish State" warrants that we as rational, critical individuals must at least enquire and question what this may mean.

This is not anti-semitic nor racist, and in fact every religion has been subject to these criticisms and enquiries, and in a truly democratic society, any exclusive belief that posits itself as the truth must be scrutinised and put under the spotlight."

 

 



Gilad Atzmon: Time Is Ripe For A Paradigm Shift

 It is slightly embarrassing for me to admit that sometime  Zionists are actually well ahead of our favourite  intellectuals in understanding the depth of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. It is not that they are more clever, they are just free to explore the conflict without being subject to the tyranny of ‘political correctness’, also being proud  nationalist Jews- they do not need  the approval of the Jewish left thought police.

I have recently come across a short Haaretz article by Israeli writer A.B. Yehoshua*.

Yehoshua is a proud Zionist, He believes in the right of his people to dwell on Palestinian land.  He is also convinced that the Jewish state is the true meaning of contemporary Jewish life. I guess that Yehoshua loves himself almost as much as I despise everything he stands for and yet, I have to confess, he seems to grasp the depth of the Israeli Palestinian conflict’s parameters  slightly better than most  solidarity activists I can think of.

In his Haaretz article Yehoshua stressed that Zionism was “something original and one of its kind  in human history- A folk arrived  at the homeland of another folk attempting to replace the old identity with a new/old  identity”. Yehoshua  also counters the faulty colonial paradigm and practically repeats my own theses almost  word by word. “There was also no (Zionist) attempt to impose a colonial regime, since the Jews had no (mother) state that could have sent them to perform a colonial conquests like in the case of England or France.” 

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Young Arab Jews open letter to Arab peers

Introduction by Gilad Atzmon:

In spite of being the majority amongst the Israeli Jewish population, Arab Jews are heavily discriminated in Israel, both culturally and economically. Due to Zio-centric pressure and Euro-centric culture, Arab Jews have been reluctant to openly explore their heritage. Needless to mention that Arab military defeats didn’t help either, for decades Arab Jews in Israel have tended to hide their Arabic past.  For the obvious reasons Arab Jews in Israel have been found at the forefront of every possible political form of negation towards Palestinians and Arabs in general. They clearly wanted to disassociate themselves from their Arab past through blind identification with Zionist ideology and Israeli militancy.

Things, however, may change these days. Following the regional Intifada and the rise of Arab masses, young Arab Jews in Israel are becoming aware of their true origin and their culture. The following is an open letter to Arab peers written by Young Israeli Arab Jews- young people who come to realise who they are, where they come from and what they stand for.

“We Identify with you,” they confess to their Arab young neighbours. They relocate themselves within a new geo-political vision.  “We are a part of the religious, cultural, and linguistic history of the Middle East and North Africa.” They see Israel for what it is, “we, too, live in a regime that in reality—despite its pretensions to being ‘enlightened’ and ‘democratic’—does not represent large sections of its actual population in the Occupied Territories and inside of the Green Line border(s).”

However the young Arab Jews seem to come short of accepting the Palestinian cause and the Palestinian Right of Return. Though they advocate solidarity with the struggle of the Palestinian citizens of Israel, they are yet to support or acknowledge the rights of Palestinian refugees. Like the Israeli ‘Left’, the young Arab Jews are willing to support the Palestinians as long as they stay behind the wall. We support the  “struggle of the Palestinian people living under Israeli military occupation...in their demand to end the occupation and to gain Palestinian national independence.”

This is not a lot but it is certainly more than nothing.

Young Mizrahi Israelis’ open letter to Arab peers

http://972mag.com/young-mizrahi-israelis-open-letter-to-arab-peers/

Translated from Hebrew;  English edited by Chana Morgenstern | Arabic version here

In a letter titled “Ruh Jedida: A New Spirit for 2011,” young Jewish descendants of the Arab and Islamic world living in Israel write to their peers in the Middle East and North Africa

We, as the descendents of the Jewish communities of the Arab and Muslim world, the Middle East and the Maghreb, and as the second and third generation of Mizrahi Jews in Israel, are watching with great excitement and curiosity the major role that the men and women of our generation are playing so courageously in the demonstrations for freedom and change across the Arab world. We identify with you and are extremely hopeful for the future of the revolutions that have already succeeded in Tunisia and Egypt. We are equally pained and worried at the great loss of life in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen, Syria, and many other places in the region.

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Petition: "No Fly Zone" Over Gaza, Please Sign Now!!!


Urging the U.N. Security Council to Establish a "No Fly Zone" Over Gaza under the Principle of "Responsibility to Protect"

http://www.petitiononline.com/p181p194/petition.html

 

Ken O'Keefe: Human Chain to Spell 'NO FLY ZONE OVER PALESTINE'

  "Every single time another Israeli bomb drops on the innocents of Palestine, this picture shall be put forward as the demand of a truly sane and humane international community."

http://youtu.be/ylVlFfFUk8w

to learn more: http://www.salem-news.com/articles/april212011/human-chain-gaza.php

Vera Macht: Vik, You Are missed


You are missed with such an intensity that makes you even more present. In all of our minds, in all of our hearts. It's your absence that makes your strength, your kindness and your impressive dedication to people and to humanity so incredibly present.


You are missed as a symbol of the struggle for justice, and for the value of each individual, the value of especially those people who seem to have been forgotten.

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Gilad Atzmon: The Israeli So-Called ‘Left’

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We learned today that some 300 prominent Israeli left-wingers, including some cultural leaders, gathered in Tel Aviv to call for the Jewish state to embrace the creation of a Palestinian state.

Among the petition's  signatories were 17 winners of the Israel Prize and other leding intellectuals and artists.

"We are here to welcome the expected announcement of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, according to the borders of our independence, fixed during the 1949 armistice," the petition reads.

The Israeli so-called ‘Leftists’ are welcoming the expected Palestinian State as long as the Palestinians stay behind the wall and do not exercise their right of return. The Israeli humanists basically endorse the Palestinian diplomatic initiative so they can keep dwelling on Palestinian land forever. I am not impressed at all.

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Agron Belica: End of the Road

Dedicated to Gaza Activist Vittorio Arrigoni

http://salem-news.com/articles/april202011/vik-arrigoni-tk-sk-ag.php

Tim King:  New song and music video celebrate life of Vik Arrigoni of ISM, the International Solidarity Movement.

ittorio Arrigoni's image on the separation wall in Gaza
Vittorio Arrigoni's image on the separation wall in Gaza

 - While producing the music video for this new Vittorio Arrignoi tribute song by Agron Belica, with my son Sean, it occurred to me how lucky I am to have my children, and how Vittorio or Vik, as he was known to his friends, won't get to become my age, or experience things that I and so many extremely fortunate western people do each day.

Had Vik been allowed to reach his real potential, he would have moved mountains.

As it is, only he and a handful of others have been carrying the load for world humanity in Gaza, and that is tragic like his death, and also the point of this important tribute by our good friend and fellow Salem-News.com writer Agron Belica, who in addition to his role as a singer/songwriter, is author of The Crucifixion: Mistaken Identity? John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ.

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