Yesterday I did a blogpost quoting from journalist Noam Sheizaf’s blog. I saw Sheizaf in Israel last month and he told me a line of poetry with political resonance about the connection of Israelis to Palestinians. I’ve been thinking about it ever since, and well, I emailed Sheizaf a week or so back and he cited it for me:
The words are from Meir Ariel’s song, "shir keev." In the song, the singer’s girl falls for "a young well-educated Arab" she meets in a theater group. One night the singer and the Arab get drunk together, and the Arab looks the Jew in the eyes and says:
בסוף כל משפט שאתם אומרים בעברית יושב ערבי עם נרגילה, אפילו אם הוא מתחיל בסיביר או בהוליווד עם הבא נגילה
"at the end of every sentence you say in Hebrew sits an Arab with a Nargilah (hookah)
even if it starts in Sibirya or in Hollywood with Hava Nagila"I think it’s the best political line written in Hebrew. It says everything about our life here – that they will be related to the political situation with the Palestinians forever, regardless of where this conflict goes. Jews can tell themselves whatever they want, they can even make Holywood myths about it, but at the ends, there will always be the Palestinians.
I’d add that this line touches on what Cicero (via Ralph Nader lately) meant when he defined freedom as participation in power. Palestinians have never had freedom. Israelis have arrogated all the political power. It cannot last. It cannot last.
Some people always think they have the solution:
American tax-exempt NGOs fund Settler Rabbi publishing “The complete guide to killing non-Jews”–even babies and children:
link to coteret.com
SS officers were trained to kill Jewish babies
because they would grow up to be enemies
of The Reich. It was a form of the current
preemption doctrine.
Over 80% of all Jewish children in Nazi occupied
land died during the Holocaust.
link to faqs.org
Even after all I’ve learned about Zionist dysfunction, I’m still shocked that a man of the cloth from a People of the Book would publicly make an argument for killing babies, and that he and his supporters would suffer so little disapproval.
US taxpayers like to see their money go for this sort of thing via NGO tax exemptions.
CITIZEN- Excellent post on the Rabbi’s guidelines. Can you imaging what would happen if a Moslem cleric were to publish a guide to the killing of Jews? Geez, it would be on the front page of the New York Times! Such manipulation. Such deceit. So depressing.
OT from antiwar.com:
***HIGHLY RECOMMENDED***
In October, Rami and Nurit sat in the Israeli High Court while the state counsel, “stammering, unprepared, and unkempt,” wrote Nurit, “stood like a platoon commander in charge of new recruits and refuted … the allegations.” Salwa and Bassam Aramin, Palestinian parents, were there, too. Tears streaked Salwa’s face. Their ten-year-old daughter Abir Aramin was killed by an Israeli soldier firing a rubber bullet point-blank at her small head while she was standing beside a kiosk buying sweets with her sister. The judges seemed bored and one of them remarked that Israeli soldiers were rarely indicted, so it would be best to forget it. The state counsel laughed. This was normal.
from Listen to the Heroes of Israel, John Pilger
***
Now, every visitor to Israel from Europe or America should assume that his or her identity is susceptible to cloning by the Mossad for the carrying out of intelligence operations that could well include assassination. And what was the gain? The killing of a mid-level Hamas official who may or may not have been in Dubai to arrange to buy weapons from Iran. Hardly a big fish and hardly worth it, even from the Israeli point of view.
from What’s In a Name?, Philip Giraldi
***
The number of suspects in the Dubai assassination of a Hamas commander continues to grow precipitously, as the Dubai police are now seeking at least 26 people who they say were part of the hit team that killed Mahmoud al-Mabhouh.
from More Stolen Passports Add to Furore Over Dubai Assassination, Jason Ditz
So how may Mossad members does it take to change a light bulb?
The same amount of Noble prize winners it took to sign that declaration of war on Iran sponsored by the ADL?
Wait, I think Elie Wiesel dreamed it up–I’m referring to the NYT ad calling for war on Iran.
More likely, how many false identities does a Mossad assassin need to get in and out?
the normalization of psychopathology; Avigail Abarbenal –
Talking about music – the famous British jazz musician, Gilad atzmon, during his recent tour of Greek Cyprus gave an interview in which he said: “I am proud to be a self-hating Jew”.
link to rehmat1.wordpress.com
Good for him. He’s got a lot of credibility.
It’s a great song. The part Sheizaf quotes comes from the very end:
“Then he spoke to me
Looking me straight in the wine.
At the end of every sentence you say in Hebrew
Sits an Arab with a nargilah
Even if it begins in Siberia
Or in Hollywood with Hava Nagilah.
I told him in Yiddish she’s judging between us.
In the bubble of her silence again our eyes
Meet.
(Meir Ariel, Shir Ke’ev – Song of Pain)
link to youtube.com
thanks Shmuel.
Gerusalemme, ferro e fuoco
e piombo e tenebre e dolor.
M’ hanno chiamato a duro prezzo
“Liberator !”.
Thanks! I didn’t know that Ariel’s Yershalayim shel barzel (Jerusalem of Iron) had been translated into Italian. Good translation too.
does one have to be Jewish to understand this? I have absolutely no idea what this means.
?
It’s a protest song by Meir Ariel, mocking Naomi Shemer’s “Jerusalem of Gold”. Transliterated Hebrew, English and Italian words at:
link to hebrewsongs.com
Phil,
link to nytimes.com
Funny that Paterson chose Gillibrand, while many wanted Steve Israel for the Senate seat. Now the rodef comes to inform him there’s life after Albany.
A Musical Tribute to Peter Lorre:
I didn’t even know what filk or filkers were until I ran across Tom Smith’s song about Peter Lorre in 2003. The Ann Arbor, Michigan musician wrote the song in 1988 and won the 2006 Pegasus award for Best Classic Filk Song for “I Want to be Peter Lorre,” which appears on his filk album “Homecoming: MarCon 2005.”
“I Want To Be Peter Lorre”
Words and Music © 1988 Tom Smith – Used by permission
(Hear this song in the video clip below.)
The curse of my existence is the “heroes” that I see,
And I can’t do much for them not doing very much for me.
I can’t identify with Magnum, P. or I. –
Schwarzenegger, Harrison Ford, and Michael Douglas leave
me bored.
Mel Gibson is too rugged, Matthew Broderick’s too cute,
Clint Eastwood is so cocky, I could punch him in the snoot.
No, I’ll look back in time to a gentleman sublime,
Whose wit and style are seldom mentioned –
(in Lorre voice)
– But never failed to attract attention!
When I grow up, I want to be Peter Lorre,
I want to snivel and sneer in a nasal whine.
I want to cringe and curse, and maybe threaten worse –
(in Lorre voice)
– And if that doesn’t work, I’ve got a laugh that’ll petrify
your spine!
Who wants to be a handsome, stuffy playboy?
Who wants to face the bad guys all alone?
The last thing that I need is to be a romantic lead,
I want to grow up to be Peter Lorre and steal the girl for my own!
When I grow up, I want to be Peter Lorre,
I’ll tell Nemo where Kirk Douglas went to hide.
(in Lorre voice)
Now, I didn’t mind old Kirk, but Ned Land was such a jerk,
And between a mad scientist and a jock, who would you want
on your side?
I want to sell the Bird to Sydney Greenstreet,
I want to cheat with Vincent Price’s wife,
And if I want more kicks, I’ll make Mister Moto flicks,
I want to grow up to be Peter Lorre and have a wonderful life!
(in Lorre voice)
When I grow up, I want to be Peter Lorre,
I’ll stalk the streets of Dusseldorf and Pairee,
Waiting for some dame who has no sense of shame
To foolishly make that one mistake and hang around with me.
I want to whistle music from old operas
As I am slowly strangling some pre-teen,
I long for days gone by, (in Lorre voice) and that winking,
blinking eye,
I want to grow up to be Peter Lorre,
You pretty boys are gonna be sorry,
I’ll be the best Peter Lorre you’ve ever seen!
(Alternate verses)
In concert, Tom changes lines 3-6 often, depending on who’s big at the movies that week. Some examples:
Arnold thinks his pecs are at least as good as sex,
And if there’s one more Bruce Willis flick,
you won’t believe I got that sick.
Michael Douglas is a weenie, Steven Seagal is a nut,
I’m tired of hearing Kevin Costner’s got a real cute butt.
I wish that Sly Stallone would leave well enough alone,
And is there one soul who believes
In Johnny Depp or Keanu Reeves?
Jean-Dolph Seagal-enegger keeps on cranking out those
thrill-’ems,
Bruce Willis has one problem: he appears in all his fil-ums.
This is the essence of the issue. Except you must replace “Israelis” with “Jews”, because it is more precise. That – the concentration of political power into overwhelmingly Jewish hands – is the very purpose and definition of Zionism. “Israeli” is a designation that includes some Palestinians, who are not supposed to (and do not) have meaningful political power in Israel/Palestine. The occupation, the continuing exclusion of refugees, the marginalization of Arab-Israelis: at their root all of these are behaviors meant to avoid the sharing of power with a racial/ethnic “other”.
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