From the category archives:

Anees of Jerusalem

‘I think this is the most emotional event I’ve ever done’ (Naomi Klein in Ramallah)

by Philip Weiss on June 28, 2009 · 30 comments

Anees of Jerusalem writes:

Naomi

Yesterday Naomi Klein gave a great talk at the Friends School in Ramallah. It was a short addendum to her January piece in The Nation supporting the BDS (boycott, divestment, and sanctions) movement against Israel. I recorded it in video, but it came out too shaky, so here's the audio in mp3, 35 min long.

    Speech is about movement-building, beginning with Klein's days working against apartheid, "a training ground" for many of the Israel/Palestine activists. Klein:

"There is a debate among Jews. I used to say the Jewish community then I got excommunicated. There is a debate among Jews–I'm a Jew by the way" that boils down to: "Never again to everyone, or never again to us?… [Some Jews] even think we get one Get away with genocide free card… There is another strain in the Jewish tradition that says, 'Never again to anyone.'"

    Then thanks her parents for being in that second tradition!

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

In England, Palestinian cause draws Gwyneth, Kate, other celebs

by Philip Weiss on June 25, 2009 · 35 comments

Here's a piece in the London gossips on the Hoping Foundation– "an organization that is dedicated to showing Palestinian refugee children that their struggle to transform their lives is encouraged and supported by people in Britain and throughout the rest of the world." Writes Anees of Jerusalem:
I found out about the HOPING Foundation over two years ago, from a Guardian interview with Massive Attack (a band), who were throwing concerts in the UK to benefit them. It was founded by Bella Freud (Sigmund's great granddaughter), a fashion designer and Karma Nabulsi, an Oxford professor and ex PLO member.
It's shocking to me it's happened at all! Who would believe that celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Moss were singing for Palestine?But yeah, I do believe it has a much slimmer chance of happening in the US.
I think this is a post about culture. American popular culture and the significance of Jews in making it. Don't want to step on their toes. But that's changing.

{ Comments on this entry are closed }

‘Yale University book portrays my kin as barbarians’–Anees of Jerusalem

by Philip Weiss14 May 2009

Anees of Jerusalem was upset by reading here about Benny Morris’s new book, One State, Two States, where he says that Palestinians value human life less than Israelis, and are lousier drivers, and so he wrote to the publisher, Yale…

18 comments

Why Jews are superior to Palestinians

by Philip Weiss6 May 2009

Great piece by BBC News on Natan Brun, a legal historian in Israel who is the son of Akiva Brun, a member of the Stern Gang who was arrested and charged in 1947 for plotting terror in London. Reporter Tim…

33 comments

Reading Finkelstein in Palestine

by Philip Weiss24 April 2009

Anees of Jerusalem writes to me: Another North American college professor, Margo Ramlal-Nankoe of Ithaca College, alleges pro-Zionist prejudice was the reason behind her career block. Norman Finkelstein is quoted saying that it’s a case of “tenure tragedy”: “It simply…

5 comments

Harman had close ties to Bush White House

by Philip Weiss23 April 2009

From the Ryan Dawson’s anti-Neocons site, this is said to be a photo from 2006 of Congresswoman Jane Harman and Bush Homeland Security boss Michael Chertoff, a former prosecutor, out for a jog. Anees of Jerusalem writes: What’s interesting about…

19 comments

Friedman hints at bombing Iran

by Philip Weiss15 April 2009

Anees writes from Jerusalem (where alas, he is a second-class citizen): I usually avoid reading Thomas Friedman, but I was intrigued by the title, “In the Age of Pirates”. He does not specifically say it, but what he writes can…

28 comments

Think of all those images we’ve seen of vandalized Jewish gravestones as evidence of anti-Semitism

by Philip Weiss12 April 2009

This photo (by Mamoun Wazwaz, for the Maan News agency) depicts Palestinian leader Mustafa Bargouti at a graveyard in Hebron, where several Palestinian gravestones were desecrated by settlers. The accompanying article describes more settler violence in Hebron: an ambulance stoned…

10 comments

‘Do we dare to celebrate Jerusalem in Jerusalem?’

by Philip Weiss22 March 2009

Anees writes from Jerusalem: The compliant Palestinian Authority readily accepted Israel’s suppression of yesterday’s celebrations. They had known at least a week before that Israel won’t allow the main celebration to be here in Jerusalem, and the invites they sent…

The unceasing smile of the 2-state blues

by Philip Weiss3 March 2009

Hillary Clinton and Shimon Peres in Jerusalem today; Photo by Menahem Kahana for AFP. Anees of Jerusalem writes: Did you see TV footage of Clinton’s visit? I saw two quick clips. One in which, in a press conference type setting,…

15 comments

But wait, given a choice, Palestinians would prefer to live in Israel over neighboring societies, right?

by Philip Weiss3 March 2009

A Zionist friend told me recently that polls show that most Palestinians living in Israel would prefer to live there than in neighboring societies; they like the freedom. He offered this as the smoking-gun of Israel’s advancement. I asked my…

25 comments