Posts tagged "israel-palestine":

Coexistence after Gaza

Wife went yesterday with Noam to a screening in east Jerusalem of Coexistence My Ass, which is one of four films about the Palestine-Israel conflict that have been shortlisted for this year's Oscar in the documentary category.

Sumud

The Palestinians have a word, sumud that encapsulates their practical philosophy with regard to their dealing with adversity, particularly the adversity of the Occupation. It roughly means resilience. It can take the form of various forms of resistance: violent or non-violent. But it comes from a mindset or historical consciousness of clinging to the land and outwaiting every new conqueror - be it the Jews, or the British, or the Ottomans or the Crusadors, or whoever boisterously asserts their claim to be the new power in the land. Sumud is a powerful force in the face of opposition: a "we will prevail, just like we have always done" statement. Invaders will come and go: the Jews will eventually go back to their countries, with their tail between their legs, just like the Crusaders did before them.

Jerusalem - Ramparts Walk

While out on my morning walk, I had a spontaneous decision to take the bus to Jerusalem. So I walked down and got coffee at the Latroun petrol station. I then took the new minibus service bus 430 from the junction to its end stop at the National Insurance Agency.

Shavuot holiday

It's the Shavuot Jewish holiday today, so an excuse for a family meal.

No democracy under apartheid

We went up to the demonstration in Jerusalem yesterday. There were said to be 80 - 100,000 which made some people feel hopeful. "The young are beginning to wake up" was something I heard there. But it's not clear that even the large show of people had any real influence. The first stage of the legislation went ahead, after all. Politicians have the quality of being able to convince themselves that they are loved by the people even when everybody's against them.

Journal

I'm still suffering from my by cold. We had a couple of guests over the weekend. C H, a Canadian citizen, who is associated with the Thich Nhat Hanh sanghas - a former "boat person" who escaped from Vietnam just after the war. She is a member of a Buddhist practice centre in Ontario, and on her way back to Canada, was about to visit another practice centre in Italy.

Journal

I'm enjoying PKD's The Man in the High Castle. It's one of his more coherent books - it would be a good introduction to his writing.

Journal

For several months, at all times of the day and night, there have been sounds of distant shots being fired. Seems to be hunters - probably of quail. On my walks, I've never seen or met a hunter, which leads me to imagine that these are deeply personal men, hiding somewhere in the undergrowth, unseen, vigilant, harboring a passion for killing things that keeps them up even through the summer night.

2022-06-22 Fiber | Israel-Palestine

Yesterday we were connected to the fiber infrastructure and, hopefully will receive more robust internet connection, though that flimsy wire hanging flapping about among the bushes, leaves me feeling rather doubtful. In the newer section of the village, the cables are buried; in the older section where we live, we depend on wires and poles, which occasionally get hit and pulled down by passing trucks. The phone company technicians are known for their resourcefulness. For years, our connection was dependent on cables twisted together inside an old coke bottle on our roof. I suppose the technician didn't have a proper connection box handy on his several visits.

2022-05-27 Links of the day

In the firing zone: evictions begin in West Bank villages after court ruling https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/may/22/firing-zone-evictions-begin-west-bank-villages-court-ruling-masafer-yatta

2022-03-30 Crazy ironies

The scene of the terror attack in Tel Aviv yesterday was an ultra-orthodox Jewish neighborhood. Yet two of the five victims were non-Jewish Ukrainian workers. Another victim, an Arab policeman, was the hero who rushed to the scene and shot the attacker, preventing further killings. Two of the three policemen killed in the latest wave of violence have been Arabs.

2022-03-24 нет войне

I am home alone for a long weekend while D is away on a mindfulness retreat. Plenty of work to do though - both for the office and around the house - some gardening if the weather permits. Just woke up at around 5 AM and am sitting here listening to Cafe de Anatolia music [1], a little loud.

Amnesty Int'l report on Israel apartheid

Amnesty International says that Israel's treatment of Palestinians, whether in the OPT, in Jerusalem or in Israel itself amounts to the internationally recognized crime of apartheid (without making direct comparisons with S. Africa). As such it joins a string of Israeli and international human rights organizations. So the accusation is not new, but the report is certainly thorough, running to 278 pages. Such a report cannot easily be cast as based on "lies", though that is what Israeli officials are attempting to claim. It may be easier to claim that the organization is using "double standards", though I haven't heard of Amnesty sparing any country from censure. If anything it is the governments of western countries who are using "double standards" in giving Israel so much slack. That's true also of the news media. The report did not reach the front page of The Guardian today. I read what CNN, Aljazeera, The Guardian, HaAretz and the Times of Israel had to say about the report. Only AlJazeera had the link to the actual report - but I have often noticed that news organizations, when reporting on such matters, tend to leave out the links to the subject of their reporting - I don't know what journalistic policy lies behind that terrible decision but I find it inexcusable. When an NGO publishes a report, it does so with the intent that it will reach the widest possible audience. News outlets are not doing their job if they don't help them in that.

2022-01-30

My younger son and his fiancée came over from TA and I brought D's mom over from her retirement home. We kept her away from my daughter and her kids because they were exposed to someone who has been sick with the Omicron, lately. The weather started to clear up, though it remains cold.

US says Israeli settlements no longer considered illegal

"Declaration marks rejection of 2016 UN resolution that settlements on the West Bank area a 'flagrant violation' of international law"