New Israel-Palestine Forum
Richard Silverstein is putting together this Israel-Palestine Forum:
For two years or more, I’ve nursed the idea that what the web needed was a place for progressives to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: an online forum. There are, of course, lots of forums where you can discuss the conflict: MideastWeb, Charlie Rose, Middle East Info. But the members are all over the map politically and one can get batted around pretty hard over there. I didn’t want my forum to be a shouting match. I wanted serious, in-depth discussion….
When you visit, this is what you’ll find:
1. Forum: creating an online community for progressives to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
2. Israel-Palestine news: feeds from the world press covering the conflict…
3. Israel-Palestine blogs: feeds from 10 of the best blogs writing about the conflict including Semitism.net, RafahPundits, Lawrence of Cyberia, Aron’s Israel Peace Weblog, CalTzedek and Tikun Olam; also a Blogdigger search of those blogs writing on the subject
4. Essays: in-depth reportage, magazine essays, polls and research that provide a look at some of the deeper issues
5. Links: a directory of the online community dedicated to promoting Mideast peace
I hope the discussion forum works out. Blogs offer mostly one-way communication even when comments are possible, and, with spam proliferation, comment systems often fall apart. The forum offers a potentially superior solution.
Already functioning usefully is Richard’s Israel/Palestine Blog Feed. The site, which also offers its own feed for your RSS newsreader, collects a range of postings from a bunch of sharp observers. I’m pleased to say that Richard has just added my own blog to the feed.
When I mentioned the Israel-Palestine Blog Feed back in December, I expressed hesitation about its restriction to sites advocating a two-state solution. I’m not opposed to a two-state solution if it satisfies both sides and meets the needs of justice. But I become more and more convinced that such an outcome is unlikely. I continue to think discussing this issue is worthwhile, perhaps especially among Jewish progressives who often feel torn, as I do, between a lifelong concern for, and identification with, Israel and a growing awareness that a self-defined Jewish State may be incapable — by definition — of becoming truly democratic.
May 8th, 2005 at 5:19 am
Dennis: While I continue to espouse a 2 state solution personally, not for some time has my blog rss feed been restricted to blogs endorsing this position. In fact, it never really was. I wrote that statement you refer to when I first started my I-P blog feed at Blogdigger.com & never went back to edit the description.
There are Palestinian, Arab-American, Israeli & American Jewish blogs featured. I don’t really care what position they espouse as long as it respects the mutual rights to national self-determination of both peoples.
August 2nd, 2005 at 2:46 am
Dennis: I’d like to provide a few updated links if I might. The post in my blog you refer to in your post here has a new name as I’ve moved to Wordpress. The new post URL is: http://www.richardsilverstein.com/tikun_olam/2005/04/israel-palestin/
The new Israel-Palestine Forum site is at: http://israelpalestineforum.com/
Here’s hoping that your comment feature will turn these into proper urls…
January 20th, 2006 at 3:29 pm
Hello Bloggers!
We invite you to view our improved website and the newest issue of our magazine. This issue of Daylight Magazine, one year in the making, highlights the work of photographers engaging the situation in Israel and Palenstine. Attached is the press release for the newest issue of our magazine that is to be released on Febuary 10th.
We appreciate your time and support.
Sincerely,
Katie Weidenboerner, Intern
DOCUMENTARY PHOTOGRAPHY MAGAZINE BRINGS NEW PERSPECTIVE
TO ISRAELI/PALESTINIAN CONFLICT
Daylight Magazine is dedicated to showcasing cutting edge documentary photography. In previous issues the magazine has focused on new work from the American South, Iraq, and most recently featured photographic projects themed around environmental sustainability. In the upcoming issue, on newsstands February 10th, Daylight Magazine ($10) will feature a number of photographic portfolios centered on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. From the dwindling nomadic Bedouin population to the interiors of homes in the West Bank, the photographers Simon Norfolk, Luc Delahaye, Paolo Pellegrin, Ori Gersht and others share their perspective on a region fraught with tension.
In addition to depicting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the second half of the Spring 2006 issue will present a selection of images gathered from the community programming undertaken by Daylight Community Arts Foundation (DCAF). DCAF is a non-profit organization that strives to establish community-based documentary partnerships in various locations throughout the world. In addition to publishing Daylight Magazine, DCAF works to assist underrepresented communities by sharing with them the power of photography. By distributing cameras, establishing darkroom facilities, and administering photographic workshops, DCAF brings the empowering aspects of self-representation to marginalized groups.
The new issue will feature photographs by: Simon Norfolk, Luc Delahaye, Paolo Pellegrin, Ori Gersht, Ahikam Seri, Noel Jabbour, Noa Ben Shalom. Additionally, the issue will feature self-representative images from communities in Palestine, Iraq, Kenya, Laos, Colombia, Guatemala, New Orleans, Akwasasne Mohawk Reservation, and Harlem, New York City.
For more information about Daylight Magazine visit http://www.daylightmagazine.org
# # #
March 18th, 2006 at 8:02 am
after tuesdays raid on a palestinian prison killing 3 palestinians, how can israel justify moving tanks and armoured vehicles into palestinian territory and take their prisoners? it sickens me that the world sniffs at anything the palestinians do but as soon as the puppeted israelies do anything the (mainly US and UK) international community seems to ignore it or side with them. you cant blame the palestinians for hating the israelies after such events as this and what choice do they have to fight back in return? their armed forces arent strong enough to take on a US funded and US allies army. I wouldnt be surprised if the bombings in israel go on the uprise and it almost seems fair.
May 14th, 2006 at 9:50 am
Metaphore of the conflict, for understand it
« on: Today at 04:27:30 AM »
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The Palestinian Conflict – A Metaphor
Dear Reader
Let’s suppose that you, your wife, your five children and your parents are living in a nice two floor house. Your home has a car box and a small handicraft business attached, a garden, a field and a stable with some cows. It is your family’s property since ages and where you make a living with your handicraft business and by growing crops and farming your cows.
One day a man comes up and asks you if he could stay at your place for some days with his family. You let them in the guest room at the ground floor. He pays you a small rent. As time goes by they (your guest and his relatives) grow bolder and start using your laundry, then your garden, then also your car, and then they stop paying you the rent.
One day your patience comes to end. You call them to order but they threaten you with killing. You’re scared and search shelter at your cousin’s. While you are absent they make themselves comfortable on the first floor. When you are back they don’t let you in. You have no other choice but to stay at the guest room on the ground floor. If you go upstairs to the first floor they hit you. As it wouldn’t be enough, they also shoot at you and kill one of your sons. You call the police, but you’re answered that they have no time.
One day They start using your laboratory. They expand it using also the money of your savings books. With their ability, their international relations and the underpaid labor of two of your sons they make a small factory out of your former business.
One day relatives of theirs arrive. They suffered difficult times and are in trouble. Needless to say, you are forced to free the guest room and move to the garage. Your sons sleep in a tent and your parents camp on the road.
One day you are so fed up that try to get them out by force: you kill one of their sons, but they fire back and kill another one of your sons, und they also damage your garage and destroy your tent. In the mean time in your home and in the neighborhood any trace of yours has been removed and replaced by the emblem of their family, which sticks on everything. You call the police, but they don’t know what to do because they also fear them und they suggest you to go stay at your cousin’s.
One day the issue ends up at court : unashamed they affirm that the property is theirs because nobody lived there when they arrived, their ancestors already lived there 2000 years ago with the help of God, they transformed the once dry land into a green garden, they created a solid industry and now, thanks to them, everything is tidy and clean. They do not forget to remind of their brothers who got killed by the gangsters in a foreign country. You too are a believer, but they, lying, claim that God is on their side, not yours, and yours is but a pure religious dispute.
Considering the current situation and facing the fact that they destroyed the land registers and all kind of related documents, the judge “impartially” decides that the house and the laboratory belongs to them, the garden, the car box, the field and the stable to you. Them as next they kill the judge’s supervisor and raise a fence overnight to prevent you from accessing the stable and the field. You helplessly look at them milking your cows and using your equipment.
You become furious and want to conquer back your house with the help of friends and neighbors. But they fight back and hit everyone, and on top they occupy all the property and the neighbors’ vegetable-gardens to also get their vegetables.
Back again at court the judge grants the permission to your sons to stay in the guest room. You are allowed to stay in the car box, but you have to repair it at your own expense. They employ to your sons in the stable from time to time.
One day, with the help of a powerful friend, and by alternating threats with the promise of giving back a part of the vegetable-garden, they convince your neighbors to no longer help you. In the meantime they work steadily at your definitive expulsion: to convince you to leave they destroy the car box where you live, check your mail and your phone calls, watch any move of yours, seize your car, smash your TV set…. They finance all of these interventions with the taxes they collect from you to pay their administration. And as if this is not enough, they also receive an indemnity for the death of their brothers abroad. You are reduced in misery, and they prosper.
The judge gives you a tent as a gift and grants a miserable indemnity to your parents, who are living in a temporarily but definitive shelter on the land of one of your neighbors Two of your sons live as good as they can at the ground floor, while your third son has emigrated abroad and sends you at intervals some money.
One day they put a gate at the entry of your garden and one at the entrance of the house. You can neither visit your sons nor your parents; you can not even go to work, to the market, to school or to the hospital. Your parents and your emigrant son are denied entrance. In the meantime, other relatives of theirs arrive and stay in a camper parked in the garden. Saying that he can became dangerous they kill your faithful dog.
One day you give in and admit your defeat. You renounce to your house and accept it is now theirs in change of the possibility of living in freedom in the garden and of rebuilding the garage. They say they are glad you finally admitted that they are the legitimate owners of the properties, but they demur on the others subjects. Unfortunately, in the meantime some of them swear at you, destroy your tent again, chop the olive trees from which you got your income and turn off the water supply. They also generously offer you to settle down in a corner of the garden under their control.
One day, because the situation degenerates and becomes unbearable: you take a gun, shoot at the house and wound one of them. They reply by killing another son of yours, hit you, imprison you in the closet, state that you’re a dangerous terrorist and declare that they no longer talk to you until you get reasonable. And on top of this your wife blames you for your ineptitude and threatens to hit here own road and leave you alone.
One day, at the top of desperation your son starts throwing stones at them. Their reply with rifles, cannons, bombs, helicopters, tanks, prohibitions, controls, destruction and imprisonment with a high separation wall. The public opinion only gets one-sided information (their side), think that you’re violent and refuse to help you. Many people, including the judge, keep silent because they are afraid of their powerful friend, or feel sorry for the slaughter of their brothers in another land.
Someone starts saying that you just create disorder, that helping you is too expensive, that you should have accepted their generous offer and that maybe it would be better that you go away.
Others stigmatize the situation but do not dare an intervention, others simply have no interest.
Dear Reader: if you are in this miserable condition you can be nobody else than a Palestinian.
Who are the other “actors”? They are the zionists, the police are the English during the UN mandate, the judge is the UN, the people (public opinion) are the international community, the neighbors are Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, their powerful friend the US, the wife is Hamas, …
Now how can we convince them to give back the stolen goods, or at least allow an acceptable cohabitation?
A Metaphor of the withdrawal from the Gaza strip
In a prison there is a political prisoner* that occupies a small cell but with a sure fascination. For this reason the guardian likes it to survey the prisoner at sight watch by remaining with he in the cell in the hope that a day can arrange of all the cell for its personal use. The prisoner, beyond the privation of the freedom, he has always the guardian between the feet that intimidates it, controls it, creates it difficulty, steals a part of the mess, etc. With the time also the position of the guardian makes itself inconvenient, as an example in the relation with the director of the jail and because he must continuously pay attention from the bad jokes of the prisoner. After a long period of reflection, estimated for and against, the guardian decides that it is better for he to be outside and to watch the prisoner through the small window of the door. Made saying he leaves in the cell one of its photo (that the prisoner immediately tear) and transfer himself in the corridor where its presence prevents to the other prisoners to go to the bath. The director announce to the credulous world that now “the prisoner is freer” but understood that the prisoner is dangerous (evidence: he has tear the photo of the guardian) and must remain locked up (he order to reinforce the emergency measures). For the prisoner the situation is a little only more comfortable, but the privative of the freedom with relative submission to the guardian is unchanged and on the whole the prisoners are worse.
(* he is in prison because he has protested when the friends of the director confiscated him his house)
Sorry for the translations mistakes.
Ask the CD free with the history of the conflict in Palestine in PowerPoint size (only france or italian language)
to : imparalavita@bluemail.ch
loke de site : http://www.studentiemancipati.ch.vu, under “Bibliothèque” the file Palestina-Israele. (open only with Internet explorer)
July 22nd, 2006 at 9:49 am
What is present international news media (aka SKY-NEWS, BBC, CNN etc.) about Palestine and conflict with zionistim… or how international news made?
Look it – http://www.seconddraft.org/movies/pallywood.divx
February 15th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
There is a new book on the psychology of the conflict that is really good. “Planting Hatred, Sowing Pain.” I got myself some early copies because I was asked to review it for my local Jewish paper. It’s worth a look!
http://www.psychology.ccsu.edu/salinas/PHSP.html
June 3rd, 2008 at 12:42 pm
The Little Dickie Silverstein Marching Song
I am a little kapo,
It makes my mommy mad,
Cause when I am a kapo,
Those Zionists get sad!
I celebrate the jihad,
and terror all the while,
I fill my blog and web page,
With loud salutes of Sieg Heil!
I want to see them Zraelis,
All dumped out in the sea,
My swastika a waving,
Cause everything’s bout me.
(from the Kapostein blog)