Jesse Aizenstat's Blog, page 7
December 3, 2012
Pro-Israel
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If the United States were really pro-Israel it would have supported the Palestinian President’s bid for special observer status at the United Nations last Thursday. It did not. Now Israel just announced a “green light” to expand a controversial Israeli settlement in East Jerusalem, the very land the Palestinians claim will be the capital of their future state.Indeed, Israel is in trouble. In the most recent Gaza operation, Hamas has shown a newfound resilience. Its Iranian-supplied rockets can now reach Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, and Arab support for the Islamist group is now higher than ever. With none of the core issues that started this conflict actually resolved, we should expect these Israeli “maintenance missions” to happen annually, and start prepping our stomachs for another war.On the West Bank, just about every credible power broker seemed to have forgotten that the Palestinian Authority even exists. That is, until President Abbas stole the news cycle and asked for an upgraded status at the United Nations. The Palestinians can now try Israeli leaders at the International Criminal Court, which is something of a non-violent version of firing a rocket for Palestine. So before everything gets too hysterical we must ask: Why did UN Member States so overwhelmingly support President Abbas’s bid, while the United States so fundamentally did not? The reason is simple.Member States felt obligated to bolster the moderate Palestinians. Especially after the Gaza war, they thought that anything to help non-violent Palestinians would be a good thing. More than that, these Member States understand something that America does not. They understand that Palestinians feel that European Jews came to their country, took it over by force, and now oppress them with the occupation in the West Bank and fighter jets over Gaza. From the Palestinians’ eyes, they see a peace process stalled, Israel continuing to build settlements, and that Hamas has gotten their fishermen three more miles of coastal fishing through rockets—not negotiations. This is a dangerous truth that over 137 UN Member States seem to understand, and something that America does not. In fact the United States is so profoundly lost about helping moderate Palestinians that we’re now talking about cutting off their aid. Indeed, that’s what our leaders are working on.In a country where almost nothing is bi-partisan, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer and Republican Senator Lindsay Graham have come together to support an amendment to stop America’s fiscal support of Palestinians. But the chances of this actually happening are slight, and it’s for one main reason: the governing Palestinian Authority might actually collapse. This is unthinkable for those who are pro-Israel. To prevent anarchy in the West Bank, Israel would have to take over, control, and govern the Palestinians—and maybe even give them the right to vote.All of a sudden, there are more Arabs than Jews, and as Jeffery Goldberg of The Atlantic put it, “[Israel] would very quickly cease to be the world's only Jewish-majority state, and instead become the world's 23rd Arab-majority state. If it were to refuse this demand, Israel would very quickly be painted by former friends as an apartheid state.” So, America, look at yourself in the mirror. Are you “pro-Israel”? Because helping the Palestinians create a state is the most pro-Israel thing we can do. We should have supported President Abbas at the UN.
November 21, 2012
What's next with Israel and Gaza
There is no peace in Israel or Gaza. There is no solution. There is nothing either side can get behind and sell to their people. Without a final-status agreement, negotiations are now prefaced with the leverage of war. To break this cycle, the Israelis and the Palestinians must decide on whether they want a one-state or two-state solution, and get on with integrating their economies so that any attack will harm everyone’s quality of life. It’s the only way out.With an election months away, the Israeli cabinet rightfully wants to know when Hamas will stop the rockets from Gaza. Unfortunately, Israel might have assassinated the one man who could help. Ahmed al-Jabari was the head of the military wing of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, whose assassination prompted the current round of violence. Jabari held a decisive amount of control over Gaza militants, and on the ground he was known as a strong man who could press the more radical factions—though negotiations and force—to stand down when Hamas made a deal with Israel. With Jabari’s death, it remains to be seen what kind of control Hamas will have in Gaza. Which was, of course, the one thing Israel truly wanted to begin with.On face, Hamas is pushing Israel to ease the land and sea blockade of Gaza. But what’s really happening is that Hamas is transforming from a disorganized Islamist group to a governing body with territory that this week hosted four visiting Arab foreign ministers and the prime minister of Egypt. Hamas is enjoying a much-needed stamp of public solidarity with the Arab countries, while making the moderate Palestinian Authority look like the Vichy French of the West Bank. So what now?Mohammed Morsi, the newly elected Muslim Brotherhood president of Egypt, is showing that he can play a positive role in ending the violence. Indeed, a ceasefire has been agreed to, and the only reason it hasn’t come sooner is that both Israel and Hamas had to be perceived as victors. They must show their own people that it wasn’t all for nothing. Unfortunately, Operation Pillar of Defense, as the Israelis call it, will be remembered as exactly the contrary: another round of violence. It will go down as helping re-elect Benjamin Netanyahu as prime minister of Israel, and maybe open a little fishing and trade in Gaza. What this war wont do is solve any of the core issues that make this war different from the war. I’ve thought about this conflict a long time. The only way out is to create a situation where any attack on anyone becomes an assault on both the Israelis and Palestinians. Binding economies is the way to do it. It’s a difference kind of deterrence. Of course, a holding ceasefire to the current war is the first step in all of this. It’s the first step towards bankrupting the idea that harming your neighbor makes you safer. 
November 3, 2012
Road Doggin' it to San Fran
Went up to San Francisco to do the KRON morning show. Here is the result of that menace:
October 10, 2012
PBS National TV with Connie Martinson
A few years before Mr Obama won the presidency he was interviewed by Connie Martinson. Question: Should I throw my hat into the ring?
October 4, 2012
Literary Gumbo
Really enjoyed this interview. Fred is quite the guy.
Literary Gumbo: Jesse Aizenstat from Literary Gumbo on Vimeo.
Literary Gumbo: Jesse Aizenstat from Literary Gumbo on Vimeo.
September 27, 2012
FOX 5 Morning News in San Diego
Oh, this was sweet. Almost 4 years ago, when I was in college, I was asked by Fox News San Diego to go on and talk about the election. Click here for that. Now, they asked me to come back. Thanks again guys. Great fun.
September 24, 2012
Interview with Cris Cote at TRANSWORLD Surf
Rockin' roll. And yes, I made a mistake: I said that the North Korean leader "Kim ill Sung" invited me to the Hermit Kingdom to surf. But that's just plane wrong. It was actually Kim Jong Un, the 27 year old grandson who rang. Hot damn. I hope they feed me.
September 17, 2012
Humanizing the Middle East through surfing
Embassy stormings. Borderline anarchy. Islamists in high office all across the Middle East.
What's going on?
Through the crowd funding site, Rock the Post , I'm organizing a book tour to get into these very issues. Click here to check out my campaign. Scroll below for a taste.
Deviant Journalism
If you’re like most Americans, you see the Middle East as an impossible place that is beyond all reasonable hope of understanding. The politics are as much of a turn off as the stories on any major news sites you check with your morning coffee.
Simply, I believe in the power of connecting with people through common interests. Which is why the first thing I did out of college—after not finding a job—was pitch a freelance assignment to the Surfer’s Journal to experience the Middle East through surfing.
With this unlikely approach, I was able to dive deeper into the big stories of Middle East than I ever thought possible. And because of this surfer-journalist duality, the whole adventure called for using a tone and vocabulary that is as serious as it is deviant; it literally matches combustibility of surfing and the Middle East.
Now, I’m back in California (still surfing) and spent the last two years writing and producing the hardcover book, eBook, and iPad app. But the job is not done yet. I want to redouble my efforts and make sure that the powerful, humanizing message of my work connects with the American public.
I want to add 3 more months to my marketing campaign to get this important story out.
The Mission
Simply, I want to connect with people about the concept of my work: taking a seemingly impossible situation and applying a seemingly irrelevant approach.
Goals to accomplish on this media tour:
- Entertain people through telling real, human stories
- Share innovation in approach—surfing and the Middle East!?
- Awaken American curiosity about the Middle East
- Educate through visual art—in book and iPad app
- Be a constructive news force in the world
So, what’s the status?
When I set out to surf the Middle East I knew I wanted to write a raw book that was filled with savage humor, meaningful travel narrative, and lots of pictures! I founded Casbah Publishing, and funded it through a private loan. In the initial budget, I planned for a 3-month marketing campaign, targeted at big media.
Already, Surfing the Middle East has been featured on four national TV outlets, Outside Magazine, the Huffington Post, and more. With this momentum, the next media blitz can only get better. Let’s make the change we want happen in the world.
TV
AOL's You've Got - http://aol.it/Tofxq4
MSNBC's NOW: with Alex Wagner -http://nbcnews.to/Ox1nyy
MSNBC's The Cycle -http://nbcnews.to/OwXqs5
Surfrider’s Int Surfing Day -http://bit.ly/NONzT8
TRANSWORLD: w/Chris Cote - to be released
Online
Outside Magazine -http://bit.ly/MDP4jN
Huffington Post -http://huff.to/NFIIA4
War is Boring -http://bit.ly/LJoX8y
Fair Observer -http://bit.ly/PN9w0Z(Six part series)
TourdeFit -http://bit.ly/LWaA1A
Useful Links
Casbah Publishing -http://bit.ly/qUGqLs
BloggingtheCasbah –http://bloggingthecasbah.com/
Surfing the Middle East
Hardcover book -http://amzn.to/Mqhe4M
eBook -http://amzn.to/Nluura
iPad app - http://bit.ly/dLUThL (made FREE for this campaign!)
The Journey (inside copy from Surfing the Middle East)
Major in political science. Graduate with honors. Fail to find a job. Go surfing in the Middle East.
Rogue journalist and self-admitted California wave junky Jesse Aizenstat couldn't find a real job after college. But his two passions, Middle East politics and surfing, seemed like a good fit for a freelance gig. What the hell? Why not surf from Israel to Lebanon?
His Jewish background may have earned him a free flight to Israel, but it wouldn't give him a pass to surf in Hezbollah-controlled South Lebanon. Even navigating the tangled towns and streets of his ancestral homeland wouldn't be a cakewalk. But then again, this dyslexic writer with a lust for annoying truths wasn't looking for easy, he was looking for real.
From Day One, the signs of violent conflict were everywhere: rocket craters, barbed wire, tear-gassed protesters, gunfire, and night patrols. But finding a shoreline touched by the best swell in the Med proved a welcoming counterpoint to the tension. Trouble is, peace, like riding a perfect wave, never lasts long. Turns out you can't just surf from Israel to Lebanon. You gotta take an air/land route. Over an inland desert. Through freaking Syria.
Other than hatred, the same surf report, and the desire to blow each other to smithereens, Israel and Lebanon seem to share little else. Like Aizenstat, they are political, cultural, and generational misfits in search of control over their identities and destinies. The author calls 'em like he sees 'em, and goes along for the ride. It gets a little deviant, a little insane, a little frightening, but in the end is fully satisfying. You couldn't ask for a better ride.
What's going on?
Through the crowd funding site, Rock the Post , I'm organizing a book tour to get into these very issues. Click here to check out my campaign. Scroll below for a taste.
Deviant Journalism
If you’re like most Americans, you see the Middle East as an impossible place that is beyond all reasonable hope of understanding. The politics are as much of a turn off as the stories on any major news sites you check with your morning coffee.
Simply, I believe in the power of connecting with people through common interests. Which is why the first thing I did out of college—after not finding a job—was pitch a freelance assignment to the Surfer’s Journal to experience the Middle East through surfing.
With this unlikely approach, I was able to dive deeper into the big stories of Middle East than I ever thought possible. And because of this surfer-journalist duality, the whole adventure called for using a tone and vocabulary that is as serious as it is deviant; it literally matches combustibility of surfing and the Middle East.
Now, I’m back in California (still surfing) and spent the last two years writing and producing the hardcover book, eBook, and iPad app. But the job is not done yet. I want to redouble my efforts and make sure that the powerful, humanizing message of my work connects with the American public.
I want to add 3 more months to my marketing campaign to get this important story out.
The Mission
Simply, I want to connect with people about the concept of my work: taking a seemingly impossible situation and applying a seemingly irrelevant approach.
Goals to accomplish on this media tour:
- Entertain people through telling real, human stories
- Share innovation in approach—surfing and the Middle East!?
- Awaken American curiosity about the Middle East
- Educate through visual art—in book and iPad app
- Be a constructive news force in the world
So, what’s the status?
When I set out to surf the Middle East I knew I wanted to write a raw book that was filled with savage humor, meaningful travel narrative, and lots of pictures! I founded Casbah Publishing, and funded it through a private loan. In the initial budget, I planned for a 3-month marketing campaign, targeted at big media.
Already, Surfing the Middle East has been featured on four national TV outlets, Outside Magazine, the Huffington Post, and more. With this momentum, the next media blitz can only get better. Let’s make the change we want happen in the world.
TV
AOL's You've Got - http://aol.it/Tofxq4
MSNBC's NOW: with Alex Wagner -http://nbcnews.to/Ox1nyy
MSNBC's The Cycle -http://nbcnews.to/OwXqs5
Surfrider’s Int Surfing Day -http://bit.ly/NONzT8
TRANSWORLD: w/Chris Cote - to be released
Online
Outside Magazine -http://bit.ly/MDP4jN
Huffington Post -http://huff.to/NFIIA4
War is Boring -http://bit.ly/LJoX8y
Fair Observer -http://bit.ly/PN9w0Z(Six part series)
TourdeFit -http://bit.ly/LWaA1A
Useful Links
Casbah Publishing -http://bit.ly/qUGqLs
BloggingtheCasbah –http://bloggingthecasbah.com/
Surfing the Middle East
Hardcover book -http://amzn.to/Mqhe4M
eBook -http://amzn.to/Nluura
iPad app - http://bit.ly/dLUThL (made FREE for this campaign!)
The Journey (inside copy from Surfing the Middle East)
Major in political science. Graduate with honors. Fail to find a job. Go surfing in the Middle East.
Rogue journalist and self-admitted California wave junky Jesse Aizenstat couldn't find a real job after college. But his two passions, Middle East politics and surfing, seemed like a good fit for a freelance gig. What the hell? Why not surf from Israel to Lebanon?
His Jewish background may have earned him a free flight to Israel, but it wouldn't give him a pass to surf in Hezbollah-controlled South Lebanon. Even navigating the tangled towns and streets of his ancestral homeland wouldn't be a cakewalk. But then again, this dyslexic writer with a lust for annoying truths wasn't looking for easy, he was looking for real.
From Day One, the signs of violent conflict were everywhere: rocket craters, barbed wire, tear-gassed protesters, gunfire, and night patrols. But finding a shoreline touched by the best swell in the Med proved a welcoming counterpoint to the tension. Trouble is, peace, like riding a perfect wave, never lasts long. Turns out you can't just surf from Israel to Lebanon. You gotta take an air/land route. Over an inland desert. Through freaking Syria.
Other than hatred, the same surf report, and the desire to blow each other to smithereens, Israel and Lebanon seem to share little else. Like Aizenstat, they are political, cultural, and generational misfits in search of control over their identities and destinies. The author calls 'em like he sees 'em, and goes along for the ride. It gets a little deviant, a little insane, a little frightening, but in the end is fully satisfying. You couldn't ask for a better ride.
September 13, 2012
Nothing like a good embassy storming
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It echoes our past experiences in 1979 Pakistan, 1980 Iran, and makes Americans both angry and confused.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Most of us will sit here, isolated here in North America, and think: </span></div><blockquote class="tr_bq"><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">"Egypt, Libya, and Yemen may all be post-revolutionary places of chaos, but sweet hell, wasn’t it <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">American support</i> that helped overthrow <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">their</i> tyrannical dictators!? Shouldn't they love us?!"</span></div></blockquote><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">That narrative is true. But it misses the point. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">As journalist Jeremy Scahill says in <a href="http://www.npr.org/2012/05/17/1528543... NPR interview</a>, the people in Yemen see America as a strange ally: We support the worst and most corrupt in their country (who have taken control of the government), and shoot missiles from our drones that often hit villages in the countryside that aren't even al-Qaida.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Now, as it's turning out in Libya, the mob that attacked the US consulate seems to be the work of al-Qaida. And as it’s turning out, that mob was probably the work of an “organized attack.” Islamists from al-Qaida probably also had a finger in the embassy storming in Egypt, too. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">But blaming al-Qaida and thinking that people in the Middle East love American policy because we’re allied with them is short sighted. It overlooks that there are too many disenfranchised Muslims in the Middle East to count. For decades they’ve lived under brutal dictators, some supported by the United States, who like Hosni Mubarak, purposely choose to leave major parts of the population illiterate to safeguard against learning about the crimes of his own regime. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">That’s the situation in Egypt. And it’s not too different elsewhere. So it should be of no surprise that these post-revolutionary countries are a little hot right now. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">All that was needed to spark this recent series of embassy/consulate stormings was a trigger. And that trigger just happened to be a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmodVu... YouTube movie trailer</a>, made by a twisted Jewish dude and a racist Christian, to rekindle public outrage. It’s terrible. But it’s all true. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><br /></div><div style="margin-bottom: .1pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; margin-top: .1pt;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">In conclusion, the Middle East is obviously going through transition. Poor and angry Muslims who have been oppressed for decades are now free. Freedom, as everyone is learning, comes with as much responsibility as it does reward. And in the meantime, good on President Obama for <a href="http://video.msnbc.msn.com/newsnation... the Marines. It’s about time we have a little fucking security over there.</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;"><b>Update</b>: Well, it's amazing how much changes <i>overnight</i>. Now protests are across much of the Islamic World. For an on point Q&A on how we got to this point, check out Jihadica's bit on "<a href="http://www.jihadica.com/us-embassy-pr... Embassy Protests</a>." It's better than what's in the NYT's today. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com...' alt='' /></div>
September 11, 2012
Writers should write their own press releases for sport
I'm playing games with my publicist, now writing mock press releases for sport. Let me say, it's downright fun. Every writer should do it. It lets you disregard the distractions and really focus in on the essences of what it is that you're trying to do.
Here is one I wrote in a half hour. It's great training for speaking gigs and the occasional call from MSNBC saying they want your ass on the show.
Here is one I wrote in a half hour. It's great training for speaking gigs and the occasional call from MSNBC saying they want your ass on the show.
California surfing has always had some soul from the great American protest movement. In the sixties, it specifically went against conformity, war, dullardness—and did it well with a big middle finger to all who refused to loosen their neckties.
Surfing the Middle East is about trying to reinvent how we learn about the world through something as thrill-seeking and irrelevant as surfing. It filters reality through a gonzo lens of perception that’s as wild as it is informative. And with semi-reckless abandon, it dives into places that the doomed American media will never understand: the Middle East.
With war as heavily in the American zeitgeist as ever, Surfing the Middle East acknowledges defeat in a world of endless conflict. Aizenstat quotes Bob Dylan, “Democracy don’t rule the world you better get that in your head. This world is run by violence, but I guess that’s better left unsaid.”
So Surfing the Middle East is about experience. And believing in yourself to find it.
Without doubt, today’s news cycle is no longer based on the traditional liberal/conservative paradigm of the sixties. As the late Steve Jobs put it to Rupert Murdoch, “it’s now constructive & destructive.” And with major news networks making matters worse, half of what American see is about disregarding facts, and working as pawns in the game of political bias and heavy make up entertainment.
Surfing the Middle East is the antithesis to the emergence of destructive news. It reaches out through a fun, lighthearted, and accessible way to make people feel like they are going along for the ride. It’s downright revolutionary—it seeks to entertain, then educate . . . And treat people like grown ups by engaging them through what Aizenstat calls “deviant journalism.”
It just might be the first humanizing and constructive thing you’ve ever read about the Middle East.
