Gilad Atzmon's Blog, page 102
March 3, 2013
Jewish Voice for Weizmann
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By Gilad Atzmon
I just came across a JVP press release (Jewish Voice for Peace) reporting a massive advertising campaign to counter the AIPAC Annual Conference in Washington. Apparently, from today 100 billboards will be stationed in DC Metro bearing a simple but important message.
“AIPAC Does Not Speak for Me”.
AIPAC is certainly a danger to world peace and yes, it is a positive development that a Jewish organization should confront its impact on American foreign policy.
But still, JVP’s tactics are problematic. If anything, they reveal the deep confusion inherent in Jewish politics in general, and Jewish progressive thinking in particular.
On the one hand, JVP’s campaign is simple and transparent: it states “AIPAC does not speak for me. Most Jewish Americans are pro-peace. AIPAC is not.” But on the other hand, JVP falls short in offering any universal or ethical solution to the conflict in the Middle East.
“According to a recent poll by pollster Jim Gerstein” reads the JVP’s press release, “82% of Jewish Americans support a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
So, if I understand it correctly, 82% of Jewish Americans support a solution that dismisses the most essential and elementary Palestinian right to return to their land, in effect supporting the existence of a Jewish State in historic Palestine, at the expense of the Palestinians and their rights. In other words, the so-called ‘good peace-seeking Jews’ ,who are the vast majority of Jewish Americans (according to JVP), support an utterly non-ethical solution.
February 28, 2013
Very Busy Here, Touring, Playing and Talking to press
Tonight I am With The Power Cats at South Holland Arts Centre, Spalding / www.southhollandcentre.co.uk
March
1. Gilad Atzmon 4tet, New Port Arts Centre, Isle of White
2. Gilad Atzmon & OHE @ Posk Jazz Cafe, London / www.jazzcafeposk.co.uk / 0208 7411940
3. 'Jazz At The Westcoast, Margate with the great Phil Robson, Dave Whitford & Lorraine Baker , www.westcoastlive.co.uk
4. Press day in Paris, in case you want to meet me contact me ASAP on giladatzmon (at) mac.com
5. Gilad Atzmon & OHE @ The Stables, Milton Keynes / www.stables.org / 01908 280800
7. Gilad Atzmon & OHE @ Bonington Theatre, Arnold, Nottingham / www.jazzsteps.co.uk / 0115 8770284
8 Gilad Atzmon & OHE @ Star & Shadow Cinema, Newcastle on Tyne www.starandshadow.org.uk
Concert + Screening of Gilad and All That Jazz
Gilad and all that Jazz [TRAILER] from Contra Image on Vimeo.
February 27, 2013
Record Collector's review - Songs Of the Metropolis (4 stars)
Also top-drawer is Songs Of The Metropolis (****World Village) by GILAD ATZMON & THE
ORIENT HOUSE ENSEMBLE.
Together with his superbly intuitive band, the well-travelled, hard-gigging Atzmon – an Israeli-born multireedsman who seamlessly marries bop with Middle Eastern music – has etched nine vividly evocative portraits of cities and towns, ranging from Manhattan and Buenos Aires to… Scarborough. Whether he’s blowing up a storm of notes or gently caressing a ballad, there’s a luminous vitality at the heart of Atzmon’s playing that’s irresistible to the ear.
TWITTER SABBATH GOY OF THE YEAR AWARD......
.......And the winner is!!!
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Comment by Gilad Atzmon:
One may wonder what brings a Palestinian activist to compose such a twit? Does Ali Abunimah really care about Judaism and its reputation? And why does he believe that Zionism conspires to ‘trick’ us to ‘blame the Jews’?
I guess that Ali has yet to grasp the distinction to be made between Jews (the people), Judaism (the religion) and Jewishness (culture and ideology). No surprise considering his somewhat dated vision on the issues of Zionism.
Ali should know that no one actually blames ‘the Jews’ for Israeli and Zionist crimes. Certainly, some look into Jewish ideology (Jewishness), others look into Jewish culture, a few of us are looking into some of those vile, Talmudic teachings and many of us are intrigued by the goy hatred that is deeply rooted (also) in Jewish secularism (Zionist and anti Zionist alike). Some of us are studying Jewish political exclusivity and Jewish supremacy that is inherent to Jewish left and right while a lot of us are interested in Jewish political power and the Jewish Lobby.
In case Ali failed to notice, Israel defines itself as the 'Jewish State'. It commits crimes in the name of the Jewish people. Its airplanes and tanks are decorated with Jewish symbols. So is it not our ethical and intellectual duty to ask who are the Jews? What is Judaism and what is Jewishness? Considering the crimes committed by the Jewish State against Ali’s brothers and sisters in Palestine, it is our moral duty to question the relationships between Jews, Judaism, Jewishness and Zionism?
It is depressing, however, to find that, after more than a century of Palestinian struggle, a leading Palestinian blogger is found to be clueless about these basic and fundamental matters. Still, ignorance is no a crime – it can sometimes even be cute.
If only Twitter would only allow Ali some more characters, his message could have read:
“No matter how much Zionism does in its effort to blacken the name of Judaism, NEVER fall for its trick and blame Jews for Israel’s crimes because it may upset JVP and George Soros...”
The Wandering Who? A Study Of Jewish Identity Politics, Jewish Left's spin and Sabbath Goyim' spiel Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk
February 26, 2013
Oscar to Hollywood’s “Argo”: And the Winners are … the Pentagon and the Israel Lobby
By Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
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Foreign policy observers have long known that Hollywood reflects and promotes U.S. policies (in turn, is determined by Israel and its supporters). This fact was made public when Michelle Obama announced an Oscar win for “Argo” – a highly propagandist, anti-Iran film. Amidst the glitter and excitement, Hollywood and White House reveal their pact and send out their message in time for the upcoming talks surrounding Iran’s nuclear program due to be held tomorrow - February 26th.
Hollywood has a long history of promoting US policies. In 1917, when the United States entered World War I, President Woodrow Wilson’s Committee on Public Information (CPI) enlisted the aid of America ’s film industry to make training films and features supporting the ‘cause’. George Creel, Chairman of the CPI believed that the movies had a role in “carrying the gospel of Americanism to every corner of the globe.”
The pact grew stronger during World War II, when, as historian Thomas Doherty writes, “[T]he liaison between Hollywood and Washington was a distinctly American and democratic arrangement, a mesh of public policy and private initiative, state need and business enterprise.” Hollywood ’s contribution was to provide propaganda. After the war, Washington reciprocated by using subsidies, special provisions in the Marshall Plan, and general clout to pry open resistant European film markets[i].
Hollywood has often borrowed its story ideas from the U.S. foreign policy agenda, at times reinforcing them. One of the film industry’s blockbuster film loans in the last two decades has been modern international terrorism. Hollywood rarely touched the topic of terrorism in the late 1960s and 1970s when the phenomenon was not high on the U.S. foreign policy agenda, in news headlines or in the American public consciousness. In the 1980s, in the footsteps of the Reagan administration’s policies, the commercial film industry brought ‘terrorist’ villains to the big screen (following the US Embassy takeover in Tehran – topic of “Argo”) making terrorism a blockbuster film product in the 1990s.
February 25, 2013
Music Video Tribute for Palestine and Ziyad Yaghi
Siraj Davis Salem-News.com
A story of growth with two former students of mine, Bader Apoelar and Ahmed Abdel Khaliqm...
(EAST JERUSALEM, Occupied Palestine) - Today's youth is a beautiful and energetic resource which can be prepared toward creating a better future. I personally enjoy shaping the minds of this resource throughout my career, to prepare them not only for success, but to also bear and struggle with the unfortunate burdens we adults fail to resolve today.
Ziyad one of a million Palestinian young men who have been imprisoned with out a crime
This small project is to show the world that we have not forgotten !
FREEDOM
To read more http://www.salem-news.com/
George Galloway speaks for BDS as much as anyone
By Paul LarudeeMP George Galloway is an advocate of and participant in BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) toward Israel.
Anyone who participates in boycotting, divesting from or sanctioning anything that supports Israel is part of BDS. It includes those who defend Israel itself but oppose and boycott Israeli settlements in the West Bank, and it includes those who oppose anything and everything that has to do with Israel, up to and including its very name. The critical Zionist's limited boycott of settlement products helps the rejectionist's total boycott and vice versa.
There is no single standard for BDS, no single person who speaks for the entire movement, no wrong way to practice BDS. No one can be excommunicated or found in violation of the movement's principles. All may participate in their own way. The error is to think that there is a formal apparatus or coalition that speaks for everyone.
To be sure, there is a group calling itself the Palestinian BDS National Committee (BNC). However, that group appears to speak less for Palestinians and more for western groups, with carefully crafted policies and statements designed to assure that Zionists critical of Israel are not offended by anti-Zionist statements. Thus, for example, this group was quick to issue a disclaimer that Galloway's refusal to debate an Israeli Zionist did not come within its BDS policies. However, this does not mean that Galloway's action is not a form of BDS and that he is not one of many advocates for this form of protest.
February 24, 2013
Bradley Manning and the Appalling Silence of Gay, Inc.
GA: I have never published materials concerning Gay issues, but I decide to publish the following Counterpunch's article because it touches some interesting spots within the context of marginal politics. In the next few days Iwill try to extend the discourse and discuss the links between LGBT, Palestinian Solidarity and the Jewish progressive voice.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/02/22/bradley-manning-and-the-appalling-silence-of-gay-inc/
Bradley Manning, Gay NGOs Betray Their Own Mission Statements and Fail to Promote an Inclusive Justice Agenda
by ANDY THAYER
One of the signature traits of LGBT subculture in the United States is its adoration of celebrity. If a well-known person voices the most milk-toast notion that gays are human beings, let alone deserving of legal equality, banner headlines in the gay press are guaranteed. If the celebrity comes out as gay, even more effusive coverage is given.
Any number of fading stars and starlets, and non-entities on the make, from Lady Gaga to Chaz Bono to Ricky Martin, have mined the LGBT community to support their careers. Our community’s eager rush to embrace just about any celebrity who deigns to notice our existence is emblematic of our lack of self-esteem, our internalized homophobia.
So why is it that all of the big gay non-profits, from the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) to the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) – “Gay Inc.” – have failed to utter a word of support for Private Bradley Manning, let alone really campaign for him? He’s gay, has moderately high name recognition, and unlike any number of air-head celebrities, he’s actually done something to support social justice, rather than mined charitable causes for personal fame and fortune.
Manning’s contributions to human rights have been recounted frequently enough to require only a brief recitation here. He exposed U.S. war crimes in Iraq [2] [3] [4] and Afghanistan. His exposure of the corruption of the oligarchy in Tunisia helped kick off the ‘Arab Spring,’ toppling U.S.-supported dictators around the region.
Gilad Atzmon on Mark Glenn's The Ugly Truth
Published on Feb 23, 2013
We discussed Judaism, Jewish identity and the false left/right paradigm within Jewish politics that leaves Gentiles confused and disoriented when trying to deal with Zionism and all its various tentacles throughout the various political dramas taking place today.
https://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/20...
