Gilad Atzmon's Blog, page 93
May 14, 2013
Today: Bernstein & Atzmon live and in person in Oakland, Ca
7:00 Wed., Oakland book signing, live jazz
All proceeds go to a summer camp come true for Palestinian children in al-Masara village. If you can't come, please send tax-exempt donations to
Palestine Children's Welfare Fund
“Dennis Bernstein in conversation with Gilad Atzmon” event at Uptown Body Shop 401 26th St. Oakland 19th St. BART, Oaklnd, CA
landmark victory For a Change
BY Gilad Atzmon
Cafe Palestine Freiburg won a landmark victory against Freiburg University in the German administrative court last Friday.
Six months ago Café Palestine filed a complaint against the University in the Administrative Court following the University´s refusal to let the Palestinian solidarity group use a space for a lecture by Paris University professor Christophe Oberlin.
On Friday, the Administrative Court of Freiburg made of five judges found that the University acted illegally.
Freiburg University together with Dr. Heinrich Schwendemann, who was the main actor against the Café, were highly criticized by the court. Schwendemann is one of the founders of the German Holocaust memorial site shoa.de.
As far as I am aware the University will have to pay a penalty. I guess that Dr. Schwendemann may need to consult with a legal expert soon. Apparently the Shoa expert was lying in court and he may face a further legal humiliation soon.
To read more: http://othersite.org/press-release-cafe-palestine%C2%B4s-victory-against-the-university-of-freiburg-3/
Dennis Bernstein interviews Gilad Atzmon - 5/13/13 (Video)
Radio host Dennis Bernstein interviewed renowned jazz saxophonist and author Gilad Atzmon on KPFA's Flashpoints on May 13, 2013.
[image error]Tomorrow night “Dennis Bernstein in conversation with Gilad Atzmon” event at Uptown Body Shop 401 26th St. Oakland 19th St. BART, Okalnd CA
A Must Watch!!!
A Documentary Film exploring the Western misconceptions about the Middle East through are Main Stream Media outlets (Movies,News and TV) and how important it is to re examine are support for Israel. To be reasonable about this clip. I have not seen this film. But I have read the reviews and I agree with personalities portrayed on this clip. There for felt it was important enough to add to my channel.
May 13, 2013
Hello Everybody, I am in the USA for the next 2 weeks
Berkeley, CA
Monday, May 13 5pm KPFA radio interview for Flashpoints
Portland, OR
Tuesday, May 14 6:30pm- 830pm East Portland Community Center, 740 SE 106th Ave.
Oakland, CA
Wednesday, May 15 7pm “Dennis Bernstein in conversation with Gilad Atzmon” event at Uptown Body Shop 401 26th St. Oakland 19th St. BART
San Diego, CA
Thursday, May 16 5:45 p.m. – 7:45 p.m North Park Recreation Center 4440 Idaho St. San Diego, 92104
Los Angeles, CA
Friday, May 17 7pm Screening of the 1-hr documentary “Gilad and All That Jazz” Levantine Cultural Center 5998 W. Pico Blvd, LA 90035
Friday, May 17 9pm (two sets, intermission) “Mideast Masters of Jazz: Gilad Atzmon & Zane Musa” presented by Roseanne Barr, a LevantineMint joint event; The Mint 6010 W. Pico Blvd., LA 90035
Santa Barbara, CA
Saturday, May 18 meeting
Denver, CO
Sunday, May 19 3:30pm- 5:30pm “Gilad and All That Jazz” film screening & talk
Madison, WI
Tuesday, May 21 The Glass Nickel Pizza
Chicago, IL
Wednesday, May 22, Appearance on CROE.TV
Detroit, MI
Friday, May 23 Event at B-Bop Records 137 N. Michigan St. Toledo, Ohio
Friday, May 24, Meeting
NYC, NY
Saturday, May 25 10pm @fat cat 75 Christopher at 7th Ave. NYC
Sunday, May 26 4:30pm-7pm @Smalls Jazz Club 183 West 10th St. Greenwich Village, NYC
Washington, DC
Tuesday, May 28 7-9pm “Grooving with Gilad” @Madam’s Organ 2461 18th St., NW, Washington, DC
May 11, 2013
Israeli Satire - Hope kindergarten
Jewish supremacy - they see it, they know it, they laugh about it but the rest of us are not even allowed to mention it...
My response to Salvador López Arnal and Santiago Alba Rico
By Gilad Atzmon
Gilad Atzmon جيلاد أتزمون گيلاد آتزمون
My piece “In Bed With Bibi” was published in English a few days ago. It was circulated and posted by a vast majority of Western dissent, online magazines. It has been praised by many and, as far as I am aware of, no one took the trouble to criticise or deconstruct the article.
Interestingly enough, two days ago, the Spanish translation of “In Bed With Bibi” was published online by Tlaxcala and reproduced by the Rebelión website. Within a few hours, all hell broke loose: Salvador López Arnal and Santiago Alba Rico were remarkably quick to criticize the piece. On the face of it, the meaning of it to me seems simple and positive. The Spanish-speaking left is still engaged in an intellectual and ideological debate.
I have now read both López Arnal and Alba Rico’s papers, and my response will be short and to the point. I am afraid that both Salvador and Santiago failed categorically in understanding my article.
To start with, in my piece, I refrain from taking either side of the debate. I am neither pro-Assad nor pro the ‘rebels’. I am not taking either side for two reasons.
First, I question the notion of ‘moral intervention’ and I ask, what would create an ethical ground for any form of intervention whatsoever? When is it right and when is it wrong to intervene? What is it that makes it right for ‘person A’, who lives in ‘place B’, to interfere with the reality of ‘person C’, who lives in ‘place D’? And if intervention can be justified ethically how do we distinguish between a Neocon’s call and a ‘righteous progressive’ one?
Second, I feel that the war we are witnessing in Syria is extraordinarily complicated. We should all remember that, in it’s early phase, it was led by non-violent Syrian protesters who were faced with the regime’s brutality. However, I believe that the situation on the ground has changed radically, and it is not the Syrian people or their interests that shape this conflict anymore. I think we are witnessing an odd alliance between Qatar, foreign mercenaries, the USA and Israel.
The question I am raising in my piece is simple:
[image error]How is it possible that some of our leading political scientists are blind to the devastating probability that their calls for intervention provide Israel with a green light to attack an Arab country?
I also feel that both López Arnal and Alba Rico have failed to answer this question. Instead they criticise my language and the manner in which I choose to deal with the term ‘allies’. In this respect, they are right, and I don’t choose my words to appease any readers. Quite the opposite, I much prefer to intrigue people to think critically, ethically and out of the box.
May 9, 2013
Gilad Atzmon on Egaliteet Reconciliation
Introduction by GA: I believe that the following is a very interesting interview. Very intelligent questions. I touch upon multiculturalism, patriotism, nationalism, Jewish Left and Progressive spin. I also refer to future Palestinian solidarity in the light of growing Liberal Zionist intervention.
Gilad Atzmon on Egaliteet Reconciliation
[image error]E&R: Your last album, « Songs of the Metropolis, » seems to be a rejection of multiculturalism, yet you are often seen as a symbol of multiculturalism. Do you agree with the above and if so, how do you experience what could be seen by some as a contradiction?
GA: I totally agree. I am hailed as the victorious emblem of multiculturalism and yet, from my very early days as an artist I have been critical of multiculturalism, which I see as an attempt to flatten differences, creating a fictitious and phantasmic image of equality. I instead believe that differences must be celebrated. It is the variety, the inaccessibility and foreignness that make the human landscape into a cheerful event. Instead of us reacting to different forms of self-censorship á la political correctness, we better delve into the real meaning of being in the world, ethical thinking and true tolerance, while celebrating differences
E&R: When you decided to leave Israel for good, as a jazz artist, I guess the first destinations of your choice were probably New York, London or maybe even Paris; what made you choose London over the others?
GA: At the time I decided actually to take a break from music. I was determined to spend some quality time reading philosophy. I had to choose between Chicago, London and Berlin. Chicago was windy, Berlin was too exciting and London in the early 1990s looked like a decaying extended village. It was calm and friendly. It was a very smart choice to come over.
E&R: How do you manage in your everyday life in London to be one of the most fervent opponent of Jewish power? Do you encounter a lot of troubles?
GA: For sure, I am harassed daily by tribal operators, mainly Jewish ‘anti’ Zionists, i.e., Anti-Zionist Zionists (AZZ). But I learned to love it: the fact that they chase me 24/7 only proves that I touched the raw nerve. In fact, I am probably the only person to touch Jewish identity politics in such a manner since Bernard Lazare. I understand their despair, I formed an anti-racist method to encounter Jewish secular supremacy and Jewish progressive racism in particular.
E&R: What can you tell us about the state of freedom of speech in Britain?
GA: I am pretty troubled by what I see. But rereading Orwell’s "1984" recently helped me to grasp that it is actually the so-called left that is, unfortunately, responsible for the vast deterioration of our most precious liberties. It can be easily explained – the progressive stance is, at large, a form of secular chosenness; it is righteous, yet, it also entails that someone else must be ‘reactionary’. Progressiveness is basically a supremacist discourse, and supremacy is always intolerant.
