Fast Times in Palestine - "Discussion with author" 1-7 Dec 2011

[Marieke, Former moderator]

Pamela wrote: "@Marieke, absolutely, all points of view are welcome -- I thought Palestinians might have a more first-hand view than I have, but anyone is welcome to add his or her thoughts any time, of course! :..."

oh--i meant merely to encourage palestinians of various political stripes to chime in... :D

I'm only a quarter of the way through your book so far, but Barghouti's neither-Hamas nor-Fatah political party was new to me...i may have questions along those lines later, but in the meantime i'll wait for some of our Palestinian friends to weigh in on Wendy's question about Hamas.

Also, i'd really love to hear from some of our Israeli members if any are following along. And this goes for anybody and everybody: if you ever feel uncomfortable posting a thought or question but have something you really want to say, please email any of the moderators and we will do it on your behalf. We are all aware that this is a very difficult topic, but we are hear to learn from each other. :D

[Wendy]

I wanted to echo Marieke -- I would really appreciate hearing from the Israeli perspective if any are following and would like to join into the discussion. I would like for their to be a way for all points of view to engage and to do so in way that leaves no one feeling alienated or feeling that they are put in a defensive position. I think it is safe to say, we are all here because we want to learn more.

[Pamela]

By the way, some people have asked me where the characters in the book are now and what they are up to. Here's a story about Rania and what she's up to these days:

http://fasttimesinpalestine.wordpress...

[Pamela]

Today is the last official day of the discussion! Any last questions, comments, concerns, or suggestions?

Thanks for the great discussion so far, and of course after this is over, you're all welcome to email me any time -- pamolson@gmail . com

[Mira]

It looks I've missed a lot of the discussion :( But I'm very glad to see some excellent topics pointed out so far. I've been talking to a friend the other day- she's Christian and has worked with some outsiders for sometime- She was saying this interesting thing about people who come as peace activists to Palestine. Through her experience she felt that some of them have an imperialistic motive behind there activities here,and that those got the credit for their "efforts" without adding anything to the cause. Of course there's no generalization implied here but I'm really curious to know what you think, Pamela. As an activist and a friend of the Palestinian people, did you ever feel any such motivations or intentions beside that of 'peace-making' ?

And I'd love to know if you have any plans to visit Palestine soon? :)

[Wendy]

Thank you to all who participated and followed this discussion thread. Huge thanks to Pamela for joining in this discussion and giving us all the inside scoop on the book, as well as your other experiences. Looking forward to reading the sequal that you are working on. Keep us posted on that please!

[Marieke, Former moderator]

Would it be okay to keep this thread open for discussion without Pamela feeling obligated to be constantly checking it? i'm only about half done with the book and i just have this feeling i'm going to want to keep chatting........

[Wendy]

I was just getting read to send you a message asking you that same thing. If it's ok w/ the moderators, then I think it would be great to keep the thread open. Thanks!

[Marieke, Former moderator]

We are all fans of keeping threads open but I didn't want Pamela to feel pressured. I also would rather keep the discussion here rather than moving it.

I had some trouble putting the book down this morning. And yesterday I was listening to some NPR coverage of a republican event that focused on US support for Israel and I had this fantasy of having a carton of Pamela's books to hand out. But then I'd have to hold everyone hostage while reading it to them to make sure they read it.

[Wendy]

I like the way you think Marieke! I'm actually planning to regift my copy to a fellow member of my book club in the hopes that I can get her to reconsider her position a bit :-)

[Pamela]

Hey all,

Please, by all means, feel free to keep this thread open. I'll try to check in about once a week. Feel free to message me if there are any burning questions or just to let me know if the thread is unusually active. I won't feel pressured but would like to have the option. :)

I also wanted to let you guys know that if you do want to distribute the book in your area, I can get you a great deal so that you can either give them away without much expense, sell some and give others away and break even, or sell them all and make a little extra Christmas cash.

As a holiday special, I can sell 10 for $10 each (including free shipping in the continental US) or 20 for $9 each (same deal with shipping). More than anything, I want this book to be read so people can have a better understanding of what's going on. Just email me if you're interested -- pamolson@ gmail .com.

[Pamela]

@Mira, very interesting question. What exactly do you mean by "imperialistic motives"? And were you asking if I ever felt such motivations myself, or did I sense them in others?

I'll answer as best I can, and you can follow up if you like. As for my own motivations, I'm pretty clear in the book that making peace was not my only motivation, though of course I came to care deeply about Palestine pretty quickly and hoped I could one day make some kind of meaningful difference. I think that's a pretty normal human impulse. When people see horrible injustices, especially first hand, most will want to make a difference if they can.

My other motivations were the fascinating intellectual challenge of it all. I'm easily bored, but to understand the situation there, and then try to figure out how to make a genuine difference, has kept me motivated and engaged for almost a decade so far.

Finally, a big motivation for many foreigners in Palestine is how much fun it is to live there. It's really a beautiful, friendly, richly interesting place, and there's always something going on, and every moment of enjoying yourself feels like a little middle finger to the forces that want to destroy all the happiness in Palestine. Living in Palestine helps you understand that they will never succeed. It gives me a lot more faith in human nature.

Some foreigners, though, come largely for the cushy paycheck-to-cost-of-living ratio and live like kings and queens and barely even interact with Palestinians, they just form cliques with other foreigners and pretend they're in England with better weather or whatever. I could never afford that kind of lifestyle and had no interest in it, but I see it all the time.

And I hear Palestinians say, "We have foreign NGOs all over the place, and things just get worse and worse. What the hell are they doing?" Some even suspect that the upshot of many foreign NGOs is that Israel ends up shunting the costs of occupying 4 million people off to the international community, which effectively makes the occupation easier for Israel. This is a mixed bag for sure. Many NGOs are essential and do amazing work, others just draw money from donors and keep quiet about anything "political" (i.e., anything that ticks off Israel). Would things be better or worse if they didn't exist? It's hard to say. Some of them I support 100%, others, well, I'd have to learn a lot more before I judged.

As for plans to visit Palestine soon, I was just there this September for a book tour (and Oktoberfest in Taybeh) and to visit several friends, and I hope to visit in the spring, inshallah -- if not this spring, next spring. Or the next olive harvest. I always miss Palestine in the fall and spring especially...

Did that answer your questions? As I said, feel free to follow up!

[Mira]

Thank you, that answered my question perfectly. The expression "imperialistic motives" is not originally mine as I pointed in my question, it was merely the words my friend used, and if left to my own interpretation I would say that she meant that some are not guided here by their humane impulses but actually come for pure political reasons that are not necessarily directed in the interest of the Palestinian people. One comment I read on facebook reminded me of what she said -a discussion was held about Syria and the possibility of international military intervention, one man wrote:"In Lybia I wonder why the NATO forces has not decided to bomb syria just like they bombed gaddafi..but does syria have oil?". I felt that this echoed her point somehow. I could clearly see your motives through the book, and I understand what you mean by some living as kings, but I cannot judge any better until I see for myself.

Agree, spring in Palestine is just beautiful :) Very glad to hear you'd be visiting again. Thank you for answering my question. Take care.

[Pamela]

So... I finally found a publisher! Seal Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group. So far I've really enjoyed working with them. It's a gamble, of course, and "industry standard" royalties are still a scandal, but it's never been primarily about making money for me. Hopefully my book, Fast Times in Palestine, can serve to change American attitudes about Israel and Palestine toward something based more strongly in reality... inshallah.

Here's the story:

http://fasttimesinpalestine.wordpress...

Thanks for all your support and such great discussions! It really means the world.

[Philippa]

I just received this as an ebook through Netgalley, and I can't wait to start reading it! :)

[Marieke, Former moderator]

It's really good, Phillipa! :)