Make Some Noise!

Contrary to popular opinion, there are indigenous Jewish populations throughout the Middle East. Some were converts well before the arrival of Christianity and Islam, while others were part of the Andalousi populations that fled the Inquisition. Many immigrated to Israel in '48, some stayed, and others returned (ie to Morocco, etc) because they missed their homeland and because of the second-class status many Arab Jews enjoy in Israel.

Rabat: A group of Moroccan Jewish intellectuals launched, on Wednesday [2 August], an appeal to "all those who have the privilege of calling themselves Moroccan Jews or Jewish Moroccans to clearly express their indignation and their suffering for the crimes committed by Israel" in Lebanon and Palestine.

Persian Jews and Lebanese Jews have also issued statements condemning the Israeli campaign in Gaza and Lebanon.

read more here.

Beirut!

I don't know whether to laugh or cry at this piece on Slate. Slate had scheduled an issue on Beirut and where to go and what to see for July. They've linked to it on their site and it's an odd tribute to Beiurt and Lebanon- but I've thought about it and I think it is worth checking out if only to understand what the Israeli attack has done to a vibrant and sophisticated city. If you are not already aware of what was available in Beirut, this will both surprise and dismay you.
Check out Time Out Beirut

An e-mail I received from Anne-Marie Jacir,a Palestinian-American filmmaker living now in Palestine:

Palestinian Filmmakers, Artists and Cultural Workers Call for a Cultural
Boycott of Israel


August 4, 2006

Dear Filmmakers & Artists,

During the past few weeks we have borne witness to the escalation of Israeli
aggression into open war on both Palestine and Lebanon.

With Israel’s invasion of Gaza on June 27th, 2006, ministries and
educational institutions have been destroyed, as has the plant that supplies
nearly 50 percent of Gaza's electricity. Bridges, roads, dozens of homes,
and hundreds of dunams of agricultural land have also been destroyed.
Sixty-four elected Palestinian legislators, cabinet ministers and officials
have been detained without charge.

On July 12th, Israel brought its campaign of collective punishment and
military violence to Lebanon, with "Operation Just Reward". A complete
assault, via land, sea, and air, of the Lebanese population and
infrastructure has
led
to total destruction. In just 3 weeks, almost 1
million Lebanese civilians have been displaced and the death toll has
reached 900 Lebanese and 160 Palestinians, with a UN count saying one-third
of the dead are children.

Additionally, in violation of international law, Israel continues to occupy
Gaza, the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), and Syria’s Golan Heights.
In violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention, Israel continues to hold 9,600
Palestinian political prisoners in Israeli jails and detention centers
without due process, among them 130 Palestinian women and 388 children, many
of them taken from their homes in the middle of the night.

We, the undersigned Palestinian filmmakers and artists, appeal to all
artists and filmmakers of good conscience around the world to cancel all
exhibitions and other cultural events that are scheduled to occur in Israel,
to mobilize immediately and not allow
the
continuation of the Israeli
offensive to breed complacency. Like the boycott of South African art
institutions during apartheid, cultural workers must speak out against the
current Israeli war crimes and atrocities.

We call upon the International community to join us in the boycott of
Israeli film festivals, Israeli public venues, and Israeli institutions
supported by the government, and to end all cooperation with these cultural
and artistic institutions that to date have refused to take a stand against
the Occupation, the root cause for this colonial conflict.

We call upon you to take a stand in order to appeal to the Israeli people to
give up their silence, to abandon their apathy, and to face up to their
responsibility in the destruction and killing their elected government is
wreaking. To the Lebanese and Palestinians terrorized by this Army's planes,
bombs and missiles, this silence, apathy and
lack of
action from Israelis, are regarded as complicit in the ongoing war crimes, as for those Israeli
artists, academics and intellectuals who continue to serve in the Israeli
army they are directly implicated in these crimes.

We call upon you to give way to action that would replace words spoken too
often and forgotten too quickly. We call upon you to make your voices heard
in calling for an end to this bloodshed and an end to this oppression that
has lasted too long.

To endorse or answer this call for a cultural boycott of Israel please send
an email with your name, position and country to pal.filmmakers@gmail.com

Signatures (Alphabetical)

1. Adila Laidi, Lecturer
2. Anan Brakat, Filmmaker, Arab Cinema School
3. Annemarie Jacir,Filmmaker
4. Azza El-Hassan, Filmmaker
5. Bahia Munem, Filmmaker
6. Dahna Abourahme, Filmmaker
7. Dima Abu Ghoush, Filmmaker
8. Emily Jacir, Artist
9. Enas Muthaffar, Filmmaker
10. Faten Farhat, Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center
11. Ghada Terawi, Filmmaker
12. Hanna Atallah, Filmmaker
13. Hanna Elias, Filmmaker
14. Hany Abu-Assad, Filmmaker
15. Haya Al-Jareedy, Filmmaker
16. Hayan Charara, Writer
17. Hazim Bitar, Filmmaker
18. Iman Aoun, Ishtar Theatre
19. Iman Hammouri, Popular Art Centre
20. John Halaka, Artist
21. Juliano Mer Khamis, Actor & Director
22. Kais Al-Zubaidi, Filmmaker
23. Kamal Boullata, Artist
24. Karma Abu-Sharif, Writer
25. Khadijeh.H.Abu-Ali, Filmmaker
26. Khaled Jubran, Musician
27. Larissa Sansour, Artist
28. Leila Sansour, Filmmaker
29. Liana Saleh, Filmmaker
30. Lina Bokhary,Artist
31. Mahmoud Massad, Filmmaker
32. Mai Masri, Filmmaker
33. Mazen Saade, Filmmaker & Writer
34. Michel Khleifi, Filmmaker
35. Miguel Littin, Filmmaker
36. Nabila Irshaid, Artist
37. Nahed Awwad, Filmmaker
38. Najwa Najjar, Filmmaker
39. Nizar Hassan, Filmmaker
40. Omar Barghouti, Dance choreographer
41. Omar Qattan, Filmmaker
42. Osama Al-Zain, Filmmaker
43. Rana Bishara, Artist
44. Rania Elias- Khoury, Yabous Productions
45. Rashid Masharawi, Filmmaker
46. Reem Fadda, Palestinian Association of Contemporary Art
47. Riyad Deis, Filmmaker
48. Rowan Al Faqih, Filmmaker
49. Saed Andoni, Filmmaker
50. Saleh Bakri, Actor
51. Salim Abu Jabal, Writer
52. Salwa Mikdadi, Curator
53. Samia A. Halaby, Artist
54. Sobhi al-Zobaidi, Filmmaker
55. Suleiman Mansour, Artist
56. Suzy Salamy, Filmmaker
57. TaghreedMishael, Filmmaker
58. Ula Tabari, Filmmaker
59. Vera Tamari, Artist
60. Wafa Jamil, Filmmaker

If you know anything about Palestinian/Arab art, you will recognize quite a number of names. Please take a moment to access and sign the list.

In addition, Emily Jacir has sent an e-mail asking that in light of the destruction happening in Lebanon, that the destruction also happening in the Occupied Territories also be remembered.

An e-mail I received from an academic film scholar's group I am part of:

Israeli Filmmakers Support Arab Filmmakers

A letter to Palestinian and Lebanese filmmakers, to
coincide with the opening of the Arab Film Biennial in
Paris July 22nd

We, the undersigned Israeli filmmakers, greet the Arab
filmmakers who have gathered in Paris for the Arab Film
Biennial. Through you, we wish to convey a message of
camaraderie and solidarity with our Lebanese and
Palestinian colleagues who are currently besieged and
bombarded by our country's army.

We unequivocally oppose the brutality and cruelty of
Israeli policy, which has reached new heights in recent
weeks. Nothing justifies the continued occupation,
closure, and oppression in Palestine. Nothing justifies
the bombing of civilians and the destruction of
infrastructures in Lebanon and Gaza.

Allow us to tell you that your films, which we try to
see and circulate among us, are extremely important in
our eyes. They enable us to know and understand you
better. Thanks to these films, the men, women, and
children who suffer in Gaza, Beirut, and everywhere
else our army exercises its violence - have names and
faces. We would like to thank you and encourage you to
keep on filming, despite the difficulties.

For our part, we will continue to express through our
films, with our raised voices, and in our personal
actions our vehement opposition to the occupation, and
we will continue to express our desire for freedom,
justice, and equality among all the peoples of the
region.

Nurith Aviv
Ilil Alexander
Adi Arbel
Yael Bartana
Philippe Bellaiche
Simone Bitton
Michale Boganim
Amit Breuer
Shai Carmeli-Pollack
Sami S. Chetrit
Danae Elon
Anat Even
Jack Faber
Avner
Fainguelernt
Ari Folman
Gali Gold
BZ Goldberg /
Sharon Hamou
Amir Harel
Avraham Heffner
Rachel Leah Jones
Dalia Karpel
Avi Kleinberger
Elonor
Kowarsky
Edna Kowarsky
Philippa Kowarsky
Ram Loevi
Avi Mograbi
Jud Neeman
David Ofek
Iris Rubin
Abraham Segal
Nurith Shareth
Julie Shlez
Eyal Sivan
Yael Shavit
Eran Torbiner
Osnat Trabelsi
Daniel Waxman
Keren Yedaya

The above are some of the most forward thinkers of their scoiety and their films are known internationally. Many already support the academic boycott of Israel and all who signed above do so at the possible expense of their funding and their careers.

An Israeli academic I know, who specializes in film, is planning to give back his Israeli citizenship and publically burn his passport, in protest of what is happening in the Gaza and Lebanon. His wife is planning to do this as well and has asked others to do the same.

OK, people, it's that time again, time to stand up and

MAKE SOME NOISE!

To support Lebanon. Please respect the Lebanese Flags only request:

* Boston -Peaceful demo and candelight vigil -Copley Square
5:00pm THURSDAY, AUGUST 3 , 2006
* New York City - Candlelight vigil - South sideof Union SquarePark
7:30pm FRIDAY, AUGUST 4, 2006
* Philadelphia -Federal Building, 6th & MarketSts.
4:30pm SATURDAY, AUGUST 5, 2006
* Washington D.C -In front of White House , 12:00pm
* Seattle - Federal Building - 2nd and Marion, 12:00pm
Saturday, August 12, 2006

(thanks Naeem!!!!!)

To my friends and colleagues from college and after:

Fadi G.
Fadi K.
Didier M.
Andre T.
Majid
Remy and Maria
Lizka A.
Avi M.
Haim and Yosefa
Dorit N.
Alex
George N.
Alex K.
Suad J.
Berta J.
Jayce S.
Niam I.
the Lebanese Club of MIT

and your families. I will try to get in touch will you if possible, but, if not, I hope you are well and your families are as safe as possible. There are really no words adequate for this situation, except that my sympathies and hopes for the best lie with each and every one of you.

Moving from where New Testament says Jesus turned water into wine, Qana (Cana)...the IDF continued to to turn life into death in the ancient city of Baalbek...

The obscene score-card for death in this latest war now stands as follows: 508 Lebanese civilians, 46 Hizbollah guerrillas, 26 Lebanese soldiers, 36 Israeli soldiers and 19 Israeli civilians.

In other words, Hizbollah is killing more Israeli soldiers than civilians and the Israelis are killing far more Lebanese civilians than they are guerrillas. The Lebanese Red Cross has found 40 more civilian dead in the south of the country in the past two days, many of them with wounds suggesting they might have survived had medical help been available.

the rest, if you can stand it.

For those of you who are incensed that Hezbollah is "hiding among the civilian population,"and using them as a shield, may I introduce...the US military in San Diego, California.

IN this area of Southern California, military installations and their personnel are ubiquitous. Parts of San Diego, after all, were developed to house the military during WWII. Camp Pendleton lies a scant 20 miles up the interstate from downtown San Diego. The harbor where the warships dock is even closer. On any given weekend, sailors and others, hang around downtown. Oceanside, CA, is right there next to Pendleton. Troop transport vehicles rumble down the 8 past the State University. Others rumble down the 5, 805, 15, past commercial and residential areas alike. Businesses proudly state they give military discounts while apartmemt complexes promise amenities for military families. Coronado Island is home to the Navy, while the Naval Hospital sits on the edge of Balboa Park, a major tourist attraction and source of community pride.

The US Military is everywhere in this region. Other than the fact, they are part of an officially sanctioned, state-run militia, just how is this different?

Should the military installations in San Diego ever be attacked for precisely the reason that they are military- the destruction would encompass tens of thousands of civilian victims, and millions of dollars in infrastructure. Or would it?

Under the philosphy now operating in the Israeli seige of Lebanon- there would be no innocents, only those complicit in harboring a fighting force among them.

It is not just a matter of many children huddled together, of course: with numbers come all sorts of problems. If an air raid is coming, and you are running, how many children can you pick up and carry with you? How many do you have to leave behind?

Ghaith Abdul-Ahad explains this horrific dilema.

The invasion of Lebanon may well go down in history as one of the seminal conflicts of the 21st century just as WWI and the American Civil War did. Each achieved a ghoulish notoriety for which they are forever remembered. The American Civil War gave us Sherman's March to the Sea, a savage scorched earth policy brought to its ultimate expression as Sherman burned and destroyed every living, standing thing in his path through Georgia to the sea. It effective destroyed that area of the South for decades after, and its memory still lives in the American South to this day.

WWI brought us a new, unheard of warfare, the kind you can't stand on a hill to watch (like they did in wars previous). WWI was the beginning of modern warfare, total war- the kind that consumes and invents new, ghastly ways to kill one's fellow man. In this case the weapon du jour was mustard gas, a deadly weapon that burned out your lungs.

My great-uncle immigrated to the US, joined the army in WWI as a courier between the trenches and got gassed in service to his new country.

And now, we have this- what I think we can call the "War of Innocents" or the "War of the Children." It sounds so medieval in a way, calling up another, long ago time when 1,000's of children perished on their way to the Holy Land. But this time, the children live in the land where they are dying and this conflict is fast becoming known for the unusual amount of young victims- up to 1/3 are children, according to the Red Cross. They rise, like pale ghosts, held aloft by the traumetized hands of their fathers, cousins, uncles, neighors.

Israel claims to have warned the population of Southern Lebanon to flee in anticipation of the Israeli bombing attacks launched under the pretext that Hezbollah is lauching rocket attacks from places such as Qana. Israel has stated that those who "stayed" behind would be considered enemy combatants. But surely, Israel is aware that the poor, the frail, the elderly and the young have limited resources and may not be able to leave at a moment's notice.

So, how does one explain the attacks on civilians, the targetting of refugee convoys? I think the answer might be found in the agressive colonial tactic of destroying and demoralizing a society from within. Two of the more effective measures are raping the women (Bosnia)and killing the children (Lebanon now). In Lebanon, the policy seems to be the effective dismantling of the productive future of the country: the destruction of the development produced by the Cedar Revolution in the last 10 years - the backbone of its economic and social development and the children- the soul of Lebanese society.

I would venture that the destruction at Qana, where over 30 children died over the weekend in an echo of an attack by the Israelis on Qana in 1996,in which 100 people died, is no accident, no matter how much Israel protests. It appears to me to be part and parcel of a demoralizing campaign aimed at dismantling the very heart of Lebanese society. One can only fear what is in store over the next few weeks as the Israelis seek to create a"buffer zone in the South.

ma aghla min il-wild illa wild il-wild
Nothing is dearer than one's children except the children of one's children.

What happens to a society when you destroy both its infrastructure and its children?

here are some pictures from Sunday night's vigil in Balboa Park in San Diego.

VIGIL DRAWS SEVERAL 100 ATTENDEES

(San Diego)The local media estimated about 150 attendees but organizers felt the number was over 200. The predominantly Arab-American crowd stood on the park side of Park Boulevard and President's Way silently holding lit candles, Lebanese flags amd signs pleading for a cease-fire in Lebanon. As night fell, vigil members lined the street for half a mile, passing out flyers and holding their flickering candles aloft. Passing motorist leaving the nearby Gay Pride events in Balboa Park honked in support and gave the crowd the thumbs up sign.
The vigil was held the day after Israelis bombed a house in the southern Lebanese town of Qana, killing more than 50 people, most of them children. Many of the children above the age of ten, had suffered crippling wounds the last time the Israelis attacked Qana in 1996, during Israel's 'Operation Grapes as Wrath." Then, as now, Israel expressed "deep regret" over the loss of civilian life and claimed not to know civilians had sought refuge in the compounds there.
Over 500 Lebanese have died in the current conflict, one third of them children.
Heavy bombing by the IDF has created tens of thousands of refugees and destroyed much of Lebanon's infrastructure.

Darrell Issa is now weighing in.

I first visited Lebanon, following the death of my father, in 1978 to sell a family property. I was 25 years old, and in U.S. Army regular service. My visit occurred in the midst of Lebanon's civil war – a complex conflict of shifting alliances, foreign intervention, and devastating destruction that divided Lebanon along largely sectarian lines.

He is using his "I am Lebanese-American" stance to give credence to his White House- inspired drivel.

Issa, who was nowhere to be found when the Arab-American community needed him in the aftermath of 9/11, who said little about profiling, the issues of civil liberties for many people going down the toilet- has all of a sudden, reclaimed his Lebanese heritage.
How convenient.

In today's Op-ed piece, Issa says:

When Lebanon is fully free, it will stand as a beacon demonstrating that an indigenous democracy in the Middle East can flourish. But as the United States needed France during our revolution against Britain, Lebanon cannot succeed at this moment without the leadership only we can offer.

The world, and the United States in particular, must not give up on Lebanon. This small, troubled, and diverse nation faces a crisis that did not exist a month ago, but a degraded Hezbollah may soon offer a new opportunity. The Lebanese have already fought and died for democracy but now, while facing our common enemies, they desperately need our help.

Gee, crisis? What crisis? He says nothing about the hundreds of Lebanese dead, nor the intense Israeli shelling nor the wanton destruction of Lebanon's infrastructure nor the targetting of civilians and aid workers.

No, it appears that Hezbollah has created a little vaccuum of destruction and death all by itself.

And, Issa adds:

The United States has made a substantial investment in the Middle East that we cannot abandon. We have invested $300 billion, and many brave lives, in building a democracy in Iraq. We, likewise, have a substantial investment in supporting Israel's right to exist and the peace process.

Issa must not read the papers. Too bad, the Washington Post has a very interesting article on what our efforts to bring democracy to Iraq has done to the state of things at the morgues in Baghdad.

Is this what the Republican party saved Issa for when they pulled the rug out from under him for the race for California's governor?

Hello, even our resident Arab-American (oh, look, he's Lebanese...) likes our program.

For god's sake, Darrell, take your soul back, or what's left of it, and put some pressure on the White House and Olmert so that maybe this country which you pretend to admire and seek to help (and where have you been the last few years?) won't be smashed to smithereens and its people (your relatives, too, in all likelihood) scattered and wounded. And since you're a bomb expert, how about getting Israel to divulge the locations of the landmines in Southern Lebanon?

Get out of your Hezbollah bad, us good mindset, and take a good long look at how and why Hezbollah came to be.

The merits of Hezbollah need to be argued at a later date. Peopla are dying today in Lebanon and Israel and this has got to stop.

If this goes on much longer, Lebanon will turn its back on us and with good reason, and you, her native grandson, will be among her worst betrayers.

Face the Nation Sunday morning (check local listings). Their guests are

Fuad Siniora Prime Minister of Lebanon

Shimon Peres Deputy Prime Minister of Israel

Should be very interesting.