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Orwell prize goes to lament for Palestinian landscape Lindesay Irvine, The Guardian, Palestine Monitor 5/6/2008
Britain’s most prestigious award for political writing, the Orwell book prize, has been won by Raja Shehadeh’s Palestinian Walks, a victory further distinguished by such strong competition that the judges felt the need to extend this year’s shortlist.
The subtitle of Shehadeh’s book is Notes on a Vanishing Landscape, and it describes how over 40 years the West Bank he loves has been steadily taken over by Israeli settlements, and how the destruction of a beloved landscape mirrors the damage to Palestinian identity. Judges praised its combination of lyrical nature writing with understated political passion.
The chair of the prize, Professor Jean Seaton, saluted Shehadeh’s command of detail.
"One way of measuring the quality of your freedom is just to take a walk," she said. "Raja Shehadeh’s book records how brutalising the loss of a landscape is, both to the losers, and to the takers: there are no winners..." more.. e-mail
Arab-Israeli recalls ethnic cleansing in 1948
Mehdi Lebouachera, Daily Star 5/8/2008
Agence France Presse - BIRAM, Israel: Standing on the roof of the old schoolhouse, Toomeh Maghzal looks over the green valley below at the ruins of the village of Biram, which Arabs were forced by the Israeli Army to abandon 60 years ago. "There used to be houses everywhere. We had orchards of olive trees, apple trees, vineyards," says Maghzal, an 81-year-old Maronite Christian from the village. "Today, it is all in ruins."
Back on October 29, 1948, during the war that followed the creation of Israel, which marks its 60th anniversary on Thursday, the Israeli Army entered the village of Biram, which lies near the border with Lebanon.
The 1,050 people residents, mostly Maronite farmers, were forced to flee to the neighboring village of Jish, but with the promise, never fulfilled, that they could eventually return to their homes.
"They destroyed everything to wipe out our hopes of returning," says Maghzal, still spry and with vivid memories of the village and its Christian Arab population. more.. e-mail
Memories of a refugee
Khalid Mansour - Translated by Saed Bannoura, International Middle East Media Center News 5/8/2008
I searched for him at his home but could not find him, his wife told me "you can find him west of the refugee camp, you will definitely find him sitting under an olive tree".
It was sunset, I rushed there to find him before he returns to the refugee camp to conduct evening prayers at the local mosque. Indeed I found him there under an olive tree in an orchard not far away from the houses of the camp.
There, I saw a man who is over eighty years old, the wrinkles of his face tell lots of suffering he encountered in his life, he was sitting there wearing his white Palestinian kofiyya on his head, and wearing his special traditional gown with a belt wrapped on his waist,
He was sitting on the ground, busy ’rolling his own cigarette with local tobacco placed in a rusty from outside, old tobacco holder.
You could clearly see his shaky hands but you could also see his determination to perfectly roll his tobacco. more.. e-mail
Sixty years ago in Battir (Part 2)
Hasan Abu Nimah writing from Amman, Jordan, Live from Palestine, Electronic Intifada 5/7/2008
For a long time any discussion of the "Arab-Israeli conflict" has skipped one basic fact: Israel, whether one loves or hates it, was created at the expense of the Palestinians. An entire people and hundreds of communities that had lived for centuries in tranquility had to be ruthlessly and unjustly shattered to make room for the Zionist state. The story of my village, Battir, southwest of Jerusalem, is only one of hundreds.
When I was growing up, hardly anyone in the village was aware, or needed to be aware, that our village traced its roots back to the second century. Generation after generation tilled the land, lived off its gifts and engaged in small trade. They adapted to the often harsh environment, brought up their children, interacted with their neighbors from villages near and far and lived their lives relatively happily and peacefully.
Although Palestine had a large Christian population, the 1,200 people in our village were all Muslim -- though there was one German wife who was very popular and known for her kindness, and I believe she was Jewish, by the name of Lina Shaffer -- and lived in effect like a large extended family. Everyone in the village knew everyone else, and everyone shared happy and sad moments. The whole village knew if someone was getting married, got a job in the city, was caught up in a problem, was expecting guests, or even bought a new garment. -- See also: Part 1 more.. e-mail
Mental Barriers in Palestine
Mats Svensson, MIFTAH 5/5/2008
It is dry, it is hot. Black string bikinis descend the small steps meeting black flapping swimming trunks. They look naked thanks to the black mud. Both bodies entirely black, only the feet remain white. Salt easily penetrates the skin, making it soft and filled with wellbeing.
The water is salty. I protect my eyes, protect myself. I feel that I am constantly protecting myself. Protecting myself from inner conflicts. Protecting myself from myself, from my own anxiety, my prejudices, stories, childhood, education, manipulation, songs, sermons… I’m filled with strong emotions when I look towards that powerful mountain, the mountain near the Holy City. Protecting myself from what I see, from what I feel, from what I hear.
Eat a salad by the Dead Sea. I’m near, but far from, the conflict, the war. Carry a barrier, a mental barrier. Over there, there is war; here, there is peace. Peace behind a mud mask.
We float around like corks in this Shangri-la on the shores of the Dead Sea. A sea that is disappearing and which will soon really be a dead sea, a sea without water, only salt. more.. e-mail
Gaza improvises under siege
IRIN, Electronic Intifada 5/7/2008
JERUSALEM/GAZA, 6 Ma) - Intense political divisions in the Gaza Strip have split people on most issues, except one: the situation has never been worse, nearly everyone agrees.
"I never remember Gaza being this bad," said one man in his early 40s. "Living here has become a game of survival." With fuel supplies nearly dry, many people no longer have cooking gas in their homes, leading some to search for alternative methods to make a meal.
"People now are starting to look through the garbage to find combustibles," a Gazan who works for a large international aid organization told IRIN.
"Even my colleagues have begun to search the garbage bins or the sides of the roads to find wood and plastics to burn so they can cook their food at night," he said, requesting anonymity so as to not embarrass his friends.
To add to the woes of the needy, UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestine refugees, has said it has been forced to stop food distribution today and is cutting back on other services it normally supplies, owing to the lack of fuel supplies. This is the second time in two weeks it has done this. more.. e-mail
Talking to ’Terrorists’
Jimmy Carter, MIFTAH 5/5/2008
A counterproductive Washington policy in recent years has been to boycott and punish political factions or governments that refuse to accept U.S. domination. This policy deters the ability of revolutionary or uncooperative leaders to moderate their attitude and demands.
A notable example is Nepal. About twelve years ago, Maoist guerillas launched an effort to modify or overthrow the monarchy and force changes in the nation’s political and social life. Although the United States declared the revolutionaries to be terrorists, The Carter Center agreed to help mediate the dispute among the three major factions: royal family, old-line political parties and Maoists.
Six months after the oppressive monarch was removed from power, a cease-fire agreement was consummated. Maoist combatants lay down their arms and the Nepalese Army agreed to remain in barracks.
Our Center continued its involvement and — except for the United States — other nations and international organizations began working with all parties to reconcile the dispute. Ultimately, the Maoists succeeded in achieving their major goals: abolishing the monarchy, establishing a democratic republic, and ending discrimination against untouchables and other groups whose citizenship rights were historically abridged. more.. e-mail
Linus Pauling Still Teaches Courage
Rami G. Khouri, Middle East Online 5/5/2008
CORVALLIS, Oregon - Linus Pauling was one of the greatest scientists and most renowned peace activists of the 20th century: the only person ever to win two unshared Nobel Prizes (for chemistry in 1954, and peace in 1963).
Normally his life and mine would not cross paths, especially because I still have not overcome the deep emotional trauma and psychological self-esteem scars I suffered in high school due to my total inability to comprehend anything that happened in classes of chemistry or physics, his fields of renown. But a few months ago, I was honored with an invitation to deliver the 25th annual “Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Memorial Lecture on World Peace,” at Oregon State University.
This gave me the opportunity to learn more about his extraordinary life, which I write about today because it remains relevant for two reasons: first, that men and women of letters, science, business and the arts should courageously enter the world of politics and bring their knowledge and influence to bear on the policies of their governments; and, second, for pointing out the several ways in which the policies of global powers intersect with the affairs of smaller countries around the world. more.. e-mail
The ANZAC-Palestine connection
Sonja Karkar, Electronic Intifada 5/7/2008
"ANZACS BACK AGAIN" was the front-page headline of Jerusalem’s Palestine Post on 13 February 1940. The ANZAC reputation for courage and daring was legendary after their victory at Beersheba in 1917. That was the Palestine Campaign that saw the celebrated charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade on the unsuspecting Turks. It was a battle that turned the tide of that campaign and led to the subsequent end of Ottoman rule in Palestine.
During World War II, Palestine was under a British Mandate and Australian and New Zealand soldiers were back helping the British army to stop the Germans from capturing Egypt and the Suez Canal. They fought alongside several Palestinian brigades enlisted into the British Army under The Palestine Regiment. That decisive offensive took place in 1942 at al-Alamein, Egypt, the first allied land victory of the war.
Tragically, more than 2,000 ANZACS from both campaigns would never see Australia or New Zealand again. Over 600 lie in unknown graves with Muslim and Christian Arabs and Jews who also died trying to defeat the German army. Other ANZACS are buried in war cemeteries throughout Palestine, two of which can be found in Gaza -- one beautifully cared for in the Palestinian town of Deir al-Balah, and the other in Gaza City. The Beersheba Commonwealth War Cemetery has graves of some 175 Australian soldiers and lies on the edge of today’s sprawling commercial city that Israel has renamed Be’er Sheva.Our soldiers knew it as Beersheba with a largely Palestinian population. more.. e-mail
A Roadmap Collision Course
Joharah Baker, MIFTAH 5/7/2008
On the five-year anniversary of the US-brokered roadmap for peace, there is not much to celebrate. According to plan, an interim Palestinian state should have been established and a final status agreement negotiated by now. Instead, like so many other agreements before it, the once-deemed optimistic and viable plan has traveled southward, circling the drain.
It is no wonder, given that the United States is the “mastermind’ behind it. Any sensible onlooker will realize that the US, no matter how good intentioned it claims to be, can never be an honest and objective broker as long as it remains such a staunch ally of Israel.
The roadmap was presented to the Palestinian Authority and Israel on April 30, 2003 by the United States in cooperation with the Quartet Committee. The goal-driven plan full of timelines and benchmarks required both sides to fulfill certain requirements as part of the first phase of the three phase plan.Five years later, the two parties are still squabbling over the obligations of phase one, each side accusing the other of breaching the agreement and shirking their responsibilities. In short, the Palestinians were required to halt violence and “terrorism” against Israelis everywhere while the Israelis were to freeze all settlement activity, retreat to positions prior to September 28, 2000 and take measures to improve the Palestinians’ humanitarian situation. more.. e-mail
US politics: you not electable if you are not pro-Israeli
Kristen Ess, Palestine News Network 5/7/2008
It is not possible to get elected in the United States if one is not pro-Israel. The Israeli rhetoric in the US, the country which provides over three billion dollars per year to support the occupation, is nothing new.
However, Barak Obama’s framed photo hung in the American Islamic Nation’s offices four years ago. At that time his position was clearly pro-Palestinian.
Now there is new reggae song coming from the US that is calling for Barak Obama, saying he will return to his former pro-Palestinian position if elected to the US presidency. Several pundits are stating the same, but if he pulls a Clinton, former president Bill that is, and not his wife who is making her bid for the presidency now, Palestinians will still be in trouble.
Bill Clinton, when he was president of the US, became popular in places likethe southern Gaza Strip’s devastated Rafah only because he visited there. Dozens of residents said in the early 2000’s that he was a “great man” because he simply paid attention to them, even if only for a short visit. more.. e-mail
Global Food/Energy Crises and the Middle East
Rami Khouri, Middle East Online 5/7/2008
BEIRUT -- The convergence of six trends in the Middle East -- food, energy, water, population, urbanization and security-dominated politics -- is likely to create conditions that will be politically challenging, if not destabilizing, in many countries in the years ahead. The confluence of these trends is very similar to what happened in the region in the mid-to-late 1970s, when the current Islamist wave of social identity and confrontational politics was initiated.
Things will be much more difficult this time around. The consequences could be much worse, especially in view of the ripple effect of the war in Iraq, Iran’s growing influence, continued stalemate in Palestine, and the weakening of some Arab governments. It is difficult to predict exactly what will happen in the years ahead, but the stressful factors pushing change are already clear and we would be foolish to ignore them.
Two critical basic needs -- food and energy -- are becoming more costly simultaneously. (And a third -- water -- is likely to do so, given the high population growth rate and finite available water resources.) Arab governments are scrambling to find stop-gap solutions to the problem of rising food and energy prices, which touch every household. more.. e-mail
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