Month: February 2010

Not illegal enough

by adminin Miscellaneous, Writing

03march08-002The Jerusalem Post, February 19, 2010

Like many Israeli students her age, Criselle, 16, is planning to travel with her class to Poland. Her journey isn’t without obstacle, however. Criselle, the daughter of Filipino workers, might be unable to re-enter Israel when she returns because she is without legal status.

Criselle is part of the approximately 1200 children of illegal migrants who face possible deportation at the end of the school year. But she is a unique case amongst them—Criselle is one of 30 children who, in the past, weren’t illegal enough.

In summer of 2006, when the Israeli government decided to grant permanent residence to some of the children of foreign workers and asylum seekers, Criselle’s parents rushed to apply. Criselle met all the criteria. She was raised here. She was above the cut-off age of four years and nine months. And, having attended Israeli schools all of her life, she was assimilated and acculturated.

But there was a catch.

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Democracy starts in the Occupied Territories

by adminin Writing

naomichazan1Maan News Agency, February 20, 2010

The Huffington Post, February 21, 2010

Zeek, February 23, 2010

Not long after I’d stood on a sidewalk in East Jerusalem and felt a swell of hope at the Sheikh Jarrah protest, the Im Tirtzu storm hit.

In late January, Im Tirtzu, an extreme right-wing nationalist group that describes itself as a” centrist extra-parliamentary movement,” ran an advertisement attacking the New Israel Fund (NIF) and its president, Naomi Chazan. NIF, a left-leaning organization that states it is “committed to democratic change within Israel” as well as social justice and equality, bankrolls many of the NGOs that have spoken out against the atrocities committed by Israel during Operation Cast Lead.

In Im Tirtzu’s ad, Chazan was monstrously depicted with a rhinoceros horn bearing the acronym “NIF” strapped to her head. The caption incorrectly blamed Chazan and the NIF for the UN fact finding mission that resulted in the Goldstone Report– omitting the fact that the UN committee was established not in response to the NIF, but in response to Operation Cast Lead which, in the UN’s words, “caused grave violations of the human rights of the Palestinian civilians” of Gaza.

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Pulled into history

by adminin Israel, Writing

dsc04167The National, February 20, 2010

If the layout of Nazareth’s old city seems to defy human logic, that’s because it does – when men laid the first roads here during Roman times, they traced donkey paths. The Fauzi Azar Inn is tucked deep in this labyrinth of slivered streets, and although the resulting jumble is confusing, finding the inn is easy. Just follow the English signs.

I still manage to get lost, however, walking through the shuk [souq]. Dizzied by colourful scarves hanging above, distracted by the array of costume jewellery, enticed by the smell of cardamom-spiked coffee, I forget about directions. I navigate by following my senses. But my nose fails me and, disorientated, I stop at a small store. An elderly Arab man – thin, bald and white-moustached – stands in the doorway. I nod hello and, in Hebrew, ask for directions to Fauzi. “Do you speak Arabic?” he responds, in heavily accented English. I tell him I don’t. He wags a finger at me. “Then speak English. You are in Nazareth!” He walks away, leaving me alone and embarrassed at the store’s entrance. I take heart in the fact that tension is nothing new here.

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Poems after Auschwitz

by adminin Miscellaneous, Writing

showimageashxThe Jerusalem Post, February 12, 2010

In 2003, Newsweek ran an article titled “Poetry is Dead. Does Anybody Really Care?” Its author, Bruce Wexler, writes “It’s difficult to imagine a world without movies, plays, novels, and music but a world without poems doesn’t have to be imagined.” Why? According to Wexler, the “art form is dead.”

Wexler doesn’t wag his finger at poetry, rather he points towards society. In the 70s and 80s, he writes, American culture “became intensely prosaic.” “By the 90s,” he continues, “it was all over.” According to Wexler, impatience, lack of knowledge, and sheer laziness all contributed to the poetry’s demise.

And in autumn of 2009, the magazine apparently checked poetry’s pulse and found it still enough for Wexler’s article to be resurrected for the website.

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One of the most dangerous bills ever presented

by adminin Writing

afref The Huffington Post, February 4, 2010

Yesterday, the Israeli Knesset debated the “Infiltration Prevention Law” which Israeli human rights groups are calling “one of the most dangerous bills ever presented in the Knesset.”

The bill, if passed, will allow for the immediate deportation of anyone who enters Israel illegally, including African refugees fleeing genocide who may be forced to return to countries where their lives will be endangered. Refugees from Sudan, including those escaping Darfur, will be subject to seven years’ imprisonment as they are citizens of an “enemy country.” And all refugees, children included, will be vulnerable to administrative detention–imprisonment without charges or judicial proceedings.

The bill is intended to update the 1954 Infiltration Prevention Law, which was created to criminalize the actions of Palestinian “fedayeen” (freedom fighters)–Arab refugees who attempted to re-enter Israel in order to reclaim the land they were removed from in 1948, when the state of Israel was established.

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Despite police threats, East Jerusalem protests continue

by adminin Politics, Writing
A protester holds a sign that reads-- expelling people from houses: it hurts me!
A protester holds a sign that reads-- expelling people from houses: it hurts me!

The Huffington Post, February 2, 2010

Maan News Agency, February 2, 2010

Despite police plans to end the demonstration with force, more than 300 Palestinians, internationals, and Israeli activists gathered in Sheikh Jarrah on Friday afternoon to protest the evictions of Palestinian families from their homes.

Armed with only drums and handwritten signs that read “Free Sheikh Jarrah” and “People before territory”, the demonstrators stood across the street from about 50 police clad in full riot gear. The tension was palpable as the two groups squared off. When police and protesters clashed in December, 21 demonstrators were detained. In January, dozens of protestors were arrested, including the director of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Hagai El-Ad. Haaretz reports that more than 70 demonstrators have been arrested to date.

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