Iraq nowadays, Iraq yesterday... Iraq.

This must be stop somehow.

I mean, It's not my job to point out the one who should be accused, but someone need to take responsibility for what happened few days ago in Iraq.

The Iraqi army blames the US troops for stepping out too early, without bringing out any real solution for the mess they created there since the invasion.

Everyone suspect al'Qaida for organizing this suicide bombing- fearing that they are looking for the US militant forces to step out of the country so they can take over the country.

All of it just makes me wonder who should I follow- Obama's promises to step out of Iraq- will it do any good? Should the US stay in the area until 2020, like the Iraqi military stresses them to do so? What will be the best solution for the Iraqi people?

What a mess. And there aren't enough words to express my personal frustration.

All of this personal turmoil came up to me especially after I read some parts of the on-line version of Baghdad Diaries by Nuha Al-Radi. What a piece... so funny, cynical, scary and moving- all at the same time. I wish I could upload it all here, but I can only access it with my Brandeis ID (well... sorry about that. But at least there are some benefits of being collage student). Anyway, I'll bring you some parts that really stood up for me.

The writer is an Iraqi woman in her 50's who documents the days of the 2nd Gulf War, when the Western allies bombed the city of Baghdad. Her diary was supposed to be written for a short period, just for couple of days, until the bombing stop. Unfortunately, she needed to hold on of this diary for many months after- when she exiled Iraq to go to Jordan, and in Jordan- when she was looking for her identity in a foreign country, among strangers.

She did not recites the dates, just the number of the days. Like she totally lost a hold in time.
At the 10th day she writs:

"I say 'Read my Lips,' today is the tenth day of the war and we are still here (in the house). Where is you three to ten days swift and clean kill? Mind you, we're ruined. I don't think I can set foot in the West again. If someone like myself who is Western educated feels this way, what about the rest of the country? Maybe I'll just go to India"...

(Al-Radi, Nuha, Baghdad Diaries, p. 19)

Wailing through smile, smiling through wail... I'm amazed by how brave this woman can be under the constant firing of missiles over her city, Baghdad.

Al-Radi uses the same sharp humor like Ali in our play, and she also emphasizes the vision's two important themes: poverty and birds.

"The birds have taken the worst beating of all. They have sensitive souls which cannot take all of this hideous noise and vibration. All the caged love-birds have died from the shock of the blasts, while birds in the wild fly upside down and do crazy somersault. Hundreds, if not thousand, have died in the orchard. lonley survivors fly about in a distracted fashion. "

(Ibid, p. 27)

"Stealing has become the latest fashion. Everything has to kept under lock and key. Generators go for thousand, bicycles too. Cigarets are worth a fortune, kerosene lamps are valued like gold . Shopkeepers who live near they store stay open, but most gods are sold off crate tops on the sidewalks, odd bods selling wicks, batteries, matches- anything that is available.

The other day a house was robbed and when the owners reported it to the police they said'We have no petrol to make a special visit. I will have to wait 'til we go on petrol in the area' "...

(Ibid, p. 28)

Ali's stories become so vivid after reading these passages. Although one may see a bird as a cliche

image for freedom, for me it become so special now, looking at it through the eyes of the Iraqi

people, who could not feel free at their own homeland.

This cruel reality caused many Iraqis to flee their country- away to freedom, like a pigeon, like a bird.

But does a bird represent only freedom? Please follow Al-Radi, and the last image she took from her

country before she left to her life in Exile in Jordan.

"While I was making photocopies in a shop, I looked out of the window and saw a few sparrows.One of them had no tail, but all of the sudden it took off and flew away. So I said to theowner of the shop that that the bird had no tail, so how could it fly? He answered 'don't worry,the whole population of Iraq is in the same position, and they are surviving.' The birdwill survive, too; it will not have a good guidance sense, it will have difficulty with balancing,in turning right or left, but it will survive. I thought it was the most appropriate and descriptive metaphor of the present state of the people of Iraq."

(Ibid, p. 130)

Oh my, it's sad to look at an Iraqi diary from 91, and look at this country 19 years later, and to realize

that this sparrow still has no tail.

Yours,

Renana

Facing the Horror, Carrying a Message- Former Vice President of the European Parliament Speaks about the Israeli Occupation

Luisa Morgantini at one of her visits to Gaza

Dear followers,

I'd like to thank Debra so much for sending my the interview below. The interviewee is Luisa Morgantini- who I happened to meet at one of the demonstrations at Al'Halil (Hebron).

Here she talks about her experience at the Jordan Valley, and the non-violent resistance of its residents against the house demolitions the Israeli government execute there.

This interview brings a great insight about these kind of civil resistance that is spread all around the West Bank. These demonstrations stands out against the Israeli occupation, and promote the international solidarity, and attract the media in order to bring about the stories of the Palestinian in the occupied territories.

Enjoy!

Renana

FROM THE JORDAN VALLEY, ONCE THE BREADBASKET OF PALESTINE.

Where today residents must resist just to exist.

An interview with Luisa Morgantini, former Vice President of the European Parliament, upon her return from a tour of the Jordan Valley and the West Bank in which she led an Italian delegation from Associazione per la Pace.

Deprived of water and electricity, surrounded by settlements and imprisoned in a large closed military zone under occupation since 1967, the Jordan Valley’s residents resist. Plagued by home demolitions and land confiscation, they represent one of the most vulnerable communities in the entire C area of the West Bank (area under complete Israeli military and administrative control). Today, the population numbers approximately 56,000; before 1967 it counted over 300,000—a sharp decline provoked by a long process of expulsion and evictions that has taken place far from the public eye and received virtually no media attention.

A delegation from the organisation Assopace, led by Luisa Morgantini, former Vice President of the EP, visited the Jordan Valley and met with the local communities.

Interview conducted by Barbara Antonelli.

Mrs. Morgantini, you visited to the Jordan Valley twice in one week, just a few days after the Israeli Army once again demolished the structures and tents of the Bedouin communities in the North. What did you see?

If area C, 60% of the occupied West Bank, is a synonym for expulsion and annexation for Israeli colonization, in the Jordan Valley all this is greatly intensified. A silent displacement is being carried out by Israel, through demolitions, evictions, land confiscation, and denied access to water resources: these policies have promoted the establishment of over 30 illegal settlements. Even before the Oslo Agreements, Israel had already been aiming to create a seam-zone between the West Bank and Jordan in line with the Allon Plan, through the annexation of this 2400 km² of fertile land extending from the Green Line to the Dead Sea. An area cleansed of its inhabitants today is more easily annexed tomorrow. Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has always stated that Israel will never give up the Jordan Valley; and a similar refrain characterised Olmert’s election campaign in 2006. This exact intent to maintain control of the area, beyond being theorised in the Allon plan, was also practised by Israel during the First Intifada, when Palestinian residents in Nablus under curfew were blocked from reaching their properties and harvesting their fields located in the Jordan Valley. Now this area is a closed zone.

Since 1967, Israeli government has continued its expansion of settlements, which today occupy half of area C, while another 44% has been designated as military “firing zones” and natural reserves; only 6% has been left to the Palestinians. [Israeli] Civil Administration takes care of the rest, operating as a counterpart of the government, issuing demolition orders, taking control of all major water resources, even water tanks, as happened in Bardala, or destroying water pipelines and pumps, and putting in motion legal procedures to take away from the Bedouin communities the little they have left. One-third of the West Bank's water resources are located in the Jordan Valley: it's appalling to think that the people living on this land feel the water—a public resource, a basic human right—flowing under their feet but they can’t drink it, they can’t water their cows and sheep, their sole means for the survival of communities that want to continue grazing their animals. Israel’s national water corporation Mekorot has dug many wells to serve settlers’ communities and irrigate illegally confiscated lands. Not to serve the Palestinians or their remaining lands.

In the district of Tubas, average daily consumption of water for Palestinian residents is 30 liters per person, while in the nearby settlement of Beka’ot people consume 400 liters a day. Israeli settlers consume 6 times as much water as Palestinians. In some cases, such as in the villages of Humsa and al-Hadudiya, after attempting to establish water reserves and networks, local communities faced harsh repression on the part of the Israeli Army, who confiscated all their equipment and cut off their water. In this way Israel maintains its monopoly on water resources and Palestinians are obliged to purchase their water by the tank at 33 NIS per cubic meter; while 9,400 settlers receive subsidies or discounts (sometimes paying up to 75% less) for water for domestic use and their swimming-pools. The same is true for electricity: Palestinian communities see utility poles passing over their heads but they can't use them, if ever they are able to hook themselves up, settlers and soldiers arrive to arrest them and take away their electricity.

On 19 July, the Israeli army demolished the village of Al-Farisiya (east of Tubas) destroying over 76 structures and leaving entire families homeless, half of the people were children. You visited the area with a delegation of journalists and diplomats organised by the PA's Ministry of Information and the governorate of Tubas.

We saw the sun burned faces of children and shepherds who narrated their painful odyssey without tears. We witnessed the destruction: mattresses, furniture, personal belongings, destroyed taboun bread ovens, demolished tents. This is what remained of the daily life of a whole community that is today homeless, obliged to move once again. Over 30% of Bedouin families have been displaced at least once since the year 2000, while several families have re-pitched their ruined camps at least 4 times. Where are they supposed to go?

Even though I have been travelling to Palestine for over 25 years, the trip from Tubas to Al-Farisyia was a total shock to me: a desolate and bare landscape, sheep and goats crowding under the skimpy shade of a well-worn tent; skinny cows who use the cement blocks of the Firing Zones to shield themselves from the intense sun. These Firing Zone blocks are everywhere: in front of the Bedouin tents, along the streets. During military training, Palestinians get wounded, as happened to the mayor of Al-Aqaba when he was 17 years old: he is now paralysed and in a wheelchair. Access and movement are restricted through checkpoints, such as the dreaded one in Taysir, where you must have a permit or coordination number to pass, and diplomats, ministers and the local residents of course, have to wait for hours in the suffocating heat (the Swiss diplomat in our delegation did not use very 'diplomatic' words to describe the soldiers’ behaviour here.)

A silent expulsion, but a strong resistance too.

The non-violent popular resistance committee, led by Fathi Khdirat, represents another extraordinary experience of Palestinian steadfastness: a movement focused on non-violent actions to defend the community’s presence and strengthen its skills and abilities. In mobilizing local communities through volunteering their time and energy, the committee represents a response to the Israeli occupation. But it is also a concrete step towards reconstruction, through traditional building methods, such as the school they are building in the village of Jiftlik, which will serve children from the Bedouin camps. The Israeli Army and the Civil Administration have already ordered its demolition: and as they demolish, the communities rebuild. It is a non-violent act of resistance against the occupation, which should be recognized and supported by movements of international solidarity.

Expulsions in the Jordan Valley are distanced from media attention, but also from the funding of aid agencies and for years now they have been far from the Palestinian political summits. What can be done?

It is true: apart from few exceptions, politically and geographically isolated, the Jordan Valley is far from attracting big groups of international and Israeli activists such as those who have mobilized their energies against Gaza’s blockade, evictions in East Jerusalem, or along side non-violent local committees against the Wall and the occupation in villages throughout the West Bank.

In addition to the geographical distance which separates indigenous communities, the Jordan Valley is less inhabited (as it is area C) than other areas of the West Bank. Furthermore, there is a gap between Bedouin pastoral nomadic and stationary communities. As representatives of solidarity movements and groups, it is essential to be self-critical, since throughout the years we have abandoned area C and the Jordan Valley. It is important to achieve an end to the Israeli occupation and support campaigns against settlement expansion, as well as to provide Bedouin communities with water and electricity: all is part of this objective. Eventually, with Salam Fayyad’s government, the Palestinian Authority realized that area C is part of occupied Palestine and it is necessary to advocate for projects and initiatives in the region. The PA’s choice to ask the international community to intervene and to get international agencies to operate in the Jordan Valley, has resulted in positive responses, but Israel has intensified its repressive and destructive policy. I think that the PA should challenge the Israeli occupation and colonization in day to day life, in any possible and impossible place. The Jordan Valley is occupied Palestine, there are no A, B, and C areas. So much time has been wasted!

The Jordan Valley Campaign continues to face several challenges, along with the other popular committees in the West Bank villages: they continue popular non-violent resistance based on determination. As Fathi says, with his bright eyes and sunburnt face, while he mixes home-made hay-and-clay bricks, “To exist is to resist”.

Racism against Mizrachi Jews is Not Poetic (or: You're Not Alone Sami Elbaz)

Dear readers,

Today when I was reading the news, the following article captured my eyes and left me angry, sad and disappointed.

The article talks about one of Israel's most important poets Natan Zach remarks against Mizrachi Jews (Jews who heritages/immigrated from Arab countries).

Zach gave an interview at the Israeli channel 10, where at one point exposed his racist thoughts and feelings regarding the 'bad' cultural impact the Mizrachim has over the Israeli culture:"The idea of taking people who have nothing in common arose. The one lot comes from the highest culture there is - Western European culture - and the other lot comes from the caves." (from the interview). His sayings brought (again) the topic of the hidden racism and discrimination against Mizrachim back to the table, and many people are call to boycott him and his writings.

I'm happy it came up, because I think it can give you a good sense of social conflict between Mizrachi and Askenazi Jews in Israel. This case can illuminate the case of Sami Elbaz, the Mizrachi cleaning guy from Vision Two.

Sami's story truly resemble the non-admitted, complex and hidden discrimination that the Arab Jews are suffering from since their great immigration waves in the 60s and 70s.

Mourid: There is something wrong with you

Sami: That's what Hebrew University said. And I said: 'Do you really think i resemble an insect?'... Then why did the authorities sprayed my father with DDT when he entered Tel-Aviv?

Mourid: All Arabs are filthy?

Sami: But I am Jewish Arab

Mourid: Yes. I can tell by the mop.

(from the play, Second Vision)

Wallace's depicts, again, another painful spot in the israeli society. Sami, and his fellows Arab Jews, are being constituently marginalize by the Israeli authorities: whether it's a university, high-school, or places of work. Not only that Sami was not able to recieve a full academic degree, but he also mops the floors of Ashkenazi Jews like Tanya- a Jew that will never be observed by Mourid moping anyone floor.

The Arab-Jews immigration has been differentiated by many level from the Ashkenazi one. While the Ashkenazi Jews have been the first group who'd been encourage to settle in Israel, the Arab Jews (the Mizrachim/Sephardic Jews) came as a default solution against the increasing demography of the Palestinian and in order to get more working hands to build the new state of Israel. Also, most of the Arab Jews immigrated for religious reasons (accomplishing their arrival to Zion) while the Ashkenazim came for Zionist ideology, which was foreign to the Arab Jews, due to the simple fact that the movement emerge in Europe , and did not made it to the Arab countries.

Their history of the Arab Jews is barely being discussed in school, their pop music consider 'cheap' and 'shallow' by the Israeli elite (like Zach and other Ashkenazi artists) and they are still struggling to 'legitimize' their existence and contribution to the Israeli society.

The picture above by Meir Gal vividly visualize how many pages discusse the history of the Arab Jews in the Israeli history books. the title of his work is "Nine out of Four Hundred." i think you get the picture... literally.

You're welcome to read more about the social struggle of the Arab Jews in Israel (the Black Panther Movement) here, and about their culture in general here.

I'll try to bring more poems and discussions about arab Jews and other topics , and about Sami Elbaz... I just love this character. He brings so much ridiculousness and pain in the midst of such a theatrical limbo. Fantastic!

Yours truly,

Renana

Coffee with Omar (or: My First Step to Understand Iraq)

I've met Omar by chance. To be clear, the Omar I've met was not the Omar I was speaking with about Iraq, Saddam, theater pigeons and war. The Omar I've first met was the one who sold me my first prepay Verizon phone. It was the day after I came back from Israel- overwhelmed by Boston's amazing weather- and needed to replace my cell phone that did not work anymore, due to a finished contract.

Omar (the one from Verizon) asked me where I'm from, and once I realized he's from Iraq, and that we're neighbors from the same troubled region, we developed a great conversation which had nothing to do with cellphones or Verizon contracts. He told me about his longing for his country, about his life as a refugee in the States, and I told him about my interests and ideas about home- that as much as I miss it, it's hard not to criticize its politics.

We part ways, and continued our summer- I had a new phone, and he continued his work at Verizon and his academic career at BU.

I started working at the CST, and as hard as I tried , I couldn't find any reliable books and references about Iraq, the Gulf war or the peculiar relations between Iraqi and pigeons... Everything is from a Western point-of-view; either from American reporter, or American soldier, and I didn't want it to be my ground for the research of the third vision in the play.

And then I had my Eureka moment- and I've decided that it will be a good idea to contact Iraqi people I know... and so, I came back to the Verizon shop in Harvard Square, and begged Omar to share some of his memories/thoughts/experiences/ favorite Iraqi writers with me.

Luckily, he did not think I'm a creep, and sent me an email with a list of his fellow Iraqi friends- who can help me with my research.

And that's how I've met the Omar. Omar Bazzaz. The first Iraqi I've met to talk about all I didn't know, and wouldn't have known, about Iraq.

We set in C3 in Central Square, I introduced myself, took out the play, and the then it started- one of the most interesting conversations I had in a while.

We started discussing about the play- what does he think about the 3rd vision, and if he found some faults in the play.

Omar told me that he really liked the play, and how it focuses on the suffering of the Iraqi people. When I asked him about the story of Ali, the character, and the misery he describes in the vision, Omar answered me clearly; that it was as bad as I can imagine, and in order to survive in Iraq at that time, you had to sell everything. Ali's description of the cheap books at the sidewalks, and the continues searching for food- are all vivid images that Iraqisneeded to go through every day under the sanctions that the Western world brought about as a punishment for Saddam's invasion to Kuwait.

Pigeons, Omar reveled, is a very common hobby in Iraq, and many houses inhabitant them. However, trading them is a costume of the poor societies in Iraq, and consider to be quite despicable. Omar added, that Iraqis who grow pigeons for trading, are been marginalized; for example, the Iraqi court doesn't consider pigeons traders as a reliable witness in court. People from the high class society, like Omar's family, used to have pigeons too- but only doves. He asserts that doves inhabiting was belong to the middle-upper class society- and therefore, he wondered about Ali and his pigeons, and if he came from a high class family or not (after all, Ali had many pigeons other than doves).

Another thing that struck Omar, was Ali's age. Omar believes that there is a great problem to solve about Ali due to Wallace's character description. According to Omar, in '91 there wasn't any general draft to the Iraqi army. If there was a general draft, and the play is taking place in 2000, Omar was supposed to join the Iraqi army at the age of 19, if in 2000 he is "at his late twenties." Omar thinks that that doesn't make sense, because Ali seems to come from a good socio-economical background- not from a family that has to send her child to the army at such a young age.

Although military service is mandatory in Iraq, educated men can get away from that pretty easily. Did Ali voluntarily joined Saddam's army? Why did he joined the army at such a young age? Did he receive his education before or after his military service?

There are many questions to answer about Ali, but at least I got more details about the daily lives of Iraqis under Saddam regime, and the cruel reality under the American occupation.

Omar told me that life under Saddam was miserable, but the American occupation is even worse. Ali reflects the misery and impoverished reality of Iraq under the sanction in the 90's. Omar confirmed it all: the story about the pencils is true, the kids in Iraq barely had papers to write on. Omar emphasized the great effort Saddam's government had made to compensate for the lack of food and water; differently from the lives under the American occupation, the Iraqi government provided basic food for the entire Iraqi population. The food was bad, but at least it was something.

When it came to health and medicine, things were more complicated. Saddam couldn't compensate for the need of medicine, and as written in Ali's vision, many people died due to the simplest reasons: small infection, or a flu. Iraq's ones best in the region medical facilities, became a place of horror and death. Doctors, if they could, fled the country, although there was no country to welcome them. Death and poverty ruled the streets, the economy was destroyed, and crime increased once people turned to desperate actions of stealing and murdering for food and money. Infrastructures were damaged or destroyed, people had no job. The average salary was one dollar a month.

It was fascinating to see how Wallace nailed so many details and politics into this vision, and how well she represents Iraqis like Omar- who grow up in Iraq and suffered both wars- the Gulf War and the American occupation. I would like to investigate further Ali's possible reasons for joining Saddam's army, and to question Omar's insights.I just need to remember that there's so much you can reveal about a character- you cannot have it all.

Omar gave me references to some Iraqi authors and singers that might help me as I continue my research, and I'll be looking for their books and web sites this coming week.

Meanwhile, you can join this FaceBook group OLD IRAQ, which is full of Iraqi nostalgia and longings to the country of palms and doves. As Ali says- "I remember. I remember. Everything we say these days begins with 'I remember'", and I guess many Iraqis feel the same. Maybe they truly feel that all that is left is the past, that the present is harsh, and the future is too distant and vague for them to look at.

Maybe this project is one of many that will change that.

Yours truly,

Renana

In Searching for an Old-New Land

" Yuval (in Hebrew, panicked): Oh my God.

Shlomo: Hey, I said where are we?

Yuval (in Hebrew): Oh my God. Oh my God.Oh my God.

(Shlomo slaps Yuval in the face to bring him around.)

Shlomo: Snap out of it. Let's talk about... Tel Aviv? Hu?

Yuval: Yeah. My folks came over from New York to Tel Aviv when they were kids.

Shlomo: Yes, let us start at the beggining? Tel Aviv is... ?

Yuval: All right, all right... Borrowed from the book of Ezekiel

Shlomo: And?

Um Hisham: He doesn't know.

Shlomo: Very likely the only city to be named after a book, Herzl's futuristic and--

Um Hisham: -- not very good, novel Altneuland. First published--

Shlomo: 1902, and translated as--

Yuval: Tel Aviv.

Shlomo: Yes. What useless facts we architects acquire. "

(Fever Chart- Vision One, p. 13-14)

Dear readers,

I couldn't hold my laugh when I've first read the lines above. It amazed me how "nonsensely" a heavy topic such as Herzl's Zionist vision can be. Wallace managed to sneak in such an intelligent note about the history of the Zionist movement through such a sharply funny pause.

However, not everyone can understand the story behind these lines, therefore, I decided to elaborate the following topics:

1. To portray Herzel's character and contribution to the Zionist movement (shortly...)

2. To explain what's inside his book Altneuland

3. Agree with Um- Hisham and her thoughts about the book:

It's not a brilliant book... Least to say.

So... let's accomplish the mission!

Theodor Herzel (or in his Hebrew name: Binyamin Ze'ev Herzel) was born in Austria in 1860, and was a journalist in his profession. All this time he wasn't really interested in his Jewish heritage or differentiating himself from his German nationality, until he witnesses the anti-semitic trail of Dreyfus- a Jewish lieutenant in the France army who was accused for betraying the French Republic.

Herzel was touched by the tragedy, and came to a deep understanding that Jews, no matter how loyal they were to their nations and governments, were always rejected and marginalized by their countries. Herzel realized that Jews should stand up as a nation, and demand a country for themselves. It was quite revolutionary because Herzel was one of the first people to declare Judaism as a nationality, and not merely a religious group.

Herzel's actions were phenomenal- he was anxiously addressing heads of countries and religious leaders; pointing out the crucial problems of the Jews and their need for a country. Just a reminder- we're talking about the begging of the 20th century, when the great waves of anti-Semitism just started. Imagine what would've happened if someone had listened to the guy... maybe we could prevent the Holocaust. Maybe my grandparents wouldn't need to run away from the pogroms.

Herzel died in 1904, and in his short life he established the Zionist Congress, and inspired many Jews to go to Palestine, and build their home in the ancestral land of the Jewish people.

His activities and aspirations brought him his title as the Visionary of the State (of Israel), and he is defiantly one of THE most important personage in the Jewish history and the history of Israel.

And that brings me to his... not so greatly written book: ALTNEULAND (German: Old New Land).

I should have read his book earlier, but I skipped that class in high-school. However, I've read it few weeks ago for my dramaturgy research, and let me tell you one thing-- Herzel might had some great revolutionary ideas, but his writing is... lacking. I must admit that it wasn't a fun read, and it was full of cliches, obvious ideas, and boring illustrations; but considering the fact that it's an Utopian book about the Jewish state, 50 years before it was actually established- it could have been worse.

The book tells about Freidrich, a young Jewish man from Austria, who goes on a trip to Palestine, falls asleep on board and dreams about the new Jewish state. Herzel describes his imaginary tour in Palestine, and the places and the ideas Freidrich encounters. Some parts of the book brings Herzel's suggestions for a nice welfare system in the future country: equal rights to all citizens, modern train system, great educational institutions and many more:

" In philanthropy... we created nothing new. Hospitals, infirmaries, orphan asylums, vacation camps, public kitchen... We are thus able to to care for every sick and needy applicant.There are fewer demands on public charity here because conditions- I have a right to say- are better on the whole"

(Altneuland, Theodor Herzel, Bluch Publishing, p, 77)

Although Herzel raises great ideas about the walks of the liberal Jewish society in the future, he doesn't spare his arrogant vision about the "local population" in the un-utopian Palestine:

" Jaffa made a very unpleasant impression upon them. Though nobly situated on the blue Mediterranean, the town was in a state of extreme decay. Landing was difficult in the forsaken harbor. The alleys were dirty, neglected, full of vile odors. Everywhere misery in bright Oriental rags. Poor Turks, dirty arabs, timid Jews lounged about- indolent, beggary, hopeless. "

(Ibid, p. 42)

I can't tolerate this sort of arrogant-Western writing. If Herzel pictured the European Jews as the "Western Salvation" who would win over the "vile odors" of the "Oriental rags" in Palestine- I would say he got the wrong picture.

It is funny that Herzel criticizes Palestine for being a "dirty oriental" country. When Herzel visited Palestine, the country was still under the occupation of the Ottoman Empire. How could the local population of Palestine prosper under a Turkish occupation, especially at the end of its era, when the Ottoman empire lost its power? Above all, calling them "dirty" is no less than racist and narrow minded.

If Herzel thought that Jews will come and set new rules over the Arab population of Palestine- his ideas can be titled as imperialist and nothing else. A "New Society" as he named it, should emerge from both societies, the Jewish and the Palestinian, and apply to both. Otherwise, it's no better then what happens in iraq nowadays: An American occupation in the name of Democracy, that destroys the local culture and history.

Herzel portrayed the idea of equal rights in his book, but failed to treat the Arab population with respect. That's one of the main reasons I didn't like his book, but I would love to share what I've scanned from it, and let you judge for yourself...

All the best,

Renana

The Continues Lost of the People of Gaza

Hello again,

Phil Berman, one of the dramaturgists who works with me in the theater, sent me this New York Post article about Gaza. I'd like to thank him, and to post it here.

This video talks about the desperate situation the people of Gaza are going through in their daily lives, for more than two decades, and especially now- more than a year after the Israeli operation of Cast Lead.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/14/world/middleeast/14gaza.html?_r=2&hpw

You need more than words in order to illustrate the lives of people who live there, in the occupied territory of Gaza... This video is one of these attempts. I hope you can use it.

Long live free Palestine and the end of the occupation.

Renana

The Right To Return- The Palestinian Exile

Dear family,

As promised, I'm dedicating this post for the sensitive subject of the Palestinian exile. Our play, intentionally or not, highlights this subject quit often, and therefore I'd like to explain it and bring some other artistic material about this topic.

Understanding the complex situation of Palestinians in and out of their land, is crucial for the actors who're playing Um-Hisham and Mourid. Both characters speaks out about the land they've been deprived of, their lost of their home lands, and their right to be back:

Shlomo: ... So, my good women, what do you see?

(Um Hisham looks across the land-scape)

Um Hisham: Palestinians.

Shlomo: Exactly! And we are?

Um Hisham: Lunatics.

Shlomo: Protection. Homa Umigdal (i.e. the Wall and Tower model that was built at the beginning of the jewish settlements in Israel R.G)

Um Hisham: The model was a machine of invasion... Nest and egg. Ha. Your Homa Umigdal houses had many little feet and they kept on coming. Another. Another (She counts the little houses she imagines). Another. Another. Another

(First Vision: A Shade of Innocence, p. 11-12)

In the play, Um Hisham is described as a women from Rafah- a city in the Gaza strip. But her family might arrived there after they've been escaped from Palestine after the Israeli invasion in 1948 or 1967. The passage above is a small statement she makes, a tease, that rise the painful topic of the Israeli occupation and annexation of the Palestinian territories.

Following Wallace's recommended readings for the play, I've started reading the incredible book by the German scholar Christoph Reute, My Life Is a Weapon. This book, regardless of its deep insight of suicide bombers around the globe, brings out the stories of families from Palestine that try to cope with the reality of the occupation. Once the production will start, I'll provide "our" Um-Hisham" the files, for now you can have a look at the introduction of the book:

https://pup.princeton.edu/chapters/i7699.html

In case of Mourid- the situation is far more complex. Mourid is from East Jerusalem- an area that until the 67 war was under a Jordanian governance, and from 67 till this day under the Israeli governance. There are 66,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem, 44,000 of them were born and raised there before the israeli occupation, and 22,000 of them are Palestinian refugees who had to move there after the war at 67.

Although both East and West Jerusalem are under Israeli governance, Palestinians from the East side suffer from serious limitations on their freedom of movement (among all other limitations). That's why Tanya and Sami are surprised to see Mourid in a clinic in West Jerusalem- because he's basically not allowed there...

You're welcome to study the following timeline of the Nakba, provided by the website of Palestine Note:

http://palestinenote.com/cs/blogs/news/archive/2010/06/22/nakba-til-now-a-refugee-timeline.aspx

There many organizations who work to revive and keep the memory of all the Palestinian villages who had been occupied during the war at 48, and their Palestinian residents needed to flee once the Israeli forces arrived. This organization is one of them:

http://www.nakbainhebrew.org/index.php?lang=english

Until my next post, you can follow the news and keep enriching your curiosity...

All the best,

Renana

Guilts (or: Why I Didn't mention Iraq?)

I would like to begin with an apology. Apology, because my first post did not mention Iraq: The suffering, the injustice, the Gulf war, pigeons, poetry, misery, US, Bush, oil, Saddam.

Nada.

This post wouldn't clarify anything about Iraq. I promise to write about it more once I'll find the right resources: books, people, songs, and pigeons' guides.

What is about to happen on this virtual spot of mine, is a tentative game that will try to connect the puzzle pieces from the play's visions about Palestine, and the vision from Iraq.

Confused? Please, be patience. I shall explain.

After deciding to dedicate this post to the Palestinian exile through poetry, I've noticed that Dear Ms. Wallace gave me a hint-a tip of a shoelace- where to find the connections between the visions, between the politics, between the nations of Palestine and Iraq.

At Ali's vision, the last one in the trilogy, he mentions his friend, Samir, great affection to al-Sayyab. (p. 62). In short, Badr Shakir al-Sayyab (1926-1964) is an Iraqi poet, who considers to be one of the poets who revolutionize the Arab poetry, due to his usage of mythical images in order to criticize politics and social issues.

During my research about Palestinian poets and their artistic responses to the Nakba (the Disaster/The Catastrophe in Arabic, the Palestinian term for their Exodus from israel after the war in 1948), I found that many poets in the Arab world created their own artistic expression to the Palestinian Nakba-- among them, al-Sayyab.

This Iraqi poet wrote one of the most significant poems that empathized with the suffering of the exiled Palestinian people. His poem, "The Caravan of the Wretched," emphasizes the importance of brotherhood among the Arab nations:

Cain! Where is you brother? Where is your brother?

Heaven asked him burning with anger.

Cain! Where is you brother?

The star curled up in a call.

Lying in the tents of the refugees.

...

Not only did they drive us out of our

villages and cities,

but also from the habitation of men.

Today caves are filled by us

howling for hunger,

and dying unnoticed,

with no graves left behind us.

(al Sayyab, Badr Shakir, Palestine and Modern Arab Poetry, Suliman Khalid A., p.112)

There are many Arab poets that criticized the silence of the Arab world, the US and Israel to the suffering of the Palestinian people, but Wallace's choice to mention one of them in the Iraqi vision, proves me that she wants us to link them all together, not only under a play, but also politically, socially, artistically.

Al-Sayyab was a revolutionary figure in iraq, and was deprived of his profession as a teacher due to his social-communists points of view. One of his great inspirer was Mahmoud Darwish, the national Palestinian poet, who I will write more about at my next post. Meanwhile, I'll leave you with an Iraqi lullaby from the great collection "Lullabies from the Axis of Evil": a great lullabies collection from Iraq,Palestine, Korea and many more...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xu4TkQffrWA

Until next time,

Renana

Welcome to our vision

Dear family of The Fever Chart,

My name is Renana Gal. As my name can tell, I'm not American. As my language shows, English is not my first language. "I come from there," as Mahamud Darwish wrote in his poem, but different from Darwish, I'm not Palestinian. I was lucky to be born as an Ashkenazi Jew- and to be part of a nation that occupied, and still occupies, Darwish's land and people. Did I say Lucky?.. what a tricky term.

Maybe my nation has the power, but our power is functions as a two-edge sword. The two nations, the Israeli and the Palestinian, argues who stab first. I'm not sure it matters. The sad reality now, is that the more we stab each-other, the more we bleed. Luck is not playing a game at the long term. Luck is the thing that just let us pass another day.

What the play depict for us, is the fragility of each side's strength.The Strong peeled off their shields, and the weak wear it instead. But every bit changes this dance of warriors, and we don't know who's beating who- we're ending up tired, and we're letting the metaphysical visions just run through us. By breathing, by singing lullabies, or by blowing a feather. These visions allow us to run away from the facts and statistics that are part of the fever chart... but it is chasing us. And One day we will wake up and face its facts.

Until then, I will collect for you the facts, the stories, the statistics, the lullabies, the photos... I will lay them down for you, and you will build the chart that will wake us all.

Salam,

Shalom,

Peace.

Renana