Interview with Gilad Atzmon by Prof. Norton Mezvinsky-Washington Report

 

Introduction by Gilad Atzmon: One could imagine how delighted I was to be interviewed (and grilled) by Prof. Norton Mezvinsky whom I admire for years. Prof. Mezvinsky is an observant Jew, he is also one of the world leading scholars on Jewish history, Zionism and Jewish identity politics. He has written numerous books, articles and book reviews that deal with various aspects of the Arab-Israeli conflict and Zionism. He is the co-author of Jewish Fundamentalism in Israel, which he wrote with Israel Shahak. Beside the intellectual engagement, I must also mention that Norton is an incredible spirit and one of the most charming people I have ever come across.

It goes without saying that I was thrilled to meet and to be questioned by the legendary Helen Thomas. I will use this opportunity to thank the outstanding Washington Report  and the other  incredible organisations and individuals who orgenised, endorsed and supported my last USA truth seeking mission into a great success.

http://www.wrmea.com

Click here to view part I

Click here to view Part II

Click here to view Part III

Click here to view Part IV

Engaging Gilad Atzmon

Israeli-born Gilad Atzmon, one of Europe’s finest jazz musicians, was in Washington, DC for the first time at the end of a multi-city North American grassroots tour to discuss his recently published and highly controversial book, The Wandering Who? A Study of Jewish Identity Politics. 

On March 14, Atzmon was interviewed by Prof. Norton Mezvinsky, Connecticut State University Professor of History Emeritus, at Washington’s Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church. The previous day a letter signed by 23 Palestinian activists called for “the disavowal of the racism and anti-Semitism of Gilad Atzmon.”

Watch the video of the Atzmon addressing the charges frequently levied against him. Decide for yourself—should Atzmon continue his frank discussion of Jewish identity or should his voice be silenced?

The Washington Report believes that no writer or thinker should be shunned in the United States—or anywhere—and we stand by our decision to host his DC events.

Gilad Atzmon’s New Book: The Wandering Who? A Study Of Jewish Identity Politics Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

Bill Hicks - It's Just a Ride

Once Again Atzmon on Muhammad and Friends TV Show (very interesting)

Video streaming by Ustream

We spoke about The Wandering Who, Dershowitz, AZZ, the Lobby, Abunimah & Co., Iran, Ethics.. very very interesting...(my segment starts around 5 minutes in)..

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Excerpt: Rare peek at nightly raids of West Bank village (Nabi Saleh) with English subs

Israeli mob shouting 'death to Arabs'

 Notorious for their racist chants at soccer matches, hooligan supporters of the Israeli team Beitar Jerusalem flooded a Jerusalem mall this week and beat up several Arab employees, Israeli media reported.

One Family in Gaza by Jen Marlowe

One Family in Gaza from Jen Marlowe on Vimeo.

Just months after the Israeli assault that killed 1,390 Palestinians, I visited Gaza. Among dozens of painful stories I heard, one family stood out. I spent several days with Kamal and Wafaa Awajah, playing with their children, sleeping in the tent they were living in, and filming their story.

Wafaa described the execution of their son, Ibrahim. As she spoke, her children played on the rubble of their destroyed home. Kamal talked about struggling to help his kids heal from trauma.

What compelled me to tell the Awajah family's story? I was moved not only by their tragedy but by the love for their children in Wafaa and Kamal's every word.

Palestinians in Gaza are depicted either as violent terrorists or as helpless victims. The Awajah family challenges both portrayals. Through one family’s story, the larger tragedy of Gaza is exposed, and the courage and resilience of its people shines through.

For more information or to purchase a DVD or organize a screening, please contact donkeysaddle@gmail.com

Neturei Karta International endorsing the Global March to Jerusalem

Who Is Gilad Atzmon… and, Who Are We?

by Gary Corseri

A review of The Wandering Who, by Gilad Atzmon

http://dissidentvoice.org/

Caution! Do not enter this book unless you are prepared for serious self-examination, self-dialogue, and a dialectic with an astute listener, challenger, provocateur and wit. Leave notions, assumptions, biases—positive and negative—at the doors of your perception—which are about to be vigorously cleansed! Be prepared for topic sentences like this: “My grandfather was a charismatic, poetic, veteran Zionist terrorist.”

The author of such disarming prose, the grandson of that “veteran Zionist,” is internationally-acclaimed musician and composer, Gilad Atzmon. Born and raised in Israel–a Sabra—Atzmon, like his peers, “didn’t see the Palestinians” around him. “Supremacy,” he writes, “was brewed into our souls.”

And then a strange thing happened. “On a very late-night jazz programme, I heard Bird (Charlie Parker) with Strings. I was knocked down. The music was more organic, poetic, sentimental and wilder than anything I had ever heard. …” And the most extraordinary thing about Atzmon’s first encounter with the iconic American saxophonist? “I realized that Parker was actually a black man. … In my world, it was only Jews who were associated with anyting good. Bird was the beginning of a journey.”

Now in his 50s, with a luminous musical career of his own, Atzmon has published two novels, and numerous essays and articles at websites and periodicals worldwide. The Wandering Who is a collection of 22 essays that serve as a baedeker for those who want to accompany him on his extraordinary “journey” of self-discovery and self-actualization. The book’s sectional titles include, “Identity vs. Identifying”; “Unconsciousness Is the Discourse of the Goyim”; “Historicity & Factuality vs. Fantasy and Phantasm”; and “Connecting the Dots.” Accompany Atzmon and one finds oneself sharpening one’s own tools for self-interrogation and reflection, wandering with him to discover our own elusive “who.”

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Ali Abunimah & Gilad Atzmon at the OK Corral

by Roger Tucker

http://www.deliberation.info/

The recent open letter GrantingNo Quarter: A Call for the Disavowal of the Racism and Antisemitism of Gilad Atzmon, apparently written by Ali Abunimah, has come as a shock to many people, including yours truly. Not only have the Zionists colonized Palestine and subjected them to a permanent campaign of genocide, but as anyone who has been paying attention knows, they have colonized the Western democracies, turning them into obedient puppets. Now it appears that they have also colonized the Palestine Solidarity movement.

At the end of this essay are links to a number of responses supporting Atzmon and what he stands for. These cover the ground pretty well, but I’d like to add a critical look at the language used by Abunimah et al and some of the notions underlying such terminology. I’ll start with the title itself, which begins with the curious phrase “Granting No Quarter.” The phrase is familiar to anyone who has read books or seen films based on British naval warfare set in the 18th or early 19th centuries. – this is as extreme as it gets. This from a group of mostly Palestinian supporters of the Palestinian struggle against Israel in opposition to another such supporter. That is sufficiently mind-boggling in itself, but Ali Abunimah, and I would assume at least some of his fellow signatories, are also supporters of One Democratic State as the solution to the basic conflict in the Middle East, as is Atzmon. Some fundamental and portentous difference, beyond a mere dispute about strategy or tactics, must be responsible for such a total and uncompromising attack on a seemingly close ally. It allows for no debate, no compromise – no quarter offered or accepted.

Some observers have implied that Ali & Co. have actually gone over to the enemy, or may have been Zionist agents from day one, and that the Jewish members of these Solidarity groups are acting as their handlers. For the sake of argument, I’m going to assume that is not so, that they are perfectly sincere in considering themselves loyal to the Palestinian cause as they conceive it.

To read more click here

Gilad Atzmon’s New Book: The Wandering Who? A Study Of Jewish Identity Politics Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk.

Seven Days From a Gaza Diary (must watch)

Seven Days From a Gaza Diary - a performance for three voices adapted by Edward Mast from the diary of Khulood Ghanem, Gaza, 2008-9, at the conference "The United States, Israel and Palestine: What Does Justice Require of US?" held February 19, 2010 at St. Marks Cathedral Seattle, WA