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Gilad Atzmon's New Book: The Wandering Who? A Study Of Jewish Identity Politics
Jewish identity is tied up with some of the most difficult and contentious issues of today. The purpose in this book is to open many of these issues up for discussion. Since Israel defines itself openly as the ‘Jewish State’, we should ask what the notions of ’Judaism’, ‘Jewishness’, ‘Jewish culture’ and ‘Jewish ideology’ stand for. Gilad examines the tribal aspects embedded in Jewish secular discourse, both Zionist and anti Zionist; the ‘holocaust religion’; the meaning of ‘history’ and ‘time’ within the Jewish political discourse; the anti-Gentile ideologies entangled within different forms of secular Jewish political discourse and even within the Jewish left. He questions what it is that leads Diaspora Jews to identify themselves with Israel and affiliate with its politics. The devastating state of our world affairs raises an immediate demand for a conceptual shift in our intellectual and philosophical attitude towards politics, identity politics and history.
Syrian government agreed today to allow UN inspectors to investigate allegations of a suspected chemical weapon attack near Damascus.
The team is to begin work on Monday. Activists say Syrian forces killed more than 300 people in several suburbs east and west of the capital on Wednesday. But more than a few leading commentators admitted in the last few days that it is unlikely that Assad forces have anything to do with such an attack. The chance that the Syrian army would call such an attack on Damascus at a time when UN inspectors are in town is beyond imagination. It is pretty clear that if such an attack took place, it was perpetrated by elements that are foreign to Syria.
But as it seems, the Israelis are excited about the prospect of a big regional war. The Israeli Ynet is reviewing the American might and the prospect of intervention. It is hard to gather why the Israelis are so excited about such a possible escalation, do they really prefer to face Islamic Jihad on their Northern border?
In the meantime, the UN inspectors already confirmed that they will be able to verify whether the attack was of a chemical nature, yet verifying who stood behind the attack would be an impossible task.
A fundamentalist meme first plays out as tragedy and then is re-enacted as a farce. Both tend to have tragic consequences though. Racial purity as pursued by Nazi Germany referred to the Aryan race. Germanic peoples do indeed belong to the white race. Israel’s obsession with racial purity is a farçe insofar as Jews are not a race, yet “Jewish blood” is a reality in their minds:
“A number of people from the former Soviet Union wishing to immigrate to Israel could be subjected to DNA testing to prove their Jewishness. The policy was reported in Maariv on Monday, one day after the Israeli paper revealed that a19-year-old woman from the former Soviet Union was required to take the test to qualify for a Birthright Israel trip.”
“The code of purity of arms (Hebrew: טוהר הנשק, Tohar HaNeshek) is one of the values stated in the Israel Defense Forces’ official doctrine of ethics, The Spirit of the IDF. According to Norman Solomon, the concepts of Havlaga and purity of arms arise out of the ethical and moral values stemming from the tradition of Israel, extrapolation from the Jewish Halakha, and the desire for moral approval and hence political support from the world community.[1] Despite doubts when confronted by indiscriminate terrorism, purity of arms remains the guiding rule for the Israeli forces.[1] These foundations have elicited a fair degree of consensus among Jews, both religious and secular.’
"Blumenthal seems to be following the inevitable path of secular, self-identified "anti-Zionists," who gain credibility by taking a stand as "another Jew against Zionism," as opposed to "another civilized, conscious human being against Zionism," and who, after establishing their "anti-Zionist" credentials with their fellow poseurs as well as Palestinians, soon set their sights on whom they consider "anti-Semites" in the movement who just happen to be those who are pulling their covers like Gilad has done.
Having spent more than 40 years working on this issue, I can say, with sufficient evidence, documentation, etc., that the Palestine solidarity movement has been dominated by Jews who identify themselves either as anti-Zionist or non-Zionist and who have thus been able to define the parameters in which Zionism and Jewish responsibility for Zionism and Israel's crimes may be discussed or not discussed.
At the same time, there has been absolutely NO measurable achievement by the solidarity movement either in occupied Palestine or in the US where the Israel Lobby, which the aforementioned movement Jews ignore, is today stronger than ever. These infiltrators will not even recognize that Congress is Israeli occupied territory.
Common decency demands that when someone slanders you in a public forum that you should have the right to respond in that same forum.
TRNN is an independent news network that provides thought-provoking news, analysis, and commentary. TRNN is much more than news headlines. For the greatest part, news events are reported in context and with relevant background information. This distinguishes TRNN very much from state and corporate media news. In addition, TRNN senior editor Paul Jay is very adept at playing devil’s advocate, laying out the corporate media/government line whereby guest analysts can probe and expose propaganda and disinformation.
Since criticizing the corporate media is very much like flogging a dead horse and because getting the real news out there is so important, I tend to focus my media criticism on TRNN. For instance, I criticized TRNN for parroting a corporate-state media message about North Korea (without providing relevant background information).1 Its US electoral coverage in 2008 and 2012 was fundamentally anti-democratic because of its inordinate focus on the evilist parties rather than alloting equal coverage to all parties (albeit third party coverage did increase from 2008 to 2012).
State House spokeswoman Jen Psaki made history by telling AP reporter Matt Lee that the U.S. had “determined that we do not need to make a determination” whether the military coup in Egypt was in fact a coup d’état, which would have triggered a suspension of roughly $1.5 billion annually in mostly military aid to Egypt. This head-in-the-sand approach to policymaking and implementation apparently has other applications, as groups dedicated to “ending the Israeli occupation” of Palestinian land are discovering.
The question came up as one of those groups, the U.S. Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation, sought to formulate a statement and policy against racism within its ranks. The draft statement expressed the opposition of USCEIO to “…all forms of racism, including Islamophobia, anti-Semitism or any other expressions of bigotry…” In the discussion, one of the participants (me) proposed the addition of Zionism to the expressed forms of racism.
Zionism is obviously a key cause of injustice to Palestinians and therefore an important consideration in the mission of the USCEIO. However, is Zionism racism?
There are several definitions of Zionism, but it is widely understood as the movement to create and preserve a Jewish state in Palestine. If you advocate a Jewish state, you are a Zionist (although some people claim to defend a Jewish state because Zionists want one and not because they are themselves Zionist).
In order to create Israel, which defines itself as a Jewish state, it was necessary to expel most of the existing non-Jewish population, which outnumbered the Jewish population two-to-one at the time. The determination of whom to expel was simple: Jews stay; non-Jews leave. Racist? You decide.
Then there’s the matter of immigration. Who gets to become Israeli? Jews, of course, and occasionally their non-Jewish immediate family (who will hopefully convert). Non-Jews, including those who were expelled from their homes are out of luck. Racist?
The third and final illustration is the matter of housing in Israel for Israeli citizens. More than 93% of Israeli land is off limits to its non-Jewish citizens.
There is much, much more, but the point is that all of this is done in the name of Zionism. Granted, not all Zionists agree with all of these policies. In fact some of them – often called “anti-occupation” Zionists – advocate the return of Palestinian lands seized by Israel in the 1967 war, and they oppose any further land seizures within Israel. However, they do not advocate returning the much larger seizures of Palestinian land prior to 1967 and allowing Palestinians to return to their homes in those areas.
Why? Because they want those lands for their Jewish state. Palestinians must be excluded from returning to their homes in those areas because they are not Jews. Is that racist? You decide.
Strategically, there may be reasons to cooperate with anti-occupation Zionists even if they are racist. They are critical of Israel and some of their objectives are the same as those of non-racists. This is in fact what the BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) campaign has done. It surreptitiously modified its original mission statement in order to accommodate a subgroup of these Zionists (those who support BDS), which has now come to dominate the movement, with some significant results to its credit.
The USCEIO would also like to pursue the agenda of anti-occupation, pro-BDS Zionists. Unfortunately, this is incompatible with an anti-racism statement. A model of such a statement was signed by more than 100 prominent Palestinians and published on the Electronic Intifada (EI), but it seems unlikely to win approval by USCEIO because it includes Zionism, along with Islamophobia and anti-Semitism, as forms of racism. The preferable course, therefore, appears to be to “determine that it does not need to determine” that Zionism is racism.
What are the consequences of this choice? Since there are few if any Palestinian groups that participate in USCEIO, the inescapable conclusion is that USCEIO prefers to be inclusive of some Zionists rather than most Palestinians, who are unlikely to join unless USCEIO takes a strong stand against Zionism and a consistent stand on racism, like the EI declaration.
Is it possible to include both? Perhaps, but in order to move in that direction, USCEIO would need to become an anti-Zionist organization that accommodates anti-occupation Zionists that have some common strategic interests, not an anti-occupation Zionist organization that accommodates anti-Zionists willing to bend to Zionist ends, which is what it is now. Only then can a consistent statement against racism be crafted.
Paul Larudee is a writer and human rights advocate, and one of the co-founders of the movement to break the siege of Gaza by sea.
It is the Red Carpet Premiere of the most taboo-breaking film on the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ever to be produced by, and on, the Arab world.
The event is in the presence of the eminent director Najdat Anzour, and leading cast members, including the Italian actors Marco Foschi and Fabio Testi, and the British actor, Bill Fellows.
The premiere of this historic and compelling English-language film is on 11 September 2013 at 6 pm.
Kindly express your interest in attending the premiere and send the details of your postal address, as it is an event by private invitation, to the following email:
The campaign against me and my work fell apart a while ago. I assume that my Jewish detractors came to realise that I enjoy their attention and use it to affirm my criticism of their tribal and exclusivist identity politics.
But yesterday I had a nostalgic moment reading Max Blumenthal dissing me publicly. When Blumenthal was asked about Israeli critics he ended up talking about the vile ‘anti Semites’, ‘neo Fascists’ and the ‘racists’ in the movements. Interestingly enough, he failed to remember any name but one – GiladAtzmon.
Atzmon is a “pure anti Semite who believes that all of the problems of Israel flow not from colonialism but from Judaism.” said Blumenthal.
Apparently, not buying into the clumsy ‘colonial paradigm’ makes me into a ‘neo Fascist’, ‘anti Semite’ and a ‘racist’.
It is obviously clear that Blumenthal didn’t read a single word by me. I naively believe that if someone insists to criticise my work, he or she better spend some time to read me first. It is an established fact that Palestinian activist Ali Abunimah also called for my disavowal while admitting to Prof. Norton Mezvinsky that he has never read a single word by me. Tragically enough, the fear of intellectual exchange and open discourse is endemic within the Jewish progressive ghetto but also within some quarters of the solidarity movement.
However, those who are even mildly familiar with my thoughts know that Blumenthal reacts out of hysteria rather than knowledge. My scholarship is not concerned with Judaism (the religion) nor am I referring to Jews (the people). I am critical of Jewish Identity politics and Jewish ideology. I elaborate on Jewish-ness and Jewish culture as opposed to Judaism. Race, genetics or biology have never been part of my study. If anything, I am critical largely of Jewish secular politics and culture rather than the Jewish religion.
It is hard to believe how little is left of Obama’s superb Cairo speech. In a relatively short time, the American administration has managed to fall into every possible trap. It is now affiliated as well as conflicting with Al-Qaeda (assuming there is such a thing), Wahhabi war-mongers, Salafist terrorists, the Muslim Brotherhood and their enemies - the Arab seculars and nationalist revolutionary forces. They all despise America equally. It indeed takes some talent to mess things up that badly. However, as usual, when everything goes wrong for America, the Administration expects the Palestinians to save the world single super power’s honour. America needs an Israeli/Palestinian deal but here is the problem. Both Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas are at least as clever as Atzmon. The two leaders are clever enough to grasp that America’s foreign policy is stuck in the mud. Instead of striking a peace deal, something they cannot sell to their people for the obvious reasons, they much prefer to buy time. The Palestinians buy time because time is all they need in order to win in the long term
Faith & Grace Artist: Norman Watt-Roy Album: Faith & Grace Date of Release: 2013/07/22 Label: Cadiz Music Cat. No.: CadizCD118 Other: Country of Release: UK Genre/s: 1) Rock 2) Singer-songwriter
Just released this 22nd July on Cadiz Music is legendary rock cult figure Norman Watt-Roy's debut solo album, Faith & Grace. (And who could not remember Watt-Roy's equally legendary bass lines for hits like Frankie Goes To Hollywood's Relax / The Clash's Magnificent 7, Ian Dury & The Blockheads' Rhythm Stick, and more?)
Once the idea of a solo album had taken root, Watt-Roy called on fellow Blockhead and jazz giant Gilad Atzmon to produce (as well as play), and they then assembled an incredible all-star line-up of the finest jazz musicians to suit Watt-Roy's jazz leanings to a 't' and then some. Pianist Frank Harrison, on piano, organ and Fender Rhodes, drummers Asaf Sirkis and Dylan Howe, on drums, and the amazing Wilko Johnson puts in an appearance on guitar and vocals on Roxette, while Owen 'Onnie' Mcintyre appears on guitar on Wachu-Wa, with drummer/percussionist Enzo Zirilli putting in an appearance on percussion on Wachu-Wa and Papa Chu Pap and Sarah Gillespie furnishing the vocals for Save It. An unbeatable team then.
The production needs commenting upon here for its sheer sonic exquisiteness and overall quality. Atzmon is a proven outstanding producer, but with Faith & Grace he has surpassed himself. Add the superlative engineering and mixing of Eastcote Studio's Philip Bagenal, and you end up with a recording that is perfection itself.
Norman Watt-Roy has always been and still is one of the greatest rock bass players, not least on account of his jazz proclivities. With Faith & Grace he proves his jazz cred admirably, while keeping one foot in rock territory. His primary influences of Jaco Pastorius and Weather Report shine through at almost every turn, and John and Mary is of course a Jaco/Weather Report piece. The opener pays tribute to Ian Dury with his Billericay Dickie, dragging it firmly into jazz territory. A further tribute is to Victor Young, with My Foolish Heart. Several of the other compositions are jointly credited to Watt-Roy and Atzmon, one to both with Sarah Gillespie, one to Watt-Roy alone, and most of the arrangements are by Watt-Roy and Atzmon. The material and arrangements are of supreme quality. In some cases, Atzmon has delightfully woven new content around and over some of Watt-Roy's most well known bass lines, such as Save It over the instantly recognisable Rhythm Stick, or Norman! Norman! over the equally recognisable Relax / Magnificent 7.
The album's title of Faith & Grace derives from Watt-Roy's Faith & Grace Custom 62 Jazz Bass built by JKG London.
Faith & Grace is an album that will just blow your mind. As riveting as it is brilliant, it is destined to be a classic. In fact, I'd call it a classic already.
If you are into any kind of either rock or jazz, or you just love a sublime bass, if you are a Blockhead, or love R&B, Watt-Roy or Jaco, Norman Watt-Roy's Faith & Grace is an absolute must have. Beg, steal or borrow won't do, you have to get this fabulous album the legit way. And the CD is a must here, with a cover by Sir Peter Blake (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band) on a beautifully designed triple cardfold. The Booklet comes with a series of far better than average for our time photographs of Watt-Roy and the other participants by Tali Atzmon, Lizette Orozco, John Bolloten and Andy Lock. Own a bit of rock/jazz history!
Sunday, August 25, 2013 at 4:02PM 
By Gilad Atzmon
http://www.boldfacenews.com/
