El Pais- Polémico libro de músico exjudío antes de festival de jazz

I am launching The Wandering Who in Spanish this week, a lot of activity, concerts and talks.

Here are a few articles.

Gilad Atzmon seguirá al guitarrista Jonathan Kreisberg en el certamen de artistas contemporáneos del Jimmy Glass

http://ccaa.elpais.com/ccaa/2012/10/22/valencia/1350924679_236031.html

Juan Manuel Játiva 

Archivado en:

Gilad Atzmon.

Menos bromas con el estereotipo del judío errante. El saxofonista o, mejor, multiinstrumentista Gilad Atzmon pone en cuestión la expresión desde el mismo título de su último libro: The wandering who? para aclarar de qué va su tercer ensayo en el subtítulo: A study of jewish indetity politics. O La identidad judía a examen, en la edición española que el propio autor presentará el próximo día 30, en Valencia, y los días 31 y 1 de noviembre en Madrid, junto a dos actuaciones que tendrán lugar en el Jimmy Glass y en el Bogui Jazz, respectivamente. De la complejidad del artista y escritor de origen israelí, que a sí mismo se considera un exjudío, se puede extraer una idea al enlazar todo eso con los conciertos de los Blockheads de Ian Dury que tenía previsto compartir este fin de semana en el Reino Unido, donde reside habitualmente.

La presentación del nuevo libro en Valencia, editado en España como La identidad errante y precedido en Gran Bretaña de una polémica tal que, al parecer, estuvo a punto de dar al traste con su publicación, tendrá lugar en la librería Cosecha Roja de la calle Sevilla, como aperitivo del segundo concierto del Festival de Jazz Contemporáneo que programa el Jimmy Glass Club del barrio del Carmen, en lo que supone un repetido desafío a la crisis ya que es la segunda edición. El festival arrancará seis días antes, es decir el miércoles próximo, con la actuación del guitarrista Jonathan Kreisberg, estrella de la escena neoyorquina que abarca con naturalidad un amplio abanico que va desde las influencias iniciales de Robert Fripp a la deriva tradicionalista de un álbum como Night songs.

Se trata de un cartel en el que los acompañantes son en algunos casos, tan relevantes como los cabezas de lista. Es el caso del saxo alto Wil Vinson, que participó en el  álbum más significativo de Kreisberg , The South of Everywhere y sigue a su lado ahora; del batería Francisco Mela, que llega a este festival en el trío encabezado por la saxofonista Melissa  Aldana, pero ha formado parte del grupo de Joe Lovano y ha tocado con estrellas como McCoy Tyner y Kenny Barron; o el saxofonista Stacy Dillard, que acude en el cuarteto del guitarrista Greg Diamond, la propuesta más latina del certamen.

Por no hablar de las formaciones en que los músicos se hablan de tú a tú, como es el caso del cuarteto reunido para el 19 de noviembre, en el que Perico Sambeat, Albert Sanz y Javier Colina se olvidan de sus propios proyectos para unirse al que fuera batería de Miles Davis, Al foster, y ofrecer una especial noche (Valencia Moon, ha sido bautizada) dedicada a darle una vuelta de tuerca a algunos estándares del hard bop .La representación española juega al máximo nivel, completada por el saxofonista y flautista Jorge Pardo, que presentará formalmente en Valencia el disco Huellas, última y brillante destilación de su combinado de flamenco y jazz.

El guitarrista Josemi Carmona, miembro de Ketama e hijo de Pepe el Habichuela, forma parte del sexteto que acompaña a Jorge Pardo para la presentación de este doble CD y el que como novedad se incorpora el trompetista valenciano Voro García.

Mención aparte merece el saxofonista bostoniano Jerry Bergonzi, que  vuelve al Jimmy para poner alto el listón del festival,  apoyado en su habitual rítmica, integrada por músicos que son figuras por derecho propio, a sabe: Dave Santoro, Andrea Michelutti y Carl Winter.  Completan el programa dos conciertos off festival, es decir, fuera de las tarifas del certamen, que son el protagonizado por la cantante Ganavya Doraiswami, al frente de un trío de jazz indio, y el del trío liderdo por el pianista valenciano Alberto Palau. Tanto Jeremy Pelt, como Gilad Atzmon y Greg Diamond actuan por primera vez en Valencia.

Gilad Atzmon, una identidad errante http://www.cuadernosdejazz.com/

El escritor y saxofonista, que se identifica a sí mismo como exjudío, estará en España la próxima semana para presentar la traducción al español de su último libro, The Wandering Who?: aprovecha la ocasión para ofrecer tres noches de conciertos entre Valencia y Madrid.

El tercer trabajo de Gilad Atzmon como escritor, el primero publicado en España, está editado por Ediciones de Oriente y del Mediterráneo (Madrid) bajo el título La identidad errante (La identidad judía a examen), un ensayo que Gilad comienza con la frase del político liberal Israel Shahak, nacido en Polonia y sobreviviente del Holocausto: “Los nazis me hicieron tener miedo de ser judío y los israelíes me hacen tener vergüenza de ser judío”.

Gilad se expresa casi en igualdad a través de la música y la palabra: una y otra están cargadas de experiencias vividas en primera persona. Su defensa de la causa Palestina no es la de un activista de salón sino la de alguien que conoce a la perfección la realidad de uno y otro lado del muro. Por tanto su música no puede dejar de estar impregnada de ello.

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Arch Paedophile Jimmy Savile was a devout Zionist and an Israel supporter

It is far from being a big surprise that Jimmy Savile, a 'predatory sex offender', found many friends amongst Zionists and Israeli leaders. Just a year ago, the UK Jewish Chronicle saw him as a dear friend of the Jewish people and their State.

Interestingly enough, JC's  Jessica Elgot who wrote the following piece prefers  Zionist paedophile Savile over truth tellers such as prof' John Mersheimer or myself*.

http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/57682/jimmy-savile-came-my-batmitzvah

Jimmy Savile came to my batmitzvah

By Jessica Elgot, November 3, 2011

With the Bridge in Britain friends in Tel Aviv in 1975; John Levy is far right

He claimed to have "invented the disco", but Sir Jimmy Savile, the DJ and presenter who died last weekend, also claimed to have done his bit towards peace in the Middle East.

Sir Jimmy always said he had berated the Israeli Cabinet in 1975 for being too soft after the Six Day War.

The bling-loving Leeds-born presenter of Jim'll Fix It and Top of the Pops, who once described himself as "the most Jewish Catholic you will ever meet," was a strong supporter of Israel and through fun runs, marathons and personal appearances, raised funds for many charities including WIZO, Ravenswood, and the British Friends of the Laniado Hospital in Netanya.

His ten-day visit to Israel in 1975, when he met President Ephraim Katzir and Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek, was organised by John Levy of the Friends of Israel Educational Trust.

Trademark tracksuit

The trip was filmed for the BBC's Jim'll Fix It after nine-year-old Gary Merrie from Liverpool asked "to see the land where Jesus was born."

Sir Jimmy recalled his advice to the Israelis: "I arrived at this reception. The president came to me and asked how I was enjoying my visit.I said I was very disappointed: the Israelis had won the Six Day War but they had given back all the land, including the only oil well in the region, and were now paying the Egyptians more for oil than if they had bought it from Saudi Arabia.

"I said: 'You have forgotten to be Jewish'. He said: 'Would you like to tell my cabinet that?' Next morning, I went to the Knesset; they interrupted a cabinet meeting and I told them the same as I had told him."

Mr Levy recalled: "He was a gorgeous, impish, creative character. Of course, he was an egomaniac, but he was incredibly generous. He wanted to film us walking from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, so there are these scenes trudging the Judean Hills. He had many close Jewish friends, he was a real philosemite. When we returned, I asked him to be a 'Friend' of the Trust and he insisted that I listed him as 'Special Friend'."

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I am not anti-Semitic, claims Vincent Browne

Telling the truth about the Jewish state can be very dangerous for your career.  The following was published today by the Irish Independent:

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/i-am-not-antisemitic-claims-vincent-browne-3276074.html

I am not anti-Semitic, claims Vincent Browne

TV3 broadcaster Vincent Browne insists he is not anti-Semitic after branding Israel a "cancer" in foreign affairs.

But Israel's deputy ambassador to Ireland said she never believed the day would come when an Irish TV presenter would make "racist, anti-Semitic remarks".

Mr Browne, pictured, had been complaining on his show about the lack of discussion of Israel during the last US presidential debate between Republican nominee Mitt Romney and US President Barack Obama.

"Israel is the cancer in foreign affairs. It polarises the Islamic community of the world against the rest of the world," he said.

"Unless you deal with the problem of Israel and the Palestinians in that part of the world, there's going to be conflict and disharmony. It's a massive injustice -- they stole the land from the Arabs."

Mr Browne admitted that his choice of language could have been better but insisted that the criticism was justified.

"What I resent is the suggestion that because you're critical of Israel, you're automatically anti-Semitic. I don't think that's acceptable," he said.

Mr Browne refused to apologise for his remarks, saying that Israel was founded in 1948 by taking land from the Arabs.

He said it was "blackmail" to try to brand everyone who was critical of Israel as anti-Semitic. "I don't think I differ too much from Irish or European foreign policy," he said.

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Rinaldo Francesca interviews Gilad Atzmon Part 5

We spoke about the myth of Jewish histroy, Israeli archeology and the attempt to manufacture a past, identity vs. Identification, Yoav Shamir, ADL, the holocaust and ethics.

The Wandering Who? A Study Of Jewish Identity Politics, Jewish political interest and Jewish hegemony within the Palestinian Solidarity Movement...

The book can be  ordered  on Amazon.com  or Amazon.co.uk

What shall we not talk about today?

Introduction by Gilad Atzmon: As I explained in my latest book The Wandering Who, Jewish identity politics is driven by different tribal narratives. In many cases it is intolerant and even openly hostile towards open exchange and universal ideologies. This applies the Zionist and ‘anti’ Zionist alike.

The Jewish internet outlet Mondoweiss initially presented itself as a progressive pro-Palestine journal but it didn’t take long before it admitted to be a fig leaf dedicated to Judeo-centric gate-keeping. This week Mondoweiss changed its comment policy. No longer will it allow any criticism of Jewish politics, culture and identity politics.

But here’s the good news: Years ago, when some of us decided to write about the Jewish state in the context of Jewish culture, the AZZ (anti-Zionist Zionists) dismissed us as an ‘irrelevant marginal voice’. This week however, Mondoweiss admitted that we are actually “a lot of people” and “a significant part of the community.” A community Mondoweiss attempts to silence.  

In the following piece Aletho News added the names of those who oppose freedom of speech and open discourse. These people have publicly disavowed me because of my recognizing the clear connection between Jewish identity politics and Zionist ideology. I’ll admit that I am actually happy to be at the centre of this battle for truth and liberation.

In the list you will find many Jewish activists. Yet, one may wonder why Palestinians such as Ali Abunimah and Omar Barghouti have so compromised their credibility by joining such a list and it would be interesting to find out what they got in return. But it would be even more interesting to find out what principle they were willing to sacrifice. Apparently, giving up on the Palestinian Right of Return was something they were quite happy to give away.

Amazon.com  or Amazon.co.uk

What shall we not talk about today?

http://alethonews.wordpress.com

Mondoweiss:

“. . . a significant part of the community wants to talk about Israeli policy in the context of Jewish history and Jewish identity, and do so in a highly critical manner. Clearly a lot of people, including many in our community, want to have these conversations and regard them as necessary to resolving the Middle East conflict. We don’t. We are tired of serving as a platform for this discussion, including in the comment section, and don’t see the conversation as a productive one. From here on out, the Mondoweiss comment section will no longer serve as a forum to pillory Jewish culture and religion as the driving factors in Israeli and US policy.

We are making this change because this discussion makes for a toxic, often racist, discourse, and scares off others who would otherwise be drawn to the issues this site concerns itself with.”

Xymphora responds:

I look forward to the ‘Roots of Slavery in the Old South’ forum, which consists entirely of a discussion of the sufferings of the slaveholders, and how their actions derived entirely from the racism experienced by their Scots-Irish forefathers.

Of course, the deeper issue is that Zionism is based, not in Jewish suffering or the mythology of a universal irrational hatred of Jews, but in Jewish violent group supremacism.  This is easy to see in that Zionism waxes in times of Jewish group dominance (like now), and wanes in the relatively rare times of Jewish group oppression. The lite Zionists are always more skittish about hiding Jewish supremacism than the hard-core Zionists.

~~~

Aletho News adds the following list containing the names of those who have publicly disavowed Gilad Atzmon due to his recognizing a connection between Jewish cultural identity and Zionist ideology:

As’ad AbuKhalil, The Angry Arab News Service, Turlock, CA
Suha Afyouni, solidarity activist, Beirut, LEBANON
Max Ajl, essayist, rabble-rouser, proprietor of Jewbonics blog site, Ithaca, NY
Haifaa Al-Moammar, activist, stay-at-home mom, and marathon walker, Los Angeles, CA
Electa Arenal, professor emerita, CUNY Graduate Center/Hispanic & Luso-Brazilian Literatures and Women’s Studies, New York, NY
Gabriel Ash, International Jewish Anti-Zionist Network, Geneva, SWITZERLAND
Joel Beinin, Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History, Stanford University, Palo Alto, CA
Dan Berger, Wild Poppies Collective, Philadelphia, PA
Chip Berlet, Boston, MA
Nazila Bettache, activist, Montréal, CANADA
Sam Bick, Tadamon!, Immigrant Workers Center, Montréal, Québec
Max Blumenthal, author; writing fellow, The Nation, New York, NY
Lenni Brenner, author, Zionism in the Age of the Dictators, New York, NY
Café Intifada

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Jew-Ish

By Gilad Atzmon

Just as we were learning about ‘anti’ Zionist  Mondoweiss’ decision to revise its comment policy to exclude discussion of  the true nature of the Jewish State, the openly pro Zionist Haaretz paper published a news item about the Israeli poet, singer songwriter Zeev Tene.

Tene’s new song is called ‘Jew-Ish’ and as you may guess, is actually very critical of the Jew, Jewishness, The Jewish State and Jewish Identity in general. On the pages of Haaretz, an Israeli paper, Tene tells the truth that Mondoweiss and other AZZ (Anti Zionists Zionists) are determined to suppress.

Is it a coincidence that our leading ‘pro’-Palestinian Jews are so determined to stifle any critical discourse to do with the Jewish State and Jewish identity? Not at all. Philip Weiss, the founder of the ‘progressive’ Jewish website admitted to me in an interview that Jewish-self interests are at the centre of his activism. “I believe all people act out of self-interest. And Jews who define themselves at some level as Jews -- like myself for instance -- are concerned with a Jewish self-interest. Which in my case is: an end to Zionism,” said Weiss.

Unlike Philip Weiss, Zeev Tene, is a proud self-hater. He calls a spade a spade, he says what he means and he means what he says.

Watch and read Zeev Tene new poem.

http://youtu.be/UtI15s6LEN8

Jew ish! by Zeev Tene

How do you live with it

How do you remain indifferent

You lock an entire nation behind a fence

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June Terpstra: Gilad, Who?

The biographical film, Gilad and All That Jazz, poses the fundamental question of supremacy in this Dark Age where many intellectuals, artists, academics and politicians still don't "get it".  Over five hundred years of imperialism, colonialism, Zionism, white supremacy, and Euro-American exceptionalism, have  re-shaped human's being and consciousness through assigned categories of race, religion, ethnicity, class, and creed despite scientific evidence that there are no biologically determined characteristics of any of these. However, the musician-philosopher, Gilad Atzmon poses that there is a pervasive social construction, a set of positions in a global structure, for which Zionism and the identity of being an Israeli and a Jew are assigned categories that influence the socialization one receives, the life world in which one moves, the experiences one has, and the view one develops.  

The film shows through Gilad's life and music how   Zionist ethnocentrism so structures the Israeli world as to have negative ramifications for every sphere of Palestinian and ultimately, Arab and Muslim life---juridical standing, moral status, personal racial identity, epistemic reliability, existential plight, political inclusion, social metaphysics, sexual relations,   and aesthetic worth. The dominant moral code within the Jewish State is based on a racialized religious anthropology similar to, if not the same as, the Herrenvolk ethic.   Moreover, the film tells us how Gilad is compelled to bring to consciousness the assumptions and mechanisms of this ethic, and ultimately to subvert it so that the Jewish State and the world can see it for what it is--an oppressive Herrenvolk state.

In the film, Gilad asks us to ask ourselves, "Have you ever considered yourself chosen"?  I cannot imagine.  As a child raised in a strict misogynist and abusive Calvinist environment accompanied by the leitmotif that I was born in sin, the question is unthinkable.  I cannot wrap it around my brain--neither my mother nor any of my ancestors will allow it.  However, when I get a glimpse of the concept of "chosen-ness" it translates as decidedly sinful.   By sin I do not mean an individual, private, or merely interior reality.   Sin here is regarded as a social, historical fact, the absence of the humane and love in relationships among all people.    Zionism is sinful specifically because it has embedded systems of oppression and exploitation encompassing the Palestinian people while excluding everyone except the Jews.  

Gilad and all that Jazz [TRAILER] from David Alamouti on Vimeo.

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Palestine Solidarity Membership Application (satire)

Sent by Penin Diaz

Thank you for your interest in joining the Palestine Solidarity Movement (not affiliated with Palestinian liberation movements).  In order to assure that you are suitable for the movement, please answer the following questions for consideration by the Screening Committee.

1.   ¨yes ¨no	Are you committed to liberating Palestine?
2.   ¨yes ¨no	Do you support the liberation of all Arab land or only that which was occupied in June, 1967?
3.   ¨yes ¨no	Do you affirm the right of Jews to form Jewish Palestine solidarity groups, anti-Zionist groups or other groups critical of Israel?
4.   ¨yes ¨no	Do you affirm the right of non-Jews to form non-Jewish Palestine solidarity groups, anti-Zionist groups or other groups critical of Israel?
5.   ¨yes ¨no	Do you oppose hypocrisy and double standards?
6.   ¨yes ¨no	Do you agree to be in solidarity with all Palestinians who sign a pledge against anti-Semitism and possibly other criteria?
7.   ¨yes ¨no	Do you agree that we will deal only with Palestinians that respect Jewish sensitivities?
8.   ¨yes ¨no	Do you agree that Palestinian spokespersons must be screened by solidarity organizations?
9.   ¨yes ¨no	Do you agree to avoid persons that are accused of anti-Semitic activity or speech until they are proven innocent?
10. ¨yes ¨no	Do you agree not to read anything written by persons accused of anti-Semitism until they produce (in writing) incontrovertible proof that they are not anti-Semitic?
11. ¨yes ¨no	Do you agree to criticize only Israeli and/or Zionist beliefs and actions and not the cause of such beliefs and actions?
12. ¨yes ¨no	Do you agree that the existing narrative on the Jewish Holocaust is impeccable and must never be questioned?
13. ¨yes ¨no	Do you agree to ostracize persons selected by the solidarity community for such treatment?
14. ¨yes ¨no	Do you accept to work with persons who define Palestine as land not yet confiscated by Israel?
15. ¨yes ¨no	Do you agree to work with persons that believe in separate but equal societies for Palestinians and Jews?
16. ¨yes ¨no	Do you agree to work with persons that reject the Palestinian Right of Return to all of Palestine?

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Ariadna Theokopoulos: Anti-semitism — an Eroded Democracy

http://www.deliberation.info

Although a lot of research has been devoted by distinguished institutions (e.g., ADL) to defining anti-semitism and providing detailed classifications of its forms of manifestation, the field has grown so much that it is hard now to encompass it in one discipline.

Abe Foxman, the head of ADL, has come up with a short test, now known as Foxman’s Five, on which even one check mark ensures certification as an anti-semite:

1. Criticism of Israel
2. Denial of the Holocaust, or (new!) ‘relativism’ on the issue
3. Criticism of the Jewish lobby/claims of Jewish global political power
4. Claiming that Jews own banking/media
5. Criticism of Jewish tribal behavior (“Jewish identity politics”)

The Anti-Anti-semitic Association (AAA), which accredits anti-semites, has lowered the bar so much that the anti-semite certfication is now available to anyone simply on the recommendation of two AAA experts.

The Holocaust criterion has been enlarged too: it used to include only “denial” but experience has shown that such a classification left a lot of desirable candidates without accreditation so, with the advent of Sophia Rosenthal and her staff of six at the State Department’s aptly named Bureau of Democracy, an addition was made:

“holocaust relativism,” i.e., quibbling with any detail in Holocaustology. This measure helped to democratize anti-semitism to some extent, opening the gates wider.

Nevertheless, interestingly, at the same time that the membership has grown by leaps and bounds into a vast, diverse, and vibrant community, an elite group of anti-semites has formed at the top.
The criteria by which special status is accorded to those few are not always clear. Needlessly to say, few anti-semitic plebeians would invidiously begrudge the VIP status to people like these (examples in alph order):

• Gilad Atzmon
• Paul Eisen
• John Meerscheimer
• Israel Shamir
• Stephen Walt

all of whom, armed with impressive bibliographies and CVs, ice Foxman’s test, and some of them score off the charts.

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The Judification of American Democracy (video)

Deeply within the spirit of The Book of Esther that teaches female Jews how to bridge the gap between sex and political power, Sarah Silverman offers her intimate services to Zionist billioner Sheldon Adelson.

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