A communal stomache ache Corie was experiencing a stomache ache while visiting Isrel.
So have I and so have our commander of the IDF.


Last week in the war.



Rav-Aluf Halutz Hospitalized with a stomache ache



Corie Feiner
to me
More options Jul 29 (22 hours ago)

Shiri,

Interesting about the commander of IDF. The stomach is the center of
intuition.

Yes, link ahead.

Love,
Corie  ¶ 5:32 AM 0 comments

  A LETTER FROM CHOMSKY AND OTHERS ON THE RECENT EVENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST A LETTER FROM CHOMSKY AND OTHERS ON THE RECENT EVENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST

Chomsky.info
July 19, 2006



http://www.chomsky.info/2006_07_01_archive.htm#115350344072235040



The latest chapter of the conflict between Israel and Palestine began when
Israeli forces abducted two civilians, a doctor and his brother, from Gaza. An
incident scarcely reported anywhere, except in the Turkish press. The
following day the Palestinians took an Israeli soldier prisoner - and proposed
a negotiated exchange against prisoners taken by the Israelis - there are
approximately 10,000 in Israeli jails.

That this "kidnapping" was considered an outrage, whereas the illegal military
occupation of the West Bank and the systematic appropriation of its natural
resources - most particularly that of water - by the Israeli Defence (!)
Forces is considered a regrettable but realistic fact of life, is typical of
the double standards repeatedly employed by the West in face of what has
befallen the Palestinians, on the land alloted to them by international
agreements, during the last seventy years.

Today outrage follows outrage; makeshift missiles cross sophisticated ones.
The latter usually find their target situated where the disinherited and
crowded poor live, waiting for what was once called Justice. Both categories
of missile rip bodies apart horribly - who but field commanders can forget
this for a moment?

Each provocation and counter-provocation is contested and preached over. But
the subsequent arguments, accusations and vows, all serve as a distraction in
order to divert world attention from a long-term military, economic and
geographic practice whose political aim is nothing less than the liquidation
of the Palestinian nation.

This has to be said loud and clear for the practice, only half declared and
often covert, is advancing fast these days, and, in our opinion, it must be
unceasingly and eternally recognised for what it is and resisted

Tariq Ali
John Berger
Noam Chomsky
Eduardo Galeano
Naomi Klein
Harold Pinter
Arundhati Roy
Jose Saramago
Giuliana Sgrena
Howard Zinn  ¶ 3:30 PM 1 comments

  A. He is not dead yet. Just comatosed. To disprove public conception, Former PM Sharon is still with us.
Only hospitalized and comatosed.

Silenced.


http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3281750,00.html  ¶ 3:21 PM 1 comments

  MySpace bulletin messaging You Wanna know what blogs do, they bring the impossible/ the improbabble together.

following thread from myspace

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------




Jul 17, 2006 6:36 PM
Subject: re:message from lebanon
Body: I'm etremely upset about the whole thing
and would like to show my support at civilians.

Some of us do not agree with Israeli policy
neither do we support Bush and the Israeli-American Co-dependency.

I fear that this was planned a long time ago as
a media spin opportinity, to (U.S.) continue and invade neighboring countries.

Uri Avnery wrote about it today in Maariv
http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART1/450/418.html
(hebrew)

S.




----------------- Bulletin Message -----------------
From: U U U U
Date: Jul 16, 2006 12:26 PM

Here is a report from my friend Bilal in Lebanon (he is Lebanese). I've been worried about him -- so glad to hear he is okay. The situation is causing me much grief and distress...

ww
---------------


From Beirut
July 16

Hi everyone. First of all, I am fine as are
family and friends. We're scattered in different
places, some still in the south, some in Tyre,
the rest in Beirut and its surroundings. Those
who live in the southern suburbs where Hizbullah
is based managed to leave before the latest
strikes and are safe with relatives.

As most of you know, Hizbullah carried out a bold
operation a few days ago and managed to capture
two Israeli soldiers. The resistance has been
saying for quite some time now that it intends to
free the remaining Lebanese prisoners in Israel,
most prominently Samir Qantar. Dubbed the "dean
of the prisoners," Qantar is the longest serving
Arab prisoner in Israel. He was to be released
along with other Lebanese prisoners in a swap
between Hizbullah and Israel. The Israeli
government voted not to release him and two
others and stupidly kept the prisoner file open.

The Hizbullah operation was an attempt to put an
end to the matter. There were several previous
unsuccessful attempts that were costly to the
resistance. This operation according to
Nasrallah, the general-secretary of Hizbullah,
was months in planning and its timing, which has
been endlessly criticized, may have been logistical
more than anything else.

In light of Israel's ferocious response, it is
worth noting that the capture of the two Israeli
soldiers was a pure military operation and did
not as much scratch an Israeli civilian. Israel's
counter is exactly the oppositecollective
punishment of the civilian population by
destroying the country's infrastructure and
committing ugly massacres against families and
fleeing refugees as they did yesterday in the
south. Who's the terrorist in this case, even by
the self-serving definitions peddled in Washington.

Why did Hizbullah do this, did they not know that
Israel would respond this way. I'm certain that
they considered this scenario as one of several.
But Hizbullah's two decades of experience in
dealing with Israel have taught it one thing and
that is Tel Aviv will never budge on any matter
without threat of force. Israel was compelled to
leave southern Lebanon in May 2000after over 20
years of occupationonly after the resistance
gained the upper hand militarily.

The consequent prisoner swap in which nearly all
Lebanese prisoners in Israel were released was
only possible once Hizbullah managed to capture
Israeli soldiers and offer them in exchange. As
Nasrallah put it, the recent operation was the
only logical conclusion given Hizbullah long
experience with Israel. To get the remaining
prisoners out, Israeli soldiers must be
capturedIsrael simply offered no other option.

The current situation only confirms Hizbullah's
experience. The whole worldand most painfully
the Arab governmentshave refused to lift a
finger to restrain Israel. The UN met and decided
to do nothing, yesterday the Arab League met and
was even more insulting. The Lebanese government
has yet to act, besides denouncing Hizbullah and
distancing themselves from the resistance--not
even providing the most basic services to the displaced
and injured.

The Arab League meeting and statements by the
Lebanese prime minister suggest that there is a
convergence of interests between them and Israel
over putting a halt to the Lebanese resistance by
disarming Hizbullah and burying once and for all
those forces in the region, including Hamas for
example, that believe in a line of confrontation
with Israel as the only road to get some
semblance of justice. The Saudi royals and their
slavish counterparts in Jordan and Egypt, want
Arabs to submit and swallow the humiliation we
are subjected to daily in Iraq, Palestine and
Lebanon, all in the name of stability and rational
thinking.

Since 1993 and the signing of the Oslo Accords,
the Arab leaders, the US and the UN have been
saying that negotiations and normalization with
Israel are the only way to peace. But we have yet
to see Israel make the smallest concession,
taking the opportunity to swallow up yet more
land, butcher the Palestinian people and continue
to imprison thousand. Hamas' election was but one
indicator that ordinary Arabs have understood
that successive peace accords have brought them
nothing but further miseryonly resistance, with
all the suffering that comes with it, bears fruit.

Like the Palestinians, the Lebanese are all
alone, abandoned to be taught a lesson by the
regional and global powers. Hizbullah's
incredible response (striking a war ship and
bombing as far as Haifa) shows that they perhaps
considered and prepared for Israel's ferocious
response. Only their ability to strike back
effectively can save Lebanon from complete
destruction at the hands of Israelthe lunatics
in Tel Aviv know no other language.

-Bilal El-Amine





www.leftturn.org | www.ideasforaction.org  ¶ 9:48 AM 1 comments

  This means War http://www.independent.co.uk/

The independent is continuing its glossy arts poster series,
followed by news coverage of the Israel-Lebanon war.

Who is really responsible for this?

Is it really Israel, Is it the Lebanese government, Is it the American government.

The bottom and far most important line, is the fact this debate is inter-woven.

Israel, in fact is doing the dirty job for its sugar-daddy Uncle Sam to increase instability in the region.

It is the larger truth and we should ask where this could be going next.

The answer can not even be swept under a Caravaggio poster - magnificent as may be.




This is my final response in writing. As a dual-citizen I am truly baffled regarding the direction in which the wind blows. I shall choose to respond in moderating response, gathering further information and posting VLOGS.

Manipulated information can only be disproven with corresponding manipulated information.

When manipulated in a precise way, we can show redicule -- expose it - and confront more truth.



s.  ¶ 9:23 AM 0 comments

  [IMA] Open call for words about Israel-Lebanon war I am posting the following letter in full,
as I feel it is ALL important.


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Shiri....

Thank you for your insight and bravery in bringing this to our program through a call for entries.

This is such a heated topic, and I've seen that your simple call for entries has become a major dialogue on the ListServe. I personally responded to Gocken, Josh, Jarah, Allison and Simone, as I felt they were the most active and the most verbal on the list and I didn't want to cloud up the "public airwaves" with any more with comments on this. Wow.

Your astute question:
How should artists respond when the mask of culture is being taken off and bloody war exposed?

Here's what I think: There have been many wars and many masks taken off through time, and artists respond, I hope, as human beings first. How an artist responds rests on what the artist identifies with, first personally, and then perhaps how she sees herself within a larger context. I would like to think that art transcends the incidents of history and brings us to the realisation of the most inclusive issues between us, but of course, this is only one perspective.

The specifics: Israel/Lebanon
Personally specific: I am not Jewish
Why should/does this matter in terms of what I feel as an artist:
I feel if I express disagreement with Israeli politics or what Israel does relative to its neighbors I will be labelled a racist or be seen as "un-American". As a non-Jewish American, I feel that I have been "taught" to respond this way. It is reflexive, and thus I do not feel I have a "right" to participate in this dialogue.
DISAGREEMENT = RACISM
I am not a racist...ie...
I AM SILENCED.

This is truthful for me and you've really given me cause to think and express myself on this. If you wanted to use my above statements in something you are putting together, that would be fine. Thank you again and I'll be interested to see where this ends up....

Clare Ultimo  ¶ 6:18 AM 0 comments

  Another professor voices opinion Dear colleagues and friends,
I have been keeping up with the IMA discussion and find it very important. My e-mail is filled with messages about what is happening in the Middle East. the following correspondence between a union member and a union preseident makes a very powerful point. These are not private matters. We should be debating them openly. I hope you take the time to read this. Finally, I think this is a critical moment and an important discussion to have and I propose we organize a IMA public forum in the fall to deepen our understanding of what is happening in the milddle east and why.
tami


ZNet | Israel/Palestine
Unions and Israel
A letter from a rank-and-file unionist to CAW's President
by Joe Emersberger and Buzz Hargrove; July 23, 2006

To Buzz Hargrove (President of Canadian Auto Workers) July 19, 2006
Buzz,
Israel has killed nearly 300 Lebanese civilians and displaced half a million. It has been given cart blanche by the international community - including Harper's government - to kill as many people as it likes.

The corporate media has sold people on the lie that the crisis originated with the capture of a single soldier by Hamas militants based in Gaza. As always, Israeli expansionism is ignored and it is depicted as acting in self defence..Israeli strikes killed scores of civilians in Gaza in the weeks prior to the capture of the Israeli soldier. The day before his capture Israel kidnapped two civilians from Gaza. Worse, since 2000 Israel has implemented a murderous siege on Gaza that has tripled malnutrition among children according to conservative sources such as the UN and the World bank. It is important to note that Israel's economic strangulation precedes both the election of Hamas and the so called "withdrawal" from the Gaza.

It is worth remembering that Israel funded Hamas during its early days to undermine the PLO. Israeli policy has consistently placed expansionism above security. Contrary to much fantasy that has not changed in recent years.
Please reconsider your stand on CUPE's call for economic sanctions against Israel. The labour movement should be taking action.
Joe Emersberger Local 1498
*************
REPLY FROM CAW
Dear Joe,
Thanks for your interest. I am attaching a copy of the letter to Prime Minister Stephen Harper which was endorsed by the CAW National Executive Board.
July 18, 2006
Media Release For Immediate CAW National Pack Distribution
CAWs Hargrove Calls on Prime Minister to Take Leadership Role in Middle East
Canadian Auto Workers union president Buzz Hargrove has issued a statement on the crisis in the Middle East and has called on Prime Minister Harper to take a leadership role in trying to bring the parties to the table to find a resolution to the conflicts.
Hargroves letter follows:
Dear Prime Minister,
The crisis in the Middle East cannot be allowed to escalate and I believe Canada can take a leadership role in finding a diplomatic resolution.
The potential of provoking a much wider conflict, plummeting the entire region into chaos, is a real danger. Up to 200 people in Gaza and Lebanon have been killed and thousands more may die because of the destruction by Israeli bombings of power plants, homes and hospitals. Hamas and Hezbollah must assume responsibility for this latest crisis, but this does not give Israel the license to kill innocent citizens and destroy the infrastructure in Gaza and Lebanon. The continuing killing of Israeli soldiers and over 25 innocent citizens alike cannot be ignored by the world community. We are extremely concerned about the recent killing of 7 Canadians in the bombing of Lebanon.
Certainly Israel has the right to defend itself against attacks on its citizens by extremist forces such as Hezbollah and Hamas. Countries like Lebanon, Syria and Iran that harbour extremist forces must expect that there will be consequences to their complicity in the attacks on Israel.
However, Israel’s military response has been brutal and disproportionate to the provocation by Hezbollah and Hamas. The killing of innocent civilians and destruction of the infrastructure destabilizes the region and impedes advancing the goals of democracy and peace for Palestinian, Israeli and Lebanese people.
The CAW calls for:
the immediate return, unharmed, of captured Israeli soldiers. an end to the shelling of Israeli cities by Hamas militants. an end to the shelling of Israeli cities by the Hezbollah militants.
-an end to Israeli bombing of Lebanon and Gaza and all military operations including the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and Lebanon. -the release of the Palestinian ministers and parliamentarians arrested by the Israelis -the immediate reinstatement of international aid to the Palestinian Authority under the leadership of President Abbas. -expedite the evacuation of all Canadians who are caught in the war zone in Lebanon.
Canada must take a leadership role in bringing the parties to the table to find a resolution to this crisis, which has cost too many innocent lives.
In order for Canada to take a credible leadership role, the federal government must end its unsavoury attempts to mirror George Bushs policies during this crisis and instead, reflect the strongly held Canadian values of fairness and justice and to uphold our obligations to international law.
We propose the Canadian government withdraw our troops from Afghanistan and further propose they be reassigned to a peacekeeping role in the Middle East.
******************************
REPLY TO CAW - July 21, 2006
Buzz,
I never thought I would ever be so disappointed with the CAW. The letter to Harper is terrible. It makes some decent suggestions - some not so decent - but mainly it's terrible for what it didn't say; and for its denial of a simple fact: Israel provoked this latest crisis. Hamas and Hizbullah are certainly not blameless, but Israel is the primary culprit. This conflict puts the world in danger. The CAW has failed to respond appropriately.
Why did the CAW not acknowledge a Palestinian (and Lebanese) right to self defence? How many bombings and civilian casualties must they endure before the CAW would acknowledge their right to strike back at Israel's military?
Why did it the CAW not call for an end to Israel's economic strangulation of Gaza? That goes far beyond the international aid embargo which, thankfully, the CAW called on Canada to no longer participate in. You should be aware that since 2000 Israeli imposed sanctions have tripled child malnutrition in Gaza. If Palestinians could inflict this damage on Israeli children would Israelis not have the right to strike at the military that enforces the sanctions?
Why did the CAW not call for the release of the two civilians from Gaza that were kidnapped by Israeli forces the day before the Israeli soldier's capture?
Why did the CAW have nothing to say about the 1000 Palestinians kidnapped and held under "administrative detention" by Israel? Why did the CAW not call for their release? These people have never been charged with a crime! At what point does the CAW acknowledge a Palestinian right to strike at the military that carries out these kidnappings?
Why did the CAW not call for and end to Israel's occupation of the West Bank - or for it to stop building settlements?
None of these questions are rhetorical. Please answer them and note that I will be making any correspondence public. These are not private matters. We should be debating them openly.
Regards,
Joe Emersberger local 1498  ¶ 6:11 AM 0 comments

  The discussion went to freedom of speech Dear IMAers

I have followed the recent set of posts with interest.

One interest is personal. During the previous Israeli invasion of Lebanon in
the early 1980’s, I went to Lebanon with a camera and an Israeli film school
buddy to document the situation in South Lebanon and see for myself what I
thought of modern war and how to depict it.

It’s not clear to me that the listserve is only about announcements. Other
listserves I participate in have threads, and you follow the ones you’re
intrigued by.

Having said that, the group discussion moved off onto Josh’s personal blog.
That should not limit or prohibit people from bringing up related topics in the
future on the IMA list. How artists in general, and we at Hunter specifically
should respond to question raised by larger and more complex matters in our
society such as wars and invasions are key issues, particularly when they are
raised as they have been raised here in terms of what our responses my be as
media makers, and how those might be relevant. I would argue that this program
has a social dimension. It is not a technical program in media production
software, for instance. Whether the discussion needs to stay on the listserve if
people agree to move it is another issue.

Moving onto a specifically personal blog has an important drawback. The IMA
list has lurkers no doubt, but it is not a schoolyard where the children are
watched at play, or a rec yard where prisoners are observed by guards as the
‘panopticon’ metaphor and the Foucoult-derived paralysis that notion
engenders suggest. The fact is, that in a certain way the listserve is
‘public’ .

In a recent essay Noortje Marres looks at John Dewey’s response to the idea
that in an age of complex technology and big global questions democracy needs
to be attenuated so that problems can be solved by leaders and “experts” in
the know. For Dewey and for Walter Lippmann, it was exactly complex problems
that the public had to grapple with.

I quote: "Lippmann and Dewey began developing the argument that ‘foreign
entanglements,’ far from constituting an obstacle to democratic politics,
actually play an absolutely key role in getting people involved in politics.
The emergence of a strange, unfamiliar complex issue, they posited, is an
enabling condition of democratic politics." from “Issues Spark a Public Into
Being”
Making Things Public Eds. Bruno Latour and Peter Weibel

It is at moments like the present, when our leaders seem footless that the
regular channels may not provide space to create public debate. This debate
then overflows channels that we tend to use for other purposes.

Are we clogging up the arteries of communication? The IMA program, with its
ability to create and analyze social software, should be able to investigate
these problems and solve them. Past problems aside, wikis are a typical
solution for groups that need announcements, calendars, AND discussion areas.

Finally, The University is to be treasured, and offers one of a shrinking number
of spaces for the creation of a valid public sphere. (i.e. people not talking to
themselves.) Rather than restricting our discussion space, we should seek to
expand it.

best,

Marty L.  ¶ 6:10 AM 0 comments

  The discussion has gotten ugly right away I agree that democracy and dialogue is, ashamedly, mostly a dream and a sham in this country. However, I was referring to our own MFA program, over which we have a bit more control. Dialogue and democratic talk are necessary in academia and mudslinging and scapegoating are not. If some people prefer to not-so-subtly blame diasporic Jews for the misery of this war, it should happen in a different setting than this listserv. Gekko: you should be disgusted as many of us are. But I ask that you reflect on your claim that "Jews worldwide" (you mean The Conspiracy?) have the power to stop this.

Please explain to my family -- not only my ancestors who were kicked out of Spain and Russia but the more recent relatives who learned how to make belts and ice cream and sell mens clothing and work for unions, how to become doctors and laborers and musicians and academics (well, that was me anyway) -- how are we to stop the disastrous war in Lebanon? We are not Israelis, and we have our own country to be at odds with (and we were powerless to stop the war in Iraq). I'm tired of being told that I must feel one way or the other, or must align myself with one side or the other. This is the tribalism that lies at the root of this and most wars.

Gekko's request that I and other Jews stop this "feed" is quite similar to the unspoken understanding after 9/11 that immigrant shopkeepers in New York must display an American flag to show they aren't terrorists. I can handle my dissent on my own; I don't need to be lumped in with a group of people and told how to behave.

I agree with Simone that continued discussion is necessary. Without it, we're left to more visceral responses. And I have to disagree with Gekko: blogs are a great way to communicate. Let's continue the conversation, but I don't think this listserv is the place to do it. Come on over to www.levjoy.com/blog and continue a discussion that's already been taking place about this.

-Josh






Hey,
I appreciate what Shiri is doing--I think getting out alternative views to what we are all being fed is an important thing--again, there are many ways of expressing views and mobilizing for change and art is one way. By the way, I don't see anyone in the IMA program throwing away their multimedia, film, video, or whatever tools to pick up arms in revolution (or have you done that, Gekko?) so we might as well support one of our classmates who is doing something!
Best,
Pam  ¶ 6:05 AM 0 comments

  Original Call Letter Hi All,

Due to the urgent state of affairs, we're putting together a gallery
exhibition
that will respond to current war on the lebanese border.

Gallery space has been made available for next week.

This part of the show will be put together in form of letters/ opinions
and will be posted on a blog both in the gallery and then on the www.

Plese respond in any way you see fit, we'd like to get a discussion
going and have civilian voices heard.

What do artists think, how should they respond, when the mask of culture
is being taken off and the bloody war is exposed?

write emails to: shiris.man@gmail.com

Thanks,
Shiri  ¶ 6:03 AM 0 comments

  Call for artists There's a war in my home.

Is this a new situation, no -
being away gives me enough freedom to do something about it.

An exhibition has been put on.
A call has been issued, the responses - explosive.

Read below for the official call letter,
and responses as well as neighboring blogs.

Shiri Sandler,
Artist.  ¶ 5:57 AM 0 comments