Dear all I was too appalled to participate in any discussion about what is happening in Palestine just now. But I was so touched by Alan's powerful lyrics that I wanted to share my little contribution. I come to Ramallah in the West Bank in 2001, invited by the European Community to make a tour through Palestinian cultural centres. We were a group of maybe 16 or 18, dancers, actors, writers, painters. We were greeted by politicians and intellectuals we visited Mahmoud Darwish in his house and saw theater and exhibitions. We were planning to go to Jerusalem but a bomb exploded somewhere and the second Intifada started. Our group was evacuated to the hotel Ambassador in the Arab part of the city very near the Swedish consulate. We spent there a week awaiting the permits for leaving. It was a chaotic lobby with people being evacuated from Gaza Nablus Jericho Bethlehem. We left and we asked out Palestinian hosts what could we do to support them. They said come back don't forget us a people occupied and desperate. We need witness. Some months later my friend the Swedish visual artist Cecilia Parsberg and me travelled again in our own paying our oxn expenses and we arrived to Jenin a city in the North near Haifa which was besieged by the Israeli army since ten days back. Nobody knew what's happened all communication was broken no telephone no radio no tv no journalists. We travelled with smugglers through a mined landscape and we arrived to Jenin which was surrounded by huge tanks. We climbed the hills with hundreds of Palestinian and we come to a place of devastation very similar to what's Gaza today. It smelled acred and rancid tens of bodies were dead among the rubble of demolished houses. We spent a few days taking pictures speaking with people and writing articles. www.ceciliaparsberg.se/jenin
It was twenty years ago but the pictures could have been taken yesterday as the texts could also be written today. The war and the attacks of Hamas happened not in a vacuum they are the direct consequences of the occupation. I was in Tel Aviv invited by Gush Shalom and Bat Shalom the small and courageous peace movements in Israel grounded by Uri Avnery Hawa Keller and others, survivors of Auschwitz and Dachau. They took me to the Knesset where we met hundreds of your refuseniks girls and boys everyone held by their hands by grandparents survivors of the camps. The elder said to the Israeli brass "we barely survived we lost everything but we learned morality and solidarity we can never submit another people for what they did to us. Revenge is not a Jewish value". I read the same words today there are many soldiers refusing to enter Gaza and participate in this revenge war. Israel should learn peace is not gained militarily and safety and security are only achieved with justice. Israel must end the occupation and the Palestinian need their own state now. Ana On Mon, 4 Dec 2023 at 20:05, Alan Sondheim via NetBehaviour < netbehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org> wrote: > Hi Johannes, > > A number of things. First, several weeks ago I put up a fairly long post > which was based totally on the practical, and there was a good discussion > that emerged from this. Second of all, having had a year in Israel and two > other trips in the past, and in touch with someone who works on a > diplomatic level (as well as my mother who, I think I mentioned, made over > 50 diplomatic trips to the mid-east in the interests of piece), I think > I've read enough and written enough on the practical; I am also entitled, > as we all are, to an artistic and emotional response. > > I can say again, it's impossible to comprehend. Net. and company are far > right-wing are far right-wing, supported by the religious far-right who > vote enbloc. I do not go along with their policies. > Again, it is not only Jews who are afraid here; an Islamic man selling > religious items outside a mosque, here, in Providence, was shot recently. > Again, Gaza hasn't been self-governing for decades, and what would you > want to see come out of that? Much less the W. bank with Israeli settler > violence. > My friend is working on this diplomatically. I do what I can, we all do. > I'm frightened. I hate Net. etc. > I think you and I have to break ranks here. I do care what the left says. > As I mentioned when I was in Is. the 1st time I had a letter of protest > published in the Israeli engl language national paper - supporting the > Arabs; already I saw what was going on, and this was less than two decades > after the Holocaust. > Finally without thinking inconceivably, you wouldn't have Paul Celan, > possibly not Karl Krauss (who I am reading in depth now), and a number of > other writers. > And Providence is NOT a "lovely democratic safe community" as far as I can > see. > > Best, Alan, apologies, you touched a nerve. Everyone I know is struggling > over the war with widely varying responses; if one type of response doesn't > suit you, you can just ignore it. I value your friendship more tha that. > > You always have the choice of course not to read my posts or anyone's; if > you'd read my earlier one, you would have realized I also am on the > practical side, perhaps more than you think. > > On Mon, Dec 4, 2023 at 3:34 PM Johannes Birringer via NetBehaviour < > netbehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org> wrote: > >> >> >>we have the duty here now of _thinking inconceivability_ >> to respond with art, music, writings, analyses..>> >> >> Alan I agree with what you write, I disagree with what you write too. I >> realize yes, remembering it well, a few years ago, during the war in Syria >> and the ISIS attacks, >> we created a discussion, for a whole month, on "ISIS, Absolute Terror, >> Performance" (empyre list). I also remember collating all the >> contributions, editing it all for a book, and we did not find a >> publisher. >> >> These past weeks, October-November, I heard a few expressions here, about >> "yes, but", and "yes and." In tried to join a discussion, and posted here, >> but no one was really discussing, and art, Alan, "art, music, >> writings...",. well it has been a disaster I think. >> >> No one here wanted to say outright that it is not quite right to argue >> that "it's impossible to comprehend what is occurring in Gaza, impossible >> to think through the violence and destruction, through the continuous >> cruelty." It is possible. >> >> I see it in Germany and England, and I hear it from Jewish friends in in >> this country and my neighbor country (France), and from friends in the US; >> Jewish families are afraid to send their children to school or go out of >> their homes, their houses in Berlin have been defaced, Synagogues attacked, >> demonstrations in London shout for annihilation of Israel, and I cannot >> calm down my anger, after the atrocious attacks of Hamas against Jewish >> civilians, which has now led to the new military repercussions. We >> experienced the attack on Ukraine, and many declared their solidarity with >> Ukrainians; I tried to also help raising awareness, we showed Ukrainian >> film and photos in a gallery where I work, and I will do the same for >> Israel defending itself against inhuman, grotesque violence, and using Gaza >> civilians now as a shield (they are not a shield) - offering them up as >> victims. >> >> What I am saying is that the conflict is not inconceivable, and yes there >> is a historical context (i don't care what, I am upset about what the Left >> says, what Greta Thunberg has to say); but why are so very very few arts >> organizations, theatres, galleries, writers, musicians expressing their >> solidarity with Jews who now afraid of their lives and safety, not only in >> Israel, but right here in all our lovely democratic safe communities in the >> West and the North. I grew up with the stern, incontrovertible maxim, >> 'never again' ; and now it happens right here and right now. >> >> respectfully, >> Johannes Birringer >> >> On Mon, Dec 4, 2023 at 5:24 AM Alan Sondheim via NetBehaviour < >> netbehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org> wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> Gaza >>> >>> https://youtu.be/Yda-c_4agZA (saz) >>> >>> it's impossible to comprehend what is occurring in Gaza, >>> impossible to think through the violence and destruction, >>> through the continuous cruelty. we don't think clearly, >>> perhaps not at all, impossible but occurring, absent here >>> but there, but continuous, but incessant, what is to come >>> everywhere our abject fear, our fear is safe _here,_ it >>> is our fear to own from _this_ distance, this safety. >>> we did years ago have ongoing discussions on email lists >>> set up for that purpose, war, violence, testimony. now we >>> have our _safe nightmares_ as cruelty spreads everywhere. >>> perhaps everything falls short of weeping, of our safety >>> here, perhaps not. inside we were napalm not real here >>> we are irreal bombardment, accounts, disasters, bodies, >>> limbs, massacres, children, infants, so many civilians, >>> we have the duty here now of _thinking inconceivability_ >>> to respond with art, music, writings, analyses, otherwise >>> than _there,_ in different words _here_ and not _there,_ >>> the safety of the aporia, the moment of the trench >>> adjacent to the cusp. i contribute this long-necked saz >>> piece, i am useless, we watch the war inside of us, we >>> survive in the safety, for now, of our bodies, our minds >>> elsewhere, no where at all, the world inconceivable, lost >>> >>> it'simpossibletocomprehendwhatisoccurringinGaza, >>> impossibletothinkthroughtheviolenceanddestruction, >>> throughthecontinuouscruelty.wedon'tthinkclearly, >>> perhapsnotatall,impossiblebutoccurring,absenthere >>> butthere,butcontinuous,butincessant,whatistocome >>> everywhereourabjectfear,ourfearissafe_here,_it >>> isourfeartoownfrom_this_distance,thissafety. >>> wedidyearsagohaveongoingdiscussionsonemaillists >>> setupforthatpurpose,war,violence,testimony.nowwe >>> haveour_safenightmares_ascrueltyspreadseverywhere. >>> perhapseverythingfallsshortofweeping,ofoursafety >>> here,perhapsnot.insidewewerenapalmnotrealhere >>> weareirrealbombardment,accounts,disasters,bodies, >>> limbs,massacres,children,infants,somanycivilians, >>> wehavethedutyherenowof_thinkinginconceivability_ >>> torespondwithart,music,writings,analyses,otherwise >>> than_there,_indifferentwords_here_andnot_there,_ >>> thesafetyoftheaporia,themomentofthetrench >>> adjacenttothecusp.icontributethislong-neckedsaz >>> piece,iamuseless,wewatchthewarinsideofus,we >>> surviveinthesafety,fornow,ofourbodies,ourminds >>> elsewhere,nowhereatall,theworldinconceivable,lost >>> */the hurry/* >>> >>> ___ >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> NetBehaviour mailing list >>> NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org >>> https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> NetBehaviour mailing list >> NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org >> https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour >> > > > -- > *=====================================================* > > *directory http://www.alansondheim.org <http://www.alansondheim.org> tel > 347-383-8552**email sondheim ut panix.com <http://panix.com>, sondheim ut > gmail.com <http://gmail.com>* > *=====================================================* > _______________________________________________ > NetBehaviour mailing list > NetBehaviour@lists.netbehaviour.org > https://lists.netbehaviour.org/mailman/listinfo/netbehaviour >
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