http://victoria.indymedia.org/news/2006/01/47599.php
Israeli poet boycotts international poetry festival in Jerusalemd d ...I oppose an international poetry festival in a city in which the Arab inhabitants are oppressed systematically and cruelly, imprisoned between walls, deprived of their rights and living spaces, humiliated in checkpoints and the international laws are violated. I think that even poets were not allowed in the past, and not in the present, to ignore persecutions aniscriminations on a racial or national basis. Note: Aharon Shabtai is an Israeli poet and teaching Hebrew literature at Tel Aviv University. His letter (below) was sent to the organizers of the 5th international poetry festival in Jerusalem. He has approved wide circulation and publication of his letter. A brief bio of Aharon Shabtai at: http://www.wwnorton.com/nd/BIOs/ShabtaiBIO.htm He is also the husband of the courageous Prof. Tanya Reinhart who has written extensively on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Many of her articles can be found online by typing her name into google. Both are to be applauded for their noble stance against the occupation and the daily abd routine injustices committed against the Palestinian people at the hands of their zionist occupiers. ---------- Forwarded Message ---------- Subject: fifth international poetry conference in Jerusalem Date: Thursday 05 January 2006 17:08 To Yitzhak Eizenberg Shalom Fifth international poetry festival in Jerusalem Thank you for your invitation to participate in the international poetry festival in Jerusalem in 2006 and the details. I would like to take my name out of the list of participants. I read these days on the barbarism in the Qalandia checkpoint. I oppose an international poetry festival in a city in which the Arab inhabitants are oppressed systematically and cruelly, imprisoned between walls, deprived of their rights and living spaces, humiliated in checkpoints and the international laws are violated. I think that even poets were not allowed in the past, and not in the present, to ignore persecutions and discriminations on a racial or national basis. Yours Aharon Shabati http://www.wwnorton.com/nd/BIOs/ShabtaiBIO.htm ___\ Stay Strong \ "Be a friend to the oppressed and an enemy to the oppressor" --Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib (as) \ "We restate our commitment to the peace process. But we will not submit to a process of humiliation." --patrick o'neil \ "...we have the responsibility to make no deal with the oppressor" --harry belafonte \ http://www.sidebrow.net/2006/lbraithwaite-01.html http://www.sleepybrain.net/vanilla.html \ http://radio.indymedia.org/news/2005/10/7255.php \ http://ilovepoetry.com/search.asp?keywords=braithwaite&orderBy=date \ http://www.lowliferecords.co.uk/ \ }
