from Suheir Hammad



There's a lot going on in the world right now that puts me at a loss for words. I often wonder how the world would be if we dropped bread instead of bombs. People call me an idealist but I would rather be that than receive a note, floating from the sky, telling me that I must leave my home because soon, the entire area will be bombed--yet there is no place to go.
I know shit is complicated. All I am saying is: violence begets more violence. Whether you talking about domestic, social, cultural. It's not higher math.
Anyway, I received the following from poet Suheir Hammad, and was very happy to receive it:

famalam
light
i wish for you health love family music light dance heart poetry justice love all year.

below links i've been reading and researching. i've received emails from folks wanting to understand gaza, hamas, this current time. i'm at a loss, deep. i keep thinking this is all my family has ever known.

i tried to find articles esp written by women. i've done mad research to find alternative jewish voices for peace and justice. when possible, i've also tried to include background info on the writers themselves. there is no order to the articles, they are all related somehow. i did try for some kind of order out of the chaos. but please feel free to make your own.

don't get overwhelmed. because of my own weak stomach these days, and out of respect for the dead and the living, i have not posted any of the images of the murdered. but i have promised myself i will look. we must. when you can, watch the rest of the world's media, and look at what has happened. we must.

***found this while researching picasso's painting, guernica.. the link below tells the story of how the writer arrived to gaza. originally published in italian, vittorio arrigoni is the writer

http://www.counterc urrents.org/ arrigoni291208. htm
http://ipsnews. net/news. asp?idnews= 45024


*** ilan pappe, israeli scholar now head of the history dept at exeter, published this on electronic intifada. it offers a sense of how zionism, the ideology and the facts on the ground of it, is at the heart of all political and military action taken by the state of israel. his home site is linked below.

http://electronicin tifada.net/ v2/article10100. shtml
http://ilanpappe. com/


*** the honorable cynthia mckinney has joined the free gaza movement. she was on the boat dignity, to deliver emergency aid to gaza within days of the first air attacks. the site offers images and eyewitness accounts from the previous 4 trips the boat made (they got in!) and this last journey, which was stopped when the israeli navy rammed the boat over and again until water leaked into it.

http://www.freegaza.org/


***marcy newman is an educator, scholar, an activist and a witness. i'm always moved by her commitment to the right of return and social justice. she has posted my own work in the past, and recently put up one of the breaking poems. her site is full of links to other writers (palestinian! ) and more information than one woman should be able to warehouse. brava m.

http://bodyontheline.wordpress.com/
http://bodyontheline.wordpress.com/2008/ 12/23/disappeara nce-ii/


*** another person committed to truth, justice and peace is naji ali. each week his podcast, introduced by mumia abu jamal, invites different people to talk about all things related to palestine. i recorded an interview with him in december about breaking poems, i've posted it below the link to the home page. do check out his archive.

http://ctl.libsyn. com/
http://cdn1. libsyn.com/ ctl/CTL_Podcast_ December_ 12th.mp3? nvb=200812311132 57&nva=20090101114257&t=08cc56ed64c3f788f 4cd2


***watching the tv, reading the papers, i don't understand the sound of war. the din of it. below a link to a muslim tv page airing eyewitness video in gaza just after an air attack. the image is blurry and shaking. if you can't take the scene, just listen to the noise.

http://muslimtv. magnify.net/ video/ISRAEL- CARNAGE-CIVILIAN S-CHILDR


***jennifer loewenstein' s article last week on counter punch. an analysis of the latest incursion, within a framework of what life is like for the people in gaza.

http://www.counterp unch.org/ loewenstein12292 008.html


***sarah roy's piece in the london review of books was written before these attacks even began. a commendable job of explaining the state of emergency gaza has been under since the siege on it's ports and freedom of movement. most of the people have been hungry, sick, without water or electricity for months. for years. also an article from the christian science monitor.

http://www.lrb. co.uk/v31/ n01/roy_01_ .html
http://www.csmonito r.com/2009/ 0102/p09s01- coop.html


***info in english:

http://gazasiege. org/
http://english. aljazeera. net/
http://electronicin tifada.net/
http://www.imeu. net/


***info on boycotts and divestments

http://www.boycotti sraeligoods. org/modules11748 .php
http://www.pacbi. org/
http://israel- divest.org/
http://www.quitpale stine.org/ actions/DivestCa mpaign-new. htm


***it's so much, i know.
i want to leave you with images of life, hope. below the sites and art of a few palestinian artists. those who create through the destruction.

http://www.facebook .com/people/ Lailati-Nar/ 1045002754
http://www.cafepres s.com/LailatiNar

http://www.guggenhe im.org/new- york/press- room/news/ 2456
http://www.stationm useum.com/ Made_in_Palestin e-Emily_Jacir/ jacir.html

http://virtualgalle ry.birzeit. edu/community_ artist_of_ the_month? mart_id=61084#

http://www.philisti nefilms.org/

http://profile. myspace.com/ index.cfm? fuseaction= user.viewprofile&friendid=25392149
http://uk.youtube. com/watch? v=AUFO1t3Oxrg
http://www.slingsho thiphop.com/


http://www.mahmoudd arwish.com/ english/index. htm
http://www.universe ofpoetry. org/palestine_ p4.shtml
http://www.poets. org/poet. php/prmPID/ 174
http://www.nathalie handal.com/
http://www.maysoon. com/


***thanks for following this all the way to the end. it's just the beginning.
pls fwd any of the links you think would help your own friends and family. more questions than answers.

this eblast list is actually to keep you up to date on the books, film and work i do. i'll send anther email soon with info on future dates. if you'd rather not get this kind of info, please do let me know. i'd never want to abuse your email addy, or your expectation of what you signed up for.
this was the best i could do right now…as always, if you know folks who'd want to be on this list, let me know and i'll invite them.

at last. a gift. john coltrane playing my favorite things.

http://uk.youtube. com/watch? v=I_n-gRS_ wdI&feature=related

and one
s

Comments

Carolyn Vines said…
Then keep on being an idealist! I don't understand why we haven't managed to create a more loving, generous, and accepting way of interacting with one another - especially across national borders. What your poet had done by finding Jewish voices speaking of peace is the best place to start. Thanks for sharing.
8:09 AM
zooms said…
Thank you for posting this, from one idealist, or human being by another name, to another, it is with deep regret that I notice the absence of many blogging voices concerning what is most probably at the forefront of all our thoughts right now. Thank you for raising yours and for giving us the opportunity to hear suheir hammad and all the others.
11:18 AM
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