We’ve posted many of Michael Rosen’s King and Tutor series on this site.
They cry out for animation and, with the help of Matt Robinson at Migration Films, Michael has now done just that, himself playing the part of both King and Tutor.
The Middle East is being reshaped before our very eyes as events in Syria evolve at lightening pace.
We post without comment more than a dozen attempts, from a variety of perspectives, to understand the crisis there, the roles and attitudes of the US and Israel in particular, the possibilities and the dangers for Syria and the region.
By Leah Levane
There is so much ground covered here, not least about how ludicrous the results of weaponising of antisemitism are, that the main thing to encourage readers in this introduction is simply that you take the time to read this. Just one example “…in our world, this is no more counterintuitive than the Jewish faculty member at a small liberal arts college brought up on Title 6 charges for making Jewish students feel “unsafe” due to this faculty member’s criticism of Israel and solidarity with Palestine: the first professor to be openly fired over antisemitism is a Jewish professor, who teaches Jewish studies. ” Another example of what is currently labelled antisemitism is protesting a pro Israel neo Nazi. But there is much more rich pickings here and we look forward to your comments.
Deborah Maccoby reviews Refaat Alareer’s posthumously published collection of poetry and prose.
Through his writings Alareer tells the story of Gaza over recent decades, a story succinctly and moving reconstructed by Maccoby.
Starting with a powerful analysis of Alareer’s iconic poem of the genocide in Gaza which gives the book its title, Maccoby reveals many depths and resonances that those who have heard the poem on demonstrations may not have suspected (this reader hadn’t).
Not uncritical of Alareer’s work – she thinks he is simply wrong in what he writes about Fagin and Shylock – she nonetheless finds him a great poet and storyteller, able to transform trauma, death and despair, into words and into poetry, occasionally rising to true greatness.
By Leah Levane
The rejection of Amnesty International’s report on genocide in Gaza by Amnesty Israel seems shocking – but perhaps highlights how pervasive is the dominant “Israel as victim” narrative throughout Israeli society. Here the former Chair of Amnesty Israel outlines their reasons for resigning, actually a week before that Report was published. The dominant reason was …
By Leah Levane
According to social media and then Israeli mainstream media there was a serious antisemitic attack in Stockholm in November. Except that there was no such thing. Allegations included: “anti Israeli activists” disrupted a ceremony commemorating Kristallnacht. “In the real world…no ceremony commemorating Kristallnacht took place there (and) no Jews were attacked”
By Leah Levane
Another interesting article on Syria – with which some of our readers may not agree. As always we welcome comment and debate especially where this can help readers to consider different points of view in these volatile times. The situation in Syria remains uncertain; the leaders seem very keen to reassure the western powers that …
By Leah Levane
Haggai Mattar argues that Jewish Israeli fears are real and, if the Left fails to respond to those fears, we concede the space to the Right that, especially in Israel, nurtures that fear and barely submerged intergenerational trauma, built on centuries of persecution to “justify what we do to Palestinians, preserving it at the center of how we see ourselves and the world around us.”
By Leah Levane
This article addresses the bias in the BBC’s reporting, focusing especially on how it covered (just about) the Amnesty International Report that what is happening in Gaza is a genocide. Yet the BBC seems to struggle with the G word in relation to what the State of Israel is doing in Gaza. It is not …
For a long time, terrorism was commonly understood as violent threats to ordinary people. Les Levidow writing for RS21 demonstrates how the Terrorism Act 2000 changed the parameters to define “terrorism” more broadly than before, including the threat of ‘serious damage to property’, in ways ‘designed to influence the government’ for a ‘political cause’. Tony …