His wonderful, vivid artworks frequently accompany our posts but this striking one is the post. Another terrific creation. Thanks, Ben.
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Nineteen families: poverty, inequality and who rules the roost in Israel
20 May, 2008 — peoplesgeography.comRoni Ben Efrat illuminates inequality in today’s Israel in the current edition of Challenge Magazine (Issue 109). The following is an excerpt in which boldface emphasis is editorial:
Zionists claim that Israel arose in order to provide the Jewish people with a national home. But decade by decade, it has become ever clearer that Israel is not a state of, by and for the Jewish people. It is rather a state of, by and for a sprinkling of families, 19 in all, whose income amounts to $70 billion—88% of the national budget.
This budget is a stumbling block to the poor. All levels of education have been devastated. On the books there is universal health care, but many can’t afford to buy medicines. Israel’s socio-economic inequality, as measured by the UN Development Program’s Gini Index (0.0 = perfect equality), has worsened steadily from 0.222 in 1982 to 0.392 in 2005, making it the most unequal of Western democracies with one exception: the United States (Gini = 0.408). Read the rest of this entry »
Nakba Day 2008 (يوم النكبة Yawm al-Nakba)
19 May, 2008 — peoplesgeographyPalestinians mark the 60th anniversary of the Nakba with, among other things, large symbolic keys and black balloons over Al Quds-Jerusalem.
This video clip comes from our good friends over at the great Italian Guerrilla Radio site (4.36)The US Campaign to End the Israeli Occupation also has this striking poster and terrific advertisement (click on thumbnail for larger image).
The Campaign will be placing more than 1,000 of these posters on the streets of Manhattan, educating New Yorkers about the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 and the right of return for Palestinian refugees.
Notables
18 May, 2008 — peoplesgeographyOne of the most valuable things you can do for yourself if you are a news-junkie and political animal is to subscribe to one or another of the social bookmarking sites to collect all your article links in one place. Clipmarks has a good community and service going, as do other bookmarking sites such as Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, Newsvine etc. I encourage students to develop annotated bibliographies and these are a good way of doing so, allowing comment on any resource that is found online, and allowing them also to be shared if desired.
Below are striking passages from four recent finds, among many collected at Del.icio.us. Meanwhile, this blog will be on hiatus for a few weeks in order to concentrate on various projects and will resume in due course at a later, as yet undetermined, date (now that’s specific, worthy of Sir Humphrey “In the fullness of time” Appleby in the incomparable UK Yes Minister series. Note to US and other readers: its quite funny and though set in the 1980s, has timeless and universal political-bureaucratic themes). Do check out some of the very fine blogs listed in the blogroll in the meantime. Read the rest of this entry »
Waltz With Bashir: An Animation
17 May, 2008 — peoplesgeographyAn unlikely-sounding film release — an animation about a massacre detailed from one who was on the side of the co-perpetrators — has been getting attention in Cannes. Waltz With Bashir is about the struggle of the filmmaker and former IDF soldier, Ari Folman, to come to terms with the gaps in his memory surrounding the part he played in the first Lebanese war and the 1982 massacre of thousands of unarmed Palestinian civilians in the West Beirut refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila.
Folman asserts that this is a personal rather than political film, but hopes to convey that “war is useless”.
Waltz With Bashir Trailer 1m45s
Meeting Palestinians In Gaza
15 May, 2008 — peoplesgeography
Appended below are five links to poignant short videos from the excellent Guardian series A Week in Gaza, detailing the impact of the Israeli blockade of the Gaza Ghetto on ordinary people. On this 60th anniversary of the Nakba, these heart-rending portraits of Gazans is particularly timely and offers a window into life in Gaza.
As Ali Abunimah, currently in Sydney, has said, Nakba Denial not only exists, but unlike Holocaust Denial still has some mainstream intellectual acceptance. The ongoing plight of the indigenous Palestinians after 60 years deserves our attention and support now more than ever. For our part in Australia, there is a strong campaign to have the Australian Parliament acknowledge the Nakba — please consider lending your support if you are in Australia.
1. The blockade and the smugglers (4.55)
Israel’s fuel blockade has ground Gaza’s infrastructure to a halt. In response, smuggling gangs bring fuel in from Egypt through underground tunnels. Read the rest of this entry »Briefing on Beirut
14 May, 2008 — peoplesgeography
As the Siniora government today officially rescinds the two incriminating decisions about Hezbollah’s telecommunications network and the head of security of Beirut’s airport that sparked this month’s clashes, this Briefing on Beirut seminar at the New America Foundation takes stock of recent events.Audio
See also video of the event below/ over the fold
Rami Khouri (pictured) is always worth listening to; he asks whether Beirut will follow Baghdad or Belfast and is optimistic that the Lebanese will move past the internal strife at this “historical moment of reckoning” to form a pluralistic society that can integrate Western and Arab ideals. Hisham Melhem represents the March 14-Hariri Inc view on Hezbollah’s intentions and is less optimistic, overstating Iran’s influence on Hezbollah. Nir Rosen (over)draws comparisons to Iraq on the Sunni-Shi’a conflict. Read the rest of this entry »Isfahan
11 May, 2008 — peoplesgeography.comIsfahan is a short animated film inspired by stunning Persian architecture and created by Etérea Studios. H/T to friend and inspiration Ressentiment. For a great Persian culture fix (and much else besides) see also Reclaiming Space’s Iranian sister city blog Forever Under Construction, and also check out NeoResistance. The clip may need a few seconds to load.
War’s Shopping Cart
11 May, 2008 — peoplesgeography.comAn interesting look at the militarisation of the US economy from Nick Turse. While the US has long been a permanent war economy, the consumer dimension of the corporate overlap has not–until recently–been highlighted.
War’s shopping cart
Pepsi, Apple, Krispy Kreme and other consumer firms profit from Iraq too.
By Nick Turse | LA Times
Last month, a review of 2006 congressional financial disclosure statements by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics found that lawmakers have as much as $196 million “invested in companies doing business with the Defense Department, earning millions since the start of the Iraq war.” An Associated Press article on the report, however, offered a caveat: “Not all the companies invested in by lawmakers are typical defense contractors. Corporations such as PepsiCo, IBM, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson have at one point received defense-related contracts.”
But the Associated Press is wrong. The fact is that corporations such as PepsiCo, IBM, Microsoft and Johnson & Johnson are, indeed, typical defense contractors. To suggest that such firms, and tens of thousands like them, only receive defense-related contracts at the odd, aberrant moment is specious at best. Read the rest of this entry »
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