israeli politics

poetry festival this year - 7.11.24

The annual Metula Poetry Festival, one of the highlights of the poetry year, will take place this year in Jerusalem.  It will take place at the Confederation House and at Mishkenot Shaananim from August 26-8, and I’ll be appearing on all three days.  Check the program out here  confederationhouse

For me the first day is reading poems influenced by prostitution in the holocaust.  The second day is about erotic poetry.  On the third day I’m supposed to be speaking about immigrant identity.  All this is stuff you’ve heard before if you’ve been reading this, but everyone who’s leading the panel has an agenda and will make it new.  

I am praying that by then we will have at least partially solved the problems that are creating this terrible war and these subjects will be relevant…

 

 

 

 

Poetry Festival This Year – Read Post »

israeli politics

staying home - 7.11.24

We were going to go to Tiberias today, but I’m a little sick and stayed in bed.  Now it seems there are a lot of rockets up north – and we did well by staying home.  People are being killed every day and we are doing nothing about the north – it’s as if we’ve given up taking care of 150000 of our citizens.

One of the results of staying home is being exposed to extensive news programs that have substituted for the educational programs that cost more money.  And the broadcasters, being exposed to much foreign news, are using more English terminology than ever. And we adapt most of them to our grammar so they become almost unrecognizable.  I’ll see if I can put together a list.

 

staying home – 7.11.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

a bit more about language - 7.11.24

We still say “Ahhlan” when we meet, even though it is outdated. We never say “Shalom Aleichem” and I’ve noticed that Arabs don’t greet each other with “Salaam Aleikum.”  Peace be upon you seems somehow to indicate that the peace comes from above.  We in the middle east tend to think that we’re responsible for war and peace.  We prefer thinking the enemy is to blame for war, and we are the ones who make peace.


“Besorot Tovot” also seems to have a religious feeling.  Better translated as “Glad tidings.”  “May you be sent glad tidings.”  

“Inquiry” scares people, as if it is clear someone has done something wrong, and our world is a mess.

 

 

  

what do you say when someone asks you how you are?  “Considering the situation, I’m fine.”  And when   

a bit more about language – Read Post »

israeli politics

optimism - 7.9.24

hah, you didn’t believe it, did you?  One of the news reporters said today that he’s never going to use that term again because every time he says that he’s optimistic about a deal, the whole thing falls apart.  

Our language has changed in other ways as well.  For example, when we say goodbye we always seem to add “Bsorot Tovot” -“May there be good news.”  It’s a bit of a religious expression, but it seems to suit even the atheists right now.

 

 

optimism – 7.9.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

sex sale - 7.8.24

I’m proud to be a part of this project about poetry about the sale of sex.  There are a few of my poems in this anthology.  

https://www.haaretz.com/life/2024-06-20/ty-article-magazine/.premium/israeli-poems-on-porn-sex-work-and-even-cicciolina-that-will-break-your-heart/00000190-3150-d700-a7f0-bdf25c170000

 

 

 

Sex Sale – 7.8.24 Read Post »

israeli politics

12,000 rockets -7.7.24

“I didn’t know there were still rockets falling on Israel,” an old friend from far away told me a few weeks ago.  It’s been hard for me to forget his words.   I felt like an idiot having to assert something so obvious to someone I think is usually very knowledgable.  I did stutter something about the facts that there are rockets falling all the time.  I didn’t say that Ezi has an app on his watch that buzzes when there’s an attack on Israel – and it buzzes a lot.  Today on the news someone tallied 12, 000 rockets since October 7, 2023, and said, “that’s all?” 

That’s more than 120 rockets a month. 

And nobody seems to know. 

 

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israeli politics

"night therapy" - 7.5.24

So we had a few hours before our great neice’s bat mitzvah and I really wanted to see something good for a change.  The dumbing down of Israel television has been absolute as they try to make us feel happy while acknowledging the soldiers dying, the hostages abused, the displaced families trying to get through the week.  So we have ‘big brother,’ ‘dancing with the stars,’ etc.

The show we happened to fall upon is “night therapy” – and I was enthralled.  Joseph Swed is a personal favorite, so anything he would be in would be good for me, but the script is not only powerful but relevant.  It shows something about the society without dealing directly with the politics.  It just started …

check it out

and now, to the bat mitzvah

 

“night therapy” – 7.5.24 Read Post »