Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By admin on December 16, 2021

As 2021 ends, two almost simultaneous statements are reminders that the Palestinian issue is not dead but has receded greatly in salience over time.

Gulf Cooperation Council leaders met in Riyadh on December 14 and issued a comprehensiveif very vagueRiyadh Declaration that mentioned their economic, security, and defense cooperation, climate change, and COVID-- and said not one word about the Palestinian Authority (PA) or the Palestinian cause. This is not a great surprise, because the GCC countries have recently given diminished lip service to the Palestinian cause while, in several cases, developing warmer relations with Israel. The GCC countries are primarily interested in security and economic growth, and the PA contributes to neither goal.

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For the United States, December 14 brought a Joint Statement on United States and Palestinian Authority Renewal of the U.S.-Palestinian Economic Dialogue. This Dialogue had been suspended for five years because PA officials refused to meet after President Trump moved the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, closing the U.S. Consulate General there and subsuming relations with the PA into a Palestinian Affairs Unit in the U.S. Embassy. This virtual Economic Dialogue, the Joint Statement said, discussed key topics and agreed to work on several crucial issues. If you find this underwhelming, youre right; it was symbolism. No dollar signs were attached to any topic discussed. The meeting, at which PA officials finally agreed to talk to U.S. officials, was symbolic of the fact thatwell, that PA officials finally agreed to talk to U.S. officials. The change in the PAs position came after the Biden administration announced that it would reopen the Consulate General.

Pressure Points

Abrams gives his take on U.S. foreign policy, with special focus on the Middle East and democracy and human rights issues.

But will it? Seven months ago Secretary of State Blinken told the PA that the Consulate General would be reopened, something he could have done with the stroke of a pen. He has not moved, and there is little likelihood that he will do so soon. The one reversion to the previous system is that the Palestinian Affairs Unit in the U.S. Embassy now reports directly to Washington, as the Consulate General did.

Why has the Biden administration not moved? There has been strong pushback from Israel, and not just from the political Right. Cooler heads in the administration have wondered whether this is the issuerather than, for example, Irans nuclear program, or even settlement expansionon which to fight Israels coalition government.

Reopening the Consulate General now would be a foolish and damaging move. It would bring little or no concrete benefit to Palestinians, and could create a firestorm in Israeli politics. The United States would need Israeli permission for the move, and insisting on getting it would put the coalition government in the position of flatly saying no to Biden and the United States, or saying yes and opening itself to murderous criticism from Likud and former prime minister Netanyahu. The arguments are obvious: allowing the establishment of a separate diplomatic mission to the PA would suggest that the move of the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem, the acknowledgment of Jerusalem as Israels capital, and the indivisibility of Jerusalem are once again open issues. No Israeli government can agree to all that and survive.

The Palestinian issue has not at all disappeared (and incantations of dedication to the two-state solution continue), but as 2021 ends it lacks the power and salience it has held for decades. A GCC summit fails to mention the subject. A U.S. administration pledges to reopen its diplomatic mission to the PA but simply fails to do so. No one is forgetting the subject, but it is perhaps being reduced to its proper size on the global diplomatic agenda. If Arab states, and the United States, avoid symbolic politics and rewards for PA officials who represent mostly their own personal and party interests, and concentrate instead on actions that might actually benefit the Palestinian people, the latter will in the end be the beneficiaries.

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Posted By admin on December 16, 2021

The Miss Universe pageant is being held in Israel for the first time. (File)

Women from 80 countries vied for the Miss Universe crown in the Israeli city of Eilat on Sunday, with several contestants defying pressure to boycott in support of the Palestinians.

The 70th edition of the annual pageant, being held in Israel for the first time, has also faced complications from the coronavirus pandemic.

Among those challenging for top prize are Miss Morocco Kawtar Benhalima and Miss Bahrain Manar Nadeem Deyani, whose majority Muslim nations normalised ties with Israel last year.

South Africa's Ministry of Sports, Culture and Arts had urged its contestant to stay away from Eilat, citing "atrocities committed by Israel against Palestinians."

The call echoed Palestinian groups who pleaded with contestants to avoid the event.

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel wrote: "We urge all participants to withdraw, to avoid complicity in Israel's apartheid regime and its violation of Palestinian human rights."

Despite those calls, Miss South Africa Lalela Mswane was in the Red Sea resort city, where the final competition gets underway overnight before the 2021 winner is named at roughly 0300 GMT Monday.

In an interview with AFP in Jerusalem late last month, reigning Miss Universe Andrea Meza, of Mexico, said the pageant should steer clear of politics.

"Miss Universe isn't a political movement, nor a religious one. It's about women and what they can offer."

Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia, nations that do not have diplomatic relations with Israel, have not sent contestants but both cited complications related to the pandemic, not Israel's rights record.

The United Arab Emirates, which also normalised ties with Israel last year and where Prime Minister Naftali Bennett was to make a historic visit Sunday, has also not sent a candidate.

But the UAE said that was "due to time constraints," in selecting its national winner.

'Criticism'

Contestants for the pageant landed in Israel late last month and have since toured sites, sometimes coming under criticism for cultural insensitivity.

In one stop in the Bedouin city of Rahat, the candidates wore robes with traditional Palestinian embroidery while rolling grape leaves -- which Miss Philippines Beatrice Luigi Gomez tweeted was a "Day in the life of a Bedouin."

The Bedouin are a traditionally nomadic people who belong to the community of Palestinian citizens of Israel. They have long complained of discrimination in housing and education.

"Colonialism, racism, cultural appropriation, patriarchy, whitewashing, all in one place," tweeted Ines Abdel Razek of the advocacy group the Palestine Institute for Public Diplomacy.

Participants in the pageant, which was co-owned by Donald Trump before he became US president, must be between the ages of 18 and 28 and may never have married or had a child.

According to organisers, the coronation ceremony will be watched by 600 million viewers in 172 countries.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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Posted By admin on December 16, 2021

At the American Muslims for Palestine (AMP) conference in Chicago last month, one of the speakers was Omar Suleiman, who has been praised as a new type of moderate Muslim leader; he even once gave the opening prayer at Congress.

Is Palestine a Muslim issue? Its a Muslim issue, but its not just a Muslim issue. People will say, well, you know, the Muslim vision for Palestine is one in which Jews do not exist, in which Christians do not exist, in which people are wiped out and oppressed. And I respond to them and I say have you not read about Umar Ibn Al-Khattab, entering into Palestine? Thats my vision of Palestine.

Umar Ibn Al-Khattab was offered to pray in the church and he says to the Patriarch, Let me walk out of here, because if I pray here then some overzealous Muslims will come later on and say Umar Ibn Al-Khattab prayed here and theyll turn this into a masjid. And so out of his wisdom and sincerity, he walked out and he prayed in a place that is today masjid Omar.

My vision for Palestine is one that doesnt exclude religious communities, doesnt write people out. My vision for Palestine is what Palestine was! Its not a false hypothetical situation in the future: its one that existed. People dignified and held high! Thats the Palestine that I want.

He sounds so tolerant.

December 16, 2021 11:36 am

Unfortunately for him, this vision is a whitewash of the reality of Jews and Christians under Muslim rule over the centuries, and today as well. After all, we only have to see how Christianity has dwindled under Muslim rule even in the past few decades to see how tolerant Muslim nations have been let alone the ethnic cleansing that Jews have suffered under Muslim rule since 1948 (and long before).

The Palestine that he wants to return to is one where Jews would be beaten if they dared walk past the seventh step of the Tomb of the Patriarchs, where Jews would be killed if they entered the Temple Mount, where Jews would be attacked if they brought folding chairs to the Western Wall to pray. The Palestine that he envisions is one where Jews and Christians know their place is to be humble supplicants or else.

What was it like to be a Jew in Palestine under Muslim rule? James Finn, the British consul to Jerusalem in the mid 19th century, describes it:

In times gone by these native Jews had their full share of suffering from the general tyrannical conduct of the Moslems, and, having no resources for maintenance in the Holy Land, they were sustained, though barely, by contributions from synagogues all over the world. This mode of supply being understood by the Moslems, they were subjected to exactions and plunder on its account from generation to generation (individuals among them, however, holding occasionally lucrative offices for a tune). This oppression proved one of the causes which have entailed on the community a frightful incubus of debt, the payment of interest on which is a heavy charge upon the income derived from abroad.

The Jews are humiliated by the payment, through the Chief Rabbi, of pensions to Moslem local exactors, for instance the sum of 300. a year to the Effendi whose house adjoins the wailing place, or fragment of the western wall of the Temple enclosure, for permission to pray there; 100. a year to the villagers of Siloam for not disturbing the graves on the slope of the Mount of Olives ; 50 a year to the Taamra Arabs for not injuring the Sepulchre of Rachel near Bethlehem, and about 10 a year to Sheikh Abu Gosh for not molesting their people on the high road to Jaffa, although he was highly paid by the Turkish Government as Warden of that road.

All these are mere exactions made upon their excessive timidity The Hebron Jews were more exposed than even those in Jerusalem to rough usage from the natives

That barely scratches the surface.

An 1852 account describes how Jews had to hide any indication of owning property or goods, because the Arabs would steal them. Jews in Palestine suffered pogroms. The word Jew was (and remains) an epithet in the Arab world. And under the Jewish rule that Suleiman calls ethnic cleansing, there are more Muslims living in Jerusalem than at any time in history.

Anyone who denies Jewish history is an antisemite, no matter how wonderfully they speak.

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Palestine Was Never a Haven for Religious Freedom Until Israel - Algemeiner

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Posted By admin on December 16, 2021

The United Nations once again marked the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People on November 29, with a day of speeches and cultural events at the organizations New York headquarters.

Billed as an opportunity for the international community to focus its attention on the question of Palestine, the date marks 74 years since the UN passed resolution 181, the partition of the British-ruled Mandate for Palestine to create a Jewish state and an Arab state, with Jerusalem under international control.

It was a plan that drew support from world powers including the United States, the Soviet Union, France, and Belgium. It was also accepted by the majority of Jews.

However, the Arab side resolutely rejected any kind of compromise that would see the establishment of a Jewish state. Instead, it launched a wave of attacks against the Jewish population and soon, a war of annihilation to destroy Israel, and push all of its Jewish residents into the sea.

December 16, 2021 11:36 am

Over the course of the following seven decades, the Palestinian leadership has maintained this combative approach to its Jewish neighbors, rebuffing every single peace overture that has ever been made, while simultaneously claiming to be systematically denied any chance at self-determination.

For example, after the 1967 Six-Day War in which several Arab countries had tried to annihilate the Jewish state Israel offered to return territory it had captured in return for peace. It was this well-intentioned proposal that earned the infamous response that became known as the Three Nos: no peace with Israel, no recognition of Israel, no negotiations with Israel.

At the Camp David Summit in 2000, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat was presented with a deal that would have seen 92 percent of the West Bank, and all of the Gaza Strip, put under Palestinian control, with a plan to award territorial compensation for the remaining eight percent, and eastern Jerusalem designated as the new states capital.

Yet again, the proposal was rejected and, instead, Palestiniansunleashed the Second Intifada, a concerted campaign of suicide attacks that killed more than 1,000 Israelis, and injured thousands more.

So, why does the United Nations commemorate a day that could just as easily be marking 74 years of Palestinian rejectionism?

A briefing on the UNs website solemnly states:

The International Day of Solidarity provides an opportunity for the international community to focus its attention on the fact that the question of Palestine remains unresolved and that the Palestinian people are yet to attain their inalienable rights as defined by the General Assembly, namely, the right to self-determination, the right to national independence and sovereignty and the right to return.

It then announces a few notable speakers, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Amnesty International Secretary-General Agns Callamard, and the so-called Palestinian activist from Sheikh Jarrah Mohammed El-Kurd.

The mere fact that Abbas is constantly invited to ostensibly talk about the unresolved issue of Palestinian statehood is bizarre. This is, after all, a man who has turned his back on every single opportunity to realize this aim, including plans that would have seen the creation of an independent Palestinian state on almost all of the West Bank and the entirety of the Gaza Strip, with the eastern part of Jerusalem as its capital.

Abbas speech was followed by an address from Callamard, who, shortly before taking on her current role, falsely accused Israel of murdering Yasser Arafat.

Such a remark, however, did not preclude her from the top job at Amnesty International, which has a long history of being hostile towards Israel.

To top all this off, terrorism supporter-in-chief Mohammed El-Kurd took the stage.

El-Kurd, who rose to prominence during the Sheikh Jarrah/Shimon HaTzadik property dispute, has managed to carve out a career as the resident Palestine correspondent for the weekly magazine The Nation, and is regularly quoted by international media outlets.

This, despite an alarming history of making antisemitic comments and baseless claims about Israel including his belief that the Jewish state is a child killing entity where the sadistic & bloodthirsty IDF run amok.

If the United Nations wants to know why peace has been so elusive for the Palestinians, it could start by taking a look at its roster of speakers.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias where a version of this article first appeared.

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Posted By admin on December 16, 2021

The monthlong annual arts event, organized by the city of Redmond in its Downtown Park, is meant to celebrate the winter holiday traditions, cultures, and faiths of the diverse Redmond community, according to the citys call for art. It was Sourour and Khalafs first public artwork, the capstone of months of work.

Along with other statements, including No to racism and Compassion, forgiveness, patience, mercy, one of the cubes faces featured the statement , which transliterates to Palestine is in the heart, along with the words, in English, Remember Palestine.

A few hours after completing the installation, the duos joy had dissipated. Instead, Sourour and Khalaf felt a deep sense of disappointment as they blacked out the word Palestine, in both Arabic and English. Later, after the rain had washed the paint away, they scratched off the letters with the metal edges of a pair of scissors and palette knife.

The artists, both Egyptian software engineers and calligraphy artists living in the area, said they were told through the citys cultural arts administrator, Chris Weber, that the word might be considered political, or offensive to some, Sourour and Khalaf said. (Weber declined to be interviewed for this story.) The artists said their freedom of expression had been curtailed.

We were instructed to either paint over it, or remove the panel or scratch it out, or else risk the entire art project being removed, Sourour said during an interview Monday evening. After arguing their case in vain, the artists said, they eventually complied because they didnt want to remove the entire artwork. We were going to comply, of course, because these are the instructions from the public city-state, but we weren't happy with the instructions, Sourour said.

Rather than ending the night in a celebratory mood, we sort of spent it consoling each other while we vandalized the artwork we spent a month and a half building, he said.

It was a very upsetting moment for us, Sourour added. We came to the United States believing and we still believe in this it's a country where you're free to express yourself, you're free to express your identity.

In a statement released Tuesday, the citys parks and recreation director, Carrie Hite (who oversees the art department and also declined to be interviewed for this story), apologized to the broader community but not to the artists specifically. The goal of the city staffs actions were not to participate in the active erasure of Palestinian voices and culture, Hite wrote. But she maintained the city was blindsided by how the artwork differed from the artists original proposal, which planned something astronomy-themed. In an email on Tuesday, Redmond city communications manager Jill Smith said the phrase on the artwork could be considered by some to not fit with the theme of the event. (Smith declined to clarify who she meant by some and said the altered artwork would remain on view).

But in a second statement, released on Wednesday, Hite backtracked from this decision to leave the erased work up, saying the language would be restored. After further discussion, discernment, and conversation with one of the artists, I better understand the meaning and significance of the original message for the artist and many of our Palestinian community members, she wrote. After the past few days, it has become clear to me what the removal of the words Remember Palestine means to community members, and for that I offer my deepest apologies.After more reflection, it is important for this celebration to honor the artists [sic] process and product.

The intent was not to cause harm to anyone; but it has become clear that harm was done, Hite continued. As we seek to do our part to ensure all community members have a sense of belonging, the artist will restore the artwork.

"I greatly appreciate the response from the city," Sourour wrote in an email on Wednesday.I thanked the director when she called me on the phone, and I got a call from Chris [Weber], the event project manager to coordinate with me about a time to go and restore the art piece. He was very supportive, offering a canopy and a heater to hasten the drying of the paint when we implement the restoration. I appreciate that very much, and it was unfortunate that this had to happen at all from the beginning.On Wednesday evening, the artists finished repainting the work and restored it to its former state.

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Redmond officials told artists to remove the word 'Palestine' from public artwork - Crosscut

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Posted By admin on December 16, 2021

My daughter, Merav, gave birth to a bouncing baby baby in the heart of Palestine. Or at least thats what the sign at St. Joseph Hospital in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood of eastern Jerusalem says.

St. Joseph has in recent years become the in spot for Jewish Israelis in the Jerusalem area wishing to give birth in a less invasive, quieter environment than youll find in the citys two main medical centers, Hadassah and Shaare Zedek.

About 15% of births at St. Joseph are to Jewish women. The rooms have crucifixes or a depiction of Jesus, but the staff will discreetly take those down if it makes the birthing couple uncomfortable.

Merav was interested in a water birth, which St. Joseph encourages if there are enough midwives available. She didnt want to be tied down with monitors and cables, leading to another St. Joseph benefit: wireless fetal monitoring, enabling mothers to labor freely in varying positions.

Beyond the birth itself, the experience was eye-opening on so many levels both for Merav and her husband, Gabe, and for us freshly minted grandparents.

Brian and Jody Blum with grandson Ilai Zeev. Photo courtesy of Brian Blum

St. Joseph is a place of coexistence not seen or even imagined by most critics outside of Israel. Jews, Christians and Muslims, from Israel and the West Bank, are all mixed together, and no one cares one iota about politics (or if they do, they keep it out of the delivery room).

Thats true at every Israeli hospital, by the way. It doesnt matter whether youre a Jew or an Arab; you get the same level of care from a multiracial staff.

Signs at the entrance to St. Joseph Hospital in Jerusalem. Photo by Brian Blum

Its just more surprising when the first thing you notice upon entering St. Josephs modern and professional campus is that State of Palestine plaque.

The employees dont speak much (if any) Hebrew, which creates a strange situation: Our family moved to Israel to be in a Hebrew-speaking state and here was our grandson being born in what felt at times like a foreign country.

But that was secondary to the kind and patient care Merav and Gabe received throughout their stay.

Quality over quantity

Sheikh Jarrah has been in the news lately its where a group of Jerusalem Palestinians has been fighting eviction by the Israeli organization that owns the building they live in. Protests have turned violent at times and were used as a pretext by Hamas to launch missiles at Israel, prompting this past summers operation in Gaza.

We didnt see any protesters or even the building in controversy, just happy mothers and their newborns.

The Roman Catholic Sisters of St. Joseph established its hospital then known as the St. Louis French Hospital in western Jerusalem in 1896 just outside the New Gate of the Old City. But after the war in 1948, the facility found itself on the Israeli side of the border, unreachable by the citys Arab residents. The Sisters built a new St. Joseph Hospital in eastern Jerusalem in 1956.

In 2015, the Sisters decided to add maternity services. Sister Valentina Sala, today the head midwife at St. Joseph, was sent from Italy to establish the new ward.

St. Joseph is still owned by the Roman Catholic order, but only five sisters, including Sala, live and work in the hospital; the rest are local nurses and doctors, mainly from East Jerusalem.

New mother and baby bonding. Photo by Brian Blum

The hospital has five delivery rooms with en-suite bathrooms and showers, and an in-house beauty salon offers complementary nail treatments.

My dream was to open a hospital that respects the natural process of labor, Sala said in an interview with Tablet magazine.

At St. Joseph, women are not rushed to deliver the hospital only delivers about 200 babies a month, in contrast to the 2,000 delivered each month at Shaare Zedek. Women are permitted to relax in the delivery room for up to three hours with their new babies.

You can give quality when you are not running after quantity, Sala said.

St. Joseph has a low rate of Caesarean sections just under 10% which makes it popular among women who have had a previous C-section and are hoping for a vaginal birth. St. Joseph does provide epidurals if warranted but does not push them on patients.

St. Joseph is under the supervision of Israels Ministry of Health, so the countrys HMO system fully picks up the tab (except for the option of a private room, for which Merav and Gabe paid 700 shekels about $222 for an extra 24 hours of rest following the birth).

New parents Gabe and Merav. Photo by Brian Blum

The hospital does not have kosher food available. Patients can receive vouchers for both mother and her partner to order from one of five restaurants on the west side of the city. Merav and Gabe chose burgers from Tommys and hummus from Pinati.

The only downside to the St. Joseph experience is that mask wearing in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis was infrequent at best, in contrast with Jewish hospitals, which are scrupulous on compliance.

But perhaps it was the timing as the pandemic appeared, pre-Omicron, to be waning when Merav gave birth. Earlier this year, St. Joseph was lauded for converting 40 of its 100 beds to corona care in rooms that are larger, offer more privacy and let in healing natural light.

After Merav and Gabes baby was born, the nurses and midwives wished them mabrook congratulations in Arabic. To which the new parents responded, shukran thank you.

Ill say the same shukran that a place such as St. Joseph exists, and mabrook to the happy young couple, to Ilai Zeev (thats the babys name), and to his doting and already deliriously-in-love grandparents.

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Tales from the Heart: Having a Jewish baby in 'Palestine' - ISRAEL21c

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Posted By admin on December 16, 2021

Julieta Ramirez is a congresswoman in Mexico, a role she took on when she was just 26 years old. She was one of the participants from Latin America at the fourth Conference of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds in Ankara earlier this month. Her political life started when she sought to improve conditions in her home town of Mexicali, a border town in Baja California. She was supported by her parents, who drove her from place to place for a youth group that organised political, ecological and social activities. At the time, she had no political party or defined ideology to follow.

Ramirez went on to study law at the state university, where she collaborated with the UN and participated in the Inter-American Court of Human Rights based in Costa Rica. She is currently studying for a Master's Degree in Public Administration.

I started our interview by asking her to explain the political situation in Mexico.

Julieta Ramirez: By the end of the twentieth century, Mexico was applying neoliberal policies that resulted in rising unemployment, the privatisation of government services, the banks having a lot of power and cuts in social programmes. Wealth accumulated in very few hands, while millions of Mexicans became poorer. At the same time, organised crime, usually involved in drug trafficking, took control of the country, creating an army of mainly poor people. The current administration headed by President Andrs Manuel Lpez Obrador and the Morena Party, of which I am a member, have promoted a leftist government at the service of the people, against corruption. Its main policy, for the good of all, is to put the poor first.

Argentina: Hundreds apply for symbolic Palestine citizenship

Abdullah Omar: What is the political future for Latin America?

JR: Mexico's current role in the region, with Latin America and North America, is setting the agenda for our continent. This has been said by international leaders. Our president makes no distinction between anyone, and is promoting a work plan to help the people who have faced the most problems during the pandemic and those most in need. The future of the continent is taking a very fraternal and supportive turn.

AO: What is the connection between the Palestinian people and the Mexican people?

JR: Historically, Mexico as a country has always extended ties of friendship without distinction in favour of the dignity of every human being and self-determination. The people of Palestine have many committees in Mexico that look after their resistance, their cause and their problems, and they have thousands of Mexicans in solidarity with them.

AO: How do you see the future of the Middle East?

JR: My position is to put peace as a priority for the children, the women and all human beings living in the Middle East. War hasn't solved anything; it only creates wounds, displacement and death. Dialogue and the participation of the international community is the only solution for this crisis, with respect for all residents in the region to choose their way of life.

AO: You have participated in the Conference of Parliamentarians for Al-Quds for the first time. What was your impression of the event?

JR: I was honoured to be invited by the Grand Assembly of Turkey and the Latin-Palestine Forum (LPF) to participate, and for my country to commission me to attend. There is no doubt that such steps only bring positive results and a sense of fraternity among people, which are the best things to avoid conflicts. We cannot be oblivious to the pain of human beings, so if we can reverse this situation we must act, as long as it is in accordance with the law and for legitimate causes, such as that of Palestine and its people.

AO: How was it to meet parliamentarians from all over the world?

JR: It was a unique experience. The exchange of information and knowledge allowed us to understand the different legislative practices around the world. The causes are generally similar everywhere; we all care for the welfare of our people, to give them peace and economic development to improve the living conditions of each person we represent and their families. I will return to my country with a lot of knowledge and things picked up in Turkey that I will put into practice.

I was very surprised by, and am grateful to, the people of Turkey, and to the legislative representatives for the opportunity to contribute to this conference. We are involved collectively in the defence of human rights. As a recommendation, in the future we could extend the call to get more countries involved, or perhaps the conference could be held in our cities and countries.

AO: What is your message to the Palestinian people in particular, and the Arab people in general across the Middle East?

JR: My message is simple. In Mexico you have a brotherly country that will always listen and look for peace, social justice and the dignity of the people. This world is our home and we cannot allow armed conflicts to continue to disrupt and destroy it. History has shown us that nothing good comes of conflict, so we must opt for dialogue and the search of human rights. Only then will we have a better future.

READ: Brazil renews support for the Palestinian people on International Day of Solidarity

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Posted By admin on December 16, 2021

Darin J Sallams debut feature Farha is replete with dark close-ups of the protagonist that are framed like tragic Rembrandt portraits.

But one in particular, midway through the film, stands out, and best encapsulates the emotional and historical gravity of the work: In a windowless pantry where the character Farha, 14, spends two-thirds of the film, her features are barely visible. The vivid light in her eyes wavers behind tears. She is looking towards the door of the pantry, locked from the outside by her father. Beyond it, the silence is thick as it replaces the sound of gunfire.

The year is 1948, and Palestine is in the peak of a catastrophe that is referred to today as the Nakba. The term, which translates to calamity, signifies a time between 1947 to 1949, when more than 500 Palestinian towns and villages were destroyed and more than 700,000 people forcibly displaced.

Sallam says Farha is inspired by the real-life experience of one refugee, Raddiyeh. Her story, the Jordanian-Palestinian filmmaker points out, travelled to her across a generation and the Levant.

She was a girl who lived in Palestine during the Nakba, Sallam tells The National. Her father locked her in the pantry [to protect her]. Her stepmother then let her out later and they both survived, making it to Syria. The father disappeared. After Raddiyeh went to Syria, she met a little girl and told her the story. That little girl was my mother.

This is not a spoiler, as Raddiyehs story is not replicated beat-by-beat in Farha, which made its worldwide debut in September during the Toronto International Film Festival and premiered regionally during the Red Sea International Film Festival.

Rather, the film pivots around a question that has persistently haunted Sallam ever since she first heard the story: what did Raddiyeh do in that storage room before her stepmother let her out?

From left to right: Majd Eid, Sameera Asir, producer Deema Azar, Karam Taher, director Darin Sallam, producer Ayah Jardaneh and Firas Taybeh attend the 'Farha' premiere during the Red Sea International Film Festival. Photo: The Red Sea International Film Festival

I am claustrophobic, Sallam says. Im scared of small, dark spaces and the story stayed with me because I kept thinking what happened to this girl as she was locked in that pantry? I used to constantly ask my mother, but she didnt know as Raddiyeh never went into detail about what had happened in that pantry.

I kept thinking if I was in her place, Id have lost my mind.

The story, Sallam says, seemed like an obvious choice when, after having released a handful of short films, she decided to work on a feature.

There was a reason the story had stayed with me, I thought, she says. So I had to talk about it, express what I was feeling with it.

Sallam began working on the films script in 2016, and three years later, decided it was time the project materialised out of the page. Even then, Sallam did not have a finished script, but rather a loose blueprint of the scenes that would make up the film.

Darin J Sallam on set during the shooting of 'Farha'. Photo: IMDb

I like to improvise, Sallam says. As an artist, I believe we need to surrender to the moment, to the inspiration. I dont believe in paper but emotion. I used to write the dialogue on the spot as we were shooting.

The film features sharp performances from several veteran Arab actors including Ashraf Barhom, Ali Suliman and Sameera Asir. However, as more than 50 minutes of the film centres solely on the titular character, it is first-time actress Karam Taher that ensures Farha leaves a mark.

Sallam says it took a long time and a string of lacklustre auditions until she found the right person to play Farha. The filmmaker knew she wouldnt be casting a professional actress, so wasnt expecting a particularly strong audition.

I was looking for an actress who had that captivating quality in their eyes, Sallam says. And then, as we started doing auditions, I was struck by a disappointing fact. Several of the actresses auditioning did not know much about the Nakba. Karam did though, and she had a grandmother who would tell her stories of Palestine.

Sallam says she chose to make 'Farha' so people will not forget about the Nakba. Photo: The Red Sea International Film Festival

Sallam had still not told Taher she had been cast when the filmmaker gave her an assignment.

I told her to go to her grandmother and ask her to tell her about the Nakba, and then to write about it.

A few days later, Taher approached Ashraf Barhom, the Jordanian production company behind the film, with her assignment in hand.

It showed me she was serious about the role, Sallam says. She may have been shy during her audition, but it proved to me that she had potential.

Once cast, Sallam and Taher began a five-month-long acting workshop in which the director taught the budding actress how not to act.

A lot of young actors want to prove themselves to the point that they overact emotions, Sallam says. I wanted her performance to be effortless. We went through non-verbal behaviour, body language, even psychodrama and recalling certain moments. We trained once or twice a week for months.

I needed her to trust me. By the end of it, I could draw an abstract shape on a piece of paper, a circle or a square, and shed know exactly what I meant by it.

As most of the scenes within the film take place in the dark, enclosed space of a storage room, Sallam says she had no choice but to confront her claustrophobia.

Karam wanted me to be there in every scene in that dark pantry, Sallam says. Thinking back, shooting those moments was like therapy. It helped me get over my claustrophobia.

The film won a Special Mention prize at the Red Sea International Film Festival's inaugural Yusr Awards on Monday night.

Sallam says she is routinely asked why she chose to do a period piece for her first feature, when there are so many stories happening in Palestine today.

The filmmaker says she chose to go back to precisely this moment in time to upend the narrative that Palestine was a land without people for a people without a land, a phrase that is commonly quoted in association with the establishment of Israel.

Palestine existed. There was life there, people living with their hopes and ambitions, she says. The film is also a way to show that we wont forget. And when I saw how many of the young actresses did not have a clear understanding of the Nakba, it pushed me more.

"When we screened in Toronto, a lot of people in the audience, non-Arabs, were leaving the movie Googling more about the event. To me, thats a huge win. It is the impact I want the film to have.

Updated: December 14th 2021, 6:21 AM

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Posted By admin on December 16, 2021

Boston Review and Standing Togetherone of the largest grassroots peoples movements in Israel working to bring together Jews and Arabswelcomed Sally Abed, Noam Chomsky, Alon-lee Green, Congressman Jim McGovern and Dr. James Zogby, President of the Arab-American Institute, for a panel discussion on the prospects for peace and justice in Israel and Palestine. The event was be moderated by Omar Dahi.

ABOUT THE PANELISTS:

Noam Chomskyis an educator and linguist. He joined the University of Arizona in fall 2017, after several decades at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jim McGovernis a member of the U.S. House,representing Massachusetts second Congressional District.

Omar Dahiis an associate professor of economcis at Hampshire College and research associate at the Political Economy Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Alon-lee Greenis one of the founding members of Standing Together, an elected member of the national leadership, and is currently acting as the national co-director, alongside Rula Daood.

Sally Abedis a member of the elected national leadership and currently acting as the resource development and relations coordinator at Standing Together.

Dr. James Zogbyis the founder and president of the Arab American Institute (AAI), a Washington, D.C.-based organization which serves as the political and policy research arm of the Arab American community.

This event is co-sponsored by:

Standing Together and the Political Economy Research Institute (PERI), at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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Posted By admin on December 16, 2021

During the month of May, Jewish American Heritage Month (JAHM) is celebrated to honor and celebrate the accomplishments and contributions of American Jews. George W. Bush was the first president to serve. As a result of his cooperation with Sen. John McCain, Bush declared April 20, 2006, as National Public Health Month.

Jewish American Heritage Month is observed by NARA to recognize Jewish contributions to American culture, history, military, science, government, and more. President George W. Bush signed an executive order in 2006 to create the Office of Management and Budget. In recognition of Jewish American Heritage Month, President Bush declared May to be the month.

In April, the National Arab Heritage Month (NAAHM) will be celebrated. Arab Americans and Arabic-speaking Americans are honored in this film for their contributions to American culture and heritage.

Month

Special Emphasis Programs Observances

February

African American History Month

March

National Womens History Month

May

Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month

June

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month

In addition to Tishri, Cheshvan, Kislev, Tevet, Shevat, Adar, Nisan, Iyar, Sivan, Tammuz, Av, and Elul, there are also other months. Adar II (also known as Adar Sheni or Veadar) replaces Adar in leap years, and Adar I (also known as Adar Rishon) is inserted before Adar II in leap years. There are either 29 or 30 days in a month.

Jewish American Heritage Month

Observed by

United States

Significance

Annual recognition of Jewish American achievements and contributions to the United States.

As well as this, the religious year begins here. Although Nisan occurs six or seven months after the start of the calendar year, it is considered the first month. At the Hashana, apples and honey are served. On 1 Tishri, or Rosh Hashana, the Jewish New Year begins.

Month

Name

Leap year months

9

Sivan

10 Sivan

10

Tamuz

11 Tamuz

11

Av

12 Av

12

Elul

13 Elul

A member of the Arab American community is an American of Arab descent. The majority of Americans have roots in Arab countries, but there are also substantial numbers from Egypt, Yemen, and Iraq as well. In the late 19th century, immigrants began arriving.

There are 22 countries in western Asia and northern Africa that have Arab American roots. The late 19th century saw a significant increase in Arab immigration to the United States. Early immigrants (1880-1920) were mostly poor and working class Syrian/Lebanese Christians from mountain villages.

Caribbean immigrants have contributed to the well-being of American society since its founding, states the Institute of Caribbean Studies. In June 2005, the House passed the Bill and in February 2006, the Senate passed it.

In honor of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan, June is now recognized as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Queer (LGBTQ) Pride Month. Gay Liberation in the United States reached a tipping point during the Stonewall Uprising.

What Are The Various Heritage Months?

In 1989, President George H. Bush declared October as Italian American Heritage Month, which is celebrated each year by millions of Americans of Italian descent.

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