berlin

I'm currently in Berlin, researching a project set in East Germany...or the GDR (German Democratic Republic) as it's more precisely known...or the DDR if you use the German-language abbreviation.

The same thing can have a lot of names here, given the vagaries of language and politics. The Stasi, the dreaded East German secret police agency that features prominently into the research I'm doing, is also referred to as the MfS, using the German abbreviation of its full name, Ministry for State Security. The Berlin Wall (inside Berlin) or Inner German Border (across the whole country) was the Anti-Fascist Protection Wall to the GDR government...although a cursory glance at its design will reveal its intent was to keep East Germans in, not fascists out.

Berlin is a lovely city, chill and inviting despite all the waves of history that have crashed over it. Or perhaps because of them. A first-time visitor will be surprised at how modern the architecture in this historic city is--until he or she remembers that great swaths of it were leveled during WWII. Twenty years after reunification, the dividing line between East and West has been almost completely erased. Other than in official monuments--of which there are many, some excellent, others cheesy--it remains only in codes and shadows: a street name here, an unrenovated building there. And traffic lights. For some reason the East German-style traffic lights have become a kind of fetish object. There is a whole store selling items detailed with the little green walking man in the hat and his red counterpart, standing still with his arms out straight to the sides.

I have much more to say about the history I've been learning, which I'll save for another post, coming shortly. Suffice to say it's fascinating and I'm excited to be here. Oh, and the public transportation is excellent.

leaving the left coast

It's official. I moved out of LA. I'm in Baltimore at my parents' house right now, but I'll be departing for about two months of international travel shortly: a month in Germany, where I'll be researching a script, then a week back here in the States, then three weeks in the Middle East.

I moved out of my LA apartment, and while I'll probably be back in LA for a visit in September, I have no plans to live there in the immediate future. For the next two months, although my mail, my cats and most of my possessions will go to my parents' house, I won't really be living anywhere. I find this prospect pretty awesome.

I'll be updating my blog as much as possible during my travels. I may not be able to post too much about the project I'm working on in Germany, but I will definitely post my impressions of Germany. So far in life I've managed to hit up places like Russia, Mexico and the Occupied Palestinian Territories but have somehow missed out on western Europe. I've been told I must try the bratwurst with cheese.

nyt discovers gazans are people

The New York Times Week in Review has a small but surprisingly human portrait of Gaza in the work of freelance photojournalist Katie Orlinsky.

You may note how Eitan Bronner can't resist trying to spin this into a "look, the siege isn't that bad--people are shopping!" story. But Ms. Orlinsky's words and photographs speak for themselves--particularly the final, devastating shot of pregnant widow Wesam Fahim Dardona in what looks to be her ruined, fire-blackened house. That photo should win a prize.

And, Bronner propaganda aside, Orlinsky has captured a particular, unique and ephemeral quality of Gaza, one that's difficult to explain to those who haven't been there: the way life goes on, somehow, in the shadow of war and siege; the way normalcy and even joy rub shoulders with appalling destruction; the constant back-and-forth pull between hope and annihilation, and what a miracle it is that the latter has not yet won.

I can't help thinking that showing Gazans as normal people who do normal things, like shop and go to the beach and go to school, is a step forward for the New York Times. And I don't think this story would have even run if not for the Freedom Flotilla and the spotlight it's shown on Gaza.

my reading list

The US news media is terrible. It's really almost inconceivably shitty.

I know, this is hardly a revelation. But I was reminded of it afresh after talking to several progressive friends/relatives who had been relying on mainstream American news sources (albeit liberal ones) for news of the Freedom Flotilla massacre, and realizing that the gap between their knowledge of those events and mine was a chasm. And these were people who'd been actively trying to find something other than the stream of utter bullshit known as the official Israeli propaganda line.

This made me to stop and think about where I get my news, particularly about Palestine and the Middle East, and reminded me that I shouldn't keep those sources to myself. So I've made a short, entirely non-exhaustive list of the news sources I routinely go to when I want the truth, in the hopes that you too, dear reader, will have a light to turn to when the unrelenting barrage of crap that passes for news in the United States gets you down.

I don't check all of these sources every day. But if you read even one of them once a week, you'll probably be better informed than the vast majority of Americans.

MSM (that's Mainstream Media for the uninitiated)
The Guardian--if you only read one source for international news, read The Guardian. This British daily also has one of the best websites I've ever seen, with an incredible editorial/commentary section, Comment Is Free, that allows way more diversity of opinion on a huge variety of topics than would ever fit in a print edition.
Al Jazeera English--sometimes awesome, sometimes inane, but they actually have correspondents on the ground in places where shit happens in the Middle East, and no squeamishness about showing the reality of war. You can watch the TV channel online on their website.
Haaretz--the "liberal" Israeli daily. There are serious limits to liberalism in Israel, but you'll often find more debate about the wisdom of Israeli policy here than in the pages of the New York Times.

Alternative Media
There are many great alternative radio programs, all of which can be listened to online from anywhere in the world now, but Democracy Now! still holds the gold standard.
Socialist Worker--whenever I want not just facts, but analysis of the significance of particular events, this is the first place I turn. The newspaper of the International Socialist Organization had a crap website for years, but they've made up for it in the past couple by developing an awesome site that's updated daily during the week. With literally hundreds of volunteer reporters embedded in the front lines of every struggle around the country, and links to smart and insightful commentators around the world, the SW website has become a one-stop shop for grassroots activist news. I'm a particular fan of the new Critical Reading blog, collecting the best reporting and analysis from other news sources around the interwebs.

Blogs/Websites
Electronic Intifada--a great all-around news source for all things Palestine.
Mondoweiss--excellent commentary on Israel/Palestine by a variety of writers, with a particular focus on the American Jewish community.
In Gaza--Eva Bartlett's blog from Gaza, where she's been for about 18 months now. Along with Tales to Tell, this was my primary news source during Operation Cast Lead.
Jewbonics--the blog of another friend who's on the ground in Gaza now, with a focus on Jewish anti-Zionism, but also many fantastic eyewitness reports from Gaza.

Twitter
For a long time I didn't get Twitter. Then came #iranelection, and a bunch of people realized Twitter had incredible potential as a grassroots, from-the-front-lines news source. Even in situations where you may not have internet access, there is almost always someone with a cell phone. This makes Twitter an ideal medium for communicating instant news updates from rapidly developing situations like protests--I used it during the Gaza Freedom March, then followed people on Viva Palestina 3, and it was my primary news source during the Flotilla massacre. I don't go on Twitter every day because it's a definite time-sucker. But for breaking news, I can't recommend it enough.

one if by land, two if by sea

If Israel's goal with the Flotilla massacre was to deter future grassroots siege-breaking efforts, well, let's just say EPIC FAIL on that one.

Already, activists in Lebanon and a spokesperson from the Iranian Red Crescent have pledged to send ships to Gaza in the coming weeks. While the thought of what Israel might do to ships sailing from the ports of two of its sworn enemies is pretty frightening, I think Israeli propagandists are going to have a harder time spinning this one: German Jews bringing candy and musical instruments, both currently banned under the blockade of Gaza.

And then there's this. Viva Palestina founder George Galloway, speaking to a crowd of 20,000 in London as part of the global day of action to break the siege on Gaza on June 5, announcing what very well may be the Convoy to End All Convoys:



The details are now up on the Viva Palestina wesbite. (Scroll down a bit to "Dear Friends of Palestine"...I really wish they'd make their news items separate clickable links.) Departing September 12, joint sea and land convoys will attempt to simultaneously break the blockade at the two points where it's been cracked before--the Rafah crossing and the Mediterranean--and thus "render the siege null and void."

If this sounds like the international solidarity version of a David Lean epic...well, it kinda is. And I kinda really want to go. Who knows how things will develop in the next several months, but I have a feeling this is gonna be one for the history books.

israel seizes the rachel corrie

The MV Rachel Corrie, the Irish cargo ship that was the last component of the Freedom Flotilla, was hijacked by the Israeli Navy on the morning of June 5, forced to dock in the Israeli port of Ashdod, and all its passengers taken prisoner and then deported.

There were a few hours of high drama on Friday night (Saturday morning in Gaza), with reports circulated that the Rachel Corrie had been captured...then those reports scuttled by passengers on board who said they were only being followed, not boarded...then, finally, around 3am West Coast time, confirmation that the ship had been taken.

This final twist of the knife is not really a surprising coda to the Flotilla story, but there is something exquisitely cruel about it. The final drama played out with the ship in view of the Gaza harbor, just twenty miles offshore. There's something spectacularly mean-spirited about letting the ship get close enough that people give in and just dare to hold out a sliver of impossible hope--then snatching it away at the last moment. In a final insult, the Israeli soldiers hailing the ship refused to call her the Rachel Corrie, instead using her previous name, the MV Linda. Are they uncomfortable saying their victims' names, or just so used to denying their existence they don't even think about it?

Already the Israeli hasbara machine is trying to spin a "good activist/bad activist" narrative claiming that there was "no violence" aboard the Rachel Corrie because the well-behaved activists on board submitted to--nay, practically welcomed!--armed Israeli soldiers hijacking their ship in international waters, kidnapping them and (as far as we know) stealing their cargo. Whereas the evil violent Al-Qaeda linked jihadist Turks who dared to resist a heavily armed assault with whatever makeshift weapons they could muster had it coming and deserved what they got--30 bullets for the nine dead, plus 48 more with gunshot wounds, plus persistent rumors of at least four people still missing, fates unknown. The Free Gaza Movement has already issued a press release cutting through some of this blame-the-victim bullshit, and activists everywhere should do the same.

the tipping point

Banner hung near Gaza port in preparation for Freedom Flotilla arrival. Photo courtesy of Eva Bartlett.

What to write about the Freedom Flotilla massacre? There is so much news and events are still moving rapidly. It seems ages ago that I wrote about how the Freedom Flotilla had backed Israel into a corner in which all its options were bad. That was true, but I don't think anyone could have predicted how dramatic events would become in the following days.

Some are saying we shouldn't be shocked that Israeli commandos opened fire with live ammunition on a humanitarian aid ship, murdering at least nine, and possibly as many as 20 people. (Rumors that Israeli soldiers tossed bodies off the ship are unconfirmed but persistent.) But I was shocked, and I think many veteran activists--including Palestinians and internationals who had lived through Operation Cast Lead--were shocked too. Watching Turkish news broadcasting on the IHH livestream after the satellite feed from the Mavi Marmara was cut, listening to a woman's voice begging in English and Hebrew for the soldiers to stop shooting and help the wounded...that was one of the most disturbing things I've ever witnessed. I think we should be shocked, because it is shocking. I don't think we should ever lose our capacity to be shocked by violence.

I think most of us expected the ships to be intercepted, boarded, the passengers arrested and aid stolen (which has happened.) I don't think anyone expected the bloodbath that took place. I certainly don't think the passengers or organizers believed they were on a suicide mission.

There is some debate about whether Israeli commandos had a premeditated plan to kill, or whether they simply panicked and overreacted with hysterical, overwhelming force when confronted with (shocker!) actual resistance to their aggressive seizure of the Marmara. MK Hanin Zoaby (who has faced death threats, attempts to strip her of her Israeli citizenship, and physical attacks in the Knesset for her participation) is convinced they planned to kill as many activists as possible to send a message to deter future convoys. Some evidence in the Israeli press supports this theory. But there are also reports of soldiers who sounded genuinely surprised and frightened by the fierce (although makeshift) resistance they encountered on the Marmara.

Whether or not they planned to kill, while a somewhat interesting debate on a psychological and sociological level, is really neither here nor there. What is beyond debate is that they did not hesitate to kill...and kill and kill and kill...when activists did not instantly comply with the violent efforts to seize control of the ship and stop it from sailing to Gaza. I am sure the fact that many of the passengers on the Marmara were Muslim (although European) helped them justify their lethal actions to themselves.

Whether or not there was a premeditated plot for violence, commandos armed to the teeth stormed a civilian humanitarian aid ship at 4:30 in the morning--the time of night when the most people would be sleeping, and when US interrogation manuals tell us people will be most disoriented and frightened when violently awakened. (Those who weren't sleeping were praying fajr, the first Muslim prayer of the day. The call to prayer was one of the last things heard on the livestream before it cut off.) Even if they didn't plan such an unmitigated slaughter, there is no doubt that they planned to brutalize and terrify a bunch of unarmed civilians.

Israel walks a fine line when it comes to internationals. To a certain extent, they do try to keep the worst violence confined to Palestinians, because they know, cynically, that the media outlets of powerful countries don't care about Palestinian deaths. But since the beginning of the Second Intifada, small groups of internationals have been putting themselves into the most dangerous situations, resolutely insisting on standing with Palestinians even when it means facing danger they have the privilege of being able to avoid. This means that every once in a while, Israel has to kill or wound an international, just to remind us that they can. Just one day after the Flotilla massacre, Israeli soldiers shot 21-year-old American art student Emily Henochowitz in the face with a tear gas canister at close range while she was supporting a protest of aforementioned massacre in the West Bank. She lost her left eye.

The problem is that this strategy--like all uses of repressive violence--can easily backfire. And backfire it has in the case of the Freedom Flotilla. Because the whole world has seen the face of Israeli brutality.

The stories emerging from the ships and from detention afterward would be familiar to any Palestinian--or anyone who read the Goldstone Report, for that matter. White flag killings. Critically wounded denied medical care despite pleas for help. Soldiers pointing the laser sights on their rifles at passengers' head to scare them. Repeated strip searches and passengers made to kneel, bound, for long hours on the deck of the Marmara, freezing at night and sweltering during the day. Beatings and Taser shocks for anyone who resisted. All these things are forms of torture, and of course they're also standard treatment for any Palestinian who gets arrested in the Occupied Territories.

Israel worked hard to institute a total media blackout on news from the Flotilla during and immediately after its capture--blocking communications from the ship, tearing apart passengers' luggage and confiscating every phone, camera, video camera and laptop they could get their hands on, and holding passengers incommunicado for up to two days. But they simply cannot shut up some seven hundred eyewitnesses from over 40 countries. All over the world, Flotilla survivors are returning home and are telling their stories to family, friends, comrades and media. Two important websites, Gaza Flotilla Survivors and the Gaza Flotilla Archive, have been set up to collect eyewitness testimony and documentation of the attack.

In the days after the raid, a wave of protest has swept the globe, and it shows no signs of ebbing. The Gaza Freedom March website currently lists 125 separate protests in response to the massacre taking place between June 3 and June 12--and I'm sure there are many events that are not on this list.

And the final chapter of the Freedom Flotilla saga has not yet been written. The MV Rachel Corrie is an Irish cargo ship that was supposed to be part of the Freedom Flotilla, but was delayed in the Mediterranean--likely due to Israeli sabotage, it now appears. Because of the delay, the Rachel Corrie was not with the Flotilla on the 31st and escaped the attack. It is still heading for Gaza, loaded with cement, paper, medical supplies, and carrying Nobel Peace Prize winner Mairead Maguire, former UN Assistant Secretary-General Dennis Halliday, a Malaysian Member of Parliament and a crew from Malaysian TV, among others.

The latest reports are that the Rachel Corrie still intends to sail for Gaza and may reach the danger zone where the Freedom Flotilla was attacked as early as tonight, US time. No one knows what will happen with this ship. There are rumors that the same commando unit is preparing to intercept it. The passengers onboard have said that they will not resist an Israeli boarding, but neither will they be deterred from their attempts to sail to Gaza. And would you really expect them to turn back after their comrades gave their lives trying to break the siege?

I think we are watching the siege on Gaza implode. Egypt has already given way and opened the Rafah crossing, for the first time in a year. Freedom Flotilla II was in the works before the blood had dried on the Marmara decks. The global boycott, divestment and sanctions movement is only growing. If this is not the end, it is certainly the beginning of the end. And not just for the siege of Gaza, but for the entire apparatus of Israeli apartheid, I think. A few days before the Flotilla debacle, West Bank activist Mazin Qumsiyeh said the struggle in Palestine was reaching its "endgame." I think he's right. No one can tell if that endgame will last two, five, or ten years, although I wouldn't be surprised if things collapse far more rapidly than anyone expects. This does not mean that Israel will become less violent--quite the reverse, I think. But it's reached a tipping point where it can neither win nor even stabilize the situation. Instead of deterring struggle every act of violence just pushes it forward.

The time to act is now. GAZA WE ARE COMING! FREE PALESTINE!