Boycott of Israel is Pro-Jewish, Pro-Peace

For immediate release, from Jewish Peace News
Contacts:
Stephen R. Shalom, stephenrshalom@gmail.com
+ 1(973) 801-2377
Racheli Gai, racheli@sonoracohousing.com
+ 1(520) 407-1432

A Boycott of Israel is Pro-Jewish, Pro-Peace, not Anti-Semitic!

Montclair, NJ, April 8, 2009 -- More than 370 Jewish peace activists from around the world signed a statement defending German politician Hermann Dierkes against charges of anti-Semitism.

Dierkes, a left-wing politician with a distinguished record of fighting for social justice, called for a boycott of Israeli goods to pressure the right-wing Israeli government to end its oppression of Palestinians. For this he has been subjected to vicious denunciations for anti-Semitism.

The signers of the statement -- from Israel, Germany, the United States, and several other countries -- expressed their objection to those "who use charges of anti-Semitism to attempt to squelch legitimate dissent."

The signers differ on the wisdom and efficacy of a general boycott. Some favor it. Some prefer a more selective boycott focused on the occupation. But all agree that a call for a boycott of Israel has nothing in common with the Nazi policy of "Don’t buy from Jews."

It is no more anti-Semitic to boycott Israel to end the occupation, than it was anti-white to boycott South Africa to end apartheid, the statement declared.

Among the signatories are Jewish political, intellectual, cultural and spiritual leaders from around the world. They include:

United States:
Phyllis BENNIS
Stephen Eric BRONNER
Leslie CAGAN
Noam CHOMSKY
Daniel ELLSBERG
Melanie KAYE/KANTROWITZ
Joanne LANDY
Zachary LOCKMAN
Frances Fox PIVEN
Adrienne RICH
Matthew ROTHSCHILD
Sami SHALOM CHETRIT
Jerome SLATER
Howard ZINN

Israel:
Tikva HONIG-PARNASS´
Adam KELLER
Lea TSEMEL
Michel WARSCHAWSKI

France:
Daniel BENSAĎD
Michaël LÖWY

Canada:
Naomi KLEIN

Germany:
Felicia LANGER

UK:
Moshe MACHOVER
Eyal WEIZMAN

We gathered these names in just a week, said Stephen R. Shalom, a professor of political science at William Paterson University, one of several individuals who initiated the letter in response to their outrage at the accusation of anti-Semitism levelled at Dierkes.

We've been getting a constant stream of additional names of people who want to add their names to the statement.

Racheli Gai, an Israeli-American peace activist, notes:

There is real anti-Semitism in the world. Like all forms of racism, it must be vigorously denounced. Frivolous charges of anti-Semitism makes it harder to fight the real thing. They cheapen its meaning, and render the motivations of even those making the charge legitimately suspect.

The statement concludes:

The Holocaust was one of the most horrific events in modern history. It is a dishonor to its victims to use its memory to bludgeon into silence principled critics of Israel's unconscionable treatment of Palestinians.

Hermann Dierkes, a former city counsellor in the German city of Duisberg representing the Left Party, said the accusations of anti-Semitism hit him very hard.

Because I am well aware of the German inextinguishable heritage of fascism and the genocide of the European Jews, I feel especially obliged to fight against racist prejudices and oppression. Human rights are indivisible for all individuals and peoples of the world. The right of self-determination has to be guaranteed for the Palestinian people too. This is a precondition to gain peace for the whole region.

Among the many messages of solidarity he has received thus far, said Dierkes,

what moved me most was the open letter, signed by more than 370 Jewish peace activists from so many countries, including Israel.

The full text of the open letter is below. The full list of initial signatories is at the petition site.

*********

On Anti-Semitism, Boycotts, and Hermann Dierkes: Open Letter from Jewish Peace Activists

We are peace activists of Jewish background. Some of us typically identify in this way; others of us do not. But we all object to those who claim to speak for all Jews or who use charges of anti-Semitism to attempt to squelch legitimate dissent.

We have learned with dismay the allegations regarding Hermann Dierkes, a trade unionist and leader of the Left Party (Die Linke) in the German city of Duisburg. Dierkes, in response to the recent Israeli assault on Gaza, supports the call of the World Social Forum to boycott Israeli goods.

Dierkes has been subjected to widespread and vitriolic denunciations for anti-Semitism, and accused of calling for a repeat of the Nazi policy of the 1930s of boycotting Jewish products. Dierkes responded:

The demands of the World Social Forum have nothing in common with Nazi-type racist campaigns against Jews, but aim at changing the Israeli government’s policy of oppression of the Palestinians.

No one has levelled claims against Dierkes of anti-Semitism for anything other than his support of the boycott. Yet he has been accused of:

- pure anti-Semitism (Dieter Graumann the Vice-President of the Central Jewish Council),
- of uttering words comparable to "a mass execution at the edge of a Ukrainian forest" (Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung editorialist Achim Beer)
- Nazi propaganda (Hendrik Wuest, General Secretary of the Christian Democratic Party)

We signatories have differing views on the wisdom and efficacy of a boycott of Israeli goods. Some of us believe that such a boycott is an essential component of a campaign of boycott, divestment, and sanctions that can end the four-decade-long Israeli occupation. Others think the better way to pressure the Israeli government is with a more selective boycott focused on institutions and corporations supporting the occupation.

But all of us agree that it is essential to apply pressure against the Israeli government if peace and justice are to prevail in the Middle East. All of us agree that a call for a boycott of Israel has nothing in common with the Nazi policy of Don’t buy from Jews.

It is no more anti-Semitic to boycott Israel to end the occupation than it was anti-white to boycott South Africa to end apartheid.

Social justice movements have often called for boycotts or divestment, whether against the military regime in Burma or the government of Sudan. Wise or
not, such calls are in no way discriminatory.

Violence in the Middle East has indeed led to some acts of anti-Semitism in Europe. There was a call to boycott Jewish-owned stores in Rome that was widely and appropriately condemned. We deplore such bigotry. Israel's crimes cannot be attributed to Jews as a whole. But, at the same time, a boycott of Israel cannot be equated with a boycott of Jews as a whole.

An acute and disturbing form of racism rising in Europe today is Islamophobia and xenophobia directed at immigrants from Muslim countries. Dierkes has been a champion in defense of the rights of immigrants, while some of those who accuse all critics of Israel of anti-semitism often participate themselves -- like the Israeli government and state -- in such forms of racism.

The Holocaust was one of the most horrific events in modern history. To use its memory to bludgeon into silence principled critics of Israel's unconscionable treatment of Palestinians, dishonors all its victims and their survivors and descendants.

Eating my expectations

Shailja packing for Sweden exactly 14 days ago:

Short sleeves? Not necessary.

Shorts? Nope.

Dresses? Nope.

Sandals? Nah - doubt I'll ever go sockless.

Long earrings? Don't work with woolly hats.

Necklaces? No point - my neck'll be swathed in scarves most of the time.

Bracelets / bangles? Not going to bare my wrists much.

Wow, nothing simplifies packing like knowing you're going somewhere cold.

I arrived to thick snow, frozen rivers and lakes.

I've just come in from the terrace at NAI. Where I did asanas barefoot on warm granite, under a dazzling blue sky. Trousers rolled above knees. Layers shed down to tank top. Every exposed inch of skin drank in the sun.

Time to hit Uppsala's thrift shops for floaty summer garments :-)

Do-re-mi is the new Jai Ho

I blame Danny Boyle and Loveleen Tandon. Jai Ho clearly tapped into a global longing for big-group-song-and-dance-numbers-in-train-stations.

This one - Do-re-mi in Antwerp! - is both fabulous and hilarious.

I want it to sweep the airports next. I wouldn't even mind if it delayed my flights. Whoever orchestrated Do-re-mi, if you're reading this, I'm going through Stockholm's Arlanda and Newark, New Jersey on Wednesday...........

splice, dice, entice

A line from the prelude to Migritude I is used as the opening quote of The Virus, Vitamins, and Vegetables, a newly-released book on AIDS denialism in South Africa.

How many ways can you splice a history? Price a country? Dice a people? Slice a heart? Entice – what's been erased - back into story?
- - How Ambi Became Paisley, Migritude I: When Saris Speak (Lietocolle, 2008)

Edited by award-winning health journalists, Kerry Cullinan and Anso Thom, the collection of essays by doctors, journalists, activists and politicians:

examines former president Thabo Mbeki's scepticism on HIV/Aids and former health minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's promotion of garlic, beetroot and vegetables over antiretroviral drugs. South Africa's weak stance on the epidemic resulted in 330 000 unnecessary deaths during Mbeki's term in office, according to research published by the Harvard School of Public Health. (from allafrica.com)

It makes me happy to see my lines cross over into other fields of writing, open doors to vital discussions on the most urgent issues of our time.

You can click on the Shop page of this site to buy Migritude I (bilingual English - Italian edition). Or, if you're in Nairobi, stop in at Bookstop, domain of my favourite bookseller, Chan Bahal, and get both book and DVD.

Tell Her The Truth

is the title of a piece in The Nation by Tony Kushner and Alisa Solomon, on Seven Jewish Children: A Play For Gaza, by British playwright Caryl Churchill.

The play is ten minutes long and utterly, utterly brilliant in its compression and power. It could be a spoken word piece. You can read it in full online.

Kushner and Solomon take on the virulent attacks on Churchill from Zionists in Britain and the US, and dismantle them more cogently than anyone else could. I've blogged before about Kushner's response to Zionist censorship. This latest essay also says some very valuable things about the power of theatre and the creation of meaning through performance.

On hesitation

I have a perennial fear when I write - that I don't know enough to do the subject justice. That there's so much more I have to learn and understand. This fear keeps me from writing so often, it's infuriating.

A passage I just read - about mountain trekking in Lapland! - illuminated the block for me:

A trip like this is always unfinished. It cries out for continuation. When this is denied us, we at times attempt to conquer time and forgetfullness by nailing down experiences in words that crumble under pressure. I realise that what I have recounted can scarcely reach - or be understood by - anyone who has not lived its like. But it is for them - and for myself - that I write.

-- Max Ström, Swedish Wilderness: The Mountain World of Dag Hammarskjöld

And this, from Christopher Okigbo, Nigerian poet killed in 1967 in the Biafran War, reminded me why it's important to keep trying, and falling short:

We carry in our worlds that flourish
Our worlds that have failed....
-- Christopher Okigbo, Silences

full circle

for Dreaming in Gujurati, the poem that moved me off the page and onto the stage.

It's just come out in Gujurati translation in the latest issue of Opinion, the UK's leading journal on Gujurati diasporic literature. Translated by Bhadra Vadgama, president of the Gujarati Literary Academy. We discovered, after several months of correspondence, that Bhadra-bhen knew my father growing up in Zanzibar, and ran in and out of my grandmother's kitchen as a child.

The irony is that I can't read Gujarati. Which doesn't abate my pleasure in any way. I suspect it will give my parents a high like no other when I ask them to read the Gujarati version of the poem back to me.

Updates

Latest details on my performances and public events during my time in Sweden are now up on my Calendar.

And an announcement about my Guest Writer stint, alongside my all-time-favourite performance photo, just went up as the headline feature on the home page of the Nordic Africa Institute.

Finally, new headshots, by brilliant photographers Paul Munene and Wambui Mwangi.

Baobab

is a South African journal of new writing. Mai Palmberg lent me the launch issue (Autumn 2008) this weekend.

Friends tumbled out of the pages. Balm to the moments of loneliness that sprinkled my first weekend in Sweden.

The cover photo of Gabeba Baderoon is by Victor Dlamini, who featured me and Migritude on his Victor Dlamini podcast. Gabeba was the second African Guest Writer here at the Nordic Africa Institute, following the grande dame of African literature, Ama Ata Aidoo. I'll meet Gabeba in person next week at the African Literature Association Conference in Vermont, where we'll read together at a memorial evening to Aimé Césaire.

Then there's a short story by Mbulelo Mzamane, who largeness of spirit and intellect filled me with warmth and inspiration at Time of The Writer last year. And an essay by Andile Mngxitama, who called for a discourse of justice from me and other Kenyan writers during the post-election violence.

Reading Baobab, I wasn't lonely anymore. It restored me to the comfort and gratitude of knowing that I am connected - to a continent, to a vision of global justice, to an international community of writers, artists, thinkers, scholars who share that vision, and whose work feeds mine.

transgression, truth, freedom

I'm sad today that I can't be at the Kenya PEN memorial reading in Nairobi, for GPO Oulu, Kenyan activist colleague murdered by the state four weeks ago.

It's at the Kenya National Theatre's Wasanii Restaurant, 2pm - 5pm.

I'm currently reading a collection of essays by Ben Okri, A Way Of Being Free.

One passage in Okri's book, on transgression, speaks profoundly to GPO's life and death. I just read it aloud to myself, to the soundtrack of I Ka Barra (Your Work) by Habib Koite and Bamada. It whirled my body across the room, opened my arms and pelvis out from my torso.

My friend Arnoldo Garcia, also a worker for human rights and justice, puts it with brilliant simplicity:

Say it.
Put music to it.
Dance it.

I've taken the liberty of inserting line breaks, rendering Okri's passage here as a found poem. Click on I Ka Barra, read the words below out loud, follow your body. Share it with me as a tribute to GPO Oulu, a young man killed for the transgression of working for truth and freedom.

In storytelling
there is always transgression,
and in all art.

There is nothing more shocking
or more dangerous
or more upsetting
to individuals and nations
than truth.

The truth -
Truth -
SHRIEKS: it wakes up
all the hidden bullies,
the hidden policemen,
and the incipient dictators
and tyrants of the land.

The truth can be our hidden selves
turned monstrous

or the pullulating bacteria
of our secret desires (agendas),
and all the unrealities and lies
and all the consequences
of our strange unhappy actions
that we spend all our time
hiding from and avoiding.

Praise be unto those
that cry out the truth,
for they are cultural
and spiritual heroes.

Transgression can also
simply reside
in creating a beautiful thing.
Sometimes the creation
of a beautiful thing
in a broken resentful age
can be an affront to the living,
a denial of their suffering.
Sometimes beauty
can be accusatory.
It can place an intolerable question mark
over the most complacent
and thick-skinned lives.
Beauty can become a burden,
an unbearable exposure
of collective cowardice
and sloth and smallness of spirit
in an era of malice,
an era of failure.

The joy of transgressing beautifully,
of taking readers to places
they wouldn't willingly go, this joy
ofj seducing or dragging readers
in spite of themselves to places deep in them
where wonders lurk beside terrors, this delicate
art of planting delayed repeat explosions
and revelations.......
this is one of the most mysterious
joys of all.

at bottom, and never wanting
to admit it, we really want to face
the hidden Minotaur within, we want
the drains unblocked, we want the frozen river
of our blood and compassion to flow again, we want this pain
so that we can be free.

It is just that we want this unpleasant job
of facing the dead and rotting thoughts,
habits, desires, notions and traditions
to be done with our collusion,
with our secret consent.

And we would much prefer to be enchanted
or to laugh
or to be taken out of ourselves
while the horrors are being faced,
while the ghosts are being exorcised.

And we hope afterwards that we will be lighter
for it all, and that the gods of harmony
will again, for a while, reside in us.

Ben Okri, from "The Joys Of Storytelling II", Ä Way Of Being Free

From the department of WTF

this report on a Jewish fundamentalist press erasing women from news photos.

The ultra-Orthodox press, bound by strict laws regarding modesty which demand that women be obscured to the greatest extent possible, prefers as a general rule to refrain from carrying images of females.

So they digitally blot out the faces of women cabinet ministers, or any other women, who happen to be shamelessly flaunting their faces in public.

Remember who ran this racket in Afghanistan? The Taliban.

Remember the post-9/11 frenzy to justify the US bombardment and invasion of Afghanistan, on the bizarre pretext of liberating Afghani women? Can't wait to hear the calls for the US to drop bombs on Israel for the same reason.

Suspect I'll be waiting a long, long time.........

Uppsala reception

On Friday evening, the Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation
hosted a reception to welcome me as Guest Writer at the Nordic Africa Institute.

It was small, rich, intimate and heartwarming. It felt like a party in a friend's living room - with the bonus of excellent tech support. Two of the DHF staff are musicians, so I had the wonderful gift of working with people who totally got the importance of sound quality for my performance. Anita brought in her own mics for me to use. Karim helped me test three different sound options, then adjusted the one we chose to pick up the most delicate nuances of tone and volume.

In my debriefing notes afterwards, I wrote:

Tonight I was fixed in place, at a standing mic. But my voice became the dancer. I felt her lead me, like a pied piper, on a wild, mysterious up-hill-down-dale-into-the-cave-down-the-tunnel-out-to-the-shore adventure. Repeatedly, she surprised me by doing something she hadn't done before on stage. Each surprise worked, completely, because the mic caught it, transmitted it perfectly. The image that arises, again, is a trapeze artist, or a leaping ballet dancer, who launches her body into space with total confidence that her partner is in place to catch her.

Henning Melber, director of the DHF presented me with a stunning coffee table collection: Swedish Wilderness - The Mountain World of Dag Hammarskjöld. I've always been drawn to mountains. My name, Shailja, is Sanskrit for "daughter of the mountain." I'm looking forward to mountain-gazing before I fall asleep each night, and meeting the images in my dreams...........

The questions that followed the performance were stimulating and insightful - as one would expect from an audience of scholars, thinkers, Africanists, social scientists. They tapped into my own avenues of exploration. How language and movement generate and inform each other. How to bring poetry into academic writing and development writing. How to ground art in data-based analysis and empirical research.

Another gift was the presence of Ewa Ulander, secretary of the Swedish Writers Union, who brought me to WALTIC in Stockholm last year. Click here for photos of me performing at the closing ceremony. I was so touched that Ewa made time in her busy schedule to come from Stockholm to Uppsala. And arrived bearing flowers! Her glowing orange gerberas and sunshine-yellow chrysanthemums are lighting up the kitchen and living room of my Uppsala flat.

Some of the feedback on the performance (which Henning had the wonderful foresight to capture in writing for me):

Moving and powerful, a scream in a whisper.

A potent experience seeped in a layered immediacy. Thank you.

The muscles of language and body, of mind and passion, combine.

Words of truth and pain and faith.

And an email I received today:

You must know that in addition to the power of the words you speak, is the power of speaking them at all.

Tack så mycket to all at DHF - Karin, Karim, Anita, Henning. And to Mai Palmberg, creator and powerhouse of the Cultural Images of Africa program at the Nordic Africa Institute, for bringing me to Uppsala.