Ajami, the movie

It hits you in the face, Scandar Kopti's and Yaron Sheni's movie "Ajami"' bluntly. It's overpowering.

And yes, this is where i live. It's about "my" neighbourhood.

Of course this is not going to be an objective film review. I know most , no, almost all of the actors, at least by face and some are very good friends. The cast  has been trained, but they are not professional actors, just my neighbours, more or less playing themselves, playing situations they know, reacting naturally as they would have done were the story real. It could have been real.

However, before continuing, honesty demands i admitting being ever so slightly being involved in a very very early production stage of Ajami.

The film opens with a murder scene, a case of mistaken identity, shot in HaDudaim Street. The scene sent me back to some 7 years ago, Saturday afternoon. Enjoying a glass of wine on my balcony overlooking that  street. The street is packed with children, playing outside, enjoying themselves. A motorcycle drives by, on it someone wearing a dark helmet. A few shots ring out, loud, then screams and crying, a young guy lays badly wounded on the street. It all went so fast it took me a few seconds to understand what i had just witnessed. The opening scene takes place at almost the same spot. Only on the other side of the street. In this case the guy survived. They say the murderer was someone from Ramle or Lod, and he didn't know the intended victim well enough and thus mistook him for someone else. Just like in the movie. The similarity is chilling and it doesn't stop with this scene either.

The movie is made out of a few story lines which initially seem not entirely connected, but over time they do, as in real life, as in Ajami.

Many in the audience were from Ajami, so some scenes were funny to us in a way they may not be to others.

I highly recommend, run to your nearest movie theatre.

Naomi Klein in Jaffa

This saturday, July the 4th at 11.11 o'clock, Naomi Klein, author of "the Shock Doctrine", which has been published by the "Andalus" publishing house in Arabic and in Hebrew, will speak about her book at the Jaffa Arab Hebrew theater.

The meeting will be followed by a discourse on the boycot of Israel as a peaceful and legitiate tool in the struggle for a just peace in the Middle East.

Demonstration today at 18.00

Clock tower square is Jaffa's ancient entrance (or exit).

The buildings are historic and their skyline forms part of what Jaffa is famous for, when arriving from the north: a lovely and distinc skyline.

At the very corner sits the "Kishle"; the old Turkish police station, which served for many years also as a jail and an Israeli police station.

The building is protected, but in 2006 it was sold to the Nakash brothers, who want to turn it into a 140 room hotel by adding several floors to this lovely historic building. They have submitted a horrific building plan.

The new design (i saw it this morning at the municipal engineer building) is a monster designed along the lines of the Andromeda compound, "the best of orientalism". The massive building will completely dwarf the existing buildings along the square, including the clock tower and the minnaret of the Mahmoudiye Mosque, Jaffa's grand mosque.

The top suite with ajacent swimmingpool will overlook the mosque's courtyard and the garbage disposal unit will be located next to the south western wall shared with the mosque.

There must be ways to prevent the construction of this monstrosity. This is not a matter only of the Jaffa community but of all of us, as well as of the future generations. Jaffa's entrance is a true pearl, why destroy it?

Why not keep the lovely ancient building as it is and turn it into a museum or a gallery or a cultural center or... anything for the good of the community?

The destruction of the Kishle (by adding several floors nothing will remain of the original style and feel of the place) will completely alter the whole impact of Jaffa upon arriving from the north.

The Nakash brothers should ofcourse be reimbursed for their loss and be given construction rights elsewhere.

But why in the name of making some quick money do we allow the community's heritage to be destroyed?

Demonstration today at 18.00 at the clocktower square

"What do women want?"

The exhibit is a strangely collected mixture of 101 works by various present and past women artists (who were) active in Tel Aviv, curated by Galia Yahav.
I feel uncomfortable with the definition"women's art". Does it imply art created by women? About women? Dealing with femininity and gender? The exhibit is titled "What do women want".

Some of the shown works are profound and moving (e.g. photographs by Shosh Kormush and Noa Ben Nun Melamed and a portrait by Leah Golda Holterman), but others are, hmm, how to put it gently, not of the same high standard. Some choices are surprising as well, if you show one work per artist, i would expect her best or one of her best.
Another point is also the lack of works by some of the most profound women artists currently active in Tel Aviv.

The hanging is messy, without a clear concept. Although it's nice to have a big exhibit in Jaffa, this is not the way to go about it: sloppy and haphazardly.

The Amiad Centre, 12 Amiad Street, Jaffa

Classical Arabic Music Concert today

The "Al Rabita" organization are inviting lovers of classi Arab music to a concert today at 20.00 at the "Anis" auditorium in Jaffa Daled (9 HaPa'amonit Street).

Tickets are 50 NIS.

Event at 15.00 o'clock today: Gaza in the heart of Jaffa

Today at 15.00 o'clock in Gan HaShnayim (which will from now onwill be called "Gan Ha'azatim" (Park of the people form Gaza) at the corner of Ehrlich and Yefet Street.

In the past the taxis from Gaza used to stop at this corner to let of passengers from Gaza and take on passengersform Jaffa. In 1948 many of Jaffa's 120.000 Palestinians were expelled to the Gaza strip. As a result, there are exetensive family ties between the two places.
After 1967 trffic became possible and people came and went. There were many marriages in both "directions", which led to even more family ties.

The horrid war on Gaza left Jaffa in pan as well: the Jaffa based Samouni family lost some 30 of its family memebers in Gaza, and they are not the only family to have suffered awful losses.

Today we will return the park's old name in memory of the murdered children from Gaza.
System Ali will perform as will many other perfomrance artists from Jaffa and beyond:

No against the conltinued closer of the Gaza strip
Yes to peace and cooperation

We don't want to be enemies!

Once upon a time

Once upon a time, Israel intended to be a democratic state. And more or less met the commonly accepted western criteria for being recognized as such.

Free elections and the right to be a candidate and to vote for all adults, free press/media, the freedom to organize and to demonstrate, an independent judicial system, although the religious courts (Rabbinical, Shariya and church run) who influence a fairly large part of our personal lives, never were democratic nor pretended to be so and one of course needs to question the laws against family unification for Israelis marrying spouses form the occupied territories and the problematic behaviour of quite a few employees of the ministry of the interior. Israel more or less met most demands for being called a democracy. No longer so.

And yes, democracies have their limits. After all, history has shown an ultra extremist party can be democratically elected and then cancel all democratic rights. As such, it makes sense for a democracy to have certain limits in order to protect its very core value: democracy, freedom if you like. And i like freedom very much.

Israel has tried, in the past, to be a democracy of sorts. And i do not say this lightly. However, the basic criteria for a democratic state are no longer met.

The "election council" (Vaadat habhirot, ועדת הבחירות) yesterday decided to prevent to 2 parties from participating in the coming elections: Balad and Ra'am Tal. The decision was made with a large majority vote, which incluided support from such parties as the labour party and Kadima.
It should be mentioned that some of the top functionaries in the labour party apparently did not agree with labour chair person Eitan Kabel's decision to vote in favour of the cancellation.
But a very ugly truth is out, clearly and openly. Israel is not a democracy. Palestinian and Jewish Israelis are prevented from making progress towards true democracy by means of parties that believe in the concept of " a state for all its citizens מדינת כל אזרחיה ". These parties are not allowed to participate in the upcoming elections which are supposed to take place on february the 10th, about 4 weeks from now.

There is an inherent contradiction in the concept of a "democratic Jewish State". To put it simply: in a democratic state all are equal. It does not matter whether one is Jewish, Muslim or Christian or of no religion or belongs to whatever ethnic group. And if one ethnic group becomes larger than another, it does not matter. Ethnicity does not play a role. All are equal, and if people from "other" ethnic groups wish to migrate to the country and if they meet the regular criteria an other country has in regards to providing visas (no criminal record, the ability to provide for oneself, not suffering from very serious and dangerous diseases which might harm public health or by marriage etc) they can do so.
There has been extensive and shameless talk in Israel about "the demographic danger". What they mean by that is "what of there will be inside Israel more Arabs than Jews?". Quite obviously in such a situation, there no longer would be a Jewish majority state. And this is what scares many people in Israel. And i can understand the feeling of fear, it is based on a long history of violent antii-semitism. Yet i cannot justify the consequences of this fear.
IF Israel wants to be a democracy, it needs to consider its ethnic multi-cultural character as well as its history of colonialism. It needs to ask questions about zionism and the naqba. It needs to wonder about immigration rights and the civil status of minority groups. Questions need to be asked about inter-religious marriage. Solutions need to be found.

Yesterday's vote indicates quite clearly that Israel is no willing to do so. Israel is not willing to be a true democracy and to face the serious questions and demands posed by a growing Palestinian minority that has become politicised and acutely aware of its rights and the continuing discrimination it faces.

I expect yesterday's shameless decision to be undone by the Israeli supreme court, and both parties will probably participate in the elections and have their representatives in the next kneset. Yet never has it been more clear: there is a contradiction between a sole ethnic based state and democracy.
And if we are unwilling to face that contradiction, we will -quickly- become a non-democratic state. Yesterday a big step was made into that direction.

Accessability - the opening tonight!

Artists for social change, a group of people from different disciplines, put together an exhibition dedicated to accessibility
The exhibition, which opens today at 27 Shocken street in south Tel Aviv (floor 10 -but accessible) deals with limitations put on people with different challenges by society.


Welcome!

Mahmoud Darwish - Invitation

The Jaffa "Rabita" (League for the Arabs of Jaffa) organization and "Social Workers for Peace" are organizing an evening in the memory of the late Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish.

The evening will be held in Arabic and Hebrew on October 30th, 2008 at the Rabita Building, 73 Yefet Street in Jaffa, from 19.30.

Prof. Sasson Somekh of Tel Aviv University will lecture about Mahmoud Darwish
Actor Mousa Zehalka will read poetry.

The evening will be facilitated by Ms. Sheikha Haliwa.

Peres Center for Peace about to be inaugurated

On the beach (and that's much less than 300 meters from the water line - by law no construction should be allowed) and next to Jaffa's ancient Muslim grave-yard a weird looking construction, designed by a couple of Italian architects, the Fuksas, (were there no Israeli or, heaven forbid, Palestinian architects?) has been going up over the last several years, overlooking the lovely Mediterranean: The Peres Center for Peace.

Another neighbour of the center is the "Shem HaGdolim"/"Kedem 163" public housing estate, the worst one in Jaffa (and we have quite a collection of shitty public housing estates - thanks once more, Halamish)
A neighbour rather less quiet than the sea, even on a stormy day.

The greenish stripy building does not fit in and looks "not belonging". Sometimes contrast works. Not so, in this case. A colonialist presence looking oppressive rather than inviting. It does not say "dialogue" but "fuck off", having an open face (and obviously a beautiful view when you look out from the inside), only towards the sea. Towards the street and the heavy construction looks closed off, locked, like a safe, windowless, doorless, forbidding instead of inviting.
The spot is lovely, but the building doesn't interact with it. It's closed off to our neighbourhood of open doors and windows, of strong light and air.

A more important question is, of course, whether we will interact with the building, or rather, what will be going on inside it: an auditorium, a research library (will they be open to us, mere and simple neighbours?) . We have not been invited to the ceremony, which is supposed to take place between October 26-28, 2008.
Perhaps we should invite ourselves. After all, parties in Jaffa tend to be public, not so?

Oh, and i just wonder. they did not construct a parking place, so i guess they will be using the one belonging to our beach, which will , so i guess, become privatised for the events which will ofcourse be heavily guarded. Just guessing the last part....

Humus, Chips and Salad (as well as Solidarity)

Abigail Rubin was supposed to perform "Humus Chips and Salad" with her troupe at the Acco Festival.

As Acco's Alternative Theatre Festival has been cancelled, the play will be performed at Jaffa's Arab Hebrew Theatre "Al Seraya" this Thursday, the 16th at 21.00.

The play deals with the relationship between the festival Acco's Palestinian population. The Acco based "Said's Humus Restaurant" (i ate there yesterday, it truly is great humus) who are active participants in the show, will serve humus as a part of the performance, included in the price of the ticket.

So in order to enjoy good theatre, humus and demonstrate your solidarity with Acco's people and the artists who spent much time in preparuing for a cancelled festival, come!

The image was made yesterday in the "Peace Suka" in Acco. The text behind the speaker reads "Stop Racism"

Akko, for a change

Akko's old city was empty today. Some local kids, the occasional woman buying some vegetables for dinner. At the sea front a single fisherman. The harbour: empty. Trays of delicious and tempting nut-candy find no buyers.
The restaurants: the owners of nearby empty coffeeshops and humus places share a coffee and a languid game of sheshbesh.
And police, yes, there were quite a few police men for such an empty town.

Normally during Sukot, Akko is host the the alternative theatre festival; lots of shows in many of Akko's ancient halls as well as in the streets, filled with tourists who arrive annually especially for the festival.

Not this year.

Right-wing extremists carried out a pogrom against Akko's Palestinian population. Three homes of Palestinian families were torched and completely burnt and several more families have had to leave their homes and have not yet been able to return. They are waiting until it will be safe again. But will it?

When Palestinian wounded were carried to ambulances, the police watched and stood by when the angry mob attacked them.

The theatre festival could have been used as a place to come together, to talk, to try to deal with the conflict. The theatre festival takes place far away from the troubled "Mizrahi" neighborhood where the pogrom took place. Its cancellation was the mayor's punishment of Akko's Arab population.
The Palestinian population of the Old City depend for their livelyhood on the festival. It's the one week of the year when Akko is full and festival participants spend much money eating out, buying drinks, sweets and trinkets.
Cancellation the festival robs all of Akko's people of a fun event, and theatre lovers of a quality experience, but it hurts the people of the Old City, many of whom are poor, of their livelihood.

Yet the implications go beyond Akko.
A similar situation could easily arise in all of the mixed cities, where the Palestinians have been undergoing decades long discrimination in all fields: education and culture, welfare, housing, employment etc etc.

Jaffa in that sense is very much like Akko.
Yet, violence is preventable. It really depends on how wise we all are.

Having an extremist yeshiva right in the middle of Ajami doesn't help and is potentially dangerous.

Sweet water, orchards and memory

Jerusalem Boulevard is being prepared for the underground (which in Jaffa will be above ground) or light railway or whatever they want to call that train of long planning but little practice.

As a result, parts of the road are blocked for various preparations. Traffic jams are the obvious result and swearing drivers of short patience-span the unavoidable outcome.

During the works in the northern part of the boulevard archeological findings caused a further stop in order to investigate the nature of the findings; Apparently during the Byzantine period there were wells and pools for the irrigation of the orchards surrounding Jaffa at that time (way before the Orange of Jaffa fame was introduced).

Jaffa was a wealthy town due to its natural harbour, sweet water wells (now destryoed by our less than carefull use of water as well as pollution - almost no water well in Tel Aviv west of the Ayalon is usable) and good land.

The archeological findings surrounding the oldder parts of the town, which started expanding during the 19th century) all point to Jaffa's wealthy past.

It is said that in the past a small stream ran along what is now Jerusalem Boulevard. Perhaps. On old maps it is indicated.

Most drivers swear when they hear about yet another arechological dig (there's another one going on on a small street leading from Boustrous (or Raziel, if you prefer today's name) to "Dr. Leck".

I'm quite moved by them, excited. A little bit of the past. I wonder what archeologists in another 500 years or so will excavate and think of us :) with our plastic bottles, plastic bags and other bits of garbage to last eternity.

Women's Bazaar in Jaffa this saturday

"Arus El Bahar", Bride of the Sea in Arabic, is a local women's organization started by Safa Younes about one year ago.
Honesty demands that i divulge doing some voluntary work at Arus El Bahar.

Arus ElBahar's women are organizing a bazaar this Saturday (May 3rd) between 11.00 - 17.00 in "Gan HaShanyaim", the little park on Yefet Street.
Jewellery, bags, crafts products, clothes, food, "shmontzes" (is there a word in English for this?) made by the women will be for sale .
Many of Arus ElBahar's women come from traditional Palestinian families and it will be a first time event for many of them, selling their own products.

Everyone is welcome.

Back to the Ottoman Era?

Once upon a time (and for quite a few centuries), Jaffa was the central government town of a peripheral province of the Ottoman empire.
The Turkish leaders had their offices in the "Seraya Building", the government house, just opposite the Mahmoudieh mosque. A special beautifully decorated entrance to the mosque was made opposite the Seraya building, so the governor and his guests only had to cross the market square in order to go and pray in what at the time was Jaffa's main mosque.
Clock-tower square was Jaffa's main square, from which coaches left to all parts of the empire. There were market stalls mostly selling vegetables and cafes, where well to do men would drink their coffee, play sheshbesh and exchange gossip or make business.
Close by were the jewellery stores of the Chelouche family and in the second half of the 19th century Boustrous street (today's Raziel street) was constructed, Jaffa's fancy stores and offices street.
Early in 1905 the clock-tower was constructed.

In 1918, at the end of the Ottoman empire and the beginning of the British Mandate, the Turks left Palestine.
Over time the Seraya building became a soup kitchen for poor children and the municipality moved to its new premises on Nouzha Boulevard (today's Jerusalem Boulevard), whereas the Brits had their offices in the area behind what is now the "Noga" theatre.
During the forties, the lovely Seraya building was bombed by Jewish terrorists and most of it was left in ruins.
Over the last few years the building complex is being renovated and it seems a little of Jaffa's Ottoman past is being resurrected, as the Turkish Cultural Center is about to open in what used to be the Ottoman Seraya Building.

"Please Touch"

Yesterday evening i went with some Jaffa friends to "Not by bread alone", a performance at the "Please Touch (נא לגעת) theatre in the Jaffa harbour.
"Na Lagaat" (please touch) is a theatre group of 11 blind and deaf actors' assisted by translators in sign and touch language.
"Not by bread alone" is a play consisting of a series of sketches based on the actors' dreams, while bread is being made by them on stage.
Some of the actors, as they were born deaf and later became blind have difficulty expressing themselves through regular speech.
Seeing the play one wonders about limits of expression, and how to overcome those. In that sense the actors are amazing and very courageous.
Some scenes from of the play is visually beautiful, but as a whole, it's a problematic performance, suffering from too much nostalgia and an over-romanticised view of a world that perhaps never was. But then, perhaps it is not fair to judge the play using regular critical tools. However, i don't think the actors are the problem. The visually beautiful scenes are prolonged, thereby loosing some of the magic that was present at the first instance. It's the story, the play itself, that doesn't "work". And that is no fault of the actors, whom i admire.

The words spoken at the end by the company's (an NGO) manager were problematic and not necessary.

The derogatory manner in which he expressed himself about the Jaffa harbour, "which will be saved by the throngs of people coming from Tel Aviv, as right now it is a bunch of "jiffa", were insulting to us, all from Jaffa.
No doubt, it's wonderful if and when dance groups and theatres will use some of the unused warehouses in Jaffa's harbour. Yet Jaffa doesn't need "loads of Tel Avivians" to come and save it and "replace the Jiffa with kultura".

At the theatre there are 2 other special culinary experience options: a restaurant "Blackout", where food is served in complete darkness by blind waiters and a cafe, "Capiche" , where service is carried out by deaf waiters and the guests are given the experience to order trying to use sign language (instructions on the menu and the place mats) , which was fun to try and experience.
The food at "Blackout" is by Nir Zook, which is promising, but we haven't tried it as yet.
The theatre-restaurant complex itself is located in a beautifully renovated harbour warehouse.

Sedaka Reut Update

Just heard the news: the Sedaka Reut cultural center, located in the bomb shelter in "Gan HaShnaym in Yefet Street will stay open at least until January 2009!!!

During this time, they can apply for another space.

It;s always nice to win a fight :)

"System Ali " fighting for their Culture Space Shelter

A bomb shelter, turned cultural center for kids in Jaffa, packed with over a hundred activists of many ages and varied backgrounds. Many people are waiting outside; inside it's standing space only, sardine style, but who cares. The music is great, the sound somewhat less so, it's hot and the atmosphere has turned from angry into hopeful.
Hip hop music in Arabic, Russian and Hebrew, and a young Palestinian girl, an 18 year old Palestinian poet who writes mostly in Hebrew, a Russian kid: all performing under the name "System Ali", playing their own music or that of others (e.g. Yehuda Poliker's song about Jaffa) with their very own twist, giving the song a meaning Poliker probably never intended.

The shelter is located in "Gan HaShnaym", Yefet's little public garden, named for "the Two"; some years ago a terrorist attacked a group of school kids on their way to an activity. A local Palestinian man heard the kids' screams from his work, ran outside and tried to protect the kids. He was killed in doing so. He saved many of the kids, but his help came too late for one young girl. Both she and him were killed, therefore the public garden was named for both: the "Garden of the Two".

Public bomb shelters are kept in good shape, they may be necessary in some near future after all, yet at the same time, many are handed out, in days of relative calm and peace, to artists, social groups etc. by the municipality
The Jaffa-based Arab Jewish youth movement "Sedaka-Reut" turned 'their shelter" which they have rented for over three years, into a cultural centre for Jaffa's young, who come there to make music, theatre, photography, art, graffiti and more.

But if the municipality gets their wish, not for much longer. They have decided to kick out the children: over 150 kids who come to the centre every week to make art together, to talk, to enjoy life. Children from some of Jaffa's less advantageous areas, whose families do not have the means to send them to the art groups and workshops at the very expensive community centre, will be left with no where to go.

Simple. Why?
The truth is, it probably has a lot to do with the fact the municipality does not like the involvement of some of Sedaka Reut's people's involvement in the fight against the home demolitions and evictions.
Ron Hulday never was very subtle.

Last saturday the municipality advertised in Ha'aretz that artists may apply to receive a bomb shelter for studio use. Sp system Ali and Sedaka Reut are kicked out for what?

Palestinian Culture Festival in Jaffa

Fireworks, bagpipes, children with colourfully painted faces and sticky hands running around and finally Hiba Bathish and her band performing Om Kolthoum's "Inta Omri" as well as Palestinian music: the opening night of the three-day "Palestinian Culture Festival" in Jaffa.

An Arab language book fair, a small exhibit of traditional Palestinian hand embroidered dresses and artifacts as well as historical photographs and workshops (ceramics, darbukka, henna body painting etc.) games for children and nightly performances, the program is rich and offers many choices. And of course there is food. Lots of it. From traditional za'atar pitas to the regular roasted affairs and sweets.

The festival takes place in the small park between Yefet 83 and Shivtey Israel 70, behind the basket ball court, from yesterday till Saturday night.
The book-fair is held in a hall usually used as a weightlifting class, where the ancient black and white posters of once famous weightlifters compete with Korans, DIY books, health books, literature and poetry, children's literature and more.

The festival has been produced by Norman Issa of the Al Seraya Theatre (Jaffa) with the aid of the Jaffa Tel Aviv municipality.

Today the central performance will be by Palestinian Israeli rapper Tamer Nafer and "Dam".
Tomorrow Samah Zakut (Saz"), Zhagal (Ganem Alasdi) and Amin Sayg. The Jaffa scouts bands will be performing as well.

Emile Habibi Road - finally.

"The madman, in the meantime, was busy painting a wall with a brush tipped into a bucket with no bottom. When the lawyer returned, sweat streaming, the madman asked, "Well, did you uproot the tree?"
"Yes I did," the lawyer replied. "I uprooted it completely, but didn't find your treasure."
"Get yourself a brush and a bottomless bucket and stand next to me and do some painting," the madman suggested."

From "The Secret Life of Saeed, the Pessoptimist" by Emile Habibi

Once upon a time the streets and neighbourhoods in Jaffa (well those that had names at least, many were known by the numbers, such as "60 street", - today's Kedem Sstreet) had Palestinian or Ottoman names, Boustrous, Nouzha, Jamal Pasha, Manshiyeh and Ajami, to mention just a few.
After 1948 everything was done to wipe out Jaffa's Palestinian character and street names were changed. Nouzha became Jerusalem Boulevard and Boustrous was changed into Raziel.
In all of Jaffa there are 4 or 5 streets with Arab names.
For many years now requests have been submitted to the municipality to name Jaffa's streets after Palestinians. The municipality had refused these requests for a variety of reasons, until now.
Finally, after many long years, a little justice. The municipality has authorised the request to name a street after Emile Habibi (1921-1996), author, politician (Knesset Member for the communist party), editor of the Al Itihad daily newpaper and Israel Prize for Literature recipient.

Other streets in Jaffa will be named for Ibn Khaldoun and others.
It's about time.