I was looking for a link for the events in Az awyya, and found:

Women And Girls Lead Blocking of Bulldozers in Az Zawiya village today.

I also came across the Masha Camp blog, which is affiliated with the Stop the wall campaign.

whispers speak louder than stones.

Marbel asked if I've heard about the "Breaking Silence" exhibition. She pointed me to the piece in the Guardian.

So many people simply don't know what goes on. I don't think you can actually convey the tragic absurdity of it to someone who hadn't been there. That's why it always infuriates me when soldiers' actions are judged by supermarket standards. On the other hand, it amazes me how people can live 5km from the wall and ignore the things that are done in there name. I guess its a survival strategy, but its a short-term one. Maybe if people see this exhibition (or this site*) something will finally click.

---
* - Daber is a site which is devoted to publishing Israeli soldiers' stories from there service in the occupied territories. Its is all Hebrew, and maybe it should stay that way (or, translated to Arabic at most).

Shaken, not stirred

I fell off my bike today. Well, more like flew off. And to be honest, I had it coming.

You know those speed bumps? The huge ones that scrape the bottom of fancy sports cars (ha ha)? Well, some time ago I discovered this biking technique, where instead of slowing down you speed up when you approach one, and then just when the front wheel goes over it - you give the handlebar a good jerk. The results are amazing but - kids - don't try this at home.

Over the last couple of months I've been perfecting my speed-bump-flying art. Today I was cycling with Seb, on our way to work, when along comes a speed bump. Seb, being sane, slows down. At which point I bypassed him, pedaling as hard as my feet would go, and muttered: "Hey, here's something you can do with these bumps", jerk on the handlebar and fly like a bird.

It was a perfect takeoff. I think its time to start working on my landing technique.

By the way, why is it that the Wikibooks sudenly look so much like Plone?

As my humble contribution to Pim's Around the world in a bowl of rice, I posted my Mejadrah on Wikibooks:cookbook.

As usual, I missed the dealine, but might get in on account of the editor's kind heart.

Neal's yard dairy. Borough market, Saterday afternoon, April 2004

On the train back from Berkhamsted, Itamar asked me for my notebook and a pen. He wrote down a quick summary of the day, to help him write a full account at a later time. It goes: Train pub pool castle football farm horses pheasent rabbits enter forest raindeers walk on more deers sheep bufelo bluebells bar Taxi Train I would add only one thing: rain.

Freak-out protection

I have added the following line to the template I use for my PhD. I placed it in the center of the page header.
T H I S     I S     N O T     T H E     T R A C T A T U S

Yesterday I had a chat with my sister about identity. What does being Israeli mean to us? What does being Jewish?
She said (more or less) that she feels her image of herself as a Zionist has been robbed by the meaning the word has taken.
I said (more or less) that for me, actively opposing what Zionism has become is my Zionism. Paradoxical? well, that's life.

I woke up today, and after an hour or so I noticed that I'm constantly humming mellow, somber, old-fashioned Israeli songs. Natan Yonathan, Shalom Hanoch, Arik Einstein, Coffee with Berta.

Ah, yes, I thought. Of course. Memorial day. .

Two new refusniks on memorial day.

I remember kites.

I was a 19 year old infantry soldier, on a watch tower in Gibalia, in the first intifada.
It was a bright summer day. I was standing clad in my protective vest, armour and helmet. Gun in hand, looking at the refugee camp around me. The Gaza skyline stretched to the sea, and above it hexagon white kites. I thought of Albert Camus. I thought of a Saturday walk with my father, I'm 7 or 8, and he takes a pen knife out of his pocket to cut some reads. Later, at home, he will split them and dry them and show my how to tie three sections together to construct a kite frame.
I want to take my armour off. Take off my jacket. My uniform. I want to run barefoot in the sands, and fly a kite.
You can beat a stone, you can beat a gun. You can't beat a kite.

Dedicated with admiration to the brave non-violent protestors in Bidu, Beit Surik, and elsewhere.

Today is the national memorial day in Israel. I prefer to interpret it as a memorial day for all those killed in war. A day for reflecting on why war still is, and what can we do to stop it.

Gila Svirsky writes:

Friends,

I just spoke to Molly Malekar on her way to Sha'arei Tzedek Hospital in
Jerusalem, and here is what she reported:

"We were about 60 women, only women: roughly 1/3 Israeli, 1/3
Palestinian, and 1/3 internationals. We gathered at Bidu to protest the
construction of the wall in this village. It was a quiet march, with
women carrying signs and walking toward the area where soldiers were
guarding the construction of the fence. At a distance of about 10
meters
(30 feet) from them, we stopped walking because the soldiers turned to
point their rifles directly at us. I called out to them in Hebrew, "Don't
shoot, we're not armed, this is a nonviolent demonstration." Suddenly
there was an onslaught of teargas and stun grenades, falling all around
us, completely out of proportion to the quiet, nonprovocative nature of
our action. The grenades fell right there at our feet and we were
choking, unable to breathe. Most dispersed and ran back. Soldiers
charged toward us and fell upon the women, grabbing some whom they
arrested. By then, there was no demonstration at all, nothing to
disperse. Most of the women had run back, trying to recover from the
tear
gas, but I remained as I wanted to talk to the soldiers to prevent the
arrest of the four women. Suddenly out of nowhere four horses
charged,
with border police mounted on them. I started to run away, but one of
them ridden by a girl soldier caught up with me and she struck me on
my
head with a baton. I fell, and then a second horse charged toward me
and
I felt more blows on my head and back. There was no provocation
whatsoever at any point while this was happening."

Please tell these assholes what you think of them.
Is nuclear whistleblower Vanunu a hero or a traitor? fine, I have my opinion, but its a legit question.
but asking What should be done with Vanunu? and giving an option of kill him? Is that your version of being the watchdog of democracy?

Shortly after his release, Mordechai Vanunu walked to a kiosk and asked for "100 gram gari'inim schorim" (100 gram sunflower seeds).

"I knew we couldn't trust you" said the dealer, and cuffed him.

Well, in Hebrew it sounds better.

Pembrokeshire. St. Govan's haven. More to come.

Gali, Itamar & Hadas have been blogged. I mean, for the first time - blogged by someone other than myself. As Pim says, M.Ducasse, watch out! (Or did you mean Alain Ducasse?

I promise to write a bit about this wonderful evening myself. I just want to upload the images first.

Maybe today I'll listen to Resonance 104.4 FM.

"TheOpenCD is a collection of high quality Free and Open Source Software. The programs run in Windows and cover the most common tasks such as word processing, presentations, e-mail, web browsing, web design, and image manipulation. We include only the highest quality programs, which have been carefully tested for stability and which we consider appropriate for a wide audience."

My latest contribution to the future of the human race: WikiNation

Pim is coming to town. We're chatting now about going to Borough Market.

Hiba says:

People have become numb on both sides and they feel like their neighbors have become their enemies. It is horrible that innocent people are dying in both Palestine and Israel, and God willing (Inshallah) this terrible fighting will end soon. Arabs and Jews need to realize that we have more in common than we do differences. I'm sick about hearing whats wrong with the Middle East. We should show the world what is beautiful about the part of the world we come from, and that should start with peace.

Well, this you might find more related to the experiences with your 19 month old toddler.

I's having congestion problems for over a month now. Stuffed nose, which leads to blocked ears, which leads to us waking up at 2am to the sound of soul-chilling shrieks of pain. You know the drill..

A couple of days ago we were having dinner with Seb and Ana, and eventual got to the issue of common child ails. It started as "well, I don't believe any of this homeopathic mumble jumble. But you know, there's one think that works" and turned into a 2 hour exchange of folk-medicine knowledge.

So, that night I. went to bed with a hot water bottle under his head. The next morning we put him on a no-dairy diet.

We have slept the night through, without being waked once, for two days in a row. Man it feels gooooood!

Tahini? T'hina? T'xina? Let your voice be heard!

Michael just pointed me to http://www.radioparadise.com/. Just the kind of background music I need now. Thanks!

The BBC magazine ran a story about the refusing to kill event I participated in. Well, they got me wrong. I said the day I woke up in prison I was a free man, not the day I was released (which would be obvious).

But the reason you should read that piece is the story of Elsa. After hearing her, I was ashamed to open my mouth.

Next year, I think I'll add an orange to my seder plate. Funny I learnt about this from Pim (and thanks!)