A couple of weeks ago, Chris Lydon of NPR's Radio Open Source interviewed me to get an "insider's view" of life in Tel Aviv.

Click here to listen to the edited version; it was broadcast at the end of the March 24 program.

(I'm experimenting with this new free file hosting service, so let me know if you experience any problems in accessing and listening to the interview).

Ballot slips

My third article for the Guardian newsblog is here.

Over coffee and the morning papers at my local cafe this morning, the actor (and cafe regular) Asher Tsarfati tried to convince Shmulik, the bartender, that he must vote. Shmulik said that he won't vote until there is a real revolution in Israeli society - a total change in attitude toward all the major issues that define the state. When I asked him what kind of a revolution he envisioned, he told me that it was a long story and he'd tell me some other time.

Asher said, "Look, I've seen your movies (Shmulik is a struggling actor/director) and I know you believe in social justice and equality between people. So vote Hadash! Vote for the only party in Israel that truly represents Jews and Arabs. Shmulik, if you vote I'll take you for lunch at my favourite fish restaurant. I'll buy you flowers. You have to vote! It's your democratic responsibility."

We all laughed, but Shmulik wasn't convinced.


Shmulik

 I'll be running around all day today, gathering material for articles I'm writing on the elections. And I'm off to vote in a few minutes.

I'll post a roundup of what the Israeli blogosphere is saying about the elections on GVO later today; meanwhile I recommend checking Allison's blog regularly, 'cause she is updating several times per day with excellent elections coverage.

UPDATE: The GVO post is now up. Click here to read.

And here is a series of photos I took at Rabin Square the night before last. 

Update: Here is another series of photos, taken on the morning of election day.

I photographed this 1940s Mapam (United Workers' Party) campaign poster at an exhibition at the Bauhaus Centre in Tel Aviv.

The word at the top is "Kadima!" (Forward!); at the bottom it says "The United Workers' Party."





The Bauhaus Centre Tel Aviv

The 1950s Mapam campaign poster below is part of the same exhibition. The slogan is, "Immigration*, Security, Bread and Peace."



*The word is actually "aliyah" - literally "going up" (in the spiritual/idealistic sense of going up to the Land of Israel). The proper word for immigration is "hagira" (הגירה).

Story blogging will resume shortly. Meanwhile, links:


My latest post for the Guardian's newsblog is here. So far the comments are not only sane but - incredibly! - rather nice and thoughtful. I don't expect that to last though; tune in later...for the nutters. (or the haters. or the nutty haters). There's also some guy (I presume he's a guy!) who refers to me as a "McFittie." I thought this was some bizarre Anglo neologism until the fabulous Noorster pointed me here for the definition.

Shai's second post for the Guardian is here.

My most recent post for Global Voices Online is here.

Here is a site that lists all 31 Israeli political parties, their platforms, leaders, candidates and websites. Given that most of the parties do not have an English version of their sites, this is a very valuable resource.

And here is a list of the new members of the Palestinian Authority cabinet, complete with bios. Note that the list was just submitted to Mahmoud Abbas for approval; I don't know whether this is a formality or whether Abbas will cross anyone off. All of the new cabinet are Hamas members because none of the other parties agreed to sit with them in the same government.

Part Five of Jill's series, "Not Jewish?!" has been up on the OJ site  for a few days. It's called Love is Blind. If you're not checking OJ regularly, you're missing out - we're updating the site several times each day. (except on Saturdays; even we seculars need a day of rest;) )

Onthe excellent  Al Bawaba (betcha didn't know that Lina manages the Al Bawaba blog site) there's a hilarious article reporting that, according to Professor Hasan Bulkhari, a senior cultural adviser to Iran's Education Ministry, Tom and Jerry was created as part of a Jewish conspiracy. (you heard it here, folks).

Roba has written a lovely, evocative post about her favourite Amman bookstores; she also gives a synopsis of the titles she purchased recently - seems that she's an Ayn Rand enthusiast. ;)

Fayrouz is back to blogging after a week-long silence.



Please visit this site to read about Hao Wu, a Chinese documentary film maker (and blogger) who has been detained by Chinese State Security for more than one month on unspecified charges. Ethan Zuckerman and Rebecca MacKinnon, the co-founders of Global Voices, have brought Hao Wu's case to the world's attention in the uncertain hope that outside pressure might influence the  Chinese authorities to release  him. They are of course aware that the effort might backfire, which is why they waited a month - at his family's request -  before publicising Hao's detention.

Many of you may know that Shai and I were asked by the editors of the Guardian news blog to contribute a series of articles on the upcoming Israeli elections, scheduled for March 28.

My first article, Stitching Together Israeli Identities, is now up on the site.

Shai's first article is called The Promise of Kadima.

I'm really curious to see what the responses will be like.

UPDATE: Well, the comments are predictably hilarious. Maybe five people actually addressed the content of the article; the rest just saw the word "Israel" and started grinding their axes. Ah well.  Savtadotty, thank you for the lovely comment. You are my star.

This was sent to me by my friend Nir Elias, an Israeli photojournalist who recently moved to Shanghai. My first thought was, "I must blog this!"


More of Nir's recent photos are here. And this is the photo for which he won the 2003 National Press Photographers Association Award. Warning: it's a very graphic photo taken after a suicide bombing.

After I got back from spending the day at the Muqata with Rinat and Dani, Allison called and asked me about what I'd seen and done.

One of the things I mentioned was this: I sat in the Muqata, just a few metres away from Muhammad Abu Tir, who belongs to a political party that is committed to Israel's destruction, alternately listening as the newly elected legislators were individually polled regarding a certain issue, and carrying on a conversation with a group of Israeli and Palestinian reporters.

We spoke in Hebrew. In the Muqata. Within earshot of Hamas members - many of whom also speak Hebrew, including Abu Tir.

And nobody thought this was strange. I didn't even think it was strange until I started recounting the day's events to Allison.

Lately I feel as though I keep telling the same story over and over again - just with different scenes, plot and characters. The politicians do their shtick, the media report selectively on the bits that will appeal to their readers and viewers, and behind the scenes the real story is...so different.

And the crazy thing is that hardly anyone believes me. It's really incredible - people who have never been to Ramallah warn me that it's very dangerous there.

But have you been there? I ask.

I don't need to go there! I watch the news and read the newspapers! And what about the lynch? (the invariable response).

Uh huh.

I suppose it's like a soap opera - you know, the kind that runs on for years, with people dying and new characters being introduced every so often, but nothing really changing. Not really.

My grandmother used to love the soaps. She spent hours watching them, every day. I think that she, like so many other fans of the genre, found comfort in the clearly defined roles - bad guy, good guy, evil mother-in-law, gold-digging girlfriend. No need to think, question, or analyse. The cheesy acting didn't matter.

I wish people would stop reacting to "the situation in the Middle East" as if they were watching a soap opera, and start analysing it as if it were - oh, I don't know: a Bergmann movie?

Am I being obscure, here? Or do you know what I mean?

Sorry for taking so long to write the promised report about the weekend in Jordan. There simply aren't enough hours in the day to finish all the work I've taken on. But I do have a lot on my mind, and there's definitely a big post coming up very soon. (Hey, you know me - I always come through in the end, right? ;) )

Meanwhile, here are some Very Important Links.

I am absolutely delighted to introduce the new blog of my friend, Fayrouz Shaqrawi. It's called The Land of Sad Oranges, and knowing Fayrouz I am quite sure that hers will become an important voice of clarity and sanity from Israel and Palestine (or the Palestinian territories, or whatever you want to call it - I'm tired of arguing about terminology).

Fayrouz is Palestinian. She is also Israeli. And Muslim. And brilliant, charming, kind and articulate. She speaks Arabic, Hebrew and English all fluently. Today she lives in Jerusalem, where she attends university, and works in Bethlehem. Please go over to her blog and welcome her to the blogosphere.

More links:
Part Four of Jill's memoir, "Not Jewish?! What are you doing here?" is up on the One Jerusalem site. And it just keeps getting better and better: in this hilarious chapter, our heroine introduces her readers to The Israeli Male and his relationship with cars, roads and women. Tip: make sure you are not drinking or eating near your computer whilst reading; otherwise you'll be wiping stuff off the keyboard.

Stephanie Fried has had a very disturbing run-in with a London-based dance publication that refused to publish her article about an Israeli dance troupe simply because of its provenance. Her posts about the incident are here and here; Allison picked it up here, and Rachel , who blogs about modern dance, wrote about it here - with additional information that should (but probably won't) cause some people to re-think their dogmatic positions.

And finally, my latest GVO post is here.
 

I'm back, I have 89 emails in my inbox and I'm still thinking about what I want to write about the past weekend. Check back later today (probably late, if I know my vampire self) for a real post.

Meanwhile, photos are here.

Oh, and I met Lina and Roba! Click here to see us at Wild Jordan, a gorgeous restaurant in Amman.

I'm leaving for Jordan in a couple of hours, for a weekend workshop of Palestinian and Israeli journalists at a hotel on the Dead Sea. I know I promised to write about Ramallah, and I will. I will also post about the weekend workshop.

To see a bit of what I've been up to lately, go visit onejerusalem.com, Global Voices Online (which I neglected for a loooong time) and the Zlango blog. 

Besides all that, I'm now part of a team that's putting together a very cool, edgy guide to Tel Aviv (more about that as the project evolves) and I'm getting up to speed on the Israeli election campaigns in anticipation of a lot of running around with a certain foreign correspondent. There's also a good chance that I'll be writing about the elections for a well-known European newspaper - as soon as I know for certain, I'll update.

Part Three of Jill's memoir is up, by the way, and it just keeps getting better and better.

And in case you stopped following the Israeli anti-Semitic cartoon contest, there's lots of interesting new stuff on the site  - especially the gallery of entries.

And finally, Stephanie's post about reality on the ground is required reading for anyone who wants an insightful perspective on the complexities of life in Israel.