Jerusalem Chronicles
(2000-2015)
Context.
I sent the message "We must dream" four days after the beginning of the second Intifada, on September 28, 2000, like throwing a bottle into the sea. A gesture of desperation. A few months later, I started to send Chronicles to friends and professionals of the show business with whom I collaborated. As I met people on theatrical tours, I had realized that in addition
I sent the message "We must dream" four days after the beginning of the second Intifada, on September 28, 2000, like throwing a bottle into the sea. A gesture of desperation. A few months later, I started to send Chronicles to friends and professionals of the show business with whom I collaborated. As I met people on theatrical tours, I had realized that in addition
to a great curiosity about our conflict, there was also a great ignorance. These Chronicles, sent with a very irregular frequency, between 2000 and 2015 testify to the complexity of our region. Rather than bringing answers, they want to question the certainties created by the traditional media. Most of the Chronicles stay relevant even nowadays.
You have to dream! [October 2, 2000]
"The wolf will live with the lamb
The panther shall dwell with the kid
No more will the sword be raised nation against nation,
No more shall they learn to make war".
(Isaiah 2-4)
illustration and text found on an Israeli sugar bag.
Scene of life: Jerusalem, Wednesday, April 19, 2001, 10 AM
Holocaust Day: it is 10:00 AM. Everything stops for 2 minutes of silence in the streets of Israel
It's Easter! [May 3, 2001]
and this is what you missed on Easter day at the via Dolorosa. It's ketchup, don't let the special effects fool you.
At the end of the Way of the Cross, Jesus, the Romans, Mary Magedelaine had a good meal in a local restaurant. It is a group of Americans who come back every year to do their number.
20th theater festival of St Jean D'Acre [October 2, 2001]
Alternative theater, object theater, music, street theater: about thirty Israeli companies in the heart of the old Arab city of St. John of Acre and in the Crusader fortress.
First anniversary of the new Intifada: many shows in Arabic and Hebrew deal with the relations between the two communities. The participation of Palestinian companies (from Israel) has never been so important.
But the festival is above all a celebration.
My supermarket in Jerusalem [October 26, 2001]
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When I go to my supermarket,
Elia, the man who searches the bags at the entrance, is Russian.
Tania, Russian, is in charge of the cheese and Yair, American, is in charge of the chicken.
The fishmonger is Israeli.
Rita, the baker, is Russian.
Rima, Mila, Hélena, Irina, the cashiers, are Russian.
Vitali, the new assistant manager is Russian. He has just replaced Valentina. Bentsi, the manager, is Israeli.
Mohammed is a handler, he is Palestinian.
Mourmane is Russian, he also does the handling.
Omar is in charge of maintenance, he is Palestinian.
Between 1990 and 1997, nearly 700,000 immigrants arrived from the former Soviet Union. On the scale of France, this is equivalent to the arrival of 8 million people. In my supermarket, they come from Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Siberia, Uzbekistan. Almost all of them have a higher education.
When I go to my supermarket,
Elia, the man who searches the bags at the entrance, is Russian.
Tania, Russian, is in charge of the cheese and Yair, American, is in charge of the chicken.
The fishmonger is Israeli.
Rita, the baker, is Russian.
Rima, Mila, Hélena, Irina, the cashiers, are Russian.
Vitali, the new assistant manager is Russian. He has just replaced Valentina. Bentsi, the manager, is Israeli.
Mohammed is a handler, he is Palestinian.
Mourmane is Russian, he also does the handling.
Omar is in charge of maintenance, he is Palestinian.
Between 1990 and 1997, nearly 700,000 immigrants arrived from the former Soviet Union. On the scale of France, this is equivalent to the arrival of 8 million people. In my supermarket, they come from Georgia, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Siberia, Uzbekistan. Almost all of them have a higher education.
965 coffins [October 31, 2001]![]()
Itzrak Rabin Square in Tel Aviv. A collective has placed 965 coffins covered with 721 Palestinian flags and 244 Israeli flags, all those who have been killed since the assassination of the prime minister just 6 years ago.
It should be noted thst he coffins, life-size, are made of cardboard.
Thanks to the generous donor! (1st episode) [December 4, 2001]![]()
This beautiful intensive care ambulance was given to Israel by a lady from the United States in memory of her husband.
It is written in full on the door.
Every ambulance here is a gift from abroad, either from individuals or from philanthropic organizations. The same is true in the social and cultural field: construction of hospitals, nurseries, museums, theaters, public gardens, forests, etc. The National Museum operates only through donations. The Train Puppet Theater itself owes its existence to a generous donor from Miami, Florida.
This model of Intensive care ambulance would cost you 101 000$ The basic model costs 62 000$
I'll give you the contact information just in case...
You call the Magen David Adom (our "Red Cross") at 00 972 36 30 02 22, you ask to speak to Jacqueline, in the international department.
She will take care of you.
Thanks to the generous donor! (2nd episode) [December 8, 2001]
If your means do not allow you to donate 62 000$ for an ambulance, do not despair, there is something for everyone.
Thus, this modest bench (value: ± 1 050$) , already old and met in a street of Jerusalem. It bears the plaque of an anonymous donor: "In memory of Louba, Monique, Sonia and Choura who, after months of hunger, cold and humiliation in the ghettos of Warsaw, Gordny and the forests of Belarus, perished in Auschwitz".
For30$ you can plant a sapling in one of our forests.
With 10 Bucks you can make a tramp happy.
Christmas, The Madonna and Child
[December 17, 2001]
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[December 17, 2001]
At the end of this year, the attached illustration seemed appropriate. This is the cover of the brochure that came with my daughter Sivane's gas mask, 18 months old.
From the baby to the old man, Jew or Arab, everyone in Israel has his own gas mask, adapted to his needs.
A constant companion during the Gulf War, it has since been put away in a closet where it only comes out for revisions, filter changes and standard exchanges because children grow up!
The use of the gas mask for young children is described here in a clear, entertaining and accessible way even for beginners. In 16 pages, a rich iconography of color photos guides you step by step to assimilate the gesture that saves. The explanations are given in four languages: Hebrew, Arabic, English and Russian.
The meeting Osama Bin Laden - Ariel Sharon: the photo
[February 24, 2002]
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It happened at my daughter's school.
Purim is a three-day celebration, a carnival in everyday life. The children go to school dressed up. This year, Harry Potter and Osama Bin Laden are very popular. I only found one copy of Sharon and one of Shimon Peres. Arafat, on the other hand, is not as popular as in the past. Zorro is doing well. Esmeralda, the Indians, the cowboys and the policemen are unwearable. The school principal was dressed as a rabbit. My daughter Melia chose to be the Queen of the Marshmellows. Baits that made her irresistible to Osama and Ariel, gathered here for a historical photo.
[February 24, 2002]
It happened at my daughter's school.
Purim is a three-day celebration, a carnival in everyday life. The children go to school dressed up. This year, Harry Potter and Osama Bin Laden are very popular. I only found one copy of Sharon and one of Shimon Peres. Arafat, on the other hand, is not as popular as in the past. Zorro is doing well. Esmeralda, the Indians, the cowboys and the policemen are unwearable. The school principal was dressed as a rabbit. My daughter Melia chose to be the Queen of the Marshmellows. Baits that made her irresistible to Osama and Ariel, gathered here for a historical photo.
Miss Israël 2002 [ March 16, 2002]![]()
We are fighting in Gaza, we are fighting in the Territories, but last night we had a little break to elect the new Miss Israel. Yamit was chosen among 20 candidates including a Palestinian from Nazareth who did not do as well as Rana Aslan, another Palestinian elected Miss Israel two years ago.
Setting the record straight [March 31, 2002]![]()
The time is right, let's set the record straight and recall some figures:
Israel (21,000 km2) in red and Gaza and the West Bank (in blue) are together about the size of Brittany.
Israel has 6 million inhabitants, including 1 million Israeli Arabs.
Gaza and the West Bank are home to ± 2.5 million Palestinians, plus exiles and refugees in other countries, perhaps 3 million.
It is difficult to grasp that so much is happening in a territory as small as a confetti.
The white march against the war [March 2, 2002]
On Wednesday April 3rd, at 11am, 15 Israeli organizations will start a march to Ramallah to bring moral support, food and medicine to the besieged residents.
What exactly is happening behind the Kalandia checkpoint?
We don't know.
Friends report that in addition to the senseless killing, the widespread destruction, and the siege on Al-Mukataa and Yasser Arafat the recognized Palestinian leader, the Ramallah government hospital as well as other clinics are in desperate need of medical supplies.
Palestinian women's groups have contacted us, relating that there is a huge shortage of basic foods.
Ta'ayush together with Israeli Women's Groups and Physicians for Human Rights have decided to organize a MARCH AGAINST THE WAR.
We must end the cycle of violence by putting an end to the occupation; only then the horrific killing of civilians -- Arabs and Jews --will stop.
Other peace and human rights organizations have already joined and we call upon all other groups and individuals to participate.A list of groups who have already joined appears below.
Please let us know if you want us to add your group to the list.
This Is the Plan:
We will march in WHITE (as a symbol of peace and non-violence)
from A-Ram to Kalandia.
Trucks of food and medical supplies destined for the Palestinian Union of Medical Relief and women's organizations will accompany the march which will be comprised of the coalition of organizations and individuals.
Dress Code:
Please dress in white clothes or bring a sheet to wrap around you.
Other peace and human rights organizations have already joined and we call upon all other groups and individuals to participate.A list of groups who have already joined appears below.
Please let us know if you want us to add your group to the list.
This Is the Plan:
We will march in WHITE (as a symbol of peace and non-violence)
from A-Ram to Kalandia.
Trucks of food and medical supplies destined for the Palestinian Union of Medical Relief and women's organizations will accompany the march which will be comprised of the coalition of organizations and individuals.
Dress Code:
Please dress in white clothes or bring a sheet to wrap around you.
Appeal of Intellectuals from the Occupied Palestinian Territories
[April 3, 2002]
[April 3, 2002]
Many of you have been receiving my "Chronicles of Jerusalem" since the beginning of the new Intifada 18 months ago.
The first mailing was called "Il faut rêver" (We must dream) and was followed by others which, by the shift and also the humor, tried to bring food for thought and a different light on our "worries".
We no longer dream. It is nightmare and despair, on both sides.
I am therefore sending you the text below.
Palestine, April 3, 2002
Appeal by intellectuals from the Occupied Palestinian Territories
We, writers, artists and intellectuals, make this appeal to Arab writers, artists and intellectuals and ask them to act, raise their voices and relay this appeal to writers, artists and intellectuals around the world, in solidarity with the Palestinian intellectuals and people who are being subjected to the most vile practices by the Israeli occupation forces.
Invasion and reoccupation of cities, villages and camps, killing and execution of civilians, destruction of schools, buildings and institutions, cultural centers, places of worship, all the infrastructures of Palestinian
society; abuse and degradation; arrest of thousands of young people taken to internment camps, left in the open, tortured, terrorized,starved. In addition, Israeli forces prevent hospitals and their medical teams from working and performing their humanitarian duty, prevent ambulances from transporting the wounded and the martyrs, prevent the burial of the latter. The morgues of the hospitals have no room for the bodies. At this time, the situation inside the cities, villages and camps presages more tragedies, more disasters.
The Palestinian writers, artists and intellectuals under siege with their people in all the Palestinian cities, villages and camps address this urgent appeal to their colleagues and to the Arab organizations and federations concerned, asking them to act as soon as possible and to do everything possible to condemn the occupation, to denounce its practices and to expose the fundamentally terrorist and xenophobic nature of the Sharon government and its military and security institutions. Furthermore, we ask them to transmit the contents of this appeal as soon as possible to the men of culture and conscience of the whole world.
Under siege, we face with our people a painful humanitarian situation. We live under permanent threat, we are deprived of water, electricity, communications. All we have left is our will, our determination, our resistance.
To all men of honor, to all free men of the Arab countries and the rest of the world: we need your help and support.
The Palestinian writers, artists and intellectuals under siege with their people in all the Palestinian cities, villages and camps address this urgent appeal to their colleagues and to the Arab organizations and federations concerned, asking them to act as soon as possible and to do everything possible to condemn the occupation, to denounce its practices and to expose the fundamentally terrorist and xenophobic nature of the Sharon government and its military and security institutions. Furthermore, we ask them to transmit the contents of this appeal as soon as possible to the men of culture and conscience of the whole world.
Under siege, we face with our people a painful humanitarian situation. We live under permanent threat, we are deprived of water, electricity, communications. All we have left is our will, our determination, our resistance.
To all men of honor, to all free men of the Arab countries and the rest of the world: we need your help and support.
For those who have time to read [April 11, 2002]
During my numerous theatrical tours in France and elsewhere, I was often asked if there is freedom of speech in Israel.
Here my answer.
Zehava Gal-On is a Meretz member (left wing party) at the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament
Here is the speech she gave at the Peace Now/Coalition for Peace demonstration in Tel Aviv before 15,000 people.
As you read the lines below, we ask you to keep in mind that Israel is the only place in the region where this kind of speech does not land you in jail or worse.
“The shadow of the Sharon government forms a black flag
The black of war
The black of mourning
The black of unacceptable cruelty
The black of occupation
The black of ashes
The black of the Lebanese war
The black of the violation of human rights
The black of oppression
Black is the opposite of hope
The Sharon government offers us a black future
Despite the weekend polls, which tell us that the public supports
Sharon, we are here because it is our responsibility to be
here, to stand before our camp, to warn, and to remember.
It is our duty to make sure that this time it will not take us 18 years to understand: the Sharon of today is the same as the Sharon of the Lebanon war!
Sharon is not a statesman, he is not a man of peace, he was and will remain a general. Sharon is a man of war.
Terror is a monstrosity - terror directed against citizens, which takes the lives of citizens, which takes the lives of children and adults, young and old, and which turns places of places of leisure into places of death.
Despite the difficulties, and this unbearable suffering, we are all here to say that this war is a war of deception, because Ariel Sharon's second Lebanon war is still a tragedy, in which Israelis and Palestinians are killed and wounded in the name of revenge,
in the name of hatred. Soldiers, our children, our sons, are dying for nothing.
And in the name of revenge, in the name of defending our homes, what are we do we do? We reoccupy Ramallah, Shkhem or Hebron.
Let's not fool ourselves: there is no doubt that the next step will be to reoccupy Gaza.
And new generations will grow up whose hearts will be filled with hatred.
The Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff, tell us that we are fighting the "infrastructure of terror", and that we are doing so through reoccupation. They do not offer us any policy to fight terror.
All generals, past and present, offer us:
Revenge instead of security policy
Hatred instead of a policy of calm
Mourning for our children instead of vision
Despair instead of hope
Madness instead of withdrawal - War instead of politics! The
War is not a policy!
Is there really anyone who believes, up there in the governmental spheres, that it is possible to oppress a people who are fighting for their freedom?
Can we succeed, with all our divisions, brigades, tanks and planes, in fighting the "human base of terror"?
Can we, by occupying, oppressing, injuring, arresting, by interrogating, by cutting off water and electricity, and by preventing ambulances from evacuating the wounded, can we stop the human infrastructure of terror? We are here because we don't believe so we don't! We have seen this horror movie before!
In reality, this is a war for reoccupation. Around the same table, Shimon Peres, Effi Eitam, Fouad Ben-Eliezer and Ariel
Sharon, thus forming Sharon's new party.
The same Sharon who demanded 7 days of calm began today his six-day war. A war of reconquest.
We wanted to return to the borders of '67, but Sharon brought us back to the war of '67.
We say: end of the occupation. Sharon says: more occupation.
This war is not an "imposed war", it is a "chosen war", the choice is known and set in stone: the Clinton plan.
It is about :
End of the occupation
Return to the 1967 borders
Two capitals in Jerusalem
Evacuation of settlements
Right of return to the State of Palestine
This is the only choice we have, there is no other, and all of us
gathered here are united in supporting it. We call for support for the Saudi initiative - for the first time, the Arab world has a plan to the State of Israel: peace in exchange for the territories.
Let us replace the three NOs of the Khartoum summit with three YESs:
Yes to peace
Yes to hope
Yes to life
The Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff, tell us that we are fighting the "infrastructure of terror", and that we are doing so through reoccupation. They do not offer us any policy to fight terror.
All generals, past and present, offer us:
Revenge instead of security policy
Hatred instead of a policy of calm
Mourning for our children instead of vision
Despair instead of hope
Madness instead of withdrawal - War instead of politics! The
War is not a policy!
Is there really anyone who believes, up there in the governmental spheres, that it is possible to oppress a people who are fighting for their freedom?
Can we succeed, with all our divisions, brigades, tanks and planes, in fighting the "human base of terror"?
Can we, by occupying, oppressing, injuring, arresting, by interrogating, by cutting off water and electricity, and by preventing ambulances from evacuating the wounded, can we stop the human infrastructure of terror? We are here because we don't believe so we don't! We have seen this horror movie before!
In reality, this is a war for reoccupation. Around the same table, Shimon Peres, Effi Eitam, Fouad Ben-Eliezer and Ariel
Sharon, thus forming Sharon's new party.
The same Sharon who demanded 7 days of calm began today his six-day war. A war of reconquest.
We wanted to return to the borders of '67, but Sharon brought us back to the war of '67.
We say: end of the occupation. Sharon says: more occupation.
This war is not an "imposed war", it is a "chosen war", the choice is known and set in stone: the Clinton plan.
It is about :
End of the occupation
Return to the 1967 borders
Two capitals in Jerusalem
Evacuation of settlements
Right of return to the State of Palestine
This is the only choice we have, there is no other, and all of us
gathered here are united in supporting it. We call for support for the Saudi initiative - for the first time, the Arab world has a plan to the State of Israel: peace in exchange for the territories.
Let us replace the three NOs of the Khartoum summit with three YESs:
Yes to peace
Yes to hope
Yes to life
Chekhov, Shakespeare but not Perrault...[April 17, 2002]
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Israeli writer Amos Oz in his "REPORT ON THE STATE OF ISRAEL"
"There are tragedies that end the Shakespeare way and those that end the Chekhov way:
In Shakespeare's, it ends with the stage covered with corpses with perhaps, perhaps, Justice bending over some. In a Chekhov tragedy, at the end, everyone is disillusioned, bitter, frustrated, broken but alive. I hope for a Chekhov-like ending to the tragedy of the Middle East."
Today is Independence Day, but curiously, given the circumstances, there are no more flags than in other years. More depression, doubt: no doubt.
Today on the front page of the newspaper (June 19, 2002)
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The victims of attacks, Jews and Arabs, and the soldiers who died in combat ALWAYS have their picture on the front page of Israeli newspapers. No anonymous victim, even the most humble one, is entitled to coverage in the print media, on the radio or on TV.
According to Jewish tradition, in Jerusalem, funerals are held within hours of death, at least before sunset. This time, most of the funerals were held the next day: it was difficult to identify the body parts torn apart by nails, screws and bolts.
Kippur,
Sunday 15 September 5:00 pm
This Sunday, starting from 5:00 PM, borders, ports and airports are totally closed. Television and radio stations have stopped broadcasting. The streets, roads and highways are empty of all vehicles, except for emergency services.
Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, when everyone faces God to take stock of the past year.
For the children, it is the day of the Great Fun. For the next 24 hours, streets and avenues belong to them with everything that has wheels: soapboxes, bicycles, skates, scooters, tricycles.
Around midnight, the streets of the cities are bustling with people.
Monday morning 10:00 am
The parents rest or pray. The kids stick to the asphalt. It is already 30 degrees.
The parenthesis will close on Monday at 6:23 pm,
The armistice? This will not happen soon. [Nov 12, 2002]
On the picture it is written in Russian: "This is where we live".
In Russia? No. In Israel.
A national campaign for the launch these days of "9", the first Israeli national channel entirely in Russian language. A channel that apparently addresses all generations of immigrants: from the grandfather, a heroic veteran of the wars of the Soviet Union to his grandson, a future medalist in the wars of Israel.
Yesterday was Armistice Day in Europe, and an attack in a kibbutz: five dead, including a mother and her two children, aged 4 and 6, shot in the head in their bed.
The armistice here? This will not happen soon.
The sound of snow on Jerusalem [February 25, 2003]
The sound of snow on Jerusalem (February 25, 2003)
This Tuesday morning, all roads leading to Jerusalem are cut off.
No school, no work, no public transport, we stay at home.
Soon the snowmen. Nothing else matters.
Passover: It is not a piece of cake [April 16, 2003]
Ni gâteaux, ni pain, ni pâtes, bière, chewing-gum, biscuits salés ou sucrés etc, etc . La liste est très longue.
Ce soir commence la Pâque.
Question nourriture, c'est plutôt sévère Il n'y a qu'à regarder sur la photo les étagères de mon supermarché dont bon nombre sont inaccessibles pendant 8 jours.
Cela reste pourtant la plus belle fête de l'année. Ce soir c'est le repas qui réunit les familles au complet et pendant lequel on lit et on chante la sortie d'Egypte et la libération de l'esclavage.
No Israeli flag on condoms yet [May 6, 2003]
No, it's not a condom, it's a balloon.
This year, Israel's Independence Day celebrations fall tonight, May 6, until late tomorrow afternoon (lunar calendar).
In our country, no martial parades with tanks, cannons and proud soldiers. It's more like a family picnic and barbecue. And everywhere, with all the trimmings, the national flag, often hung on the car doors.
For the Palestinians it is a cursed day (Nakbah, the Catastrophe), they are still waiting for their independence since that "fateful" day in 1948.
For the ultra-religious Jews it's no more fun: there can be no state before the return of the Messiah. The most fanatical among them hope for the destruction of this unholy state. The acting mayor of Jerusalem, an ultra-religious Jew, less extremist, will not attend the local ceremonies today. For him, it is a day almost like any other.
To have the Baraka (or not) [June 14, 2003]
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Tsipi was about to climb to the top of one of the twin towers to look out over New York. She didn't have the time: the first plane exploded against the tower, she saw above her the second plane destroying the other tower and she managed to escape. That day, Tsipi was lucky.
On Wednesday in Jerusalem, Tsipi boarded bus number 14. It exploded shortly afterwards.
What was she doing on the bus when she should have been with friends with whom I was having lunch?
Looking at the newspaper photos, I also found a long lost acquaintance: Anna was traveling on the same bus #14.
In the newspaper photos, Tsipi is the lady with the red beret, Anna is right next to her.
Jaffa Street, Jerusalem. Micha and Gregory are waiting for the bus [May 9, 2003]
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May 9 is the day of the "Victory over Fascism" for the ex-communist countries. Today, one can meet these proud characters.in the streets of Israel. 
For example, Micha Liberman and Gregori Katz. Crushed by the heat, by their old age and by the weight of their medals, they are waiting for the bus that will take them back to the retirement home. Micha, on the left, 95 years old, ex-admiral of the Soviet fleet, Gregori, 86 years old, ex-army officer.
The Russian immigration to Israel includes many elderly people. Many of them fought in the Red Army. Marginalized and speaking little or no Hebrew, these old people are today pampered and cajoled by their younger compatriots.
Look at them! May 9 is THEIR day of glory.
The construction of the separation wall (1) [November 13, 2006]
This country path will soon become an impassable barrier. Soon, it will give way to a scar, winding through the hills, some twenty meters wide, with a curtain of barbed wire, electronic warning systems, and a patrol road.
The "Beast" is growing five minutes away from my house, a stone's throw from the last houses of the residential area of Jerusalem where I live.
Shevet Tzedek Street, Jerusalem [December 4, 2006]
Last Shabbat, under the still warm sun, the inhabitants of Chevet Tsedek street (in Hebrew: the street of the Assizes of Justice) had the beautiful idea to organize a collective meal in the narrow dead-end street, for the occasion cleared of its cars. A nice slice of society in the middle of the city. Religious and atheists cohabit in the alley: a rabbi, a plumber, a rocker, a gardener, a doctor, immigrants, Filipino workers, retirees, a young woman in a mental asylum, students and others, that is to say about fifty people gathered around culinary specialties brought by each family.
The construction of the separation wall (2) [March 17, 2007]
Four months after the first photo, the field path has been leveled and is now about ten meters wide. The "separation wall" (or apartheid wall or security wall, wall of shame, etc.) has reached the top of the hill in the left corner of the picture. Soon the workers will pour the concrete on which the electronic fence will stand.
The French election. Some figures that leave one wondering [June 8, 2007]
After the last French presidential election, I obtained the results of the votes of French expatriates around the world, including those in Israel.
The number of French people registered to vote in Israel is the highest in the world, after Switzerland and Monaco (in percentage of the total population). And the seventh country in absolute numbers.
But it is the country where the turnout was the lowest: 16.6% of registered voters.
And above all, the absolute world record for Nicolas Sarkozy: he won 90.7% of the votes cast...
I will leave it to each one to draw his/her own conclusions.
In Palestine too, it is festival time
[July 20, 2007]
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[July 20, 2007]
We must tirelessly remind people that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not just a "drama".
The news channels and journalists love to make the Palestinians wear the only clothes of misery and misfortune. But they deserve better than that. It is to put aside their vitality and resilience which allow them to maintain, in spite of everything, an active cultural life, and a life in general.
Thus, until yesterday, the International Dance Festival was taking place in several Palestinian cities and I was able to see the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey at the Palestinian National Theater in Jerusalem.
While a few hundred meters away, on the Israeli side of the city, the International Film Festival is in full swing. And in three weeks starts the puppet festival.
The news channels and journalists love to make the Palestinians wear the only clothes of misery and misfortune. But they deserve better than that. It is to put aside their vitality and resilience which allow them to maintain, in spite of everything, an active cultural life, and a life in general.
Thus, until yesterday, the International Dance Festival was taking place in several Palestinian cities and I was able to see the Whirling Dervishes of Turkey at the Palestinian National Theater in Jerusalem.
While a few hundred meters away, on the Israeli side of the city, the International Film Festival is in full swing. And in three weeks starts the puppet festival.
So far from Jerusalem
(September 13, 2007)
(September 13, 2007)
Today, September 13, is the New Year of the Hebrew calendar (5768).
At 70 km from "holy" Jerusalem, Tel Aviv "the shameless" is exposed and has fun. An ordinary photo of a seaside. Many people on the beach. The water is 29 degrees.
Divine Presence Friday from 4:59 pm [September 22, 2007]
It is an image that one can probably not imagine: Paris, on a Friday afternoon, without a single car in circulation, the ring road invaded by cyclists, rollerbladers and skateboards, the highways deserted, the whole of France at a standstill.
But this is what happens every year in Israel. Today, September 21st, Yom Kippur begins at 4:59 pm.
All day long, the children wait impatiently for the time. Everything closes: shops, transportation, border crossings, airports, radios, TVs.
But this is what happens every year in Israel. Today, September 21st, Yom Kippur begins at 4:59 pm.
All day long, the children wait impatiently for the time. Everything closes: shops, transportation, border crossings, airports, radios, TVs.
A day of prayer and fasting for some, a day of rest for others.
You don't necessarily have to be religious to think that a divine intervention could plunge cities into such a supernatural silence, pierced only by the prayers and chants of the synagogues.
For children, the divine is the intoxication of the asphalt.
You don't necessarily have to be religious to think that a divine intervention could plunge cities into such a supernatural silence, pierced only by the prayers and chants of the synagogues.
For children, the divine is the intoxication of the asphalt.
Portrait of an anonymous Hierosolomite [January 16, 2008[
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Today we meet 54-year-old Rima H., an immigrant who arrived just ten years ago from Georgia in the former Soviet Union.
She was there chief engineer in a company that built computers for Russian nuclear power plants. Eighty engineers under her command. But once she arrived in Israel, she was finally able to give free rein to her true passion, which had been with her since childhood: sewing
She was there chief engineer in a company that built computers for Russian nuclear power plants. Eighty engineers under her command. But once she arrived in Israel, she was finally able to give free rein to her true passion, which had been with her since childhood: sewing
Rima left her computers and turned down an offer from INTEL to open instead a small sewing store. Between her spools, her sewing machine and her four cats, Rima has found a certain happiness.
Note: a Hierosolomite is an inhabitant of Jerusalem
Note: a Hierosolomite is an inhabitant of Jerusalem
Deux mille neuf, rien de neuf 2009: nothing new in the Middle East [January 6, 2009]
An open-air cage. Inside, a rather miserable house. Gaza in miniature. The comparison stops there.
The scene takes place next to Jerusalem. The house in the cage is Palestinian. Surrounding it on three sides is the Israeli settlement of Givon Hah'adasha, with bright houses surrounded by flower gardens. On the left side of the picture, you can see one of them. Only a few meters separate it from the fence. At the bottom of the picture, on the right, we can see the top of another house. This is already the Palestinian village of Beit Ijza. The house in the cage is also part of this village. But it is separated from it by the famous separation-segregation wall that runs a few meters below. The house in the cage does have an access corridor, which is fenced, video-monitored and isolated by a huge steel gate, the opening of which is remotely controlled somewhere in an Israeli army post. When Mohamed Ghareeb wants to join the rest of the village, he has to ask for permission to leave his cage.
To sum up: once upon a time there was the village of Beit Ijza.
One day, the Israeli administration decided that part of the private land in the village belonged to the state.
7-8 years ago, a settlement was established, by chance, right there, next to the Arab village.
The government embarked later on the construction of the Wall. Dilemma: either the route of the wall includes the village of Beit Ijza in Israel, which is unbearable, or the wall excludes the settlement of Givon Hah'adasha, which is unthinkable. The twisted solution is therefore a route that slips between the two populations while leaving this house on the Israeli side but isolating it from its settler neighbors.
This microscopic but not unique example illustrates a more general phenomenon where multiple provocations and humiliations only reinforce the impression that there is no future.
A big thank you to Marie-Noëlle Boutin, a photographer from Lille from whom I borrowed this picture and who made me discover this pastoral landscape.
[2023: this person has since passed away and one of his sons and his family occupy the house].
The scene takes place next to Jerusalem. The house in the cage is Palestinian. Surrounding it on three sides is the Israeli settlement of Givon Hah'adasha, with bright houses surrounded by flower gardens. On the left side of the picture, you can see one of them. Only a few meters separate it from the fence. At the bottom of the picture, on the right, we can see the top of another house. This is already the Palestinian village of Beit Ijza. The house in the cage is also part of this village. But it is separated from it by the famous separation-segregation wall that runs a few meters below. The house in the cage does have an access corridor, which is fenced, video-monitored and isolated by a huge steel gate, the opening of which is remotely controlled somewhere in an Israeli army post. When Mohamed Ghareeb wants to join the rest of the village, he has to ask for permission to leave his cage.
To sum up: once upon a time there was the village of Beit Ijza.
One day, the Israeli administration decided that part of the private land in the village belonged to the state.
7-8 years ago, a settlement was established, by chance, right there, next to the Arab village.
The government embarked later on the construction of the Wall. Dilemma: either the route of the wall includes the village of Beit Ijza in Israel, which is unbearable, or the wall excludes the settlement of Givon Hah'adasha, which is unthinkable. The twisted solution is therefore a route that slips between the two populations while leaving this house on the Israeli side but isolating it from its settler neighbors.
This microscopic but not unique example illustrates a more general phenomenon where multiple provocations and humiliations only reinforce the impression that there is no future.
A big thank you to Marie-Noëlle Boutin, a photographer from Lille from whom I borrowed this picture and who made me discover this pastoral landscape.
[2023: this person has since passed away and one of his sons and his family occupy the house].
A new destination for your summer vacations!
The Archipelago of Palestine [June 19, 2009]
The Archipelago of Palestine [June 19, 2009]
Only 4 hours flight from Paris, a string of islands from which you will come back tanned!
On the other hand, you won't find any beaches, resorts, marinas or campsites.
Rather, you will find concrete walls, barbed wire and military barricades.
This is a rather special map published in the Atlas du Monde diplomatique, 2009 edition. It is a virtual and humorous West Bank, imagined by Julien Bousac.
All the areas in Israel's hands, i.e. annexed (like Jerusalem) or occupied by settlements, are represented by water. Forty years of occupation, confiscation and nibbling have created this surreal map.
The West Bank, it is worth remembering, was originally barely 5,700 km2.
What is left of it, this thing, these shreds, these confetti that are sometimes only a few kilometers wide, can they really constitute the basis of a future Palestinian state? No one believes in it anymore, except Benjamin Netanyahu who, with his hand on his heart, promised, swore, spat, that no more new land would be colonized.
If the names of the islands are fanciful, the names of the towns and villages are real
2023: Since 2009, the Archipelago has further diminished with new settlements and land confiscations.
On the other hand, you won't find any beaches, resorts, marinas or campsites.
Rather, you will find concrete walls, barbed wire and military barricades.
This is a rather special map published in the Atlas du Monde diplomatique, 2009 edition. It is a virtual and humorous West Bank, imagined by Julien Bousac.
All the areas in Israel's hands, i.e. annexed (like Jerusalem) or occupied by settlements, are represented by water. Forty years of occupation, confiscation and nibbling have created this surreal map.
The West Bank, it is worth remembering, was originally barely 5,700 km2.
What is left of it, this thing, these shreds, these confetti that are sometimes only a few kilometers wide, can they really constitute the basis of a future Palestinian state? No one believes in it anymore, except Benjamin Netanyahu who, with his hand on his heart, promised, swore, spat, that no more new land would be colonized.
If the names of the islands are fanciful, the names of the towns and villages are real
2023: Since 2009, the Archipelago has further diminished with new settlements and land confiscations.
Holydays [October 6, 2009]
It's been like this for three weeks: after New Year's Day (5670) and Yom Kippur last week, here comes the holiday of Sukkot, the holiday of the huts. Decorated huts are set up everywhere: in courtyards, on balconies, on street sidewalks, in public and private gardens. For eight days, families have all their meals there and some even spend the night (the temperature is still very pleasant).
It is also the time of year when there are the most festivals of all kinds, including the experimental theater festival in St. John of Acre. A time when politics really doesn't interest many people.
These Palestinians are completely crazy. [July 5, 2010]
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Totally soccer, these Palestinians, but not more than anywhere else in these times of the World Cup. And he is not crazy at all, the owner of the restaurant "The Wall", in Bethlehem, who has hung a giant screen on the "Separation Wall" built by the Israelis. And for good measure, the menu is painted in giant letters: shrimps, squids, lobsters, crabs, various fish.
Yesterday, it was the Uruguay-Ghana match and it didn’t attract a big crowd. Invited by my friend Jacques N. who lives around the corner, we were satisfied with a cold beer and a water pipe.
The most to be pitied is the Israeli soldier, locked in his guard tower, just above the Wall: he can't see anything. Every time he opens the bulletproof window, he asks the Palestinian consumers below: "So, who scored?"
In the night, I went back to Jerusalem. Five kilometers away.
And I start dreaming about an Israel-Palestine match.
But isn't Peace worth a fart? [June 29, 2011]
Who knows! Maybe they were returning from a trip to the Middle East where not only are we in a dead-end, but we are also headed straight into the dead-end wall.Around Israel, the Arab world is agitated by the desire for change. Hopes mixed with worries. With our Syrian neighbours, it is not a "chainsaw massacre" but a tank massacre (and by the way, where are our professional indignant ones? No or few reactions in Europe. Could it be that they are tired of indignation?
It is not said, but here in Israel too, the popular revolt is rumbling. Yes, it is! And as with our neighbours, Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere are widely used.
It's because "cottage cheese", our local cream cheese, is too expensive. As well as other dairy products. Fed up, revolted and generally indignant, the cheese boycott has been set up and is starting to produce its effects: prices are going down.
This is the big story of the moment, served up on the news in prime time, while waiting for the arrival of the flotilla.
For peace with the Palestinians is no longer a topical issue. The construction of the Wall has created the illusion of having solved the problem. They have become invisible. Unemployment is low, the economy is flourishing, even if social disparities are glaring. Why take risks, especially since the Palestinians themselves cannot get along.
A rather mediocre political class, a government screwed to the right, with no vision of the future, stuck in its reassuring immobilism, waving the threat, partly real, of Iran to gather the herd. Everything is gathered to go into the wall.
It is not said, but here in Israel too, the popular revolt is rumbling. Yes, it is! And as with our neighbours, Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere are widely used.
It's because "cottage cheese", our local cream cheese, is too expensive. As well as other dairy products. Fed up, revolted and generally indignant, the cheese boycott has been set up and is starting to produce its effects: prices are going down.
This is the big story of the moment, served up on the news in prime time, while waiting for the arrival of the flotilla.
For peace with the Palestinians is no longer a topical issue. The construction of the Wall has created the illusion of having solved the problem. They have become invisible. Unemployment is low, the economy is flourishing, even if social disparities are glaring. Why take risks, especially since the Palestinians themselves cannot get along.
A rather mediocre political class, a government screwed to the right, with no vision of the future, stuck in its reassuring immobilism, waving the threat, partly real, of Iran to gather the herd. Everything is gathered to go into the wall.
D-1 before the end of the world this December 21 [December 20, 2012]
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For several weeks now, rumors have been circulating, and picked up by all the media, about the Mayan prediction that the end of the world will come true on December 21. It's tomorrow!
Fear not! Our troops of Kabbalists have mobilized to ward off the curse, so that you can wake up peacefully on Saturday, December 22, and enjoy the festive season.
Happy New Year 2013 for Christians and atheists, but also
2571 for the Persians
1392 for the Iranians
5773 for the Jews
1434 for the Muslims
4711 for the Chinese (the year of the snake)
165 for the Baha'is
2540 for the Jains
1935 for the Hindus
2140 for the Tibetans
2557 for the Buddhists
2005 for the Ethiopians
and for the Mayans, I don't know.
Santa is not a scumbag, he's Jewish [anuary 2, 2014]
Happy New Year 2014 from Bethlehem !![]()
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Bethlehem is 5 km (yes, five km) from Jerusalem, but with the "Separation Wall" preventing most of its inhabitants from visiting the capital.
So it was with great curiosity and amusement that I accepted an invitation to play Santa Claus at a Franco-Palestinian school in the city. Me, a Jew, playing a Christian character for Palestinian children seemed like a joke.
But my amusement gave way to emotion when I saw those amazed and incredulous faces. A time of innocence
Let's not forget the others:
1393 for the Persians
5774 for the Jews
1435 for the Muslims
4712 for the Chinese, Koreans and others (the Year of the Horse)
166 for Baha'is
2541 for Jains
1935 for Indians
2141 for Tibetans
2558 for the Buddhists
and least but not last, 2006 for the Ethiopians, who can't quite catch up...
AMEN! [April 10, 2015]
Good Friday for the Orthodox Christians.
All the Orthodoxy parades on the way of the cross: the Egyptian Copts, the Ethiopians, the Serbs, the Assyrians, etc... Above, in pilgrimage, Russians from the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Saint Petersburg
You could find everything at the Samaritaine
[May 13, 2015]
[May 13, 2015]
Well no, certainly not! And let's be clear: you could not find any Samaritans.
And yet the Samaritans exist, I met them on Mount Gerizim, above the city of Nablus, in the West Bank.
Isaac, on the picture, was present, with all his people: Exactly 761 people, including babies and old people. One of the smallest people in the world and the oldest since they precede the Jewish people as we know them today: more than 3,000 years old. They have their own language, their own writing, their own culture, their own religion which has similarities with Judaism: respect of the Sabbath, the same dietary rules, the same festivals of New Year, Kippur and the Easter festival which I have just attended. As in the time of Moses, the Paschal Lamb is sacrificed (forty-nine lambs that are skinned and skewered to be cooked in sort of pits) and the meat is then shared among the members of the community (non-Samaritans are not allowed to touch this sacred food).
The community is divided between their village on their sacred Mount Gerizim in Palestine and a neighbourhood in the city of Holon, in Israel. Since they don't want to get angry with anyone, they have a Palestinian passport, an Israeli passport and often a Jordanian passport. You never know...
For more information, I suggest Wikipedia.
Israel and the Palestinian Territories, altogether the equivalent of the surface of Brittany, a confetti on the scale of the planet and yet of an incredible richness and complexity.
NB: For those who do not know, La Samaritaine in Paris was a famous department store, like the Galeries Lafayettes. Its famous slogan was: "On trouve tout à la Samaritaine"."You can find everything at the Samaritaine".
And yet the Samaritans exist, I met them on Mount Gerizim, above the city of Nablus, in the West Bank.
Isaac, on the picture, was present, with all his people: Exactly 761 people, including babies and old people. One of the smallest people in the world and the oldest since they precede the Jewish people as we know them today: more than 3,000 years old. They have their own language, their own writing, their own culture, their own religion which has similarities with Judaism: respect of the Sabbath, the same dietary rules, the same festivals of New Year, Kippur and the Easter festival which I have just attended. As in the time of Moses, the Paschal Lamb is sacrificed (forty-nine lambs that are skinned and skewered to be cooked in sort of pits) and the meat is then shared among the members of the community (non-Samaritans are not allowed to touch this sacred food).
The community is divided between their village on their sacred Mount Gerizim in Palestine and a neighbourhood in the city of Holon, in Israel. Since they don't want to get angry with anyone, they have a Palestinian passport, an Israeli passport and often a Jordanian passport. You never know...
For more information, I suggest Wikipedia.
Israel and the Palestinian Territories, altogether the equivalent of the surface of Brittany, a confetti on the scale of the planet and yet of an incredible richness and complexity.
NB: For those who do not know, La Samaritaine in Paris was a famous department store, like the Galeries Lafayettes. Its famous slogan was: "On trouve tout à la Samaritaine"."You can find everything at the Samaritaine".