secrets

last night i had treat of the best variety.

it included smoking rooms, gin and tonic, 4 course vegan food and lots of happy smiling faces.

It may sounds like i had a fantastic night at a fabulous top notch yuppie eaterie.
well in many ways i did- except minus the 'yuppie' and including a 'squat'.

cloak and dinner put on a completely astounding night in the style of a renegade restaurant.

a location was sought, picked, people were moved in, kitchen prepared, food collected from whereever possible, chairs borrowed, curtains draped, candles lit and to top it all off a host of the most excellent on floor waiting service i have ever experienced.

i want to give them the respect and congratulations this little crew of creatives deserves by saying a great big thank you.

i wallowed in superior treatment and the decadence of the whole night.. followed by cigarettes, gin and tonic and dancing in candlelight.

the lovely people in their own words:

"We are a Bristol-based collective of amateur and professional chefs, waiter/esses, bartenders, artists, actors and creatives, inspired by food and disappointed by the pretense and price-tag necessary for a great eating-out experience in Bristol."

dressed to impress they did a smashing smashing job. encore encore.

photo 'borrowed'

shifty

I am sure many of you have already come across this group of word loving political activists from our very own London town who go by the name of ctrl.alt.shift. They are well on it with the current issues and noble causes, whilst embracing the creativity of all us little people in all their doings and goings on. They produce a quarterly magazine, have a vast array of bloggers heading up the team on all sorts of ecofriendlypoliticalissues which have never even crossed your mind- yet.

the magazine is particularly well put together, well written, and very good looking.

Previous titles include:
Issue 1: The awareness issue
Issue 2: The stigma issue
Issue 3: The gender issue
Issue 4: The corruption issue
and you can download the first 3 here : the magazines

They have an events calendar for art and protests and gigs and dancethenightaways.

And the best thing of all- for all of you fast lane life livers.. there is a page for actions.
Actions that will take you a few seconds / a few minutes / a few hours....
It s all set up, just find some causes you believe in, or cannot believe are happening in the world today, click some buttons, write some words and get your voice heard in amongst the crowds of discontent.

They have made of £10,000 for Haiti victims already.

as an annoying drunk middle aged woman once told me in Thailand- get involved.

panorama

If you missed last night's Panorama on BBC 1 watch it here:

Panorama - A walk in the park...

and read about it here:

Staking claim underneath East Jerusalem

It is strange how tv programmes- unless whole heartedly sensationalist, don't seem to highlight the importance and urgency of situations like the Palestinian families documented in this episode of Panorama. There are constant and consistent references to the past; Some of Jerusalem becoming Jewish land 200 years ago; displacement of Palestinians since 1948; settlement building since the 1980's... Yet the quiet rapidity at which the Palestinian houses in East Jerusalem (and with in the occupied territories) are being demolished resulting in generations of Palestinian families becoming evicted from their homes and from the cities in which they have always lived, makes it seem as though the conflict has always been fought in this way. Soldiers coming to houses in the middle of the night, escorted by a further team of armed guards, denying any paperwork as counterfeit.. it is all part of a mechanism of extending the past into the present, and removing the focus from the current phenomenon which is entirely new and fresh and a tool for the Israeli government that is in power today. This is not a battle that has been going on for centuries. It is a demographic plan which has come into fruition faster than the blink of an eye.

In 1901 a group by the name of the Jewish National Fund was formed as a precursor to the establishment of the Israeli state. The JNF were created specifically to put together a vast archive of information of Palestinian land quality and water sources in order to sell it to Jews, create Kibbutz's, and 'stamp out' some of the more hostile areas toward the Jewish people. Even though the Jewish people were given 56% of the land upon which to construct a Jewish state, they proceeded to ignore the Palestinians right to return after being expelled from the land in 1948. Further to this, the 1967 war saw Israel claim an extra 22% of the land; whilst still refusing the right of return to the Palestinians. Demographically Israel was starting to have a massive influence. The Israeli peace group 'peace now' hold a map of the settlements in the west bank which can be seen above, including those surrounding East Jerusalem. It also shows the plans for building a new city around the walls of East Jerusalem.

This area or new city of settlements will be called E-1. for now.
And it will cut Jerusalem off from the rest of Palestine.
Thus negating it as a viable capital for a Palestinian State.

Settlements have been off the international agenda for so long...
Is it not time we took note? whilst there is still some land left?

Arabic

The arabic alphabet.
something i am trying to learn at the moment.
Writing each letter is hard enough.. but saying them?

well.

thats a completely new kettle of fish.

sacco

Ever since I came across Joe Sacco's 'Palestine', a graphic novel I borrowed from my friend Hannah, I have been in awe of the ability of Sacco to translate in pictures the struggle of Palestine.

I took my time to read the novel, dipping in and out of its pages when I felt I had the time and energy to confront the situation in Palestine. As a medium I find the graphic novel impressive, as it not only has words (and quotes of real life people due to 'Palestines' nature as a documentation of experiences), but it shows faces and families and street scenes, bringing it all to the present because its not only engaging us through text, but also by the intense pictures allowing each page to come to life.

I finished reading Palestine a week before my trip to the West Bank. And I am so glad of this timing, for i can honestly say, hand on heart, that Sacco's representation of Palestine is completely accurate, even today. He argues himself in footnotes that the struggle is timeless, as it has no conclusion, no outcome. It is continuous. The way in which he describes his experience of being a journalist within the daily naturalization of violence and suffering, until you realise every family has a story, every son has a brother in prison, every mother has lost a son or nephew to the struggle, the nature of every story and the changing reaction of the listener is documented so perfectly in Sacco's book. It becomes 'normal' to hear of martyrs and settler attacks and imprisonment without reason.

For Christmas this year I received Sacco's most recent work 'Footnotes from Gaza'. Ironically I also gave this graphic novel as a present to the very same friend... And again, I find myself taking my time to work my way through the chapters, as each page deserves attention to the detailed drawings and experiences being discussed scene by scene.

but read it for yourself.

and if you need more persuasion, here is an article on Al-Jazeera with Sacco himself.

Interview: Joe Sacco by Laila El-Haddad

the teens speech

I have been working for barnardo's for almost a year now and still i am impressed by the level at which the projects work for the young people and families involved. They released an amazing set of posters that entailed portraits of difficult young people sneering or glaring, with a statement below commenting on how barnardo's works with the young people that families and societies have given up on. (in many cases)

and this teens speech puts together all of these elements, told by young people, about young people in their own words and voices, just why its so important that we listen to what they have to say

The Teens' Speech from Barnardo's on Vimeo.

robert the: book works

lovely books by robert...

Another lovely wordsmith using books and pages and words for magic.

lovely.

her morning elegance

just as i was thinking about this beautiful piece of stop frame, i noticed bex has beat me to putting it up here.. so the appreciation is seconded.
completely.

anis again

active stills

This group: active stills, have been doing some amazing work in Palestine and Israel...

Some of their photo essays are breathtaking and oh so very beautiful and still extremely shocking.

They have a series of essays:

joint struggle - The photos included in this essay are astounding, and from both sides of the wall. Anarchists against the wall joined with Palestinians across the length and breadth of the Israeli Security Fence in order to resist the racial segregation enforced by the Israeli government

Life under occupation - This series shows the every day life of many Palestinians.. the checkpoints, housing demoltions, the imposition of the wall, the desructions of olive groves, contamination of water, settlers attitudes.. the list goes on.

blog

http://leftofthemiddleeast.blogspot.com

For updates and actions of the group I traveled to Palestine with, please visit the above blog.

pictures

Pictures from Palestine

from holly

zaytoun group


The ordeal I went through with my nerves at the airport when leaving Palestine and Israel, especially in relation to my photographs was actually quite significant. I had heard various horror stories of activists leaving Palestine being black listed for having visited the west bank, or having volunteered for a pro-Palestinian organisation, or being questioned initimately about number in their phone books or emails on their computer, really put the fear of god in me. I made sure i cleared my brothers camera of pictures in Jerusalem (with the help of a very sweet guy called Omar, who, having lived in the USA for eleven years, felt more like a european than a Palestinian until his neice wandered in with a drawing for him.. which he praised in arabic and gave many smiles and hugs for- and like a true palestinian made me sit and drink tea in his store for a good hour before leaving for dinner. It was a fascinating conversation and i really admire him for returning to palestine to be with his family) anyway, photos on a CD, sealed in an envelope, placed in the hands of a good friend who was leaving for a cyprus a few days later... i went to the airport physically free of photos, but fearing my reaction to the israeli security and my ability to act nonchalant and passive when being questioned.

but i feel that every picture was worth the worry.
I only wish i had taken more of my friends.

paradise now

I am not sure if i have ever seen a Palestinian feature film before.
I have seen documentaries, many documentaries full of sadness and woe and heartache and violence. but this story was very well told. the simple stories are often the most effective.

This film makes martyrdom seem like an everyday occurrence in Palestine.
however, I know it is not. but it brings to light the normalization of violence and escape and resistance with an air of last-resort politics.

The actors are cast well, the dark underworld is scary and the occupation is rife from the moment the film begins at a checkpoint, machine gun held on the focal point of the female love interest.

With a new film 'Amreeka' begin released in the United states of America, the idea of a Palestinian feature film in a Hollywood style is becoming less obscure, even if there are no cinemas in Palestine. As the protagonist in Paradise Now: Said states - the Palestinians burned the only theatre in Nablus down as an act of resistance during the second intifada.

I hope cinema as a tool can manage to bring to light some of the issues of the middle east to the average American and British viewer at home.
i hope.

nonel and vovel

this year for my birthday my mum gave me this comic book:

The Novel of nonel and vovel...

It is a book that is a result of a collaboration of two women: one Palestinian and one Israeli.

It is refreshing to see an equal collaboration between two creative sparks. resulting not only in a book, but also exhibitions, talks and tours facilitating a space to talk about creativity, art and most poignantly- the conflict in the middle east.

well done mum.

palestine

what can i say?

Palestine has turned my world upside down.
I feel as though i am just not sure what to do with myself anymore.
I want to learn, i want to return, i want to help more than ever. through any means and avenues possible.

I have met some of the most wonderful people possible during my time in palestine, both internationals and Palestinians.

I also saw some of the worst violations of human rights occur in front of my eyes.

but all of this i shall put in another series (hopefully shared by a friend who has also been in the middle east)

more to come, but for now- a few pictures and explanations.

picture 1.
Abed a local farmer stands in front of his home village in Burin. We had been picking next to a settler road that day and we were taking a break before carting the olives back to his mothers house. Abed is a serious man, who frequently broke into song in the fields. His English was good, he smoked like nothing I have ever seen except in Palestine and the week before we arrived he had 97 of his trees cut down by settlers who had descended from the closest settlement Bracha. All in all Abed has lost around a quarter of his land this year.

picture 2.
This is a view of Madama from the family home of Jihad, our contact in the village. Madama neighbours Burin, and along side Asira, the three villages are situated in a valley which is topped by a settlement on either side and a checkpoint to the North in Hawara. I woke very early for our first day picking in the olive fields to see this beautiful sight.

picture 3.
Street signs in Nablus. after meeting a friend from university who is living in the West Bank for a while, we wandering trying to find somewhere to get a coffee (which turns out to be nigh on impossible due to my sex) and instead we walked through the town and answered the many questions form passers by on our homes, our studies and our work.. and of course, what we thought of Palestine. (luckily no questions about the Balfour declaration this time around)

bye bye

it is the last weekend of banner road...

everything is packed up into cardboard boxes and bin bags, shoved against walls and awaiting their new adventure to the new house on the new road in the new part of town...
This year in banner road feels like it has set me up for a lifetime. the fear of leaving university and being confronted with a big wide world full of big choices and hard decisions and struggles to realise dreams has been softened by the banner road family and their antics keeping the magic alive.

I want to write a list of some of my favourite times in banner road, as it has been the beginning of a bristol journey that has made me smile every day...

i love our house rules written by marcroy smith for the kitchen wall...
i love our one hour crescendo and team quiz in the basement on new years eve 2008...
i love being two steps away from carnival...
i love the steps, sitting on them, smoking on them, drinking tea on them and stroking meusli on them....
i love drawing the houses across the street
i love ping pong in the basement for hours with strangers and friends (until the light bulb went)
i love how it is a second home
i love how there always seem to be 30 pairs of shoes in the hallway
and enough bikes for a small army chained up outside

bring on effingham

choose

choose what you read

A lovely idea borne from the commuter life in the big smoke.
Some lovely people wiht a lust for good books turn up every first monday of the month outside charing cross station (and other london stations) bearing a big sign and a big box of books allowing you to disregard that dull, bemusing metro you get shoved into your face each morning, and replace its position between your hands with a fantastic novel on any matter of subjects.

A little quote from the librarians:

The Librarians

Choose What You Read is our reaction to the tonnes of free newspapers dished out and thrown away every day. We'd like to give you the opportunity to read a book instead, donated by the public, to go back out into the public once finished. We’d like to give you the opportunity to choose a novel over a free paper. We love reading, we’re pretty sure you do too. Thank you for reading.

get involved, pick up a book, read it, send it back, then help yourself to another book.. what a wonderful world.

hopefully coming to a city near you soon...

bible

direction

moon

this film is for fans of:
sunshine
pitch black
red dwarf
the moon
people who like subtle epic soundtracks
that film which is set under the sea and the sharks get intelligent and attack the people living in the under water house.... i think llcool J was in it? (I'm not sure why it made me think of this?)

top nice acting by mr rockwell, funny and endearing moments, a creepy kevin spacey voice coming from a happy faced robot and a set which i swear has been lifted directly from red dwarf. (maybe the concept too- as pointed out by ms jo barker)