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Showing posts from June, 2019

Why annexation is a big deal

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This is B'tselem's map of Area C  (in red),  the figures might no longer be accurate.  I made a silent vow that this renewed phase of Tel Aviv Rooftop would keep politics to the absolute minimum. I'm breaking it so soon because annexation is in the air. And annexation is a big deal.  The annexation in question is that of Area C of the West Bank, which the Oslo accords placed under full Israeli military and civil control but which international law deems "occupied territory". Area C comprises 62% of the land, all of the Israeli settlements and, depending on who you ask, between 80,000 and almost 300,000 Palestinians.  Placing Area C under Israeli sovereignty would leave almost 3 million additional West Bank Palestinians stranded in Areas A and B  - an archipelago of disconnected towns and villages.  Israel might offer the Palestinian Authority a kind of Bantustan 'autonomy' in these islands but, even in the extremely unlikely event that they would

Re-Remembering David Crosby

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               We recently saw the film David Crosby: Remember My Name at the Tel Aviv Cinematheque and as I write, I’m listening to his hauntingly beautiful music on Spotify. Sitting close to us in the audience was the multitalented American-Israeli guitarist/songwriter Danny Sanderson ( Kaveret, Gazoz etc.)   and next to him, wearting sunglasses, was the actress Anat Atzmon, perhaps the sex symbol of Ashkenazi 1970s Israel ( Dizengoff 99 ). But times have changed and Anat is currently appearing in the Yiddishspiel Theater production of Bistu Shein – a “sweeping musical drama interlaced with the best hits of the Barry Sisters.” Danny has also mellowed with the years. He recently played his classic hits with the Israel Philharmonic. Danny and Anat, like much of the audience, like us, were over 60 and looking it.               Soon, we all plunged together with the white-maned Crosby- surprised as anyone to still be alive – through his glorious, tragic, manic life. C