Harry's Place

I shall be sitting on the beach in Tel Aviv drinking a mint tea whilst that is going on so I cannot make it. I wonder what new songs Deborah Fink will be singing for the occasion?

Looks like an interesting programme.

I’ll pop along and offer my support.

I’ll be back in London after sunning myself on Tel Aviv beach, so will definitely make my way to the Proms that evening. I shall be promoting the event among friends too.

I love their work. What a pity they’ve agreed to play on a Shabbat, thus ensuring that a good proportion of their most enthusiastic supporters won’t nbe able to come along and enjoy hearing them live–or even go along to oppose the boycotters.

Recently, the Council of Europe’s European Court of Human Rights upheld a French ruling that it was illegal and discriminatory to boycott Israeli goods, and that making it illegal to call for a boycott of Israeli goods did not constitute a violation of one’s freedom of expression.
(please see http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1246443852848&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull)

given this ruling, would not a call for boycott in Britain be an illegal act? Shouldn’t someone in Britain demand prosecution against those that call for this boycott? Someone please take action and set an example!

Old news from a different protest in scotland… http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6658003.stm Prosecutors removed the racial aggravation charge to get a guilty plea.

I cannot go unfortunately. I do hope people will go and show support – take a friend. Music and musicians have done much to bridge divides across the world and it is typical that some see this as a threat to their power. I quite agree that others have the right to demonstrate without violence but that has not been a distinguishing factor in the past.

Radio Three can of course be contacted and the messageboards are there to show solidarity with musicians and music lovers the wide world over.

Thanks for drawing my attention to the Jerusalem Quartet, I shall certainly try and get a ticket

Yes, Pro-boycotters must be spitting blood at the very thought of Israelis playing classical music?

here’s their blurb:

“The Jerusalem Quartet was founded in 1993, and began its training in Jerusalem, under the direction of the violinist Avi Abramovitch. The young quartet soon became a force to reckon with on the international scene: in 1996 it won First Prize in chamber music at the Jerusalem Academy, and in 1997 a double prize at the Graz International Competition for its performances of works by Kurtág and Bartók. From 1999 to 2001 the quartet received support from the BBC (as BBC New Generation Artists), then in 2003 it was the recipient of the first Borletti-Buitoni Trust Award.
The Jerusalem Quartet is now a regular guest on European and American concert platforms: it has been invited to the Wigmore Hall in London, the Amsterdam Concertgebouw, the Berlin and the Dortmund Konzerthaus and the Cologne Philharmonie, as well as to Brussels, Paris, Munich, Luxembourg, Geneva, Chicago, New York and Washington. It took part in the Vancouver Recital Series, the Verbier Festival and the Robeco Summer Concert Series in Amsterdam. In 2007, it toured in Australia and Japan. It is Musica Viva’s Quartet-in-Residence from 2006 until 2009 (Australia).
The Jerusalem Quartet regularly partners Mitsuko Uchida, Jessye Norman, Daniel Barenboim, Elena Bashkirova, Tabea Zimmermann, Natalia Gutman, Itamar Golan, Boris Pergamenshikov, and the Vermeer and Pražák Quartets.
With harmonia mundi, the quartet has recorded works by Dvořák (with Stefan Vladar), Shostakovich and Haydn, and has been awarded several international distinctions.

The Quartet is very grateful to Daniel Barenboim who generously loans Jacqueline du Pré’s ‘Sergio Perresson’ cello to Kyril Zlotnikov.

Alexander Pavlovsky, violin
Sergei Bresler, violin
Amichai Grosz, viola
Kyril Zlotnikov, cello

ops, the link http://www.harmoniamundi.com/usa/artistes_fiche.php?artist_id=1988

PACBI are a bunch of cunts. They are an insidious bunch of utter slime balls. I fully oppose cultural and academic boycotts – not only is it counter-productive to their supposed aims but it’s is racist and discriminatory.

It shows just how extremists these idiots are when Daniel Barenboim (a huge critic of Israeli policy, who was bestowed a palestinian passport by the PA, who spends a lot of his time in the WB working with palestinians and who has an orchestra made up of jews, arabs, turks and iranians) is happy to work with them.

If I wasn’t in Israel at the time, I’d definitely take the trip to see them. Not only do I want to oppose these idiotic boycotters but I’ve heard that the Jerusalem Quartet are FANTASTIC!

The Jerusalem quartet are one of the finest ensembles around and their performances are a revelation. And this concert is fantastic value for money at only £12 for the top price tickets. So sad that the boycottniks can’t just go to the concert and learn a bit of humanity from the playing of these musicians.

Is there a Hamas Gaza Quartet? Or is music ‘haram’? Or is it only mixed dancing that is ‘haram’?

there was lots of mixed “dancing” in the ahem, harem.

I will be at the concert and if any of those f**** c*** disrupt it I will not be responsible for my actions

I couldn’t access that link, Jon. Is it the latest news?

Are PACBI gonna be wearing brown shirts when they accost Jewish musicians?

Sorry alec, it was the old news about the idiot who disrupted the Rangers Haifa Uefa cup game in 2006 by running on the pitch waving a palestine flag, taunting the Israeli fans then making the Rangers fans ‘extremely annoyed’ by tangeling himself in the net and shouting Ira slogans at them. He was charged with both racially aggravated and sectarian aggravated offences but the prosecutor dropped the racial charges to get a guilty plea. Googleing Sean Gallagher Ibrox should get the story.
Really I only mention it cos gene was asking about (on another thread) the racial aggravation charges for the Edinburgh JQ concert disruptors – perhaps the prosecutors are hoping to trade down in return for a guilty plea there.

in the best of all possible worlds the Jerusalem Quartet would be joined by the Ramallah (or similar) quartet to play Mendelssohn’s Octet. Daniel Barenboim has been working the ‘East-West Divan Orchestra’ on a similar inter-ethnic classical ensemble.

Daniel Barenboim must think rather highly of them as he lent them a cello.

Why? Why can’t the Jerusalem Quartet appear on its own, in accordance with the producer’s wishes? Why appease the muppets?

Equally, boycott opponents have a right, and a duty, to express themselves as well.

A right, yes, a duty, hardly. There are plenty of things I oppose and keep schtum about.

I will also be there. You’ll know me, as I’ll be the one standing up and denouncing these wankers as ambassadors of ethnic cleansing and apartheid.

Free Palestine. Boycott Israel.

Jeff, you obviously have no idea how PACBI work. They oppose any parallels – as far as they’re concerned, even if palestinian groups are also playing this isn’t good enough.

Also, I disagree with you. The Jerusalem Quartet are amazing and should not have to tag anybody else onto their repertoire for some scottish cunts to happy enough to ‘allow’ them to play.

Oh Yes, the JQ are ambassadors of classical music who happen to have been born in Israel. Not only this but they work hard to promote dialogue and understanding between Israelis, Palestinians and Muslims. They perform for IDF troups 3x a week when they’re in Israel – if you think playing classical music for conscripted soldiers is immoral then you’re an idiot.

This is funny. Here is a list of companies a group of Toronto “activists” in the United Church was the church to boycott.

“Ambi Pur, AOL Time Warner, Aoste, Apax Partners & Co. Ltd., Aramis, Arsenal FC, Auchan, Bali, Ball Park, Biotherm, Banana Republic, Bryan, Buitoni, Café Pilāo, Calvin Klein, Carnation, Carrefour, Caterpillar, Champion, Clinique, CNN, Coca-Cola, Danone, Delta Galil, Dim, Disney, Donna Karan, DYNK, Estée Lauder, Express, Expo Design Center, Evian, Fruitopia, Gap, Garnier, General Electric, Georgia Lighting, Giorgio Armani, Gossard, HarperCollins, Hanes, Helen Rubinstein, Henri Bendel, Hema, Hillshire Farms, The Home Depot, Huggies, Hugo Boss, ICQ, IBM, Intel, Intimate brands, J. Crew, JC Penney, Jimmy Dean, Johnson & Johnson, Jo Malone, Just My Size, Kimberley-Clark, Kia Ora, Kiwi, Kleenex, Kotex, Lancôme, La Roche-Posay, Lea-Perrin, L’eggs, Lerner New York, Lewis Trust Group Ltd., Libby’s, Lilt, The Limited Inc., Lindex, L’Oreal, Loveable, MAC Cosmetics, Maggi, Maison Café, Marks & Spencer, MAST Industries, Inc., Matrix, Maybelline, McDonald’s, Nestlé, News Corporation, News of the World, New York & Company, New York Post, Nokia, Nur Die, Nursery World, Outerbanks, Origins, Perrier, Pickwick, Playtex, Prescriptives, Pryca, Ralph Lauren, Redken, Revlon, River Island, Santex, Sara Lee, Schweppes, Selfridges, Sky, Starbucks, Structure, The Sun, Sunkist, Superior Coffee, Tchibo, Timberland, Time, Tommy Hilfiger, Twentieth Century Fox, Vichy Laboratories, Victoria’s Secret, Villager’s Hardware, Vittel, The White Barn Candle Co., and Wonderbra.”

Does anybody believe that even one of the self-righteous arseholes is going to manage to boycott ALL of these companies?

It’s a recipe for hypocrisy, and I am going to take great pleasure in pointing it out whenever i see it.

OH yes:

Obviously, you have no idea what apartheid was, or what ethnic cleansing is. Nor do you have any appreciation of music, because if you did you wouldn’t interrupt a serious performance by musicians who don’t represent anything other than their craft.

By the way, do you consider your idiotic “protest” at a concert of classical music as mere “criticism of Israel”? What a f-cking joke. Your sick motivations are all too obvious.

I do hope when you’re escorted out you are treated rather roughly by the guards for being such a major asshole, and I also hope charges are pressed.

“Oh Yes”, you appear to feel theatened by culture and by Jews. How do you feel about psychoanalysis, a cultural product developed by jews? For instance, have you tried it (hint)?

Dear ‘SPSC hater’

you sound like a ‘big man’ threatening to not be ‘responsible for your actions’
Well let’s see how tough you are? I’ll meet you. Then you can call me a F***ing C**t to my face. If you dare.

I will also be there. You’ll know me, as I’ll be the one standing up and denouncing these wankers as ambassadors of ethnic cleansing and apartheid.

You actually seem quite proud to be a ranting, banner-wielding monomaniac nutjob. You sad fucking freak.

See http://www.zaytoun.org for where to buy fair trade Palestinian produce.

If you’re so brave “Free Palestine”, tell us your real name.

“Free Palestine”, may I ask if you are Joe90Kane?

One of the curses of our species is all those who love humanity as an abstract concept, except that they hate human beings as a collection of specific individuals.

A particularly odious example of this behaviour is those “supporters” of Palestinians who absolutely love them as an abstract concept (I am being generous, assuming that they don’t use their “support for Palestinians” as an alibi for anti-Jewish hatred), but frankly don’t give a shit for Palestinians as individual human beings.

Can anybody explain to me what can be any other reason for boycotting the Jerusalem Quartet? One way or the other the nutjobs of either side will not have it their way. Neither Palestinians nor Jews will be ethnically cleansed, expelled or exterminated. Ultimately, in one way or the other, they will need to live together – and, until they can live together, the real suffering of Palestinians, as a collection of individual human beings, will continue, whether under occupation or in refugee camps.

Anybody, like the ludicrously named “Free Palestine”, who is committed to increasing the hate between the two sides (and cultural boycotts have no other purpose) has a goal in mind which, realistically, means ongoing suffering of Palestinians (as real human beings) while trumpeting Palestinians (as an abstract noun).

But, of course, the more Palestinians suffer, the more “Free Palestine” can feed his/her own hatred. Like a vampire, he/she feeds on Palestinian suffering.

The boycott of high-art is presumably satisfying to these people because it is a desecration of a perceived high-status or elite thing. However the construction of this protest also reveals a particular sort of self indulgence: subconsciously the boycotter wishes to act like a nazi: stopping jewish cultural expression, preventing jews from participating in culture, preventing jews from working; whilst consciously the boycotter experiences him/herself as acting in a morally superior way. The combination of inverted snobbery and xenophobia apparently has an irresistible attraction for some people.

Israeli + Apartheid for Beginners

Bethlehem – Ma’an – The United Nations special coordinator for Mideast peace condemned Israel’s decision to evict 50 Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem on Sunday.

“I deplore today’s totally unacceptable actions by Israel,” the official, Richard Serry, said in a statement to Ma’an.
Serry alleged that Israel removed the Palestinians, refugees registered with the UN, from their homes to make way for settlers wanting to take control of their property. “These actions are contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions related to occupied territory.”

“They also contravene the united calls of the international community, including the Quartet, which in its recent statement urged the Government of Israel to refrain from provocative actions in East Jerusalem, including house demolitions and evictions,” he noted.

Israel’s High Court had issued a ruling earlier last week that the two homes belonged to Jewish citizens, and has in the past ruled that Palestinian East Jerusalem is part of Israel.
Serry disagreed, noting that “[t]he United Nations rejects Israel’s claims that this is a matter for municipal authorities and domestic courts.”

“These actions heighten tensions and undermine international efforts to create conditions for fruitful negotiations to achieve peace,” he said, calling on Israel to adhere to international law and its Road Map obligations.
He said Israel must “cease and reverse such provocative and unacceptable actions in East Jerusalem.”

I strongly recommend reading the Socialist Unity thread, where Joe90Kane are rigorously critiqued.

They didn’t pay rent to the owners, Joe90/”Free” Palestine.

Why bother, Zkharya? Why “critique” these people? They are beyond reason and beyond discourse, while their entire logic is non-existent. Look at the post above yours and at the dissonance between

A. Bringing to public attention a collection of facts (which I happen to agree are absolutely scandalous, indicative of more wide-ranging policy, deserving of protest and of political action against perpetrators and against their political leaders),

and

B. Boycotting and attempting to disrupt a classical music performance.

What is the connection? How does B follow from A? And (being generous, as I always attempt to be, and not recalling other thugs trying to disrupt performances of other Jewish musicians some 75 years ago) how is B going to benefit fighting A?

How can you discuss with these people?

I don’t usually agree with Muffin, but his description of “Free Palestine” as a vampire feeding on Palestinian suffering is more than 100% correct. It is supernaturally correct.

meanwhile at Cadogan Hall…

http://ocw.mit.edu/NR/rdonlyres/0880CFC7-BDDD-4CAF-9E43-2AE64444914F/0/lect6_3.jpg

Does anyone know if there are any anti-boycott leaflets available to download?

Not forgetting that pro-Boycotters should stop using Google completely as the new search algorithm was developed by, an Israeli!

Not directly on topic but I’d really like to recommend Jordi Savall’s ‘Jerusalem’ discs which bring together early music from Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions. (I agree with Patrick Sierra’s point – but this is a wonderful recording as well being, I dare say, terribly right on!)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/JERUSALEM-Heavenly-Montserrat-Figueras-Bellaterra/dp/B001GAQR50

Even if everything Free Palestine says is true ( and the evidence is hardly convincing) what on earth has this got to do with Apartheid? ( FP, you really should learn to spell) .

I was commenting on FP’s last comment which has been deleted.

Israeli School Apartheid

Nazareth

An Arab couple whose one-year-old daughter was expelled from an Israeli day-care centre on her first day are suing a Jewish mother for damages, accusing her of racist incitement against their child.

Maysa and Shua’a Zuabi, from the village of Sulam in northern Israel, launched the court action last week saying they had been “shocked and humiliated” when the centre’s owner told them that six Jewish parents had demanded their daughter’s removal because she is an Arab.

In the first legal action of its kind in Israel, the Zuabis are claiming $80,000 from Neta Kadshai, whom they accuse of being the ringleader.

The girl, Dana, is reported to be the first Arab child ever to attend the day-care centre in the rural Jewish community of Merhavia, less than 1km from Sulam.

However, human rights lawyers say that, given the narrow range of anti-racism legislation in Israel, the chance of success for the Zuabis is low.

Since its founding in 1948, Israel has operated an education system almost entirely segregated between Jews and Arabs.

However, chronic underfunding of Arab schools means that in recent years a small but growing number of Arab parents have sought to move their children into the Jewish system.

Israeli Apartheid for Beginners

A report published in March 2009 revealed that the government invested $1,100 in each Jewish pupil’s education compared to $190 for each Arab pupil. The gap is even wider when compared to the popular state-run religious schools, where Jewish pupils receive nine times more funding than Arab pupils.

There is also an official shortfall of more than 1,000 classrooms for Arab children, though Arab organisations believe the problem is in reality much worse. In addition, a significant proportion of existing Arab school buildings have been judged unsafe or dangerous to children’s health.

Joe90/Free Palestine,

however imperfect Israeli Arab Muslims’ and Christians’ situation, it is better than any Jew’s anywhere in the Arab or Islamic world. Israeli Arab Christians’ life expectancy is higher than the average Israeli Jew.

Israeli Arab Christians’ and Muslims’ medical and education system is better than average for most Arab Christians or Muslims anywhere.

Israeli Arab Christians’ and Muslims’ birth and birth survival rate is still among the highest in the world.

Israel does not have to be perfect, nor need she be better than her enemies, though she is.

But a wee Scottish cultural if rather ignorant Christian brown shirt like ye will always be more “interested” in Jews than Arab (or any) Christians or Muslims.

Of course they have a right to leaflet and demonstrate as long as they don’t intend an Edinburgh Festival-style disruption of the performance. Equally, boycott opponents have a right, and a duty, to express themselves as well.

Probably best thing that they can do. Any persons making the effort to go to this concert will know exactly what it is all about and react appropriately if provoked by a demonstrator.

one of the things that makes me bulk about some so called pro Palestinian bloggers is the sheer nastiness and in your face anti semitic shit that some of them spout. LaRitournelle would be a case in point imo. cif deleted loads of her rants about the jewishness of the jewish landlord she claimed to have had n’ didn’t like very much. i never could work out what any of that had to do with i/p

now for something different. this being about classical music. lets see if this cheers any of you up http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk_FaHJse1g

SOS Muffin: Your two posts are brilliant. Nothing more needs saying.

To the idiot who calls him/herself free palestine: Why don’t you spend 5 minutes logging racial/ethnic/religious injustices in the Arab/Muslim world? Or even in one Arab Muslim country? Im sure you could fill an encyclopaedia. Incidentally, i don’t recall hearing about the jew in Saudi Arabia who “sued” a daycare, the govt., or anything else. Oh, that’s right, Jews aren’t allowed into Saudi Arabia.

Stan, surely you could do better than that? :~))

We are talking about music here!

This woman sounds a cat with its tail in a mangle.

Israeli Arab Muslims’ and Christians’ education is not only far better than it was under Mandate British rule, it is far better than it was or is under Jordanian or any other Arab rule, as are, inter alia, medical facilities.

Ben White judges the behaviour of Israeli Jews by their highest standards, Palestinian or other Arab Muslims and Christians by their lowest, or merely that of expediency.

That is why his tract is transparently a political polemic disguised as balanced history or journalism.

Education Minister comes up with booster plan for Arab schools

Education Minister Yuli Tamir last week received recommendations for a comprehensive education plan for the Arab community, part of which is to be implemented in the next school year.

The plan involves major reforms and a large investment, reflecting “recognition of a multi-year injustice which must be corrected,” said the Education Ministry official said.

Drafted jointly by the ministry and the education committee within the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee, the plan consists of reforms in Arabic instruction and Arabic-language matriculation exams, updating study programs, treating learning disabilities and building numerous classrooms. Its implementation, which will spread over several years, is estimated to cost billions of shekels.
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The plan was initiated following the Higher Arab Monitoring Committee’s threat to paralyze Arab schools on the eve of the present school year. The ministry agreed to set up four joint committees, which would focus on the needs of the Arabic education system.

After receiving the committees’ reports, the ministry set up swift implementation teams to work, among other things, with the various ministries, especially the Finance Ministry.

“We’re not dealing with mere goodwill but with a commitment for a large investment,” a ministry official said.

However, a source in the Arab committee said: “Tamir and the Education Ministry still have to prove they mean business. If the work is carried out seriously, it could have far reaching results.”

The first joint committee “to examine achievements” recommended a reform in Arab language instruction, especially in the lower classes. It proposes teaching Arabic only in first and second grade and postponing Hebrew instruction to third grade and English to fourth grade (today Hebrew is taught earlier). It also recommends continuing the instruction in core subjects past second grade and adding 300 truancy officers.

The committee for study programs dealt with the Arabic language’s declining status, recommending raising Arabic language matriculation exam’s mandatory level from three to four units and distinguishing between spoken and literary Arabic.

“This would equalize Arabic language’s status with Hebrew’s in matriculation certificates and strengthen the younger generation’s command of its mother tongue,” the committee wrote.

The committee dealing with classroom shortage noted that 9,236 classrooms must be built by 2012. This will require a NIS 3.6 billion addition to the Education Ministry’s budget, which provides for the construction of some 3,100 classrooms, as part of the government’s five-year plan released about 18 months ago.

The fourth budget focused on treating learning disabilities in the Arab community. It recommends developing methods especially adjusted to the Arabic language to spot and diagnose these disabilities. The committee urged recognizing children suffering from learning disabilities in nursery school and the lower grades.

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/988798.html

“Since its founding in 1948, Israel has operated an education system almost entirely segregated between Jews and Arabs.”

I suppose that Free Margarina would have preferred a single school system taught only in Hebrew.

… as was the case in Argentina, where every children, no matter if he was aboriginal, Jewish, Polish, Russian, Italian, etc, had to learn only in Spanish. Compulsory primary education.

Stan – you’re the man, alright! Looked at the link and I seem to remember Laritournelle saying somewhere she’s a mezzo soprano – and I had to take two headache pills after listening – the guy’s alright but she sounds worse than a cat with bellyache! These idiots would do better to boycott her… heavens above – what passes for culture these days… and the sights you see when you haven’t got your gun!!!! But, in case you all missed it and you want a laugh…. here it is again, folks!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk_FaHJse1g

Joe90/Free Palestine,

Statistics Regarding Israeli Arabs

As a result of both an increase in the birthrate and an increase in immigration from neighboring countries, the Arab community in Israel is very young. More than 50% of the Arab population is under nineteen years old. The Muslims and Druze are especially young in comparison to the Christian Arabs in the country.

One consequence of the exponential increase in the Arab population is an increase in the amount of single women. Many of the women have found that there is a shortage in potential husbands. Muslims and Druze, in particular, are faced with this problem.

Improvements in medicine have largely contributed to the increase in the Arab population, as life expectancy has increased 27 years since 1948. Arabs in Israel tend to live 10 years longer than Arabs in neighboring countries.

The most common health-related causes of death are heart disease and cancer. This could be a result of the large number of Arabs who smoke. Approximately one half of all Arab men smoke cigarettes. Diabetes is also common among the Arab population with 14% diagnosed with the disease in 2000.

Healthcare improvements have also led to a lower infant mortality rate. In 1970, the infant mortality rate for Arabs was 32 deaths for every thousand births. In 2000, the rate had significantly decreased to 8.6 per every thousand. Out of the Arab population, Muslims have the highest rate of infant mortality with 9.1 per every thousand. Improved living standard, an improvement in environmental conditions and an increase in years of schooling also contributed to the decrease in infant mortality.

In general, the standard of living for Arabs in Israel is significantly better than that of Arabs in other countries. For example, the rate of female literacy in Israel is 88% among Arabs, while in Egypt, only 43% of females are literate. Also, life expectancy in Israel is 74.6 years for men, while in Libya, the average lifespan is only 68.6 years. In 1999, the infant mortality rate for the Arab population in Israel was 9 deaths per every thousand births. Egypt’s infant mortality rate in the same year was 41 deaths per every thousand.

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Society_&_Culture/israeliarabs.html

Zkharia: “Free Palestine”’s problem is not that the life expectancy of Arab Israelis is too short but that life expectancy of Jewish Israelis is too long.

LaRitournelle….. to me she’s one of the most virulent anti-Semites posting on a certain blog. I remember how she kept on pushing how awful her Jewish landlord was… it made me sick to my stomach. That’s one of the reasons I stopped posting on that blog – it made me feel dirty….. so much for culture…..

As a matter of interest, Joe90kane/Oh Yes/Free Palestine, are you one of those due to appear in court?

Can your remarks on HP/Socialist Unity be used as evidence for the prosecution?

She’s the one who sees equivalence between fgm and the practices of Jewish gynaecologists in the US.

Well, Zkharya, one of the main reasons why “Free Palestine” and similar idiots draw my ire is that they prevent reasonable discussion of the conflict and justified opposition to many Israeli policies.

The attitudes of official Israeli authorities to the Arab minority of Israeli citizens are scandalous – not my words but those of the current Speaker of the Knesset (and Likud member!) Reuven Rivlin. Arabs are discriminated in an entire range of services, from urban planning to housing, education and so on. Time and again (in particular before elections) esteemed government ministers (and BTW Yuli Tamir, one of the more honest and sincere of the lot, is no longer in government) acknowledge the terrible past record, promise action and all is duly forgotten. This is not a proud track record and, frankly, if the best its defenders can say is that it is better than Saudi Arabia then this really proves my point.

However, as long as “Free Palestine” and similar idiots polarize the debate between their goal, the destruction of Israel, and any other alternative, all this necessary debate and necessary opposition to Israeli policies are forgotten. The only sensible manner of changing Israeli policies is by persuading Israelis to change their policies. It is a very poor tactic to do so by boycotting them, spitting in their face or wishing for their extirpation.

But of course the last thing “Free Palestine” wants is equality for Israeli Arabs and humane Israeli policies.

Yup. I reckon that these people wouldn’t need to mount a demonstration against the Jerusalem Quartet.

All they’d need to do is to put those who claim to be mezzo sopranos like LaRitournelle and Siobhan Mooney outside, singing their lungs out through megaphones and everyone for miles would run for cover.

And they could sing this:

http://www.nme.com/awards/video/id/D2326N3DQQk/search/gail

Yes Selina … LaRit is sickening and typifies that blog. A complete hypocrite. Complains about calling people mentally retarded and does the same herself. Not surprised her name rhymes with ‘Loony’.

Free Palestine is out of their depth with the ever excellent S.O.Muffin.
Thanks for the laugh up page, when confronted by people of LaRitournelle’s lack of caliber, it’s the best course of action. I’m not persuaded this boycott movement isn’t filled with people just like her. Pissed and abusive a lot of the time, hate filled all of the time.

http://progressivealaska.blogspot.com/2009_03_01_archive.html

LaRit Mooney and Fink have sung together – what an appalling thought…….

SOS Muffin: I am surprised you would single out my saudi arabia comment, as though I was comparing Israel with Saudi Arabia. I wasn’t. Fact is, it’s idiots like Free Palestine who force the comparisons with their bullshit. Like you, I wish they would stop so some of Israel’s shortcomings could be discussed in a normal manner. But as long as they are thousands of assholes out there who just jump on any criticism of Israel and use it — especially if it comes from a Jewish source like me — to deny its legitimacy without even mentioning the situation in neighboring Arab countries, i’m going to stay shtum on Israel and point out that neighboring Arab countries are far far worse. Frankly I think it’s my duty to do so. And I’m surprised that you don’t see it that way.

Also I should point out that as far from perfect as the situation for Arab Israelis is and has been, given the situation — unrelenting hostility and war since Israel’s inception — it could be far worse. Benign governments like those in the U.S. and CAnada threw their Japanese citizens into internment camps during WWii. And if you think that’s ancient history, whereas this is now, consider that the condition of Israeli Arabs began in 1948, a mere three years after the Japanese were freed from their internment camps. Had the Israelis in 1948 behaved like Americans or Canadians from 1941 to 1945, the Arabs inside Israel would be in such camps too, possibly to this day. Is that better than having a mildly inferior education system and some housing issues?

Speaks volumes about CiF’s m.o. when after everything Forlorn Loony’s done she’s still around appealing to the lowest common denominator while others just have to say boo and they’re gone or banned.
Still once she opens her mouth to “sing” and fixes people with that baleful stare, deflated balloon springs to mind, at least to me. Never mind her reaching for the grog – after watching that link I feel like doing it.

I bet Shaven Loonie’s favourite composer is Wagner

Vildechaye, I didn’t mean you, your Saudi Arabia comment notwithstanding. Moreover, this is precisely my point. Once idiots like FP barge in, this sort of comparison almost invites itself because part of their modus operandi is an extreme form of hypocrisy (condemning Israel to eternal fires of hell for something much, much less nefarious than the behaviour of their own “side”). However, I don’t want this state of affairs. I want the behaviour of Israel as a democratic state to be discussed, not in reference to Saudi Arabia or whatsoever. My beef is not with you but with those that make these comparisons inevitable.

Epidermoid

She’s the one who sees equivalence between fgm and the practices of Jewish gynaecologists in the US.

No.

You are confusing her with the much appreciated obsessive anti Israel and anti US Halgeel fron Sudan who resides in Canada and was particularly remembered for the famous ‘Doctors with jewish sounding names who perform vaginal reconstruction surgery for vast amounts of money.

CIF has removed from the archives all reference to her posts on this subject and still allows her to post using that name.

Euan
I wonder if the “Jewish landlord” that ~Forlorn Loony~ referred to on cif can be identified ? if this landlord does exist, he and his lawyers may well want to consider legal redress. There’s two issues here, antisemitism and possibly libel.

S.O.Muffin,

I’ve read B.W.’s Israeli Apartheid and am mulling over a review. Perhaps you would be qualified as someone both knowledgeable and critical of Israeli law and practice wrt Israeli Arabs to review the pertinent section (the longest of the 100 (very few words per) page or so book, excluding pictures and notes -it’s really an extended pamphlet).

LaRit is gettin’ it ….. lol

Stan is the Man

wow

She would make a good car alarm sound though.

“LaRit is gettin’ it”

Didn’t she boast about turning down Gilad Atzmon’s attentions (she was married to her favourite Jew i.e. Christ, or something like that)?

Hello LaRitournelle, any thoughts on this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk_FaHJse1g

hoooow-hoooow-hoooow-hoooooowwwwwww.

you’re busted, Bi’atch

r.j.
“The boycott of high-art is presumably satisfying to these people because it is a desecration of a perceived high-status or elite thing”

I don’t think it would make much difference to the boycotters if the people coming to perform were a Quartet or or a popular band.

That view of Quartet music from clasical to contemporary as elitist, high art and so on has something profoundly distorted about it. Music was originally produced by the working class for aristocratic patrons, it was in a state of transition from the lowest to the metamorphosised highest. Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven had the equivelant of cockney wit which resisted authority and also transformed it. Schumann’s wildly humorous and carnevalesque piano music emphatically denied a regular middle class identity. The dialectic of great music passes through the whole of society from bottom to top. Their music represents the conflict between the classes, instinctively, not intentionally – though Beethoven was a pretty intentional revolutionary. As non-conceptual art it has its roots in the repressed subconscious, lower still than the working class, in the id. From here it engages in its struggle with its equally essential rational and conceptual self, seeking the transformation and liberation of one by the other. It is a compensation for the damage that nature-dominating reason has inflicted on the world.

I don’t know what this has to do with elitism and high art. High art is a commodity for philistines.

As for the leafleteers and protestors, I would organise a counter demonstration. These are four musicians no matter where they come from.

Zkharya: Why waste time, effort and expertise to review a piece of agitprop? Anybody who is willing to take BW seriously is obviously beyond redemption and insofar as everybody else is concerned it is a waste of time. You’ll just be bestowing respectability on something that deserves nothing but scorn.

Best of LaRit:

4 April 2008: “The anti-semitism is all in your head JeremySauce, you really, really need to see a doctor and soon.”

24 April 2008: “For one, I object to the continuous attempts to insert bigoted terminology about mental health here, as if it is somehow ‘OK’. It’s NOT.”

All “Free Palestine”s quotations were got via Ben White’s website and refer to his book. I wonder if we were just visited by Mr White, again, availing himself of HP’s freedom of speech, again.

Me thinks LaRitournelle would know more about mental health issues than most. How many times did she apologise for being pissed while posting? She needn’t have bothered as no one noticed a particular difference, she’s pretty constantly been OTT, gratuitous, offensive, obnoxious, toxic and generally an all round scum bag.
If her many references about the Jewish landlord is not antisemitic then I don’t know what is.
LaRitournelle has proven herself to be a rotten talentless foul mouthed racist (Jewish Landlord rants) who has hidden behind her anonymity to bad mouth, rant, jeer, abuse victimise at choice. Anyone familiar with her cif-rants knows this. LaRitournelle should remember, as of now, she isn’t anonymous anymore. As much of her Landlord rants most certainly were the wrong side of Hate legislature, she really ought to consider her future conduct.
She’s strange and horrible in equal measures, I’d say.

Well – if I had ever thought there could be nothing worse than LaRit’s nastiness and anti-Semitism, I was wrong. Her voice is absolutely dreadful.

@Clap Hammer

Thank you for pointing out my error which came to me last night when I was dwelling on Anti-Semites I have known. Mea culpa.

BTW Joe90Kane (on the SU thread) has just anounced…

“I hope Scotland becomes the first zionist-free country in Europe.”

No comment required…

Siobhan’s voice is totally tuneless. Presumably she has no ear for music. At least she is spared the embarrassment of knowing how her voice sounds to others -

Susan Boyle has a zillion times more talent than Looney. And she is much more pulchritudinous. Looney you’ve been rumbled by my main man Sir Stan the Man.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/users/laritournelle

Looney’s profile

“About me: ‘That’s for me to know and you to find out! Catch me if you can!!!!’ ”

We did, Loon!!!!

I couldn’t resist Muchacha, I hit your link to LaRit’s comments. Yep, she’s happily giving the benefit of experiences she’s never had on Agnes’s thread !!!!! What a complete nut-case. I don’t think I’ll ever read anything she posts again without laughing out loud now I’ve actually seen her. She must be living out some fantasy on cif trying desperately to pass herself off as something of a hip-chick. Lets face it, she’s decidedly no spring chick., is hard-faced, unattractive and should only be allowed to sing in the bath. I wonder if she’ll ever know that she has, in Judith’s eloquent words, “been busted.”
Brilliant !!!!!

awwww, has the old harpie restricted access to her “performance” on Youtube. Pity – it was so entertaining too.

Mooney – Take note. The next libelous comment you post to say, a contributor who is also identifiable – (no grey area around monikers/anonymity) It’s Game on !

As Jonathan Hoffman is already a public figure, if you libel or racially abuse him. it’s Game on !

If you harass or cause distress to any poster by way of further racist incitement (Jewish landlords, etc) it becomes a police matter. All in all – Game on !

Comment is Free ought to take note – If there is a Jewish Landlord, what is his response to the allegations LaRit/Mooney made on your public forum. If there never was a Jewish landlord that makes her posts incitement to racial hatred.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRyJRWPydws

LaRit, your voice is much better in this

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=48635283812&ref=mf

Oh dear oh dear ………..

Muchacha – “LaRit, your voice is much better in this”

I don’t know about that – sounds like a cat being strangled, and there is a really nasty smirk on her face as she does it.

Whether we think Mooney is a rubbish singer is beside the point, where is this Jewish landord she slagged off so often ? what’s his side of the story ? Mooney described something like Rackman on cif – is this the truth? was her Jewish landlord a slum landlord who exploited his tenants? Does this Jewish lanlord even exist? What about the libels she’s posted to/about certain commentators?
CIF deleting these mererly covered for her, after all, they’ve never banned have they?