21
Jun
2007
6 Comments
Seeing rainbows.
My friend put it this way: The Gay Pride Parade held today in Jerusalem worked out well, since it was so Jerusalem. What makes it Jerusalem? The quiet chill, the relaxed togetherness of the marchers? The modest expression of pride?
Whatever it is, it was, without a violent protester in sight (although there were some rather sinister attempts). So here you get to see what I saw:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=CMOyv5H6G8w[/youtube]
And if that’s too much for you, surely you can put a little pace in your life; it works for most mindsets:
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=43asicgz_Y8[/youtube]
(Republished from www.lizraelupdate.com)
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When I was in East Jerusalem last week, from the balconey of the Ambassador Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah, just east of Mea Shearim, I could see the Heredy/Orthodox Jews burning tires, garbage and all kinds of stuff to protest the parade. They even drove through the streets of Jerusalemd umping huge piles of garbage onto the street in protest. There was all kinds of warnings about a violent counter protest from them. Did that not happen? If not, it’s great that there was no violent protest.
People should be allowed to live the way they want, respecting the rights of other people. There’s not a lot of tolerance in the Middle East at all on any side.
Ray Hanania
There were a few people caught hours before the parade with plans, but nothing was carried out. Well, apparently one guy who dressed up to fit in was marching and then started throwing eggs, but the police literally jumped on him. There were more police there than marchers…
It was a very calm, tame parade.
Thanks for sharing that. I’m impressed they’re capable of expressing themselves as much as that in a Middle Eastern country. I pity the closet cases that exist in the rest of the region.
I apologise I am not very good at this and desperately want to bring you new important news….A Prophet has Died…..
Néjib Belkhodja | The Artist | The Prophet Has Died
This is merely a whisper being sent out to the world about the genius of the late, great Néjib Belkhodja. He lived amongst us for seventy-four years and consumed life and lived like so few. He had integrity, something that is lacking in the world today. He set such high standards for himself and others around him. He was the man to teach the world about the power of art and the way in which we should conduct ourselves in our lives. It is difficult to put into words the importance of this man. He lived an outspoken existence with courage and conviction. The word Prophet is a word that best describes the giant that is, Néjib Belkhodja. During his lifetime he was a Nation builder and a world guide. He was often ignored and marginalised yet still he bore the troubles of his Independent Nation on his shoulders. His work is so important, to see it and understand it will change the way you see yourself and all that is around you. Throughout his life the Leaders were fully aware of the power of Belkhodja; a man who would not be broken by the State or who could not be used as a political toy. He suffered enormously throughout his life, humiliated and disregarded by the Nation. On the 16th June 2007 in the Medina in Tunis I heard such pitiful tributes to a man of such stature who, at the end was honoured by hyocrites. He died virtually penniless and his work is jailed in Banks and Five Star Hotels around his native country of Tunisia. You wont see the work of Belkhodja in any Museum around the world. No. His work is too powerful to be released by his jailers. He sheds light on all the World Leaders. He opens our minds to what is the function and meaning of Art. His work develops Nations and his contribution to the world is beyond compare. His departure from this world has come at just the right time; when the world needs him most. Here is a man, who belongs to us all and in his lifetime has shown us the meaning of generosity. His work introduces us to poets and architecture, to calligraphers and musicians. The subtly within the work is breathtaking and he puts into place the order in which art should be seen, heard and spoken.
Born in 1933 his mother was Dutch and his father Tunisian. He grew up in the Medina in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia, North Africa. For those that don’t know what the Medina is, it is the heartbeat of the city, where all the aristocracy resides. It is a walled city within a city, with narrow streets as arteries and huge colourful studded doors, which break up the continuity of the whitewashed wall. The Medina has it’s own language, it own specific architecture. The Medina is the untouchable heart of North Africa. The reason Belkhodja chooses to focus his work on the importance of the Medina is that it is the heart of life. It is beyond the control of modern dictatorship. So his work is about the spiritual heartland of the World. The significance of the Medina in Belkhodja’s work is constant. For nearly forty years he focused his whole artistic life around the idea of the Medina and his work reads like a biblical message to us all. His work is invincible and belongs to us all, to cage it would be a travesty of justice. I would like the World to stop for just 2 minutes to Honour the Life of Néjib Belkhodja | 1933 – 2007.
To see his work go to http://www.africanpainters.blogspot.com
Did any one see the Jewish guy who was arrested for planning to bomb the parade?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6225444.stm
Ray, actually the people who were doing these things are the “Eda Charedi” which are the most extreme faction of Charedi public- I monitored an open Charedi forum during this and most were against the protests, including all of the great rabis not of the “Eda Charedi”, which I’m a bit torn about:on one hand it is good to see they understand violence defeats itself in the end, and on the other hand their reasoning of “we want nobody to know” sticks in my craw- the only thing that you get by making people wear masks the whole time is hypocrites.