On the 23rd of September at this year's General Assembly in New York, Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas submitted a formal request for Palestinian state recognition and full United Nations membership along the June 1967 borders (see map below) with East Jerusalem as capital. Abbas' speech was met with resounding applause and even a decent standing … Continue reading Palestine: To Be Or Not To Be?
“Not God, But Jesus”
It was about the age of 15 that I last nestled in the harbors of mainstream popular music. Prior to that rather welcome au revoir, Alanis Morisette's Jagged Little Pill was on heavy rotation in my walkman on every journey to and from my school in Kowloon City. It was the best of times mainly … Continue reading “Not God, But Jesus”
The Heart of Home
*This amazing, long picture is by a talented good friend named JP* On the 14th of August, at around 11pm, I moved out of my home of two years in Israel. I spent the preceding weeks sorting through clothes, cleaning floors and surfaces, trying (with what can only be called "limited success") to sell various … Continue reading The Heart of Home
Of Gods and Men
Near our house is a wonderful little establishment called the Herzliya Cinematheque. Its two cinemas fit snugly into the nook of a building in the city center of Herzliya, and as of August 2008, it has been serving rather generous portions of arthouse, foreign, and independent fare. A few of my most memorable experiences include … Continue reading Of Gods and Men
Equus and an Erotics of Life
One of my favorite essays is Susan Sontag's Against Interpretation. In it, she rather ironically dissects the modern obsession with dissection, saying that we have lost touch with the power and pleasure that comes from experiencing art; of actually seeing, hearing, and feeling. Instead, she argues, we prefer to excavate a meaning in everything, thereby … Continue reading Equus and an Erotics of Life
Kusa Warak Diwali
Recently, my friend Michael and I were invited to a Palestinian woman's house for a traditional meal. On a Friday afternoon, we walked down a street which was brightened by sunlight to her home on the corner. When we entered, one of her daughters was mopping the floor whilst barefoot, leaving a sheen of water … Continue reading Kusa Warak Diwali
Writing Is Prayer 