Well, in case anyone was wondering (and I don't know if anyone was), my novel is actually related to our class discussions. It follows three characters: A Russian, an American (both men) and an Iranian woman. The novel will explore the futility of a unilateral world, the problems presented by orientalism and 'the clash' and to a lesser degree how the media helps perpetuate it. There will also be a more personal dimension to the relationship between the Russian and the American and how that becomes even more complex once the Iranian woman enters their lives.

The novel has no narrator. Instead the story unfolds by jumping back and forth from the perspectives of the three main characters and watch how each of them processes essentially the same events but draw incredibly different conclusions from them. And I wouldn't be a good MCC student if I didn't include excerpts from the media of that world presenting its own take on the events in the story (TV News, Talk shows, blogs, Newspaper articles, etc.).

The goal of my book is to present the reader the trees and have them build the forest for themselves. I'm doing my best to make each side have its positive and negative traits to make them equally viable perspectives. Essentially none of them are villains (or perhaps all of them are, if you want to play devil's advocate). Each side views themselves as being justified in their objectives at first, but the world becomes more and more grey. They all believe that they are doing what's right, but all of their actions have effects on the world (some more devastating than others).

It began as a series of short stories in my fiction class this semester. I will be writing the novel during winter break and next semester. Don't be surprised to see it at a bookstore near you (although I might be).

Screening and Concert: Slingshot Hip Hop: Film and Music from Palestine
Monday, November 10, 2008 7:00 pm at NYU Kimmel Center, Eisner & Lubin Auditorium (4th floor).

Film:
Slingshot Hip Hop braids together the stories of young Palestinians living in the West Bank, Gaza, and inside Israel as they discover Hip Hop and use it to overcome various divisions imposed by occupation and poverty. From internal checkpoints and separation walls to gender norms and generational differences, this is the story of young people crossing the borders that separate them. The film was an official selection at this year's Sundance Film Festival. www.slingshothiphop.com

With live special guest performances by:
Remi Kanazi
The Mahina Movement
Abeer Al Zinati (aka Sabreena da Witch)

Award-winning film will be followed by a Q&A with director Jackie Salloum and Abeer Al Zinati.

Tickets:
NYU ID: $5 in advance (limit 2 per NYU ID), $7 day of.
Non-NYU: $12with gov't issued ID.
NYU or gov't ID required for entry.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/oct/23/israelandthepalestinians-middleeast

(I'll provide you a longer one in class tomorrow)

Washington Post Op-Ed:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/20/AR2008102002395.html

The guidebook publishers have placed the capital on a par with Shanghai, Lisbon and Mexico City on a list which will appear in a new "Best in Travel" guidebook to be published next month.

Rather than glossing over Beirut's difficult past, the travel company cites it as part of what makes the city unique.

The authors pay tribute to the revival seen since the end of the devastating 1975-1990 Civil War that left large parts of the city in ruins. "Beirut really took a beating during the Lebanon's long civil war," the guidebook states. "The city underwent a major transformation in the years following the cessation of hostilities, particularly in the downtown area, and it's now a city of vibrancy and charm."

eirut's reputation as the party capital of the Middle East, combined with the ongoing political uncertainty that plagues Lebanon makes for a heady mix, the book suggests. It cites major events such as the Beirut

International Film Festival and the annual Beirut Marathon as evidence that the city that used to be known as the "Paris of the Middle East" is on its way back to its former glory.

Other cities on the new list range from the sedate Belgian city of Antwerp to the tough Scottish industrial city of Glasgow. The Chinese boom-town of Shanghai, Portuguese capital Lisbon and Polish capital Warsaw all appear, as well as Switzerland's second city, Zurich, Brazil's Sao Paulo and Mexico City.

Link: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/lebanon/beirut/

Chronicles of a Refugee is a 6-part documentary series looking at the global Palestinian refugee experience over the last 60 years. Filmed in over 15 countries, with more than 250 interviews of Palestinian refugees who have lived in over 25 countries, the series aims to provoke debate concerning strategy and asks: ‘What makes the most sense for a strategy to achieve Palestinian rights as part of a vibrant and viable Palestinian national movement?’

With special guest speakers at each screening

more info:
http://www.arteeast.org/

Wednesday, October 8, 7:30PM
Episode I – “The Nakba Dailies” (79 min)
Special guest speakers Pierre Dulaine, Dina Mikdadi & Adam Shapiro

Wednesday, October 15, 7:30PM
Episode II – “The Daily Nakbas” (89 min)
Q&A with director Adam Shapiro

Wednesday, October 22, 7:30PM
Episode III – “Homeland Without ID”, (79 min)

Tuesday, October 28, 7:30PM
Episode IV – “Identity Without a Homeland” (78 min)

Wednesday, November 5, 7:30PM
Episode V – “The Talk of Return” (78 min)

Wednesday, November 12, 7:30PM
Episode VI – “The Return of Talk” (84 min)

McCain shook his head, took the microphone and responded: "No, ma'am. He's a decent, family man, a citizen that I just happen to have disagreements with."

Still doesn't suggest that we should trust Arabs, that Arabs can be decent family men, etc, etc...

video:

Your thoughts?

Tuesday, September 30, 2008 7:30 PM
Free and Open to the Public
Sponsored by Deep Dish TV and Arab and Middle Eastern Journalist Association, www.ameja.org.

Alison Weir will address news coverage of Israel-Palestine, a description of her trips as an independent journalist throughout Gaza and the West Bank, and information on meetings with news editors around the world. She will provide a comprehensive analysis of how the media shapes events in the Middle East. She will focus particularly on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Brian Drolet is the Executive Director of Deep Dish TV

Ms. Weir presents a powerful, well documented view of the Middle East today. She is intelligent, careful, and critical. American policy makers would benefit greatly from hearing her first-hand observations and attempting to answer the questions she poses. This is an intellectual, thought-provoking, and worthwhile presentation."

• Thomas Campbell, Former US Senator (R-CA), Dean of Haas School of Business, University of California

"When the speech ended, Ms. Weir was met with thunderous applause, and across the room there was a widespread sense of satisfaction that someone was saying what needed to be said."
• New York Times

Journalist Alison Weir is the executive director of "If Americans Knew," a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing Americans with information on topics of importance that are misreported or under-reported in the American media. She is also on the board of directors of the Council for the National Interest.

In February and March of 2001 Alison left her position as editor of MarinScope newspaper in Sausalito, California, to travel as a freelance reporter throughout Gaza and the West Bank. Upon her return she founded If Americans Knew. She recently returned from a three-month trip traveling throughout the West Bank.

Her essays and articles have appeared in a number of books and magazines; among them The New Intifada (Verso), Censored 2005 (Seven Stories Press), The Encyclopedia on Israel-Palestine, (upcoming) The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, San Francisco Bay View newspaper, CounterPunch, and The Link.

Weir speaks widely throughout the country, including two briefings on Capitol Hill, presentations at the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine (one of which was broadcast nationally on C-Span) and at such universities and colleges as Harvard Law School, Columbia, Stanford, Berkeley, the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Vassar, the Naval Postgraduate Institute, and others.

In addition, she has been invited to give papers at international conferences, and recently addressed the Asia Media Summit in Kuala Lumpur for the third straight year.

If Americans Knew has completed seven in-depth statistical studies of US media coverage of Israel-Palestine, releasing reports on the New York Times, the Associated Press, the major primetime news broadcasts, and various other news media, research that is increasingly cited by analysts on Israel-Palestine.

In March of 2004, Weir was inducted into honorary membership of Phi Alpha Literary Society, founded in 1845 at Illinois College. The award cited her as a: "Courageous journalist-lecturer on behalf of human rights. The first woman to receive an honorary membership in Phi Alpha history."

Alwan for the Arts

16 Beaver (between Broad and Broadway) 4th Floor New York, NY 10004
Tel.: 646 732 3261 Fax: 212 967 4326 info@alwanforthearts.org
TRAINS: 4, 5 to Bowling Green J/M/Z to Broad St. R,W to Whitehall
St.1 to Rector St. or South Ferry 2, 3 to Wall St. A, C line to
Broadway-Nassau BUSES: M1, M6, M9, M16, M20.