SHI 360 will be featured on American emcee and street journalist AWKWORD's forthcoming 100% for-charity global Hip Hop project, #WorldView. Look out for their collaboration, coming soon to GYMRblog.com and AWKWORDrap.com. ["I build with AWK like J-J-J-Jew Unit!"]
Kids, don't let your mom tell you graffiti doesn't pay.
[United Kingdom, 2008 (or earlier)]
When we caught this today in The New York Times, we felt like we won the $100K. Whenever something like this happens, all of Hip Hop wins. Congratulations, JR. Next time you're in New York City, you got a place to stay.
[Israel, Face to face, 2007]
In the Times article, author Randy Kennedy writes:
[T]he TED conference, the California lecture series named for its roots in technology, entertainment and design, said on Tuesday that it planned to give its annual $100,000 prize for 2011 — awarded in the past to figures like Bill Clinton, Bono and the biologist E. O. Wilson — to the Parisian street artist known as J R, a shadowy figure who has made a name for himself by plastering colossal photographs in downtrodden neighborhoods around the world. The images usually extol local residents, to whom he has become a Robin Hood-like hero.
[Paris, still there as of August 2010]
And this is what JR's Agency VU writes about his winning the award:
JR, a moving and innovative artist who exhibits freely in the world's streets, has been named the recipient of the 2011 TED Prize – an award granting $100,000 and something much bigger: a wish to change the world with the support of the TED Community's incredible resources.
JR represents a new chapter in the TED Prize. While a seemingly unconventional recipient, his work matches the creativity and innovative spirit of the TED community and his art inspires people to view the world differently – and want to change it for the better.
JR is a true humanitarian who creates "Pervasive Art." Working with a team of volunteers in various urban environments, he mounts enormous black-and-white photo canvases that spread on the buildings of the slums around Paris, on the walls in the Middle East, on the broken bridges in Africa, and in the favelas of Brazil. These images become part of the local landscape and capture people's attention and imagination around the world.
In Rio, he turned hillsides into dramatic visual landscape by applying images to the facades of favela homes. In Kenya, focusing on "Women Are Heroes," he turned Kibera into a stunning gallery of local faces. And in Israel and Palestine, he mounted photos of a rabbi, imam and priest on walls across the region – including the wall separating Israel from the West Bank.
JR remains anonymous – never showing his full face, revealing his name, or explaining his huge portraits – to allow for an encounter between the subject and passers-by.
"JR's mind blowing creations have inspired people to see art where they wouldn't expect it and create it when they didn't know they could," said TED Prize Director Amy Novogratz. "He's putting a human face on some of the most critical social issues while redefining how we view, make and display art. JR has moved all of us at the TED Prize. There is no doubt that his talent – paired with the resources of this amazing community – will lead to a wish that changes the world."
Using a combination of the Twitter API, the TweetMeme API and the Processing visualization library, I was able to graph the spread of a handful of popular links. In the TweetMaps below the circles represent each user who ReTweeted the link, they're bigger or smaller based on the number of followers they have. People who are following accounts that Tweeted the link before they did have lines drawn to the accounts they're following (and could have "caught" the link from). The graphs show the first wave of Tweets of each link (generally the first few hours). When you see a number of circles extending horizontally across the graph that means that those accounts all Tweeted the link very close together in time.
CLICK THE 'TWEETMAP' ABOVE OR BELOW TO SEE WHAT ALL THIS MEANS, AND/OR TO DOWNLOAD A FREE MARKETING MANUAL FROM THE CREATOR OF THIS STUDY.
[Alternet: 19-Year-Old American Killed in Flotilla Attack]
The issue of Israel/Palestine is complicated, and popular opinion is pretty anti-Israel these days. For that reason, for perspective, for a broader understanding, this is a MUST READ:
Because Israel is a refuge for Jews persecuted everywhere else, this kind of existential challenge is hard to disassociate from anti-Semitism... When people are trying to murder you because of your religion, it is difficult to credit the bona fides of those who merely want to shun you because of your government.
As you know if you've read this oft-tweeted article, emcee AWKWORD, though proudly Jewish, is not your typical Zionist and certainly not an imperialist. Yet, for his project World View -- designed to educate and empower our youth and demonstrate the progressive power of hip hop through international musical collaboration -- AWKWORD was hard-pressed to find Arab or Muslim artists willing to contribute, let alone touch on the topic of religion or Israel/Palestine.
However, two artists in addition to AWKWORD stand above the ignorance: Arab rapper Mazzi (S.O.U.L. Purpose) and Jewish rapper Sneakas. Together, they are Most Hated. Below, we have posted some of their videos. SHOW YOUR SUPPORT!
(Coming Soon: AWKWORD x Kosha Dillz x Sneakas x Mazzi = "The Rhythm of Life")
On Monday, May 31, 2010, Israeli soldiers clashed with (mainly Turkish) activists on a flotilla aimed at superseding the Israeli blockade to deliver various materials to Hamas-controlled Gaza.
Israeli solders killed 10 in what has become a political and public relations nightmare for the isolated nation. Israeli leaders insist the soldiers acted in self-defense, yet countries and leaders worldwide have condemned their actions. A simple google search this evening for "gaza flotilla attack" produces media reports primarily espousing anti-Israeli opinions. A June 1 article in the UK's Guardian newspaper was titled "Gaza flotilla attack: world unites in condemnation of Israel's actions." This includes the European Union, as well as The Elders group of past and present world leaders, among them former South African president Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.
But this story, like the story of Israel/Palestine, is not that simple.
As a Jew, I can hardly speak of this land without getting emotional. The Jews have survived hatred and persecution for thousands of years. A cursory survey of Medieval paintings reveals the propensity to portray the Jew as the devil or other horned creature. There is also the historical image of the wandering Jew -- old bearded man with cane, victim of the diaspora. Spain's Inquisition nearly eliminated the Jewish population there. In France, the Dreyfus Affair illustrated that country's view of Jews in the late 1800s and early 1900s. In November 1894, Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a young French artillery officer of Alsatian Jewish descent, was convicted of treason and sent to solitary confinement, then was persecuted further when evidence of his innocence came to light. In Russia, there were the pogroms that starved the Jews there almost to extinction.
Hitler and his willing executioners put approximately seven million Jews to death, but not before torturing them and destroying their dignity. Others, they did experiments on. Still others were enslaved for profit. And others were forced to gas or burn their own children, mothers and wives. But that inhumanity didn't transform society. The Ku Klux Klan and Neo-Nazis have targeted Jews nearly as intently as they have people of color.
[From an ACTIVE KKK site.]
And there are the Holocaust deniers, the Mahmoud Ahmadinejads, and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, that book written to look like a stolen JEWISH master plan to control all of the world.
So, when Britain allowed some of us to escape Europe for the "Holy Land" (and for re-ghettoization in refugee camps), needless to say, we were kinda excited. (The displacement of Palestinian Muslims at this time was not even perpetrated by a Jewish state; it was Britain.) Following the establishment of the State of Israel, the Jews were attacked by their Arab neighbors on numerous occasions. And when Israel successfully beat back its attackers, the Israeli leaders made the nearly unprecedented concession to give back some of the land then under its control. Under certain administrations, Israel has been more or less willing to negotiate further. But throughout the decades, the Palestinian authority has been influenced by Hamas, an organization dedicated to the destruction of the Jewish State.
Now, I am not suggesting that Israel has not made its mistakes, or even that the latest incident on the flotilla was self-defense, as its leaders would like us to believe. But it is important that people do not become brainwashed by international media bias. This is a complicated issue. And any issue becomes indefinably more complicated when religion is tossed into the mix. I simply want you to be able to make an educated decision, having heard both sides... Or, decide to not make one, as I have.
I am Jewish, by blood, by culture. And I am proud of our ability to survive. Heck, with the steretoype of Jews being nerdy misers with glasses (a la Woody Allen) or sheep like Holocaust victims being led onto trains, I am proud of Murder Incorporated, Lewis Lepke and Meyer Lansky.
But I am not religious. And politically, well, let's just say that I'm beyond left. So, ANY persecution of ANY people by a powerholder is NOT okay with me...
Whereas I am entirely pro-Israel for the sake of my people (click here to hear my song "See the Light", a Jewish anthem played on Israel National Radio), I am entirely pro-peace and would debate anyone on behalf of a two-state solution.
Two wrongs don't make a right. And as African history has taught us, the oppressed almost always become the oppressor. I pray that my people have not already fallen into this trap. If you ask Israel, their actions represent a strategic defense against thousands of rockets tossed in their direction. If you ask the Palestinians, you'll hear the story told in the mainstream media.
So, now, with no love for FOX 5, I provide the following for fairness & balance.
[British naval and counter-terrorism expert Peter Cook on the flotilla: Israelis with paintball guns were lynched... (Channel 4 - UK)]
[Footage broadcast live from the flotilla: How violence breaks out]
[The Turkish boat activists use hoses, stun grenades and metal rods against the Israelis -- 5 of 6 boats dock peacefully; only those on the 6th are aggressive]
The Facts:
Israel transfers about 15,000 tons of supplies and humanitarian aid every week to the people of Gaza.
Israel offered that the sixth boat dock in Ashdod port, with the aid transfered safely to Gaza. This offer was made again and again. It was refused each time.
After the flotilla attack, Israel still attempted to deliver to Gaza the aid captured from the sixth boat, but Hamas refused most of it.
Israel left Gaza in hopes of peace in 2005 and, in return, received more than 10,000 rockets and terrorist attacks. Israel has sought peace and compromise with its neighbors for all of its 62 years.
Israel maintains a maritime blockade to ensure that weapons are not brought in by Hamas to use in attacks against Israel.
In the past, terrorist sympathizers have used aid deliveries to smuggle items like potassium nitrate in sugar sacks that were used to make bombs. It is standard international practice to impose sanctions to prevent this type of activity.
"We fully intend to go to Gaza regardless of any intimidation or threats of violence against us, they are going to have to forcefully stop us," said one of the flotilla's organizers.
Five of the six boats that were boarded carried protestors that complied and were safely let to shore. The passengers on the sixth boat -- the Mavi Marmara -- did not comply. That is the boat on which the violence took place.
Those on board the sixth boat, armed with knives and metal bars, carried out pre-planned violence. The soldiers were attacked by a mob of a dozen extremists. They threw one soldier off the top deck of the ship.
Using the Arabic term 'intifada,' Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said: "We call on all Arabs and Muslims to rise up in front of Zionist embassies across the whole world."
As the flotilla made its way to meet him in Gaza, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said: "If the ships reach Gaza it is a victory; if they are intercepted, it will be a victory too".
The flotilla attack was intentionally provoked. Turkey permitted the Marmara to 'fly' under its flag. Turkey knew that the flotilla's organizer and financier was Turkish Islamist organization IHH, which has ties to Hamas, several Jihadist organizations in Bosnia, Syria, Iraq, Libya and elsewhere, as well as Al Qaeda. But Turkey did nothing to stop it.
The Israeli government maintains that allowing the illegal flotilla to reach Hamas would have opened a corridor of weapons smuggling to Gaza, resulting in more civilian deaths.
There is no country in the world that allows illegal entry of any vessel into its waters without a security check. That's all Israeli soldiers asked of the passengers on the sixth boat.
Now, why would they have refused. Either they had illegal materials (which, it turns out, they didn't), or they wanted to provoke violence and death.
From the Siddur (Jewish prayer book):
Painful trials and bitter struggles, torments of body and soul have often been our portion. But sustained by the hope that goodness and love would triumph over evil and hate, we have persevered.
January 27 is International Holocaust Remembrance Day, an annual observance on the anniversary of the Soviet army's Jan. 27, 1945 liberation of Auschwitz, which is marked now by the United Nations and more than two dozen individual countries.
Each year, hundreds of events take place on or near that date. Britain, Italy and Germany have particularly extensive programs.
While most Holocaust Memorial Day initiatives are linked directly to the memory and impact of the Nazi genocide against the Jews, there is increasing emphasis on what the experience of the Holocaust can teach in the face of other genocides and persecution, such as those in Rwanda, Bosnia, Cambodia and Darfur. World War II-era persecution of Roma (Gypsies) and gays also is examined...
At the same time, pro-Palestinian groups are trying to transform the international day of remembrance into an opportunity to criticize Israel. (lifted from JTA.org)
It's hard to blame them for criticizing Israel, as the political/religious elite remain fervent in their refusal to recognize a sovereign Palestine, even as Hamas weakens its anti-Israel stance. (If you don't believe me, read The Nation.) However, two wrongs rarely make a right -- and this is no exception. The State of Israel was, after the Holocaust, an absolute necessity. More than 6-million Jews were killed, and this was nearly the worst in a series of atrocities against Jews that spanned thousands of years. "The Wandering Jew" is the result of a diaspora that has left us homeless all over the world. Medieval European paintings depict us with horns and devil tails... And anti-Semitism persists today, in the 21st Century. A recent report by the Coordination Forum for Countering Anti-Semitism (CFCA) found that 2009 was a record year for the number of recorded anti-Semitic incidents since World War II.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE TITLE SONG FROM MY SOLO DEBUT "SEE THE LIGHT", ON THE HISTORY OF JEWISH PERSECUTION (AND SURVIVAL), AS PLAYED ON ISRAEL NATIONAL RADIO.
And, for an alternative history of the Holocaust, be sure to rent Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds!
