Hymn for the Weekend, or Bowie Does It Right

So I finally watched that Coldplay/Beyonce video that apparently everyone but me is talking about, Hymn for the Weekend. I won't bother linking to it. Apparently, some people are complaining that Beyonce is appropriating Indian culture, and others say a Black woman can't engage in cultural appropriation.

So fine, here's my two cents (Canadian, so their value is negligible). Beyonce might be Black, but she is still a representative and beneficiary of America's cultural colonialism - so of course she can and does engage in cultural appropriation in this video. But that's not what people should be worried about.

Rasul Guliyev Accuses Azerbaijan Government of Pilfering Billions

Former Speaker of the National Assembly of Azerbaijan Rasul Guliyev has written an interesting analysis (translated by yours truly) of the current state of Azerbaijan in the context of the Arab Spring.

I don't always agree with Rasul - for example, I think any discussion of per capita budget numbers is pointless without taking into account how the budget is actually distributed: even the most generous per capita numbers lose their significance when the majority of funds ends up in the pockets of a small elite. But despite our disagreements, Rasul's works are always thought-provoking, and very educational. Every time I work with him, I feel like I should be getting a college credit just from all the research I have to do!

You can read the article here.

An interview with Bi Women

Bi Women is a quarterly journal published by the Boston Bisexual Women's Network. A few months back, Editor Robyn Ochs interviewed me for the Bi Women Around the World column.

You can read my interview - and, in fact, the entire issue - here.

Read an excerpt from Against the Tide by Rasul Bayram

Rasul Bayram's book Against the Tide, translated by yours truly, has been doing respectable business on Amazon. You can now read a four-page excerpt on Rasul's official site.

Against the Tide by Rasul Bayram, translated by Polina Skibinskaya

Xlibris Book Publishing Company has published Against the Tide by Rasul Bayram, translated from Russian by yours truly. The book follows two dynasties - a Lebanese Muslim family and a family of European Jews - through the creation of Israel after World War II and the escalating tensions in the Middle East. The story of two families, whose paths cross through several generations, is a crash course in proxy wars, identity politics, religious nationalism, and the transnational human toll of the Middle East conflict.
When it comes to politics, Rasul and I don't always see eye to eye. But while I don't share his respect for Reagan , I can't help but relate to the relationship at the heart of the book. The story of the two families trapped on the opposite sides of the conflict asks the simple, but necessary question: when superpowers collide, who pays the price?

Happy Draw Muhammad Day!

Today, May 20th, is the first annual International Draw Muhammad Day. Here's to freedom from fear!

I must not draw Mohammed by Plantu, Le Monde

For those of you who, like me, can't even draw a stick figure, here is a wonderful archive of Muhammad images by people who can:

Mohammed Image Archive

Emma Rosenthal Tells It Like It Is

Over the years, I've had many conversations with Jews and Gentiles, Zionists and anti-Semites, family members and strangers, trying to explain the -Zionist Jew phenomenon . The suggestion of our mere existence is often met with more disbelief than that of the Sasquatch.

But we do, indeed, exist. (The jury is still out on the Sasquatch - he might want to consider starting a blog.) Our existence is inconvenient, both to the anti-Semites who want to pretend all Jews think and act alike, and to the Zionists who want to do the same. What's more, our ranks seem to be growing. The more the Israeli government and Zionist organizations all over the world push to stifle criticism of their deplorable ideology and murderous actions, the more people push back.

Writer, teacher and human rights activist Emma Rosenthal formulates the reasons she is not a Zionist better than I ever could. She says:

I am not a Zionist because I believe in universal human rights and do not believe that the establishment of one more elite leadership based on nationalism, will bring about a more just world. I believe with all my being that an injustice to one is an injustice to all, that when one is oppressed, with each drop of blood that is shed, with each aspiration that is quashed, each of us is diminished in our capacities, each of us becomes more unsafe.

Read the rest of her excellent article Open Letter: Re: jewbitch ur a mental case? at Emma's Room.