It's so easy to conquer the world ...

without a single shot...

Some time ago I discovered a site named The Small World Project and wrote about it.

The theory is that there are only six degrees of separation between people. Going from person to person, on the sixth attempt you'll find someone who knows you.

On the net it takes less than that:

Looking at my weblog's site meter report and the comments I found the footsteps of "Lightness of being".

A most intelligent and sensitive blog created by a young Polish lady.

To this moment I know little of Natalia, I only knew that Erga, a highly esteemed documetary films producer and director, is this week in Warsaw, Poland, where four of those documentaries are screened at the Jewish Film Festival. In one of them I'm filmed as well.

Coming home late tonight I found a message from Erga on the answering machine: Natalia is sitting next to her, at the film festival...

Here is Natalia's comment:

I just cannot collect my thoughts, please excuse if they are chaotic, they must be as today something absolutely amazing happened... I went to the cinema, I love cinema, so this is not quite original that the Saturady evening I would spend there. I saw two documentary films, definitely brilliant ones... But what
a remarkable surprise they brought, it is so amazing... "Corinna the author" it stated there... Corinna, Corinna... The film was shot in 1988, so probably you didn't yet use the surname "The
Woman Writer"...

After the screening I ran to the film director and asked him whether this Corinna doesn't today appear as Hasofferett... Oh yes, she does, how do you know? I told him the story, then he said, oh that's so amazing, let me introduce you to somebody...
Erga...
This is how I became acquainted with your daughter. She is absolutely adorable, and beautiful...
Tomorrow there will be another screening of the films. Certainly I am going there...

There might be a multitude of people out there, reaching out in spirit. Even if we do not know each other by name, it's good to sense you exist.



Read it in Russian;in Hungarian;

Shall We BlogDance?

I'm terribly disgusted with my life... bored to no end... the boy I thought he cares for me and is a real friend had dropped me... No Holocaust is greater than mine... I just don't feel I exist... my loneliness and the rage and hatred it generates within my limbs are bottomless...



I have a yearning deep in my heart to relate, to be listened to in truth. Not to listen, at least not to-day, not as long as this deafening noise inside me wrecks havoc...



Don't tell me I should write a blog diary. What do you think I've been doing for the last years - I've been hanging my chaos to dry out for all the blogosphere neighbors eyes and ears to see and listen: Oh World, be my Savior, Listen to me, Don't listen to those whimpering Jews and their Boring Holocaust Petty Stories. Enough Is Enough! It's my turn now!



Pity Me! Admire Me! Me! Me! Me!

Love Me. Me, only Me, Me, Me, La-la-la...

Save Me!

Save me from Myself, Me! Me!

You don't want to listen? I'll force my tiny oceanic disappointments down your ears and throat. I'll disperse my blind fury from the top of BlogCritics.



Oh, BlogCritics, BlogCritics, Tell me, Who if not Me is the most you-name-it in the whole empty world?



Don't get me wrong: My present love is Arik Sharon' body guard, and that vast.

Another Fire, Another Pail

I've posted some things re Yassin and the good times, went to sleep feeling good that I've set the train on rails outgoing to uncharted lands, and woke up to see that trains of thought have taken some people back to their pre-set destinations.



Since Al, my dear friend and colleague here introduced me as "one such person", it might be a good idea to do the introduction here myself, loud and clear.



Especially so since Al chose to cover with some veils my cherished and not that easily gained identity.



Prepare some champaign (don't break it on my nose, it's not polite) and follow/don't follow me to the unveiling ritual:



My name is Corinna. First person, singular.



I am an Israeli Hebrew writer. By genes and choice it means also that most of the time, when writing and in my dreams as well, I am a prolific listener.



I'm atheist since age nine, if not earlier. By which I mean that I took upon myself the responsibility of listening to my own moral ethics, mine and not the cricket's (unlike Pinochio).



I am an Israeli as naturally as I breath, and from the first moment I was born far away from my birth rights back in 2nd WW Romania. Which means that I have thrice a good memory - the writer's, the atheist's, Zion's.



Believe me, it's often heavy, as I have no right to say, ME, ME, ME and close my five senses to reality or to The Other's suffering.



1.

I love and am grateful for living in a time in which I can have a passport and a place to call and experience as home sweet home.



2.

I can appreciate it even more thanks to my childhood which lasted less than four years, owing to thriving racism of some of our best friends and boyfriends.



3.

By mistake, I was given the right to vote.



Sorry for that, sweet Mr. Ripper. Please keep your voice down, otherwise our democracy might rightfully suggest we shouldn't have elections as long as we are under terror, or find me and the not that silent majority, Unfit.



I find your arguments most power-full. Can you imagine how much more persuasive and well listened to those could have been - if only were they expressed in civilized, respectful, rhetoric?



Actually I would like to get to know you better (not right away, wait a bit to sort your feelings before expressing them). Who are you? Identity, vote rights notwithstanding, profession and vocation? I'm sure your personality is not that one-dimensional. Courage!



4.

I've been living in Israel since July 7, 1948 - the day we were freed from the British detention camps for "illegal" immigrants, in Cyprus and set right away in Jaffa. Hence, I happen to have some in-depth knowledge unseen from far away.



The killings are not a sane, life-enhancing solution. The idea that there is no choice but to go down into this abyss might not be a rational one, but one fed by extremist "political" manipulations. It has not worked up to now here as we happen to be cousins and share the same similarities of character, between us and with you as well. We are all human, and no matter what religion or misinformations we have been fed - we all, when left alone, will chose life and sanity upon death and self/mass destruction.



Can you paradoxically declare all or the majority of Palestinians/Israelis as, to say the least, unworthy of your empathy and respect because They/One of them, to say the least, do not show empathy and respect to each other?



Is the Israeli Palestinian conflict some kind of game where you have to choose the team you'll cheer to and the one you'll spit upon?



I do appreciate the huge amounts of empathy and caring, either for my people or for the Palestinians. But why hold on to your identifications and not share them one with the other. Think of this: How different the world and our reality might become when you let your empathies encompass both the Israeli and the Palestinian.



It's not a game, we are not two football teams let loose but regular people yearning for peace and sanity, as most of us on this planet.



Since we are not about to resolve peacefully the Middle East conflict to-night, let's experiment with reaching such a noble goal at Planet Blogcritics, for the time being.



So, what team are you on?

A New Era

Well, I cannot claim I've discovered those on my own, my ten fingers (I'm typing "blindly") were helped by others' deft ones.



Although I've been on and off working on this blog for a long time (in-between the publications of two new books, writing the fifth, building a Hebrew site etc), I was still waiting for the day to attain perfection. Now, with the instalation of an active site meter, I find, to my great surprise, that some people have stumbled upon my site.



(So, from now on I must be real careful. The world is watching...)



To my great surprise? I should add, to my gratitude, as it turns out those are amazing, most intelligent eye-opening blogers, the kind that makes you bless the Creator of the blogosphere for Her gift to humanity.



Look at Pejman Yousefzadeh.

A lawyer with a genuine voice no less than Eugene Volokh's.

I was led to him by a mysterious line on my site meter: "Brooding Persian".

Beautiful alliteration. So much to learn. So many religions s/he points to. And here and there glimpses of life in Iran 2004. I felt honored in seeing a link to my site.



And then, on the other side of the world, in Poland, a most sensitive young woman who signed a comment by Natalia, and her blog is named The Lightness of Being.

She's studying the Orient and has some Iranian bloging friends.



It's time to be paying more attention to Iran...

If only the "real" world will finally become sans frontier!

That War, Revisited

Two new books, in English, are discussed this weekend in Haaretz.



"The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East," by Abraham Rabinovich. Schocken Books, 560 pages, $27.50.



I must confess that although I have not yet read any of them, for Abraham Rabinovich I have special sympathy: years ago he came all the way from Jerusalem to my HILAI project in the Galilee, stayed with us for two days, and wrote for Jerusalem Post a glowing excellent four-page reportage.



In Haaretz Hebrew online edition Prof. Benny Moris discusses the book with much appreciation.



In Haaretz English edition Chemi Shalev recommends Rabinovich and a second new book on that traumatic experience:



"The Eve of Destruction: The Untold Story of the Yom Kippur War," by Howard Blum. HarperCollins, 350 pages, $25.95.



I cannot wait to read them both!



"...Of contemporary interest, of course, are the descriptions of the battlefield antics and achievements of then-general Ariel Sharon, whose actual accomplishments, as depicted in both books, fall far short of the legend and hype that have become the conventional legacy of the war. Blum goes so far as to quote then-colonel Amnon Reshef's internal thoughts as "believing that there would always be a danger lurking in Arik's command, a rashness or an unruliness that was nothing less than madness."

Pink Pages

Excerpt from "Sodot" (A Minyan of Lovers)

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Ronen was watching television wrapped around my lap. Suddenly he said,

"A wall should be built around them."

"Around who?"

The child was silent, as if he had revealed knowledge we are not mature enough to grasp, as if shaming his elders. After the screening of the concluding ceremony he asked, Have they already finished the murder?

Instead of asking if the Olympic Games had finished.

He raced around the apartment shouting, "Kozo Okamuto".

"Kozo Okamuto was a murderer. He doesn't live with us anymore, right?"

"He received punishment."

"Mother, I remembered my dream. I will tell you and you will write."

"Yes."

"A ship sinks. The lifeguard too. But his pole (tower) is in the middle of the sea. You and father are running fast in the water. I am fighting with a soldier. That's it. I've got a suggestion. Copy all my dreams from the pages into a notebook."

"A notebook of dreams?"

"Yes. And we'll also make a notebook of life."

"How?"

"Like God does now on the Day of Atonement. I'll tell you and you will write:

Itzik is not yet dead

Einat died

Yossi is wounded

My cousin Yossie is not yet wounded and is not yet dead

I am not dead

You are not dead

Father is not dead

Yonit is not dead

That's it

When someone gets wounded we will cross him out and when he recovers we will write him in again."



***************************************

Translated from the Hebrew by Michal Sapir

(c) 2003 All rights reserved to Corinna Hasofferett



Sodot (HudnaPress, September 2003), my third book of literary fiction was published in Israel and awaits publication elsewhere.

~~~~~~~~~~~

read it in Hungarian; in Polish;

A Real Real Scoop From Tel-Aviv

Listen well! This is a historic moment, globally.



To-day we are witnessing here in Tel-Aviv the birth of the first, of the very very first rally...



Don't cut me, I know that rallies are as old as the cave aboriginal, if I'm not mistaken.



But this one, brothers and sisters, is a rally unheard of and unseen yet:



The Geneve Accord Interactive Rally On the Net.

"Say Yes to Peace!"

Sorry, not yet an English version, and to the best of my knowledge, not an Arabic version yet either - hopefully they're on their way.



The people you see waving placards are not that anonymous. You can choose an image (no cosmetic operation involved) and Hop! it is there waving the placard you've chosen.

"Talk Peace!"

"We Agree - for our children!"

"Come Say Shalom!"

"Sharon, Get out of Gazza - Fly to Geneve!"



But, unlike the snail-rally, here you can post a comment and, by now. close to one hundred thousand people might read you and respond fiercely/lovingly, etc.



Each 15 minutes you may view and listen to another speaker/singer/performer, like in a real rally.



Perfectly safe, safely organized, no expenses incurred upon the police and the municipality, no papers and trash left all over the piazza - Go For the Geneve Agreement!



Who says War and Peace cannot be real fun?!



Aren't we brilliant?



and here is the real thing.

In the Footsteps of...

the Gibsonian male...



Since the blogosphere rages now with this crucial question, What chapter and from which Testament --

mind you, in my humble opinion there is only one Testament, the other is plain Bible --

So the question is, from where will the Gibsonian Male pick the theme of his next grand opera?



Forgive my long introduction, but I'm kind of shy.

OK. Let me say just this:



On this twice Holly day (Purim & Woman's Day), I cannot think of a better selection than the good old Meggilatt Esther!



Megillat Esther, for the information of the uninitiated, is the true love story not yet told but re-told each Purim - of King Ahashverosh the decadently benevolent tyrant, Femme Fatal Queen Esther and her scheming pimp of an uncle Mordechay, and how one woman's body saved the Jewish people, including me and Joseph, from another anti-Christ (namely Hamman the Wicked), and how this sweet man - who only wanted all Jews to be killed and Jewdaism annihilated - how much fun it was when he was carried throughout the streets of Shooshan the Capital City with a big ad all around his belly and behind, and how he never shed a tear, not even when left hanging, except this endlessly repeated mantra: "I only followed God's Orders to the letter."



Yet why give away the secret, Why not make myself this film? Hey, who volunteers for what role? Don't worry about the money - -



Wait, wait, somebody is knocking on my door. Should I open it? Is he the bearer of the first million or another man whose love I have not returned?

Should I hide the kitchen knife under the mattress?



Sorry it was just a messenger with a bunch of flowers, I won't touch it with a fingernail - it might conceal Jesus knows what thorns.



You see, I too can be a film director. What is the film industry if not a fun way to make money via the Dolorosa of manipulating primeval instincts, tear ducts, immortal stereotypes?



2.

Yes, Purim! I never thought there could be a better day to celebrate Woman's Day.

Purim "is good enough and will suffice", as Robert Frost said on Ice.



As a proof, "let me share with you" (a North American euphemism) yesterday's miracles in Tel-Aviv:



Everywhere, but everywhere I was greeted by men in black attire wearing colorful wigs on their heads:

"Come to hear the Megillat Esther being read!"

Usually only men are invited to a minyan of prayer.

Said I in genuine astonishment. "Is it to glorify Woman's Day, or are you Reform?

Anyway I don't fancy Ahashverosh, Too fat."

He ran to search for other women.

In vain.

Of course, who comes to a mall to hear the Megillah?



3.



Don't think for a moment that I was writing this post since I threatened some of you with it's arrival a couple of hours ago.



Actually I was preparing a shakshooka, which in my eyes is the real food to celebrate Purim as Woman's Day.



It's from our region and not only more dietary than the Homentashen ("Hamman's Ears") cakes but chock-full with feminist symbols.

Also, eating a dead person's ears is not appealing. We had had and still are suffering because we just use to drink blood of Christian innocent babies come Passover.



This is how to celebrate correctly:



a.



Cut a large fat onion into tiny pieces (remind me one day to tell you how Hundertwasser's Viennese girlfriend brought him onions as a gift because she heard that Jews love onions).

Onion symbolize tears, right? Fits like a glass shoe.

(You can avoid the tears by letting water run from the tap).



b.



Fry the onions in a little olive oil, from Israel.

(You won't find much Palestinian olive oil as their trees tend to disappear from over there by day and by night for the time being and until the Messiah arrives and the Law of Return applies to the olive trees and branches).



c.



Cut 12 or 24 ounces of organic tomatoes from Israel (do they grow tomatoes in Iraq?) into quarters, pile them on top of the onions and cover.

Meanwhile meditate on the meaning of tomatoes. What do they symbolize if not womanhood?



Not the once-a-month-up-to-a-certain-age thing, our film and lives must remain impeachably pure --



I was thinking of life as experienced by the battered, the molested, the killed and the murdered.



d.



Now that your appetit is bon, go for the eggs. One will suffice for dietary reasons and symbol. Careful! Do not, by any means, do not scramble the egg. You should break it, yes, sorry for not mentioning, break it directly into the pan and all over the red, by now soft, tomatoes.

Now be careful. There is a female eye there, watching you!



e.



Basil. It's sweet, it's green - exactly the state of virginhood so much worshipped by man ready to feed on it. Shredd and sprinkle all over (the basil), but only after you've turned off the fire.



... Assuming it was on.



Happy Woman's Day Purim!

Courage

1.

I just happened upon another fiery anti-zionist article. I do not like it. Do not like the tone, the generalizations, the half backed misinformation.



So, "the Nazi poster stemmed from the fact that Jews are Bolshevics".

On the other hand, the Nazis and the neo Nazis, awarely or unawarely so, hate/d the Jews because they are so damn rich/ruling the media, you name it.

But, as the saying goes, "Some of my best friends are Jews. and my nephews are just half, so it counts as well." Which half exactly?

You do not heal hatred with animosity. You do not spread knowledge with ignorance.

So you want the murdered Holocaust victims to be counted. Don't worry, they were. By the Germans.

You don't trust the Germans, still, you want full lists.



Come to Jerusalem Yad Vashem, sit here as some young Germans are doing, and read the books, the testament, educate yourself before you express such a full bag of half mesticated ignorance.

Next time you go on vacation, go visit Auschwitz.

Read the papers and literature thoroughout ages, overflowing with hatred for the available victim.



I live in Israel. In a lifetime of activism I've been and am dealing with the situation, and when I oppose, I come ready with well documented facts and never, never with animosity and/or demagogical generalization.

Just grasp it: The majority of people in Israel want, desire, want peace. are tired of living on the verge of disaster. So are many Palestinians.



We are herded by fanatic extremists, on both sides.



If you really want to contribute to a healing process, come here and do some volunteer work, in Israel or in the occupied territories.

Both the Israeli and the Palestinians deserve each a land of their own.

Just make sure you President and government support actively a peace oriented process and not just pay lip service.

Ask yourself sincerely, Why do you harbor such a subliminal need for animosity?



2.



Thanks for honestly admitting that what speaks from your communication is animosity.

I suggest you put it to rest for some time and think with a clean mind and spirit.



"I do not like my tax dollars supporting a racist, segregated, apartheid state such as Israel."



In a globalized economy, your country's income from taxes comes - and in a larger amount than your personal ones, I assume - also from money gained by financial profits made here by such a multitude of businesses and conglomerates which have overtaken Israel no less than they've done so worldwide.



As a USA citizen you benefit from this as it helps your economy and provides employment.



This site is not a war stage but, hopefully, a place to gain insight:



Animosity clouds the mind and spirit and keeps you in a cycle of hatred patterns.



Israel is not an abstract idea but a country populated by individuals, some of them sovereign thinkers.



Even if there were only ten such persons here - they number a multitude, even if there was only a single one - you are not entitled to utter generalizations.



Generalizations are what create and feed all the evil in this world. You do not heal one generalization by another one, unless you disregard morality.



You are not entitled to "push" any country or people. You are not entitled to an opinion of what is the right national identity of another person or country.



Don't you realize it is an imperialistic way of thinking?

Both the Israeli and the Palestinian want to live side by side peacefully. It's the extreme faction and fanaticism that cause disaster.



How can you personally evade fanaticism in your communication and life?



Some 60% of Israelis have chosen Sharon, not a smaller percentage in your country have chosen your President. Does it turn every USA citizen into an misguided imperialist?

You seem to forget this from the depth of your animosity.



People voted for Sharon because he promised Peace, Security, decent living, employment.

Isn't it always the pattern? Politicians manipulate and people manage to live or die thanks to a short memory.

Can you take a moment or a year to think how clearly who and what has manipulated you into embracing animosity?



In your discourse run all the antisemitic myths spread throughout history, which served as grounds to annihilation of the Other.

So now you want to annihilate the Israeli state, because you, an ocean and a sea away, know what's best for the natives - stand them "in line".



Let me remind you that the so-called American values were slightly informed by one Bible and one Koran neither of which were written by your past or present Fathers.



3.

"I believe I can make more of a difference here in the USA which is immorally funding the racist, apartheid state of Israel."



Indeed it takes more courage and guts and it's less comfortable to "make a difference in USA" than to come here and stand before a buldozer or help Palestinian and Israelis human rights organizations in their joint daily strife.



Take a few weeks or years to understand the patterns of your discourse and feelings, and gain a humanistic place in this suffering world.