Anthony Bourdain on Gaza

[JI7]

the whole article is worth reading. it mentions other places he has visited also.


<Last year, Bourdain’s TV series, Parts Unknown, ventured to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.

One surprise, Bourdain says, was how delighted the Palestinians were to be portrayed going about their everyday lives because “they are so used to camera crews coming in to just get the usual shots of rock throwing kids and crying women”.

Gaza, the camps and the West Bank left him “reeling with the ugliness of it all”.

But the blowback was inevitable, as he explained:

For some, unfortunately, depicting Palestinians as anything other than terrorists is proof positive that you have an agenda, that you have bought in to some sinister propaganda guidelines issuing from some evil central command in charge of interfacing with Western com/symp dupes. A photo of a Palestinian washing their car or playing with their child is, therefore automatically “propaganda.”

The division and vehemence of the debate became most apparent to Bourdain after this tweet, just a week ago.

Anthony Bourdain ✔ @Bourdain
Follow

Maybe it’s the fact that I walked on that beach—and have a small child that makes this photo so devastating. #Gaza >

http://www.businessinsider.com.au/tv-chef-anthony-bourdain-sums-up-the-problems-in-gaza-better-than-most-diplomats-2014-7

[malaise]

1. This

it’s nearly impossible to even describe reality much less deal with it

I realized that when the parents of the children slaughtered at that Sandy Hook school were attacked by the NRA .

Contradict their narrative at your peril.

[madokie]

5. And then he (Anthony Bourdain) sums up an intractable conflict in a very human way.

The absolute failure of smart, presumably good-hearted people on both sides to find something/anything better than what we’ve arrived at. And the willingness of people to not see what is plainly apparent, right there, enormous and frankly, hideous. Unfortunately, we live in a world where it’s nearly impossible to even describe reality much less deal with it. It’s utterly heartbreaking.

[malaise]

6. If you describe reality and take a principled position

you're anti-Semitic, pro Hamas, liberal, Communist, socialist, Muslim, or whatever else. It's my way or the highway for the RW nutters of our planet.

[madokie]

7. So true

I don't mind being labeled when the label fits but most times its doesn't.

[hifiguy]

17. Sad but so very true.

[suffragette]

12. And This

A constant on my travels is nice, incredibly hospitable people, often very reasonable people. Unfortunately, another constant is that nice, reasonable people are being ground under the wheel.

[malaise]

16. Very true

and it's very sad

[Cha]

2. thank you for this from Anthony Bourdain, JI7 :(

[ReRe]

3. Anthony Bourdain...

... is what we used to call "a good egg." He's been all over the world and broke bread with all kinds of people in cultures totally different than our own. I've watched a few of his shows and enjoyed them. Two thumbs up for Anthony.

[Mopar151]

4. I saw most of that episode - among his better ones

He wasn't shy about showing some of the roots of the intransigence, either.

[kokobell616]

8. Props to Anthony Bourdain and crew.

Some very ugly places have welcomed him and his crew to break bread. I have seen a few of these shows and the realism is honest and clear. Even in his old job as chef in a New York restaurant he showed the true work that people do every day. Not a lot of sugar coating for anyone.

[azurnoir]

9. Video of the Parts Unknown episode

[elleng]

26. Thanks. Good to see this again.

[Chemisse]

10. Good for him.

It takes courage to do what he has done. It's sad that people are so rigidly grasping at their beliefs that the beach photo can't just be seen as horribly sad.

[Bluenorthwest]

11. Bourdain in Palestine and Israel was one of the best pieces of journalism about those places

I have ever seen on American TV. Parts Unknown as been frequently awesome, the Congo episode, Mississippi Delta show and others insightful and courageous reporting, from a chef. He can really write and his heart, it is very human. He is brave enough to feel things on camera that none of us really like to feel at all.
His show is good enough that I often find myself amazed that it is CNN. Good on CNN I say. For once.

[slipslidingaway]

13. Thanks n/t

[kelliekat44]

14. I think he deserves and appreciation bomb from us. I am going to e-mail a thanks. nt

[el_bryanto]

15. Anthony Bourdain is great -

He's one of those who comforts the afflicted while afflicting the comfortable. Which is always a good thing to see in art.

Bryant

[JI7]

18. i think Bourdain is one of the reasons there has been a bit more sympathy shown to the palestinian

side this time compared to others.

the reporting still sucks but a few on CNN and even on some internet forums which aren't full of right wing racist assholes people are looking at this in a different way than other times .

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

19. Some supporters of Israel have truly gone insane

(and I'm a supporter of Israel's right to exist) When merely depicting Palestinians as normal people and not killers draws criticism, we have entered the Twilight Zone. It reminds me of the uproar over Michael Moore's scenes of kids playing in Baghdad in Fahrenheit 911 that lasted all of 12 seconds on the screen (no Iraqi could be depicted unless they were being tortured to reinforce our justification for war). Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem in an open letter merely criticized Israel's infliction of suffering in Gaza and called for a cease-fire. Some accused them of anti-semitism for merely deploring the death and suffering of Gazans. John Voigt today publicly accused them of anti-semitism for this. But when someone so affable and apolitical as Bourdain gets accused of being an anti-semite for showing Palestinians washing their car, we know with this fanaticism on the part of some that we have gone through the looking glass.

[JI7]

21. Jon Voight is just the stereotypical type of ignorant american

no surprise his daughter wont see him.

[LittleBlue]

20. As usual, he's right. nt

[moondust]

22. Good episode.

Rare look from a more or less neutral outsider.

[slipslidingaway]

23. "... Iran was mind-blowing. My crew has NEVER been treated so well--by total strangers everywhere...

We had heard that Persians are nice. But nicEST? Didn't see that coming. Its very confusing. Total strangers thrilled to encounter Americans, just underneath the inevitable "Death To America" mural. The gulf between perception and reality, between government policy and what you see on the street and encounter in peoples homes, in restaurants--everywhere--it's just incredible. There's no way to be prepared for it.

Trying to reconcile the very real consequences of Iranian foreign and national policy with the way Iran is internally--and who is actually living there, how old they are, what they actually want and believe in. VERY confusing.

Its easier to think of Iran as a monolith--in an uncomplicated, ideological way. More comfortable, too. Life ain't that simple . It IS complicated. And filled with nuance worth exploring.

A constant on my travels is nice, incredibly hospitable people, often very reasonable people. Unfortunately, another constant is that nice, reasonable people are being ground under the wheel..."


Full interview ...

http://www.blogsofwar.com/anthony-bourdain-talks-travel-food-and-war

[octoberlib]

24. His shows on Iran and Libya were excellent, too.

He admitted to being very nervous about visiting Iran but they were extremely friendly.

[Mopar151]

25. His (older, Travel Channel) show on Laos was incredible.

The sense of remoteness, the depth of history was so unlike "normal" TV. The Plain of Jars was their commodity exchange. The bomb squads are out workin' every day, still.......