Michael Chabon: Israeli Occupation 'The Most Grievous Injustice I've Ever Seen in My Life'

[Israeli]

Renowned author along with other writers recently toured West Bank led by Breaking the Silence to research book of essays marking 50 years of occupation.

The Forward and Naomi Zeveloff Apr 25, 2016

The author Michael Chabon was on a tour of Hebron in the West Bank when he met an unexpected fan in a nearby group of Israeli soldiers on duty in the divided city.

“I’ve actually read your books,” said one young soldier, recognizing the Pulitzer-Prize winning author of “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay.”

Other than that, fans were in short supply that day. Jewish settlers were dogging Chabon’s group, telling the participants that their guide was feeding them lies as he explained the restrictions on Palestinian life in the West Bank city. Indeed, the soldier who had read his novels was one of a group who had been following Chabon’s tour, presumably trying to keep the settlers’ confrontation from escalating. Chabon thanked the soldiers when one recognized him.

Chabon’s tour to the West Bank was led by Breaking the Silence, the controversial Israeli group that collects and distributes Israeli soldiers’ testimony about their service in the occupied territory. Chabon, along with his wife Ayelet Waldman, are two of the 24 leading novelists who will visit East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza over the next few months to research a book of essays marking 50 years of Israeli occupation. The couple will edit the book, which aims to illuminate what it’s like to live under Israeli military rule. Chabon’s essay will focus on Sam Bahour, a Palestinian-American businessman who moved to Ramallah to build the Palestinian economy in the wake of the Oslo peace accords, only to watch the Israeli occupation deepen around him.

Source: http://www.haaretz.com/jewish/features/1.716323

Also see The Forward :

http://forward.com/culture/books/339119/qa-michael-chabon-talks-occupation-injustice-and-literature-after-visit-to/

[Israeli]

1. More information regarding this book project ......

50 YEARS OF OCCUPATION BOOK PROJECT

Since November 2014, I’ve been working with authors Ayelet Waldman and Michael Chabon and activists from Breaking the Silence on coordinating a book project to mark 50 years of Occupation (June 2017). The project went public last week, with the arrival of the first delegation of authors.

You can read more about the project in: The Guardian; Haaretz; The Latin American Herald Tribune; The Times of Israel; Ynet; and elsewhere. Here is a short TV piece (Hebrew) about the project by Channel 2’s Ohad Hemo.

There will be some 25 authors taking part in the project, all in all, and they will come to Israel-Palestine in small groups for week-long intensive explorations of the realities of the occupation. The first delegation last week included Eimear McBride, Taiye Selasi, Ala Hlehel and Hari Kunzru.

I am incredibly excited that the delegation component is finally underway. That said, it’ll also be quite intensive, and I’ll likely be blogging only sporadically for the next while.

***

Update, April 19th, 2016: Just finished the second delegation, with Ayelet Waldman, Michael Chabon, Dave Eggers, Geraldine Brooks, Helon Habila, Eva Menasse and Rachel Kushner. Some more media coverage in the Jewish Daily Forward, ABC Australia, Sueddeutsche (still not online), and more. You can also follow the project as it unfolds on Twitter and Instagram at #btswrites.

Source: https://thelefternwall.com/2016/02/28/50-years-of-occupation-book-project/

NB : All links available at source .

[shira]

2. Chabon is an idiot. There's slavery of millions worldwide, execution of gays...

....the marrying off of little girls, child soldiers.

Syria.

But the occupation is worst? Hmm...and if that occupation ends tomorrow, Hamas takes over the W.Bank. That's far worse than the occupation.

What a moron.

[oberliner]

3. It's the worst he's ever seen

I wonder if he has reached out to any groups that can give him tours of what life is like in, say, the Central African Republic.

[shira]

4. Chabon has written so much fiction, he can't distinguish between it and reality. n/t

[FBaggins]

5. Perhaps he was born yesterday?

More likely... he just keeps his eyes shut.

[King_David]

6. Yet another celebrity "expert"

Like Donald Trump ....

Idiot thinking they somehow "know"


LOL

[Israeli]

9. I guess you did not read all the links ....

He is not the only one participating in the book .......

Prominent international writers to write book on 'occupation'

Joint initiative by 'Breaking the Silence' and writers brings renowned authors to Israel and the Palestinian territories for book on '50 years of Israeli occupation'.

Merav Yudilevich
Published: 02.25.16, 17:49 / Israel Culture

Pulitzer Prize-winning American writer Michael Chabon and his wife, Israeli-American author Ayelet Waldman, plan to edit a literary project bringing together writers from all over the world over the world to write a book of essays on “50 years of Israeli occupation” The book is scheduled be published in June 2017.

The project, a joint initiative by "Breaking the Silence," Peruvian Pulitzer Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, Chabon, and Waldman, will host a delegation of authors on both sides of the Green Line this year to allow them to learn about the different aspects of Israel's military presence in the Palestinian territories. The authors will visit West Bank villages and East Jerusalem, and will meet Israeli and Palestinian human rights activists, academics, and legal experts.

The first delegation landed in Israel on Sunday and includes British author Hari Kunzru, American playwright Taiye Selasi, Irish author Eimar McBride, and Palestinian-Israeli playwright-author and journalist Ala Halihal.

Additional authors who intend to take part in the project include Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa, American author and publisher David Vargas, Irish author Colm Toibin, American author Cheryl Strayed, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Geraldine Brooks, Norwegian author Lars Sobi Kristensen, American author Rachel Kushner, British author Tash Aw, and local authors Assaf Gavron, Raja Shahada, and Nir Baram.

So why are Chabon and Waldman participating in this project? "A short time after we met in 1992, we traveled to Israel," Chabon told Ynet. "Even though Ayelet, the daughter of Canadian immigrants, was born in Israel, I had never visited previously.

"It was a time of cautious optimism about the Oslo Accords," he added. "We visited friends and family and we made it to all the essential places including the Western Wall and Masada. We thought the trip would be one of many.

"In the more than 20 years that have passed since, the optimism of the Oslo Accords has disappeared, Yitzhak Rabin was murdered, and the occupation of the West Bank has expanded," continued the prize-winning author. "We are also all shaken by the violent rhetoric from both sides and we did what many others stuck in the middle decided to do: We chose to live outside the discourse and distance ourselves from Israel.

"However, Ayelet returned to Israel and Palestine in May 2014 for the first time in two decades, and met with the courageous 'Breaking the Silence' group, which recently became the target of intense attacks by the Right," said Chabon. "Its publication of soldiers' narratives, describing their experiences in the West Bank and Gaza has made it difficult for the Netanyahu government to continue its deceitful campaign.

"And now things stand at a critical juncture," he said. "The right-wing Netanyahu government is threatening to prosecute 'Breaking the Silence' for treason and forcing members of the organization towear special tags when they come to the Knesset to meet with legislators. Jews are forcing other Jews to wear special tags. Jews are threatening other Jews with imprisonment and even death for expressing their point of view. The people carrying out these deeds do not even understand the astounding irony.

"We decided to mark 50 years of the occupation of the West Bank by collecting candid articles about life in the Palestinian Territories written by prominent authors from around the world," Chabon explained. "We collected an amazing array of well-known stories to give life to the current situation. The articles will allow readers to understand the situation in Israel-Palestine in new and human way instead of the dark way it is portrayed in the news."

Source: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4769966,00.html

[King_David]

10. An instant "expert"

[Israeli]

11. I dont understand KD ....

[hack89]

7. North Korea? Rwanda genocide? The Great African War?

what an idiot.

[leftynyc]

8. If this clown for real? Or

maybe 10 years old? Does he see what's happening in Syria RIGHT NOW? Rwanda (an ACTUAL genocide)?