Anti-Semitism? Indeed

A couple of days ago apeared in the news (“Filmmakers protest uncritical view of Tel Aviv at Toronto film festival”, Haaretz) that some Canadian filmmakers threatened to withdraw their movies from The Toronto International Film Festival to protest the screening of Israeli movies at the festival -a celebration of the centennial of Tel Aviv- that, according to them, “will show Israel in a positive light instead of creating a critical forum in which to discuss the occupation”. One of the protesters, the movie director John Greyson, complained about “the business-as-usual atmosphere advanced by the choice of Tel Aviv as a young, dynamic metropolis, in a celebration free of confrontation with less pleasant parts of Israel”, for example, what he refers to as “the brutal occupation”.

Somewhere else, I have labeled this protest an anti-Semitic one, which prompted, in turn, some complaints by a friend. He defines anti-Semitism as “the un-principled hatred directed towards Israel and Jewish people based on nothing other than bigotry, intolerance, and ignorance”, and doesn´t think “one can accurately claim that any of the protesters cited in this article are endorsing or promoting anti-Semitism.”

I share entirely my friend´s definition of anti-Semitism, but also reach the oposite conclusion in this case. I´d like to add I´m particularly careful when using certain loaded terms, and “anti-Semitism” is one of them. Therefore, I was not careless when I chose to use it. I also share the emphasis my friend places in the distinction between the legitimate criticism of human rights violations by a country and the condemnation of a country or people as a whole. My own position is very critical towards many Israeli policies, the occupation of The West Bank and the meddling of the Israeli army in the daily life of Palestinians in particular, but this is not the point.

I call these Canadian filmmakers anti-Semitic because their protest reveals hostility and prejudice towards Israel per se.

As an example, let´s think of a film festival outside Canada which was to screen movies by Canadian filmmakers celebrating, say, the vibrant dynamism and multiculturalism of the city of Toronto. Then let´s think of several other participants in the festival protesting against those Canadian filmmakers showing a positive image of Canada when what they should be doing, say, is showing in their movies how evil the participation of Canadian troops in the international mission currently being carried out in Afghanistan. Wouldn´t we think this would be a paranoic protest? Wouldn´t we say these two facts -a vibrant Toronto and the Afghan mission- are not related? Wouldn´t we take it as an unespecific critique and a total disregard of the many good things going on in Canada and, therefore, a censure of the whole country? Moreover, what idea these Canadian filmmakers have of an artist´s freedom to create? Should all Israeli artists devote their energy and time to criticize endlessly the occupation of the West Bank, otherwise they will not be accepted as artists? So, portraying daily life in Tel Aviv means approval of Israeli policies towards the Palestinians? What should be the recommendation, in turn, regarding the Palestinian artists? That they are not free to display whatever they want in their artworks, that they must always show how “brutal” the occupation is, otherwise their works will no be taken seriously? This is exactly what the Case of the Toronto Film Festival and Israel is about.

Often, a very ill-conceived position regarding justice consists in (a) defining strong and feeble individuals or groups, according to our particular ideologies; then (b) side in all places and cases with the feeble and against the strong, thus defined. This complacent attitude may show others how religiously we adhere to our ideologies, but is not likely to be  of service to those we claim to help, and certainly is misguided as a principle for justice. Sometimes, it can also even bear extreme prejudice, and the Canadian filmmakers protest is a good example of it. As my friend says, it´s important to distinguish between a legitimate critique and unspecific, generalistic condemnations. Anti-Semitism may easily sprout among this kind of prejudiced protests against what should be mere movies bearing no relation to what is being objected against. However, some people are always ready to see what they want to see, and not what actually is out there.

Photo: Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, 2009 © Loudsoul

Throbbing house

Heavy bass. Wicked voices. Obscure rhythm for a while, then waves of light… Urgent need to jump into the dancefloor. Good house music should get all your senses twirling, not bore you to death… Good house music is sexy and glamourous, and gets you excited… Music is empathy, and makes you reach for the beautiful dancers around you…

Tracklist:

01 Utku Dalmaz · Meaningful
02 Julien Chaptal · Joel Starr
03 Alex Celler · Trapped in dub
04 Lauhaus · Back to Ipanema
05 Aziz · Yo body
06 Werner Niedermeyer · Obvious (Gareth Whitehead mix)
07 Alex Carbo · Code
08 Utku Dalmaz · Le jazz dans l’espace

Download
[44:19, 60,9 Mb]

Photo: Resonance, 2006 © Mr. Flibble

Quite eclectic

Starting deep, then house, and finally tech-house. One thing leads naturally to another. Enjoy.

Tracklist:

01 Alex Celler · The playmaker (Dyed Soundorom cougar mix)
02 Ekkohaus · Old friends
03 Rick Wade · Crazy luv (vox)
04 Nacho Marco · Move you
05 Sandy Rivera · Whatever (Andy Daniell mix)
06 Sami Wentz · Tallo blindado
07 Rocha · Shiitas
08 Steve Mac · Hate
09 Sam Ball · Mad dash
10 Terrence Parker · Why after all this

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[55:19, 76 Mb]

Let´s get dirty

This is not really the style I´m used to spin. However, I wanted to try combining a few trashy dance tunes with remixes of some pop tracks that I love… The result is this short mix. I hope you like it…

Tracklist:

01 Atnarko · Illest on the block (original mix)
02 Mark Romboy ft Paris the Black FU · Computer madness (original mix)
03 The Knife · Heartbeats (Style of Eye mix)
04 Depeche Mode · Happiest girl (Leftfield & Lydon mix)
05 Goldfrapp · Ooh la la (Tiefschwartz mix)
06 Miss DicA · Freaky stars
07 Royksopp ft Anneli Drecker · Sparks (MANDY mix)
08 Depeche Mode · Martyr (Booka Shade dub)

Download
[43:36, 59,9 Mb]

Photo: 80’s pop makes me happy, 2007 © ram

Freedom and civic courage

I still have many progressive acquaintances that purport to cherish freedom, but would never criticize autocratic regimes… if they happen to be “leftist”, that is. These people would do themselves a favor if they watched attentively the film The lives of others (Das Leben der Anderen, Germany, 2006, directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck). What would they say then about states that destroyed so meticulously the lives of so many people on behalf of socialism? Would they agree with the claim that building an egalitarian society required spying most citizens, looking at every aspect of private, individual lives, and locking up or eliminating all those over who fell the slightest shadow of a paranoic doubt of disloyalty to the regime, proof of what could often be the mere possesion of a Western newspaper? Perhaps they would try to convince themselves that this events happened long time ago, sidestepping the fact that the terrorist practices of the Eastern European socialist governments against their own citizens were in place until 1989, or that it was a corruption of the true ideas of socialism. But how to avoid linking the millions of lives destroyed by regimes like the former DDR with those being equally destroyed nowadays in Cuba, China or Venezuela, for instance? Those who experienced first hand the fear of the secret police, censorship, and terror at some point in their lives are much more willing to stand up for individual freedom than some of those who were born in a free society, take their liberties for granted, and for whom being progressive is just an empty aesthetic exercise which requires no critical, honest thinking. After all, Nazism and Communism arrived in Germany after decades of constitutional and semi- or fully democratic governments. Those ones that tend to think democracy can defend itself -or worst: that governments will safeguard our liberties, and that it is a task requiring no individual effort on our side- should take the best lessons from this excellent film. On the other hand, and timely related to the film, two days ago the Hungarian President Laszlo Solyom and the German Chancellor Angela Merkel commemorated the 20th Anniversay of the so called “Pan-European picnic”, an spontaneous meeting of East Germans and Hungarians in the border between Austria and Hungary that helped precipitate the fall of the Berlin wall (“Hungary Remembers Picnic That Cracked Iron Curtain”, thanks for the link, J.), and which is the perfect example of the civic courage needed to fight totalitarianism. How many of us here in the Western world would show nowadays the same resolution if our liberties were in danger?

Photo: Das Leben der Anderen, 2006 © moviezkult