Overland literary journal

murderers confess

For many of us, the atrocities committed during the war on Gaza seemed clear enough, what with zillions of tons of high-tech ordinance dropped on densely packed civilian areas. Still, the great and the good managed, for the most part, to maintain the conventional narrative of Israeli 'purity in arms', generally by demonising anyone who suggested otherwise.

Well, the slander machine needs to go into overdrive, since we've now got fresh allegations of IDF atrocities. And these ones might be a little harder to dismiss with the usual smears about anti-Semitism and sympathy for terrorism. Why? Well, they come from the Israeli soldiers themselves.

The Australian reports:

The soldiers’ testimonies include accounts of an unarmed old woman being shot at a distance of 92m, a woman and her two children being killed after Israeli soldiers ordered them from their house into the line of fire of a sniper and soldiers clearing houses by shooting anyone they encountered on sight.

“That’s the beauty of Gaza. You see a man walking, he doesn’t have to have a weapon, and you can shoot him,” one soldier told Danny Zamir, the head of the Rabin pre-military academy, who asked him why a company commander ordered an elderly woman to be shot.

"I gathered the graduate students of the course who fought in Gaza, to hear their impressions from the fighting. I wasn't prepared for any of the stuff I heard there. I was shocked,” Mr Zamir said. “I think that the writing was on the wall, but we just didn't want to see it, we didn't want to face it."

One non-commissioned officer told Mr Zamir, himself a deputy battalion commander in the reserves, that the army “fired a lot of rounds and killed a lot of people in order for us not to be injured or shot at.

"When we entered a house, we were supposed to bust down the door and start shooting inside and just go up storey by storey … I call that murder. Each storey, if we identify a person, we shoot them. I asked myself – how is this reasonable?"

The same unnamed NCO said that his commanding officer ordered soldiers on to a rooftop to shoot an old woman crossing a main street during the fighting, which a Palestinian rights groups said left 1,434 people dead, 960 of them civilians.

"I don't know whether she was suspicious, not suspicious, I don't know her story,” the NCO said. “I do know that my officer sent people to the roof in order to take her out … It was cold-blooded murder."

Another NCO recounted a military blunder that led to a mother and her two children being shot dead by an Israeli sniper. "We had taken over the house … and the family was released and told to go right. A mother and two children got confused and went left … The sniper on the roof wasn't told that this was okay and that he shouldn't shoot … you can say he just did what he was told … he was told not to let anyone approach the left flank and he shot at them.

"I don't know whether he first shot at their feet or not, but he killed them," the soldier said.

The soldiers’ accounts were submitted anonymously at a meeting at the academy around a month ago. The Israel army said that it had started an investigation, but that this was the first time it had heard such testimony, despite having debriefed troops itself.

Breaking The Silence, an organisation of former soldiers who gather witness accounts from troops in the Palestinian territories, said that its own investigation into Operation Cast Lead, as the war was known in Israel, had revealed a similar picture of the fighting.

“It’s definitely in line with what we are hearing,” said one of the researchers.

Another disturbing element reported by the soldiers was the role of military rabbis in distributing booklets that framed the fighting as a religious war. “All these articles had a clear message: we are the Jewish people, we have come to the land by miraculous means, and now we have to fight to remove the Gentiles who are getting in our way and preventing us from occupying the Holy Land… a great many soldiers had a feeling throughout this operation of a religious war,” said one soldier.

There were also accounts of soldiers being ordered to throw all the furniture out of Palestinians’ homes as they were taken over.

“We simply threw everything out the windows to make room and order. The entire contents of the house flew out the windows: refrigerator, plates, furniture. The order was to remove the entire contents of the house.”

, since they come from the Israeli soldiers themselves.

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 21-03-2009, No comments

great minds (and ours, too)

By coincidence, Maxine and I both published pieces in Crikey yesterday arguing more or less the same thing. I think the articles are firewalled but perhaps Maxine will concur with the following summary: the Pope's fulminations about condoms in Africa will lead to thousands of unnecessary deaths. Remember that next time one of these jerks tries to lecture you about morality.

[More: Just noticed that my thing is free. It's here; Maxine's is firewalled but here.]

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 20-03-2009, 2 user comments

More about ‘On the Idea of Communism’

The Birckbeck Institute for the Humanities' conference 'On the Idea of Communism' seems to me an utterly fascinating phenomenon, not so much in and of itself (there are academic conferences held on all manner of topics), but because the massive response it provoked – this is an event featuring some of the most difficult and abstruse philosophers in Europe and yet it attracts the crowd of a sporting event –  hints at how  deep the yearning is for an alternative to the status quo. I wrote about this in my book on Guido Baracchi: that, for most of the twentieth century, the presence of Official Communism demonstrated, to the Right as much to the Left, that the world could be changed, a fact with massive significance for the entire political culture. Since 1989, that sense of an alternative has vanished, something which explains a lot about the mixture of cynicism and apathy which characterised popular attitudes to politics over the past twenty years. ... read more

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 20-03-2009, No comments

‘the only political idea worthy of a philosopher’

That's a quote from Slovenian Slavoj Zizek, the rock star philosopher, in reference to a conference held last weekend.

Birkbeck College this weekend hosted a symposium on the idea of communism. Originally planned as a meeting of philosophers and those who enjoy hearing their debates, the unexpected material circumstances of history instead gave the event a genuine sense of urgency. Even the BBC came to hear Slavoj Zizek, Alain Badiou, Jacques Ranciere, Michael Hardt, Toni Negri, and others speaking on the possibilities and challenges of reinventing the communist ideal today.

An earler Guardian piece gives this context: ... read more

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 18-03-2009, 4 user comments

Watchmen

I saw Watchmen on saturday night, the much anticipated adaptation of Alan Moore's graphic novel (at one point Terry Gilliam was rumoured to be attached to it). After Zack Snyder's last execrable effort, 300, a neo-fascist movie based on Frank Miller's eponymous graphic novel, I was hesitant (and besides, I loved the graphic novel). I was pleasantly surprised. Though it's impossible to compress a novel like Watchmen into a film, the scriptwriters do a good job, and the whole thing is pretty damn interesting - we should remember that Time magazine, I believe, at one point listed Watchmen as one of the 100 greatest novels of the 20th Century. There is much else to say about Watchmen - and

Written by Rjurik Davidson on 17-03-2009, 13 user comments

those Hanson photos

My Crikey piece on Pauline Hanson is behind the titanium subscriber wall. But it seems to me that, as ghastly as Hanson is, this kind of thing is exactly what fuels right-wing populism.  It's not just that no editor would publish photos of a male politician in his jocks, it's also that the tabloids would never treat a 'respectable' female politician the way they treat Hanson. Because she's unpolished and unsophisticated, she's seen as fair game -- which, of course, will only further convince her supporters that the 'elites' are conspiring against them.

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 17-03-2009, 4 user comments

The Kindly Ones

Jonathan LIttell's Holocaust novel The KIndly Ones has provoked wildly different reactions, simultaneously hailed as a masterpiece and denounced as an exploitative fraud.

It's certainly an ambitious book, absolutely meticulous in its research into the grisly details of mass killing. The novel's structured as the memoir of Max Aue written towards the end of his life. Though trained as a jurist, Aue became an SS officer, intimately involved with the execution program in Poland and then later with the administration of the camps. What's more, he writes as someone still ideologically committed to Nazism. ... read more

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 15-03-2009, 1 user comment

recession-proof books

The GFC means bad news for the publishing industry, right? Well, for the most part, yes. But there are some genres that are apparently thriving.

Torstar, the company that publishes Harlequin category romances, actually made money in the fourth quarter due to Harlequin sales.

In the report, it states: "Harlequin finished the year strongly with another good quarter that drove earnings for the year up 11 percent. This is the third year in a row of business growth for Harlequin which is making important gains in both print and digital products. We are very pleased with Harlequin's performance and prospects." And, "The outlook for 2009 is mixed and marked by uncertainty due to the economy. At Harlequin, we expect continuing stable results building on the success and growth of the last three years. Overall, we anticipate Harlequin will deliver a fourth good year in a row. Harlequin's results have held up well to date despite the recession. Subject to trends in employment advertising, we also expect continued good performance from our online businesses, but with lower rates of revenue growth than in previous years as overall advertising expenditures are constrained by the economy." ... read more

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 14-03-2009, 1 user comment

don’t blame the intertubes

Clive Hamilton generated a lot of discussion in Crikey with an interesting piece arguing that the vicious culture of the blogosphere hindered any genuinely democratic debate. My response runs below.

Last week, Clive Hamilton denounced "an ugly culture of dogmatic and belligerent interventions [that] now dominates social and political debate on the Internet".

Anyone who's spent time exploring the wilder realms of Blogostan knows the culture of which he speaks. The Pure Poison crew monitors the more egregious proponents of "You suck!"-blogging in Australia, but the genus seems best habituated to the American environment. ... read more

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 13-03-2009, 2 user comments

Congratulations, Christos Tsiolkas

The Slap's now won the 2009 Commonwealth Writers' Prize for South East Asia and the Pacific. Nice -- and characteristic -- quote from Christos here.

Tsiolkas's book was up against Helen Garner's The Spare Room, Tim Winton's Breath, Joan London's The Good Parents, Aravind Adiga's Between The Assassinations and New Zealander Paula Morris's Forbidden Cities in the regional category.

"Competition is a weird thing in the arts -- how do you judge between such different writers?" Tsiolkas said before the ceremony yesterday.

The real reward, he said, was being acknowledged in such accomplished company. And, he added, "It's nice to know Mum and Dad will be proud of this." ... read more

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 12-03-2009, No comments

word up

Whether you like your words shaken, stirred, strutted, sensitive or sexed-up, Wordplay will satisfy you for sure. Here's a thankyou from Wordplay organiser Geoff Lemon (Sunblind, Picaro Press 2008), for those who supported the bushfire fundraiser last month and the word on what's up for play tonight:

Firstly, can I deeply thank everyone who contributed to Wordplay's bushfire fundraiser in February. We raised nearly two thousand dollars for those who needed it; we had our biggest crowd ever; our performers were amazing; and so was the atmosphere in that room. Thanks to all who came and who contributed. Even if you just forwarded the invitation, every effort helped. I've also been asked to pass on the sincere thanks of those who our fundraising was in aid of.

Wordplay will be back this Thursday, the 12th of March, and we promise you as good a show as we always provide. From 8:00 pm at the Dan O'Connell Hotel, we have:

BEN EZRA

Adding another feather to a cap that resembles an Indian headdress, Ben's lyrical skills earned him a guest spot on the new album by Astronomy Class (the side project for The Herd frontman, Ozi Batla). Ben is one of the best wordsmiths around, seamlessly blending elements of hip-hop, poetry and spoken word. And Christ we're glad we stole him from Sydney a couple of years ago.

LEE KOFMAN

is guaranteed to have audiences shifting, shuffling, blushing and squeaking. She writes love and human relationships in a way no-one can imitate, merging realism and fantasy with a dash of the erotic and a beautifully twisted sense of humour. Lee writes with equal facility in English, Hebrew and Russian, having moved here from the USSR via Israel. She also has the best damn accent you've ever heard.

JULEZ

The versatile Julez is a rapper and a slammer pushing all kinds of boundaries. He received rave reviews from Triple J presenters during his time as an Unearthed feature artist, he's part of the acclaimed Tall Man Sound System, and he's supported artists like Sage Francis and Buck 65. He even created a hip-hop cabaret show for the Fringe Festival. Now he'll be stepping off-beat, for an acapella performance that will show the true complexity of hip-hop flavoured rhyming.

ANITA GEORGE

Wordplay gets musical as we feature one of the country's best blues artists. Having spent last year touring Canada and South America, she'll take the stage this week. I can't rave enough about her live performances - slide guitar chops, harmonica skillz, a truly wonderful voice, and songs whose lyrics aren't just decoration. Trust me on this one.

So come one, come all! Bring your friends, forward the invite, spread the word, and help us fill the hell out of that venue. Let's get it cranking one more time.

Wordplay
at the Dan O'Connell Hotel (back bar)
Thursday March 12 from 8:00 pm
Corner of Canning and Princes Streets, Carlton
(between Lygon and Nicholson)
Entry by donationwww.wordplay.org.au for details

... read more

Written by Maxine Clarke on 11-03-2009, No comments

how not to land an agent

At JacketFlap, a bunch of literary agents list the worst query lines they've received. These lists always seem a bit patronising but the examples are all recognisable. Part 3 is headed 'Only include relevant, professional publishing credentials in your query'. That means you don't write:

• My credentials for writing this book include: A divine mandate to speak the word of God.
• The best credentials I can share are the comments from my family and friends after they read my book.
• Please Google my name for more information.
• This isn’t my first published work, I have published 2 articles in G4S Pipeline Trade Publication.
• I have been writing since I could hold a crayon, and before that I used finger paints.
• I know 10 people who would buy this book right now!
• This is not representative of my best work.
• This is my first attempt at writing a fictional novel.
• I read this to the high school English class that I teach and they all agreed it was wonderful.
• I’m a real estate developer and you contacted me once in the past about a building or a home I had for sale at that time.
• Four paragraphs about your former career as a technical writer. Not one sentence about plot of book.
• The entire manuscript has been reviewed by both my writing mentor and a copyeditor and is ready for wide distribution.
• The manuscript is complete. It is 320 pages in Font 10 with 178,313 words. It has 36 chapters. I am not a professional writer.
• In a nutshell, I have no credentials.

Written by Jeff Sparrow on 11-03-2009, 7 user comments

Radio Lajee

On the radio station RRR this morning, I heard Daz Chandler talking about the Radio Lajee website. Here's how the website describes itself:

www.radiolajee.com is the home of an exciting new series of podcasts by Palestinian refugees aged between 11 and 22 years. Established by Australian new media enthusiast, Daz Chandler, in collaboration with the Lajee Centre, the independent project aims to provide the refugee youth with the skills necessary to create a weekly, English language podcast.

I really like the fact that there are, together with more directly political podcasts, non-political ones such as 'Amal's Kitchen,' where you can learn to cook Palestinian food. I really want to try out one of the recipes.

Written by Rjurik Davidson on 10-03-2009, No comments

crossing boundaries?

One of those things turning over in my mind: at a talk last week Scott Monk (author of YA titles such as Raw, The Crush) said that he thinks publishers nowadays are increasingly interested in locating fiction that crosses national boundaries, that isn’t too rigidly located in an Australian setting. Right or wrong it allows your book to be sold in more countries.

Will this crowd out the more peculiarly local stories and does that matter? As a writer I think I’m perhaps always trying to write locally, to get at the more general truths of experience, the old paradox. But not too locally. A factual history of the street I live in wouldn’t reach too many readers.

What is globalisation (and the adjunct economic state) doing to fiction? I haven’t travelled overseas. I haven’t even been to Tasmania yet.

Written by Derek on 9-03-2009, No comments