The full moon and the Hatikvah

Not only is Avivit Caspi a beautiful Israeli women, but she sings a wonderful version of the Hatikvah.

I am writing about the Hatikvah on this full moon in California... enjoying this old tune that rings of old European Judaism.

Surfing the Casbah meets Facebook!

Not that anyone particularly cares about social networking, but it is truly a blessing for an unemployed journalist guerrilla, such as myself.

Yup! It is done.

I have now officially created a Facebook page for my new and upcoming book on surfing through the Middle East:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Surfing-the-Casbah-Jesse-Aizenstat/346413356536?v=wall

And I dare you all to join! And I'll tell you why...

In the world of modern publishing, people want to see that your idea is popular. And while I'm slaving away trying to write a good book, I'm also trying to gather a list of people who generally think this most unusual approach is both interesting and justified in looking at the Middle East.

But, from time to time, people say:

"You just can't tackle some of the hardest issues in the world through some cutesy smartass joke... like surfing."

I say:

"Well, it's not like the old ways have work so well... Much of why we are still in this same, stuck place is because people haven't challenged themselves to think outside the box."

So Whoa! What do you mean by this "think outside the box?"

Well, how about a perspective that's fun and seeks to integrate, study and sojourn with not just officials and bureaucrats, but the everyday folk that is left from the front page.

Surfing the Middle East is my personal method to turn everything conventional on its head and do a little primary research on a region that has spent decades upon decades in violence and chaos.

So with that said, I invite you all to come along for the ride.

Syrian Voices (Part 1)

Al-Farabi is back from weeks of traveling, passing through Hama, Halab (Aleppo), Homs, Tadmor (Palmyra) and stopping periodically through the Syrian countryside. Once again Syrian hospitality came through as many of my friends were wonderful hosts. Now that I am back in Dimashq it’s time to post some of the reactions I have received about US engagement and the appointment of Robert Ford. I’ve been debating whether to aggregate the conversations into a summary and draw cautious generalizations or break up some of the most intriguing conversations I had into separate posts. I always try to avoid generalizations so to pass up stating, “Syrians think this or Syrians think that.” Thus, I will follow the latter.

When I toured the Aleppo Citadel, I encountered a family of six, all of which had gold necklaces with the outlines of a map of Palestine that stretched from the Negev desert to the border with Lebanon, the present day borders of Israel. Syria views itself as the beating heart of Arabism. The defense of Palestinian rights is an integral part of that image. This family literally wore their passionate support for Palestinians on their chest. It so happened that they were eager to talk to me because their son is interested in pursuing studies in the U.S. I asked them about the necklace and what it meant to them. The Mother told me that although her family is not of Palestinian origin, she feels deeply for their cause. I posed the following question to her: What would he reaction be if Israel returns the Jowlan to Syria under a series of conditions in which Syria drops its support for resistance movements and without any progress towards a Palestinian state? She stated that Palestinians have the right to resist occupation no matter what relations are between Syria and Israel. Does this mean that she could support a decision by the Syrian government distancing itself from HAMAS and Hezbollah? Although she believes this is unlikely, her answer signaled a sense of fatalism that not all but many Syrians espouse. Whatever the Syrian government decides, she would ultimately accept because on a personal level there is nothing she could do to change the situation.

As for US engagement of Syria, she wanted to welcome Robert Ford (“Ahlan Wasahlan”). The lack of US representative doesn’t hurt Syrians, but surely hurts Americans, as she explained. How can a country make policy when they no little of what is happening in the country? I reminded her that although there wasn’t an Ambassador for five years the embassy staff still worked to hold discussions with the Syrian government. She hoped that his presence would mean that the U.S. will take a harder look at ending the Congressional imposed sanctions.

Al-Farabi’s not a betting man, but he doesn’t see how sanctions will be removed until there is peace between Israel and Syria. This family, I’m afraid, may find only disenchantment as engagement has moved at a snail’s pace, and Washington and Damascus still have plenty to squabble about in the future.

Surfing the Casbah: Behind the Savage Borders of the Middle East (book cover, Part II)

I would like to thank the Casbahites who commented on my proposed book cover in the last post. It helped a lot. And it even got me thinking... If you saw a book with this cover (see below) what would you do?
(Click here to read about what I'm doing.)

A) Buy it without question.
B) Pick it up and set it down.
C) Breeze by.
D) Call the police.
E) Say to yourself:
E) Say to yourself: "Well geez, it's about bloody time some crazed loon wrote a book about surfing the Middle East!"

For good measure, here is another prospect:

Oh, and these two:

&

Surfing the Casbah: Behind the Savage Borders of the Middle East (book cover)

Special thanks to my younger brother, Eli, for spending a few hours of his afternoon on Photoshop making this book cover. I'm starting to see some results with this project; the more I blog, the more I write, even the more I share with the people I know, the more this project seems to sell itself.

"So surfing the Middle East," they will say, "sounds like quite a ride..."

It was.

Comments on the cover?

This has nothing to do with the Middle East...But

There are a lot of stories out there about print-journalists getting laid off... but this one, by Sheeleh Kolhatar, is one king hell bastard of a piece... a worthy read, indeed.

(Sorry Casbahites... just had to add this picture to this post.)

It is true: all the laid off print journalists I know have turned to Facebook, blogs, Twitter and whatever else--drinking--to get some sort of "exposure." Sometimes it is the only way to do it. At least for this guerrilla, Blogging the Casbah, for example, is blogged in absence of a "real job." (Though when my book is done--Surfing the Casbah--I'm hoping to sell a few books off this site.)

So people keep asking me:

"Abu, what do you think? You have experience in both print and online journalism... Where is the future in all of this? Will all these unemployed, talented writers be forced to get into the the used car industry?"

And I say:

"Frankly my friends, I don't know... But perhaps the IPad will come to save us after all."

With profound reservations I say that it looks like free news with advertising seems to be the way of the future. I mean you can't charge money for news, right?"

So is the death of democracy when we do...