Musical instruments of Portland, Oregon Ensemble destroyed by TSA officials
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- Written by Al Andalus Ensemble Al Andalus Ensemble
- Published: 03 January 2014 03 January 2014
- Hits: 4637 4637
Musical instruments destroyed by TSA officials
Source: Al Andalus Ensemble Dated: Jan. 01, 2014
Professional musician in tears after losing his lifetime collection of flutes
PORTLAND, Ore. -- Boujemaa Razgui had his ney flutes taken from him by TSA and destroyed by US customs officials in New York. Boujemaa Razgui is a virtuoso ney player and longtime Al Andalus Ensemble member. You can hear Boujemaa Razgui's beautiful ney playing on the Al Andalus Ensemble “ Illumination” on the track “Nabil.” Boujemaa has performed and recorded with Beyonce, Shakira and the Cirque de Soleil and is a regular with the Boston Camarata.
Boujemaa has made many trips around the world for over three decades with these flutes and never before has had a problem. He was traveling back to the US to his home in Boston, Ma from Marrakech, Morocco via Madrid, Spain when his instruments were confiscated and destroyed in New York. Boujemaa is a Canadian citizen and longtime US permanent resident. His wife and children are US citizens. In addition to the loss of his valuable instruments, Boujemaa said he was treated very poorly by US Customs officials where he was questioned for hours, photographed and fingerprinted without cause.
Boujemaa was in tears when he told us about the loss of his neys. He explained:
“besides representing my livelihood, the neys are like my children. Each one was carefully and lovingly crafted. Seasoned and oiled, and regularly played upon. With the years, the sound of the ney just grows better and better. I don’t know what I am going to do now...” he mourned.
Read more: Musical instruments of Portland, Oregon Ensemble destroyed by TSA officials
BBC Comedy Sketch The Israeli Embassy's Extension
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- Written by BBC Three BBC Three
- Published: 03 January 2014 03 January 2014
- Hits: 4609 4609
The ever creeping dispossession of Palestinians in the guise of comedy by the BBC Three.
Watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=e6KqarWbN7A
Native American academics join boycott of Israeli universities
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- Written by Jewish Telegraph Agency Jewish Telegraph Agency
- Published: 23 December 2013 23 December 2013
- Hits: 3963 3963
December 18, 2013 12:11pm
WASHINGTON (JTA) — A Native American studies association is the third U.S. academic body this year to recommend its members boycott Israeli universities.
The Native American and Indigenous Studies Association in a Dec. 15 announcement said it “encourages NAISA members to boycott Israeli academic institutions because they are imbricated with the Israeli state and we wish to place pressure on that state to change its policies.”
The statement encouraged “generous dialogue” on the issue and said the boycott was open to discussion at the group’s national conference in May in Austin, Texas.
Like the American Studies Association, which announced its own boycott this week, the NAISA boycott does not target individuals and is not binding on members.
The Asian American Studies Association approved a similar boycott in April.
Israel PM vows to continue settlement expansion
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- Written by AFP/Maan News AFP/Maan News
- Published: 19 December 2013 19 December 2013
- Hits: 4219 4219
JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue "developing" settlements following reports of US pressure ahead of a fresh round of Palestinian prisoner releases due later this month.
"We will not stop, even for a moment, building our country and becoming stronger, and developing ... the settlement enterprise," he told members of his right-wing Likud faction in remarks broadcast on army radio on Thursday.
Netanyahu's comments, made late on Wednesday, came as US Secretary of State John Kerry fights for the survival of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, which were launched in late July but have been severely strained by Israel's persistent settlement drive.
Late on Wednesday, the Haaretz news website reported that Kerry and other senior US officials had urged Netanyahu and his cabinet "to exercise maximum restraint in announcing new construction," in tandem with the release on Dec. 29 of 26 veteran Palestinian prisoners.
Two previous rounds of prisoner releases in August and October have been accompanied by Israeli announcements of fresh construction on land the Palestinians want for a future state, sparking deep anger in Ramallah.
But in his remarks on Wednesday, Netanyahu appeared to rebuff any pressure from Washington, blaming the absence of any peace agreement on the Palestinians' refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state.
"I know that people keep telling us that there is no peace because of the settlements, because of our presence in Judea and Samaria and it's not true," the premier said, using the biblical term for the West Bank.
"There is no peace because of the ongoing opposition to the existence of a national Jewish homeland within any borders, and we have the right to a state just like any other people."
State of Emergency in Gaza
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- Written by Mohammed Omer and the Washington Report Mohammed Omer and the Washington Report
- Published: 17 December 2013 17 December 2013
- Hits: 4793 4793
We decided to make this urgent report from Mohammed Omer into an action alert—Gazans need our help now!
Contact Secretary of State John Kerry:
Write: U.S. Department of State
2201 C ST., NW
Washington, DC 20520
Call: 202-647-4000; select option 4 and ask operator for the comment line.
202-647-6575 (Public Communication Division); select option 8 to leave your comment.
It is cold, there is no power, and I am charging my computer using a car battery in order to get this message out. It is so cold in Gaza that everyone has cold feet and a cold nose. A new storm is hitting this besieged enclave. There is no electricity, and shortages of water, fuel, and vital services mean people just sit and wait for the unknown.
Tens of houses east of Gaza City, in the northern Gaza Strip, in Khan Younes and Rafah are flooded with rain today. The sewage system cannot function and Gaza municipalities announced a state of emergency. Schools and most shops are shut, there is no traffic and few people are walking in the street.
Gaza City’s garbage trucks have been at a standstill due to the ongoing fuel shortage. I’d gotten used to the bright orange truck that usually passes by, sounding its horn, a sign for all my neighbors to bring out their garbage for collection.
Now the donkey is our only remaining hope. Since last week—when fuel supplies ran dry—the only sound one hears now is the click-click of their hooves as they pull their carts along the road at 4 a.m. By noon, they have collected all they can on their busy route. In Gaza’s Barcelona neighborhood, garbage containers are overflowing—a normal occurrence since fuel ran out.