#jerusalem 1999

[eurovision-revisited]

1999 Jerusalem - Number 4 - Anna Oxa - "Senza pietà"

What more can you say about Anna Oxa? She's entered the Festival di Sanremo fifteen separate times! Fifteen! The most recent was this year, 2023. She won in 1989 and represented Italy at Eurovision. 1999 was her tenth entry and her second victory with Senza pietà (Without Mercy). Truly a queen.

Senza pietà itself is an interesting song with large serving of gender play at its heart. Anna casts herself as a knight in a fantasy realm, massacring enemies with her sword all in the name of finding love and conquering it without mercy. Oh my! Anna herself is aquiline, honed like her sword in the song, hair slicked back, leather clad, she means business.

Her voice is the star, low and purposeful throughout the verses, soaring to huge heights when the chorus hits. If Italy were in Eurovision this year, this would have been their entry and I'm confident it would have been contention for the win. Anna, RAI should have been there with you so all of Europe could enjoy this.

Of course, this was a big hit in Italy, and her career continued well into the new millennium. She also did some TV presenting work and was poised to conquer the Italian version of Strictly Come Dancing/Dancing with the Stars until a leg injury forced her out.

Here she is at the beginning of her Sanremo journey with her second placed song Un'emozione da poco from 1979.

[deadpresidents]

I thought this was a blog about us presidents, no one comes here to read your thoughts on the mess in syria.

Well, first and foremost, this isn't a request line. I started this blog to write about whatever I want to write about and I've been doing that for 15+ years. It's not changing anytime soon. I don't care what you came here to read. It's not for you. If anybody finds anything interesting, it's an added bonus.

The collapse of a regime that has existed longer than I've been alive and has had an iron grip on one of the oldest continuous civilizations in the world is historic. And it's interesting to me, and I'll write about whatever interests me whenever I am interested by it. These moments should be fascinating to anybody who has an interest in history. You never know where the story is going to go from here, and that alone is interesting, as well. Just because it isn't "your" history doesn't mean it isn't historic.

When Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father in 2000, there was actually a significant amount of optimism around him. He was a London-educated ophthalmologist who was never intended to be Syria's leader but was thrust into the role after the death of his brother in a car accident. It was thought that he might be a reformer who would lead differently than the tyrannical rule of his father. There was hope that some real changes might take place in parts of the Arab world in 1999 and 2000 when King Hussein of Jordan, King Hassan II of Morocco, and Hafez al-Assad of Syria -- longtime rulers in their respective countries -- all died and were replaced by sons in their mid-30s (King Abdullah II in Jordan, King Mohammed VI in Morocco, and Bashar in Syria). Jordan and Morocco weren't in the same situation as Syria, especially considering the decades of close connections King Hussein and King Hassan II had with the United States, but there was still genuine hope about Bashar al-Assad in 2000.

Twenty-four years later, we know the path of history that Assad took, but these moments are hugely important -- not just for Syrians or Arabs or the Middle East in general, but for the entire world. What happens in Syria matters here. Don't forget that there are American soldiers on the ground in Syria. I'm from Sacramento and live in Los Angeles -- those two cities are almost twice as far apart as Damascus is from Jerusalem. Damascus is closer to Beirut than Sacramento is to San Francisco. Russia, Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Israel -- these countries are all intricately connected with Syria in various ways and have been for decades. If you aren't interested in what's going on in Syria today, that's your prerogative. If you don't think what's going on in Syria today makes a difference here, you are disturbingly ignorant.

[incorrect-koh-posts]

Masterlist of KoH-related Novels

Below you'll find a list of every novel I know of that is set in the same period as Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven (2005), covers at least some of the same events and features some or all of the historical figures that also appear in the film. The list will be updated occasionally as I work my way through. Enjoy!

✷ English-language novels & novels available in translation

1879: Lady Sibyl's Choice (Emily Sarah Holt) -> thoughts

1937: The Leper King (Zofia Kossak, originally published in Polish) -> thoughts

1954: Knight Crusader (Ronald Welch)

1965: The Wandering Unicorn (Manuel Mujica Lainez, originally published in Spanish) -> thoughts

1969: The Knights of Dark Renown (Graham Shelby) -> thoughts

1989: Alamut (Judith Tarr)

1991: The Dagger and the Cross (Judith Tarr)

1992: Pagan's Crusade (Catherine Jinks)

1996: Jerusalem (Cecelia Holland) -> thoughts

1998: The Book of Saladin (Tariq Ali)

1998 - 2000: Arn the Knight Templar series (Jan Guillou, originally published in Swedish)

The Road to Jerusalem (1998)

The Knight Templar (1999)

The Kingdom at the End of the Road (2000)

2004: Crusader King (Susan Peek)

2006: Sand Daughter (Sarah Bryant)

2007: The Leper Crown (George Morgan)

2009 - 2021: The Magdalen Cycle series (Scott R. Rezer)

#1: The Leper King (2009)

#2: The Pawns of Sion (2015)

#3: The Gambit Queen (2021)

2011: The King's Witch (Cecelia Holland)

2011 - 2013: Saladin trilogy (Jack Hight)

Eagle (2011)

Kingdom (2012)

Holy War (2013)

2011 - 2023: The Last King of Legends series (Serafia Cross)

#1: The Kingmakers (2011)

#2: In the Face of Trials (2012)

#3: The Sovereign Gambit (2015)

#4: The King's Last Deeds (2023)

2012 - 2017: Outremer Chronicles series (Peter Tolladay)

#1: The Templar's Apprentice (2012)

#2: The Harsh Mistress (2014)

#3: The Thorn in the Crown (2016)

2014 - 2016: Balian d'Ibelin series (Helena P. Schrader) -> thoughts

#1: Knight of Jerusalem (2014)

#2: Defender of Jerusalem (2015)

#3: Envoy of Jerusalem (2016)

2018: Templar Silks (Elizabeth Chadwick)

2018 - 2020: The Brotherhood series (K. M. Ashman)

#1: Templar Steel (2018)

#2: Templar Stone (2019)

#3: Templar Blood (2020)

2018 - 2023: Watchers of Outremer series (Suzannah Rowntree)

#2: The Lady of Kingdoms (2019)

#5: The House of Mourning (2023)

2020: The Leper King (Peter Busby)

2020: The Land Beyond the Sea (Sharon Kay Penman) -> thoughts

✷ Non-English novels not available in translation:

1959: L'Étoile de Pourpre (Serge Dalens & Pierre Joubert, French comic)

1999 - 2017: Die Templerin series (Wolfgang & Rebecca Hohlbein, German)

#3: Die Rückkehr der Templerin (2004)

#4: Das Wasser des Lebens (2008)

#5: Das Testament Gottes (2011)

#6: Das Band des Schicksals (2017)

2002: Thibaut ou la Croix Perdue (Juliette Benzoni, French)

2007: Las Lanzas de Jerusalén (Georges Bordonove, Spanish)

2019: Die Assassinin (Alexandra Cavelius, German)

✷ Tangentially related:

1946: mentions of KoH characters in The World is not Enough (Zoé Oldenbourg)

1997: Queen of Swords (Judith Tarr), about Baldwin's grandmother Melisende

[argumate]

Likud policy under Begin in 1977:

The “original” party platform, published in 1977 under the leadership of former Israeli prime minister Menachem Begin, claimed that only the Jewish people have “the right” to “the land” of historical Palestine, which it called Eretz Israel, a Hebrew phrase meaning the Land of Israel.

This “Jewish right” is “eternal and indisputable”, the document said. As a result, “Judea and Samaria will not be handed to any foreign administration; between the Sea and Jordan there will only be Israeli sovereignty.”

In 1978, this Likud assertion was confirmed by then-US Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, saying that the Likud party “calls for permanent Israeli retention of all of the West Bank and Gaza”, reducing the possibility of an independent Palestinian state to nothing.

Likud policy under Sharon in 1999:

The 1999 version of the charter, a document linked to former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s leadership, did not change much on the party’s approach toward the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

“The Government of Israel flatly rejects the establishment of a Palestinian Arab state west of the Jordan River,” said the charter.

It suggested an autonomous status for Palestinians under Israeli control, an offer different Palestinian resistance groups – from Fatah to Hamas – have long opposed.

“The Palestinians can run their lives freely in the framework of self-rule, but not as an independent and sovereign state. Thus, for example, in matters of foreign affairs, security, immigration and ecology, their activity shall be limited in accordance with imperatives of Israel's existence, security and national needs,” it added.

Likud policy under Netanyahu in 2009:

In 2009, another version of the charter emerged after Netanyahu – who became the Likud leader in 2005 following Sharon’s departure from the party – came to power. Like the 1999 text, the 2009 charter also opposed the two-state solution, dismissing the possibility of an independent Palestinian state.

The 2009 document also clearly states that Likud governments “will maintain Jerusalem as a unified city, the capital of Israel, under Israeli rule”, opposing its division between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, a stance which violates international law.

The Likud document also threatened that any attempt to divide Jerusalem would lead to a regional war.

In 2018, the then Likud government led by Netanyahu enacted a controversial Nation State Law, which recognises the right of self-determination only for Jews in Israel, evoking the original 1977 party charter’s assertion that the “Jewish right” is “eternal and indisputable” between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River.

During the ongoing Gaza war, Netanyahu made a very similar assertion to what the 1999 Likud party charter already declared regarding an independent Palestinian state, using almost the same words to say that he and his allies “flat out reject” the formation of “a Palestinian state”.

comments from Likud backbencher Nissim Vaturi this year:

“We want to remove all the Arabs from Gaza. They should not be in Judea and Samaria either,” says Vaturi.

“Transfer is not an illegitimate word. First of all, we need to transfer the Arabs of Gaza and also begin in Judea and Samaria, begin in Area C,” continues the MK.

“We need to wake up. We need to expel the Arabs from here. We need to expel everyone now. Send them to countries who want them so badly. We should not be afraid because God is with us,” concludes Vaturi.

a Likud member has been prime minister in Israel for approximately 36 of the past 48 years, or 75% of the past half century:

1977-1984

1986-1992

1996-1999

2001-2005

2009-2021

2023-present

of course Israel has an often fractious parliamentary system with coalition governments, but it seems reasonable to see the Likud party platform as playing a significant role in the overall national vision and governance of Israel given the party's electoral success.

[valkyries-things]

AMOUN SLEEM // ACTIVIST

“She is a Domari (Roma) activist, who created the Domari Society in Jerusalem in October 1999. This aimed at “combating the major issues facing the Dom (Gypsy) community as severe discrimination, cultural marginalization and poverty”. She has published two books: Dreaming of Jerusalem and The Dom of Jerusalem: A Gypsy Community Chronicle, and is working on other publications to make available information on this segment of the population.”

[garadinervi]

Kamal Boullata (كمال بلاطة), To Measure Jerusalem: Explorations of the Square, «Journal of Palestine Studies», Vol. 28, No. 3, 1999, pp. 83-91 (pdf here) [The Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question, Institute for Palestine Studies, Beirut, Ramallah, and Washington, D.C. / The Palestinian Museum, Birzeit]

«For me, words have always come after painting. It is never the reverse. But since images flow from one's imagination, the unfolding of which is bound to memory, both painting and writing are twin products of the same memory. It is the completed images, however, that reawaken my conscious memory. Otherwise, why would a painting's title, the only link between words and visual form, come to mind long after I put the finishing touches to a painting? At best, the title is a bridge that allows the viewer to negotiate an entry into the language of a painted image; it attempts no more than to sum up or evoke certain associations with memory, be they personal or collective.» ― (p. 83)

«Within a decade, the linear rhythms of geometric words ultimately began to challenge me with questions of symmetry. Words based on the square totally disappeared, and the square itself became not only the subject of my work but also the vehicle by which I began to explore the illusions of symmetry. My explorations were chiefly carried out through the diagonal dissection of the square and by the process of its gradational doubling or partitioning. The simple system generated symmetries and proportional intervals of refractions that often reflected spatial and geometric relations in accordance with the Golden Mean, the ancient system of proportion devised to create harmony between two extremes. Nowhere did squares overlap in any composition. How could they meet without being a repetition of our ancestors' eight-pointed star? Overlapping squares at 45 degrees within the circumference of a circle represented to them the convergence of heaven and earth; today, could two squares really meet, when heaven and earth seem to be as distant from each other as the exile is from his native land?» ― (p. 88)

«As much as a simple geometric form may be a product of discursive thought, color is from intuitive feeling. While the conceptualization of a certain form may be a reflection of a seen or imagined body, its color is its flesh and soul. Consequently, the process by which a line drawing is transformed into a color composition is one that develops, as it were, from a skeleton into a living entity of light. A viewer may measure the effectiveness of the fusion between form and color by the degree to which the structure of the skeleton had been turned into a body of light.» ― (p. 90)

[yrynysddu]

Timur Khamzatovich Mutsurayev (Chechen: Муцурай ХӀамзат-кӀант Темур; Russian: Тимур Хамзатович Муцураев)

Mutsurayev was born in Grozny, on the 25th of July 1976. He was a singer-songwriter and bard who wrote mainly about the conflict in Chechnya, most of his songs are played exclusively on acoustic guitar, inspired by traditional music of the Caucasus. Mutsurayev's most famous song, titled "Jerusalem" is strongly anti-israel, it gained airplay during the 1999–2000 Battle of Grozny and it appears in the movie War by Aleksei Balabanov.

He participated in the Chechen Wars under the command of Ruslan Gelayev. Many of Mutsurayev's songs are intensely supportive of Chechen independence. He is a practising muslim like many in the Caucasus region, and has many songs with Islamic themes. 

After the end of the Second Chechen War in 2000, he left Chechnya and lived in Azerbaijan and Turkey. More than 30 of his songs were banned by the Russian government as they were labeled "extremist". From May to June 2008, Mutsurayev made two audio recordings in the Chechen language, in which he addressed the “people of Khamzat” (meaning Ruslan “Khamzat” Gelayev) 

[mybeautifulchristianjourney]

Parable of the Potter

1 This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Go down at once to the potter’s house; there I will reveal My words to you.” 3 So I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, working away at the wheel. 4 But the jar that he was making from the clay became flawed in the potter’s hand, so he made it into another jar, as it seemed right for him to do.

5 The word of the Lord came to me: 6 “House of Israel, can I not treat you as this potter treats his clay?”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “Just like clay in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, house of Israel. 7 At one moment I might announce concerning a nation or a kingdom that I will uproot, tear down, and destroy it. 8 However, if that nation I have made an announcement about turns from its evil, I will relent concerning the disaster I had planned to do to it. 9 At another time I announce that I will build and plant a nation or a kingdom. 10 However, if it does what is evil in My sight by not listening to My voice, I will relent concerning the good I had said I would do to it. 11 So now, say to the men of Judah and to the residents of Jerusalem: This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring harm to you and make plans against you. Turn now, each from your evil way, and correct your ways and your deeds. 12 But they will say, ‘It’s hopeless. We will continue to follow our plans, and each of us will continue to act according to the stubbornness of his evil heart.’”

Deluded Israel

13 Therefore, this is what the Lord says:

Ask among the nations, Who has heard things like these? Virgin Israel has done a most terrible thing. 14 Does the snow of Lebanon ever leave the highland crags? Or does cold water flowing from a distance ever fail? 15 Yet My people have forgotten Me. They burn incense to false idols that make them stumble in their ways on the ancient roads and walk on new paths, not the highway. 16 They have made their land a horror, a perpetual object of scorn; everyone who passes by it will be horrified and shake his head. 17 I will scatter them before the enemy like the east wind. I will show them My back and not My face on the day of their calamity.

Plot against Jeremiah

18 Then certain ones said, “Come, let’s make plans against Jeremiah, for instruction will never be lost from the priest, or counsel from the wise, or an oracle from the prophet. Come, let’s denounce him and pay no attention to all his words.”

19 Pay attention to me, Lord. Hear what my opponents are saying! 20 Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for me. Remember how I stood before You to speak good on their behalf, to turn Your anger from them. 21 Therefore, hand their children over to famine, and pour the sword’s power on them. Let their wives become childless and widowed, their husbands slain by deadly disease, their young men struck down by the sword in battle. 22 Let a cry be heard from their houses when You suddenly bring raiders against them, for they have dug a pit to capture me and have hidden snares for my feet. 23 But You, Lord, know all their deadly plots against me. Do not wipe out their guilt; do not blot out their sin before You. Let them be forced to stumble before You; deal with them in the time of Your anger. — Jeremiah 18 | Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) Holman Christian Standard Bible ® Copyright © 2003, 2002, 2000, 1999 by Holman Bible Publishers. All rights reserved. Cross References: Genesis 6:6; Leviticus 26:32; Deuteronomy 29:19; 1 Samuel 2:30; 1 Samuel 13:13; 1 Samuel 15:33; 1 Samuel 19:4; 1 Kings 9:8; 2 Kings 17:13; Nehemiah 4:5; Job 5:13; Job 27:21; Psalm 35:7; Psalm 48:7; Psalm 52:2; Psalm 59:5; Psalm 63:10; Psalm 106:45; Psalm 119:85; Psalm 140:5; Isaiah 29:16; Isaiah 57:10; Isaiah 57:14; Isaiah 62:10; Isaiah 66:8; Jeremiah 1:10; Jeremiah 2:10-11; Jeremiah 7:3; Jeremiah 19:1; Jeremiah 31:28; Lamentations 3:59; Amos 9:11; Matthew 20:15; Acts 26:20; Romans 9:20-21

Jeremiah 18 Chapter Summary

Key Points of Jeremiah 18

Under the type of a potter is shown God’s absolute power in disposing of nations.

Judgments threatened to Judah for her strange revolt.

Jeremiah prays against his conspirators.

[jordanianroyals]

Happy birthday, King Abdullah II & Prince Hashem!

King Abdullah II of Jordan marks his 63rd birthday on 30 January 2025. His youngest child, Prince Hashem, also turns 20 on the same day.

Born on January 30, 1962, King Abdullah II, the 41st direct descendant of Prophet Mohammad (peace be upon him), is the eldest son of the late King Hussein bin Talal and Princess Muna Al Hussein.

His Majesty's educational journey began at the Islamic Scientific College in Amman, followed by studies at St. Edmund's School in England, and Eaglebrook School and Deerfield Academy in the United States.

In 1980, he enrolled at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, graduating as a Second Lieutenant, before pursuing Middle Eastern Affairs studies at Oxford University in 1982 and completing an Armor Officer Advanced Course at Fort Knox, Kentucky in 1985.

The King studied international politics at Georgetown University in 1989, completing an advanced research and study program in international affairs as part of the Master's program in Foreign Service.

His military experience spans service in the United States, Britain, and Germany, progressing from commanding a tank company in the 17th Royal Tank Battalion in 1989 to leading the Royal Special Forces as a Brigadier General, where he restructured the unit to meet international military standards.

Following his appointment as Crown Prince on January 24, 1999, King Abdullah II assumed his constitutional powers as Jordan's fourth King on February 7, 1999, receiving the rank of Field Marshal in the Jordan Armed Forces.

His Majesty married Queen Rania Al Abdullah on June 10, 1993. They have four children: Crown Prince Hussein, who was appointed Crown Prince on July 2, 2009, Prince Hashem, Princess Iman, and Princess Salma. In August 2024, Their Majesties welcomed their first grandchild, Princess Iman bint Al Hussein.

King Abdullah II strives to enhance Jordan's positive and moderate role in the Arab world, seeking a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause and supporting Palestinian aspirations for an independent state.

He dedicates himself to defending Jordan as an oasis of development and stability amid a turbulent region by investing in human capital, confronting terrorism and extremism through a comprehensive approach, and continuously working to enhance security and stability in the Middle East.

His Majesty led intensive diplomatic efforts supporting the Palestinian cause and advocating for a Gaza ceasefire through numerous international engagements.

His personal involvement in humanitarian aid missions included participating in airdrops to Gaza and overseeing the dispatch of Jordan's largest aid convoy, alongside establishing field hospitals in Gaza and the West Bank, and launching the "Restoring Hope" initiative for prosthetic limb fittings.

Under the Hashemite Custodianship of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, His Majesty sponsored the establishment of an international Orthodox university at the Baptism Site and funded the restoration of the Dome of the Rock's historic gilded decorations in 2024.

In the Silver Jubilee year, King Abdullah II continues to advance political, economic, and administrative modernization tracks, monitoring progress across various sectors including economy, investment, tourism, education, and transportation.

His Majesty maintains close engagement with local communities through regular visits to governorates and recognition of individuals who have served Jordan and its people.

The King maintains special attention to his companions-in-arms in the Jordan Armed Forces and security services, recognizing their professional dedication to preserving national security, stability, and protecting citizens and national resources.

[mothhg69]

I may be a little crazy

In short, I did an investigation and found out that the Order of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem is most suitable in description and time periods to be the order in which the Hellsing family is, since it was founded in 1888 in Great Britain and its headquarters are in London and is currently a registered charity. And considering that the Hellsing organization was founded by Integra's great-grandfather, then 4 generations are changing, in the period from 1888 to the moment of Integra's birth (1977) and the events of the Hellsing events (1999-2000) AND it's also protestant

[eurovision-revisited]

1999 Jerusalem - Number 10 - Vanessa Chinitor - "Like The Wind"

Remarkably, staying in Jerusalem. It feels like for the past two years, there have been many more songs outside the actual contest than inside.

Like the Wind is a waltz about the erosive forces of nature. It's a geography lesson. By the time the key change hits, the metaphor is apparent. Vanessa is telling us to be like the wind. Eternal, unstoppable. Be the force of nature you truly are. It's almost as unsubtle as Germany's entry.

What sets it apart from that, is the gentle fairground waltziness. The winds here are gentle gusts swirling around your feet and whipping up the leaves at best. No hurricanes or tropical storms. Perhaps an autumnal gust at most. Be an unstoppable force of nature, but be gentle and kind of cute. You may grind down mountains, but make sure you do so in an endearing and elegant manner.

Vanessa won the Belgian national final Eurosong '99 easily. She got maximum points from the juries (two of them), from the public televote and was in equal first with the results of the two Radio polls that were also run. There were some more modern dance tracks in the final, so clearly the whole of Belgium still want traditional and safe music. The country wasn't ready to experiment as a whole yet.

In Jerusalem, Vanessa drew the death slot and went on second. Nevertheless, she still managed to get 38 points which this year were good enough for 12th place. The point distribution was skewed with lots of songs clustered at the bottom with fewer than 40 points. Belgium turned out to be the best of this group.

Vanessa had one more go at qualifying for Eurovision in 2006. Unfortunately this ended in a last place finish in the preliminary heats.

However, Like the Wind managed to do exceptionally well in the Flemish Ultratop top 50 and she continued to release Dutch language music for the next six years. By 2006 her music career was slowing down. She had one more album out in 2010.

[sub-at-omicsteminist]

Dorit Aharonov

Dorit Aharonov is an Israeli computer scientist specialising in quantum computing. She graduated from Weizmann Institute of Science with an MSc in Physics. She received her doctorate for Computer Science in 1999 from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and her thesis was entitled Noisy Quantum Computation.  She also did her post-doctorate in the mathematics department of Princeton University and in the computer science department of University of California Berkeley. She was a visiting scholar at the Institute for Advanced Study in 1998–99. Aharonov was an invited speaker in International Congress of Mathematicians 2010, Hyderabad on the topic of Mathematical Aspects of Computer Science

Quantum computing

Aharonov's research is mainly about quantum information processes, which includes

quantum algorithms

quantum cryptography and computational complexity

quantum error corrections and fault tolerance

connections between quantum computation and quantum Markov chains and lattices

quantum Hamiltonian complexity and its connections to condensed matter physics

transition from quantum to classical physics

understanding entanglement by studying quantum complexity

[eretzyisrael]

by Robert Williams

To assess correctly the damage that Qatari influence in the US is causing, it is essential to understand what Qatar stands for and promotes. Qatar has for decades cultivated a close relationship with the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood, whose motto is: “‘Allah is our objective; the Prophet is our leader; the Quran is our law; Jihad is our way; dying in the way of Allah is our highest hope.” It aims to ensure that Islamic law, Sharia, governs all countries and all matters.

Hamas, an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, has enjoyed Qatar as its main sponsor, to the tune of up to $360 million a year, and was until recently the home of Hamas’ leadership. In 2012, Ismail Haniyeh, head of the terrorist group’s political bureau, Mousa Abu Marzook, and Khaled Mashaal, among others, moved to Qatar for a life of luxury. This month, likely because of Israel’s announcement that it will hunt down and eliminate Hamas leaders in Qatar and Turkey, the Qatar-based Hamas officials reportedly fled to other countries.

Qatar was also home to Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi, the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, who was exiled from Egypt until his death in September 2022. According to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center:

💬 “Qaradawi is mainly known as the key figure in shaping the concept of violent jihad and the one who allowed carrying out terror attacks, including suicide bombing attacks, against Israeli citizens, the US forces in Iraq, and some of the Arab regimes. Because of that, he was banned from entering Western countries and some Arab countries…. In 1999, he was banned from entering the USA. In 2009, he was banned from entering Britain…”

Qaradawi also founded many radical Islamist organizations which are funded by Qatar. These include the International Union of Muslim Scholars, which released a statement that called the October 7 massacre perpetrated by Hamas against communities in southern Israel an “effective” and “mandatory development of legitimate resistance” and said that Muslims have a religious duty to support their brothers and sisters “throughout all of Palestine, especially in Al-Aqsa, Jerusalem, and Gaza.”

Qatar is still home to the lavishly-funded television network Al Jazeera, founded in 1996 by Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Hamad ibn Khalifa Al Thani. Called the “mouthpiece of the Muslim Brotherhood,” Al Jazeera began the violent “Arab Spring,” which “brought the return of autocratic rulers.”

In 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Egypt made 13 demands of Qatar: “to cut off relations with Iran, shutter Al Jazeera, and stop granting Qatari citizenship to other countries’ exiled oppositionists.” They subsequently cut ties with Qatar over its failure to agree to any of the demands, including ending its support for terrorism, the Muslim Brotherhood, and Al Jazeera.

The Saudi state-run news agency SPA said at the time:

💬 “[Qatar] embraces multiple terrorist and sectarian groups aimed at disturbing stability in the region, including the Muslim Brotherhood, ISIS [Islamic State] and al-Qaeda, and promotes the message and schemes of these groups through their media constantly,”

US universities and colleges are happy to see this kind of influence on their campuses in exchange for billions of dollars in Qatari donations. According to ISGAP:

💬 “[F]oreign donations from Qatar, especially, have had a substantial impact on fomenting growing levels of antisemitic discourse and campus politics at US universities, as well as growing support for anti-democratic values within these institutions of higher education.”

[mariacallous]

BERLIN — The latest effort to craft a path to survival for Germany’s beleaguered rabbinical schools is underway — with help from thousands of miles away in California and Jerusalem.

An American Conservative rabbi and an Israeli Reform rabbi have been tapped to lead seminaries associated with the University of Potsdam.

The Los Angeles-based American Jewish University and its Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies this week announced a “groundbreaking partnership” with the Central Council of Jews in Germany to promote “sustainable” Jewish clergy training at the University of Potsdam.

Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Ziegler’s dean, accepted the Central Council’s invitation as the founding leader of a new German seminary associated with the Masorti or Conservative movement.

“It’s absurd to have an American rabbi running the school,” Artson said he told the Central Council. “The only thing more absurd is not having a school.”

Meanwhile, Rabbi Yehodaya Amir, professor emeritus at the Reform movement’s Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, will oversee a liberal or Reform seminary being launched at the university.

The new leaders are stepping into a tumultuous situation.

The University of Potsdam has long been home to two rabbinical schools, the liberal/Reform seminary Abraham Geiger College and its Masorti/Conservative sibling, Zacharias Frankel College, founded in 1999 and 2013 respectively by Rabbi Walter Homolka.

But in late 2022, Homolka resigned from all positions in German Jewish institutions following allegations that he had abused his power and created an atmosphere of fear among students and staff. He eventually sold all his shares of Geiger and Frankel for 25,000 euros to the Jewish Community of Berlin, which intended to keep them going.

The organized Jewish community has since struggled to fund the schools, which previously had the Central Council and the German government as their main backers. In the wake of the Homolka scandal, the Central Council had declared it could no longer support the institutions as they stood. It announced plans to revamp rabbinical training so that no one figure would wield too much power.

This month, the council announced a new foundation to support two new schools — a liberal one named for Regina Jonas and a Masorti one named for Abraham Joshua Heschel, both pioneering rabbis in early 20th-century Germany with global and enduring significance. They are also launching a cantorial school under the name of the 19th-century composer of Jewish liturgical music Louis Lewandowski.

Now, the council has made official its chosen partners to operate the schools — and for both it looked outside Germany.

For the Masorti seminary, it turned to Artson, who also served as dean of the Frankel seminary after Homolka cold-called him to ask for his support — a request that he said had conferred a “sacred mission” upon him.

“I thought that this was an opportunity to step up and to help Europeans get the training they would want, to energize the Jewish community,” Artson told JTA. “And that’s really what we’ve done.”

Artson said he anticipated a limited future for his involvement and that of his fellow Ziegler dean, Rabbi Cheryl Peretz.

“We see our role as stepping in and launching this important program, and then at some point getting out of the way so that Europeans can run it without us,” he said.

Current rabbinical and cantorial students were told last week — as eight new rabbis and cantors were ordained — that they will be invited to transfer seamlessly to the new seminaries.

As for what might change for them, Artson said his focus was on “bringing transparency and equal funding and stability” as well as building stronger ties to the global Masorti movement. “This will be a way of organizing a rabbinical school that’s answerable to the public and will be able to last,” he said.

Amir, the HUC professor of Jewish thought who is heading the liberal seminary, said he was heartened by the fact that the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the North American Reform movement’s rabbinical association, was prepared to certify the new program, meaning that its graduates would have the same status in the movement as Geiger’s.

“The fact that the CCAR is considering to grant us such a status by now, before we have even taken our first steps, is a solid and wonderful expression of trust,” Amir told JTA.

Josef Schuster, chair of the Central Council, said support from the two movements augured “a good day for rabbinical and cantor training in Germany and a good day for the Jewish communities in our country.”

The appointments have elicited dissent. The World Union of Progressive Judaism and its European sister organization accused the Central Council of failing to involve them in their plans and of endangering “the unity of the Jewish community.”

And Berlin’s official Jewish community — which, as owner of the original seminaries, has the most to lose — lashed out over the selection of Artson in particular, noting that he has faced allegations of sexism at Ziegler.

Gideon Joffe, the community’s president, accused the Central Council of “conducting a public defamation campaign against the Abraham Geiger College.”

He added in a statement: “Even the appearance of an abuse of power, as is clearly evident in the allegations against Rabbi Artson, is unacceptable for the management of a rabbinical seminary,”

The investigations add to ongoing tumult at AJU and Zeigler, where Artson has worked since 1999. The school recently sold its campus in Los Angeles and slashed tuition in a bid to attract more students.

A third-party investigation of the sexism allegations commissioned by American Jewish University found no systemic misconduct, according to AJU, which did not release the full report. A second inquiry, by the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical Assembly, is underway.

Artson would not comment on the ongoing investigation, except to say it “is wrapping up.” But he noted that the first investigation found “no systemic homophobia or sexism” at Ziegler. “And so I’m really focusing on building the future.”

The statement is “unworthy of them,” Artson said about the Berlin Jewish Community, known by its German nickname Gemeinde, meaning community. “But I understand that in the moment, they’re letting their emotions run things.”

He added, “I think that the Gemeinde does many valuable and important things, and we certainly want to be able to support them in those enterprises, too, just not in this particular instance.”

An irony of the new arrangement is that in seeking to distance rabbinical training as much as possible from Homolka, who chose the Gemeinde as his successor, the Central Council has selected a rabbi who long worked with him. According to a source with knowledge of the situation, Artson had expenses covered but took no salary while working with the Frankel seminary.

For his part, Artson said he remains inspired by Geiger and Frankel, figures who helped make Germany a powerhouse of Jewish innovation in the century prior to the Holocaust.

“I have in my office portraits of both Rabbi Geiger and Rabbi Frankel,” Artson said. “They remain founding figures, even if their names are no longer on the school.”

But the two new namesakes — Heschel, who narrowly escaped Germany in 1940, and Jonas, the first woman to be ordained as a rabbi, who was murdered at Auschwitz — are “also very special,” he said.

[turangalila]

(Armenian liturgy for Nativity of Christ) Komitas (1869-1935)

— Christ is born, Magnificat mode / Komitas — O wonderful mystery, this day the paternal voice / Komitas — Praise the Lord O Jerusalem / Ekmalian — Holy God, again in peace let us beseech the Lord / Komitas — Greet one another, Christ among us / Komitas — Sanctus / Komitas — In all things blessed art Thou / Komitas — The Lord's Prayer / Komitas — Amen, blessed be the Lord's name / Komitas

_ Nativity of Christ. Choir of the Armenian Patriarchate of Jerusalem, directed by Archbishop Torkom Manoogian. (1999, Holyland Records – 01178)

[justforbooks]

Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are All My Sons (1947), Death of a Salesman (1949), The Crucible (1953), and A View from the Bridge (1955). He wrote several screenplays, including The Misfits (1961). The drama Death of a Salesman is considered one of the best American plays of the 20th century.

Miller was often in the public eye, particularly during the late 1940s, 1950s and early 1960s. During this time, he received a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, testified before the House Un-American Activities Committee, and married Marilyn Monroe. In 1980, he received the St. Louis Literary Award from the Saint Louis University Library Associates. He received the Praemium Imperiale prize in 2001, the Prince of Asturias Award in 2002, and the Jerusalem Prize in 2003, and the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize in 1999.

Miller's writing career spanned over seven decades, and at the time of his death, he was considered one of the 20th century's greatest dramatists. After his death, many respected actors, directors, and producers paid tribute to him, some calling him the last great practitioner of the American stage, and Broadway theatres darkened their lights in a show of respect. Miller's alma mater, the University of Michigan, opened the Arthur Miller Theatre in March 2007. Per his express wish, it is the only theater in the world that bears his name.

Miller's letters, notes, drafts and other papers are housed at the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Miller is also a member of the American Theater Hall of Fame. He was inducted in 1979. In 1993, he received the Four Freedoms Award for Freedom of Speech. In 2017, his daughter, Rebecca Miller, a writer and filmmaker, completed a documentary about her father's life, Arthur Miller: Writer. Minor planet 3769 Arthurmiller is named after him. In the 2022 Netflix film Blonde, Miller was portrayed by Adrien Brody.

Miller donated thirteen boxes of his earliest manuscripts to the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin in 1961 and 1962. This collection included the original handwritten notebooks and early typed drafts for Death of a Salesman, The Crucible, All My Sons, and other works. In January, 2018, the Ransom Center announced the acquisition of the remainder of the Miller archive, totaling over 200 boxes. The full archive opened in November, 2019.

Christopher Bigsby wrote Arthur Miller: The Definitive Biography based on boxes of papers Miller made available to him before his death in 2005. The book was published in November 2008, and is reported to reveal unpublished works in which Miller "bitterly attack[ed] the injustices of American racism long before it was taken up by the civil rights movement". In his book Trinity of Passion, author Alan M. Wald conjectures that Miller was "a member of a writer's unit of the Communist Party around 1946", using the pseudonym Matt Wayne, and editing a drama column in the magazine The New Masses.

In 1999, the writer Christopher Hitchens attacked Miller for comparing the Monica Lewinsky investigation to the Salem witch hunt. Miller had asserted a parallel between the examination of physical evidence on Lewinsky's dress and the examinations of women's bodies for signs of the "Devil's Marks" in Salem. Hitchens scathingly disputed the parallel. In his memoir, Hitch-22, Hitchens bitterly noted that Miller, despite his prominence as a left-wing intellectual, had failed to support author Salman Rushdie during the Iranian fatwa involving The Satanic Verses.

Works

Stage plays

No Villain (1936)

They Too Arise (1937, based on No Villain)

Honors at Dawn (1938, based on They Too Arise)

The Grass Still Grows (1938, based on They Too Arise)

The Great Disobedience (1938)

Listen My Children (1939, with Norman Rosten)

The Golden Years (1940)

The Half-Bridge (1943)

The Man Who Had All the Luck (1944)

All My Sons (1947)

Death of a Salesman (1949)

An Enemy of the People (1950, adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's play An Enemy of the People)

The Crucible (1953)

A View from the Bridge (1955)

A Memory of Two Mondays (1955)

After the Fall (1964)

Incident at Vichy (1964)

The Price (1968)

The Reason Why (1970)

Fame (one-act, 1970; revised for television 1978)

The Creation of the World and Other Business (1972)

Up from Paradise (1974)

The Archbishop's Ceiling (1977)

The American Clock (1980)

Playing for Time (television play, 1980)

Elegy for a Lady (short play, 1982, first part of Two Way Mirror)

Some Kind of Love Story (short play, 1982, second part of Two Way Mirror)

I Think About You a Great Deal (1986)

Playing for Time (stage version, 1985)

I Can't Remember Anything (1987, collected in Danger: Memory!)

Clara (1987, collected in Danger: Memory!)

The Ride Down Mt. Morgan (1991)

The Last Yankee (1993)

Broken Glass (1994)

Mr. Peters' Connections (1998)

Resurrection Blues (2002)

Finishing the Picture (2004)

Radio plays

The Pussycat and the Expert Plumber Who Was a Man (1940)

Joel Chandler Harris (1941)

The Battle of the Ovens (1942)

Thunder from the Mountains (1942)

I Was Married in Bataan (1942)

That They May Win (1943)

Listen for the Sound of Wings (1943)

Bernardine (1944)

I Love You (1944)

Grandpa and the Statue (1944)

The Philippines Never Surrendered (1944)

The Guardsman (1944, based on Ferenc Molnár's play)

The Story of Gus (1947)

Screenplays

The Hook (1947)

All My Sons (1948)

Let's Make Love (1960)

The Misfits (1961)

Death of a Salesman (1985)

Everybody Wins (1990)

The Crucible (1996)

Assorted fiction

Focus (novel, 1945)

"The Misfits" (short story, published in Esquire, October 1957)

I Don't Need You Anymore (short stories, 1967)

"Homely Girl: A Life" (short story, 1992, published in UK as "Plain Girl: A Life" 1995)

Presence: Stories (2007) (short stories include "The Bare Manuscript", "Beavers", "The Performance", and "Bulldog")

Non-fiction

Situation Normal (1944) is based on his experiences researching the war correspondence of Ernie Pyle.

In Russia (1969), the first of three books created with his photographer wife Inge Morath, offers Miller's impressions of Russia and Russian society.

In the Country (1977), with photographs by Morath and text by Miller, provides insight into how Miller spent his time in Roxbury, Connecticut, and profiles of his various neighbors.

Chinese Encounters (1979) is a travel journal with photographs by Morath. It depicts the Chinese society in the state of flux which followed the end of the Cultural Revolution. Miller discusses the hardships of many writers, professors, and artists during Mao Zedong's regime.

Salesman in Beijing (1984) details Miller's experiences with the 1983 Beijing People's Theatre production of Death of a Salesman. He describes directing a Chinese cast in an American play.

Timebends: A Life, Methuen London (1987). Miller's autobiography.

On Politics and the Art of Acting, Viking 2001 an 85-page essay about the thespian skills in American politics, comparing FDR, JFK, Reagan, Clinton.

Collections

Abbotson, Susan C. W. (ed.), Arthur Miller: Collected Essays, Penguin 2016

Kushner, Tony, ed. Arthur Miller, Collected Plays 1944–1961 (Library of America, 2006).

Martin, Robert A. (ed.), "The theater essays of Arthur Miller", foreword by Arthur Miller. NY: Viking Press, 1978

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