#lila sharif

[gothhabiba]

The statements that both [U.S. President Barack] Obama and [President of Israel Shimon] Peres are “very good gardeners” are haunting. They reveal the ongoing transformation of indigenous landscapes due to the persistent structures of settler colonialism in the United States and Israel. In both the United States and Israel, the Europeanization of the landscape continues to be an intrinsic part of ongoing settler-­colonialism; since the colonial encounter, Zionist and European colonizers interpreted the indigenous landscapes as physical manifestations of the abject native that had to be vanished and replaced. [...]

In Palestine, “good gardening” practices by Israeli and Zionist organizations have contributed to a process I call “eco-occupation”—­through the planting of nonnative trees to resemble European landscapes and the appropriation of the natural habitat to expand colonial settlement, Israeli settler colonialism is produced through an intricate, systematic process of environmental transformation, replacement, and disappearance. Here, “eco” refers to the social, political, ideological, and material landscapes that fix Palestinian life to land; “occupation” refers to the militarized, settler- colonial presence of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank as well as the mundane and seemingly benign practices of settler colonialism, including “good gardening” practices that promise to make a feminized wilderness more aptly penetrable for colonial development and expansion.

Indeed, the image of Obama and Peres as “good gardeners” invokes the origin story of a barren landscape that was made fertile by the productive external forces of European Zionists. In effect, this narrative epistemologically disappears native peoples from the land. There is no mention that, for example, the very site of the presidential complex where Obama planted his friendship seed [a magnolia sapling descended from a tree on the White House's lawn] once housed a thriving Christian Palestinian community where Palestinian postcolonial theorist Edward Said—­among others—­once called home.

These omissions point to the various cultural, epistemological, and material forms of disappearing native peoples. Indigenous bodies, memories, and lands are but a blip in a colonial history imagined as complete, coherent, and natural. [...] Vanishment refers to the processes of erasure that rely on the appropriation of the earth’s elements, the removal and replacement of native landscapes, and the erasure of indigenous culture through a system of conditional inclusion. Palestinian lands, particularly the olive tree, figure into the process of eliminating what was deemed to be a characteristically Palestinian landscape—­that is, a racially abject and soiled environment in need of colonial modernity’s raking and raping.

— Lila Sharif, "Vanishing Palestine." Critical Ethnic Studies 2.1 (Spring 2016), pp. 17-39; pp. 17-8. DOI:10.5749/jcritethnstud.2.1.0017.

[probablyasocialecologist]

The cultural erasure that accompanied conquest took the form of forcefully alienating Indigenous people from their traditional diets. Therefore, decolonisation necessarily involves preserving, reclaiming and reviving these diets, which are organically connected to the land. Palestinian feminist scholar Lila Sharif’s work, arguing that Palestinians everywhere sustain their attachment to the homeland through practices linked to the olive tree, is a valuable contribution to the study of decolonial practices. As an estimated 80 per cent of small‑scale farming and family cooking globally is done by women, food sovereignty directly empowers women, just as its loss negatively impacts them. To quote Indigenous activist and economist Winona LaDuke: ‘Native women are here, and we birthed this place. We created the agrobiodiversity of 8,000 varieties of corn, and a multitude of beans, squash and melon varieties that are now touted by big agriculture and the foundation.’ In Palestine, women have historically foraged for the bounty of herbs and leafy greens that are an important part of Palestinian cuisine, and which provided them with the means to secure social and economic independence. They are heavily involved at all stages of agriculture, as growers, harvesters, processors and traders. Today, about a third of women in the West Bank are the only income‑earners in their households. Going out in small groups to the fields at dawn, they expertly gather seasonal herbs, making sure they leave roots and seeds behind, to ensure the next season’s harvest. They are finely attuned to the short‑lived seasons that make for the hyper seasonal culinary calendar – blink and you miss it.

Nada Elia, Bodies of land: feminism and decolonisation

[gadgetsforusesblog]

Click to read # Russia will fill Pakistan's stomach with hunger, Putin sent the first shipment of 50,000 tons of wheat. PIO-owned ship MV Lila Chennai rushes wheat for Pakistan from Russia

The Indian ship MV Leela Chennai has reached the Pakistani port of Gwadar with 50,000 tons of wheat. Pakistan will be somewhat relieved by this. The condition of inflation in Pakistan is that the price of flour in Pakistan skyrockets. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif of Pakistan. (file photo) Pakistan At the moment it is facing a serious financial crisis. addicted to pie pie Pakistan I’m hungry…

[r-oving]

Fair play to you, Ms.

[tvshowsheart]

[francescatelford]

#okay but like idc if they’re student/teacher and they probably wont have a happy ending #i still ship them # ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #look at that chemistry #they’re both cute af too

[mariemariemaria]

[skatingthinandice]

[ulrichgebert]

Der Gedenkfilm wurde dann überraschend Mrs. ‘Arris Goes to Paris, ein zuckersüßes und außerordentlich vorhersehbares Alle-lieben-schlichte-bescheidene-Frauen-wie-Angela-Lansbury-weshalb-sie-überall-Freunde-findet- selbst-wenn-sie-Schnecken-essen-und-die Welt-in-Ordnung-bringt-Märchen. Man muß bloß seinem Traum folgen, sie wissen schon....Es enthält bedauerlicherweise weder Gesang noch Tanz, aber immerhin eine Modeschau (Mrs. ‘Arris Traum ist nämlich ein Kleid von Dior). Und Omar Sharif. Es wurde gerade eben erst neu verfilmt und stellte sich als hervorragend für meine Tagesverfassung heraus. Deshalb sollen wir nie über schlichte Handlungen spotten.

[mithliya]

Do you have any ex Muslim feminists to recommend reading? I just finished Nawal El Saadawi’s (may she rest in power) Woman At Point Zero which was extremely enlightening!

i don’t think any of them describe themselves as ex-muslim but they are MENA feminists who have talked about islam and women’s rights:

fatema mernissi

mona eltahawy

samar yazbek

badryah el-bishr

huda shaarawi

leila ahmed

manal al-sharif

lila abu lughod

arwa saleh

ayaan hirsi ali isnt MENA but she is an ex-muslim writer i believe. zeba talkahani talks about her life in saudi in a book i think.

[lornaslibrary]

Diversity [edited]

Here are all the books you recommended for last week’s prompt, diversity!!

Bold = the books I’ve read * = the books I personally would recommend + = want to read/on my TBR

LGBTQIA+

Rivers of London (Peter Grant #1), by Ben Aaronovitch

Borderline (The Arcadia Project #1), by Mishell Baker

Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1), by Leigh Bardugo *

Wake of Vultures (The Shadow #1), by Lila Bowen

Our Bloody Pearl (These Traitorous Tides #1), by D. N. Bryn *

Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1), by Rachel Caine *

The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1), by S. A. Chakraborty +

A Princess in Theory (Reluctant Royals #1), by Alyssa Cole

Dreadnought (Nemesis #1), by April Daniels

Into the Drowning Deep, by Mira Grant *

Let’s Talk About Love, by Claire Kann +

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (Montague Siblings #2), by Mackenzi Lee *

Ash, by Malinda Lo

Red, White & Royal Blue, by Casey McQuiston +

Radio Silence, by Alice Oseman *

To Night Owl From Dogfish, by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid *

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan

Barbary Station (Shieldrunner Pirates #1), by R.E. Stearns

POC

Rivers of London (Peter Grant #1), by Ben Aaronovitch

Yassmin’s Story by Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Children of Blood and Bone (Legacy of Orïsha #1), by Tomi Adeyemi +

Borderline (The Arcadia Project #1), by Mishell Baker

Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1), by Leigh Bardugo *

Wake of Vultures (The Shadow #1), by Lila Bowen

Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1), by Rachel Caine *

The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1), by S. A. Chakraborty +

Death by Dumpling (A Noodle Shop Mystery #1), by Vivien Chien

A Princess in Theory (Reluctant Royals #1), by Alyssa Cole

Dreadnought (Nemesis #1), by April Daniels

The Happiest Refugee by Anh Do

Into the Drowning Deep, by Mira Grant *

Let’s Talk About Love, by Claire Kann +

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (Montague Siblings #2), by Mackenzi Lee *

Ash, by Malinda Lo

Life of Pi, by Yann Martel *

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids, by Sarah Ockler *

Radio Silence, by Alice Oseman *

In Order To Live: A North Korean Girl’s Journey To Freedom by Yeonmi Park

To Night Owl From Dogfish, by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, by Taylor Jenkins Reid *

Nyxia (The Nyxia Triad #1), by Scott Reintgen *

The Years of Rice and Salt, by Kim Stanley Robinson

Daring to Drive: A Saudi Woman’s Awakening, by Manal al-Sharif

Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterly

Equal Justice: My Journey as a Woman, a Soldier and a Muslim by Rabia Siddique

Barbary Station (Shieldrunner Pirates #1), by R.E. Stearns

The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni #1), by Helene Wecker

Brown Girl Dreaming, by Jacqueline Woodson

Disability/Mental Illness

Borderline (The Arcadia Project #1), by Mishell Baker

Six of Crows (Six of Crows #1), by Leigh Bardugo *

Our Bloody Pearl (These Traitorous Tides #1), by D. N. Bryn *

The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1), by S. A. Chakraborty +

A Princess in Theory (Reluctant Royals #1), by Alyssa Cole

Into the Drowning Deep, by Mira Grant *

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (Montague Siblings #2), by Mackenzi Lee *

The Summer of Chasing Mermaids, by Sarah Ockler *

Unbroken: 13 Stories Starring Disabled Teens, by Marieke Nijkamp +

Percy Jackson and the Olympians, by Rick Riordan

To Night Owl From Dogfish, by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer

Religion

Rivers of London (Peter Grant #1), by Ben Aaronovitch

Yassmin’s Story by Yassmin Abdel-Magied

Ink and Bone (The Great Library #1), by Rachel Caine *

The City of Brass (The Daevabad Trilogy #1), by S. A. Chakraborty +

The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy (Montague Siblings #2), by Mackenzi Lee *

Equal Justice: My Journey as a Woman, a Soldier and a Muslim by Rabia Siddique

To Night Owl From Dogfish, by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer

The Golem and the Jinni (The Golem and the Jinni #1), by Helene Wecker   

[eretzyisrael]

Academic Hypocrisy in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

Like many US universities, New York University is having to deal with anti-Semitism on its campus, thanks as always, to the actions of the pro-Palestinian forces and their academic enablers. It has just been announced that there will be a federal investigation into allegations of campus anti-Semitism at NYU. Recently, a university department sponsored a speech at NYU by Noura Erakat, a well-known anti-Israel activist. In response, some Jewish students asked the department of Asian American Studies when they would host a speaker with pro-Israel views in order to balance the discussion. The answer was “Never”. I am cross-posting an article on the issue by United with Israel. This, of course, reminds me of similar experiences I have had in attending such events, which are all the rage on American university campuses. Not only groups like the Muslim Student Association and Students for Justice in Palestine routinely sponsor speakers like Erakat, they are often invited by university departments lending their imprimatur to the Palestinian narrative. As a part-time teacher at the UC Irvine Extension from 1998-2016, I became involved in following such events on that campus as well as others. In September of this year, I attended an event at UC Irvine in which the featured speaker was Lila Adib Sharif of the University of Illinois. Her apperance was sponsored by the Department of International and Global Studies, School of Social Sciences. You can read above what happened during the q and a when I asked the sponosors when and if they might hold an event featuring a pro-Israel speaker.This was also similar to an event I attended at UC Riverside in 2014 sponsored by the Humanities Department and Ethnic Studies featuring BDS co-founder Omar Barghouti. I asked the same question. Only this time, departmental chair David Lloyd, a prominent BDS activist, told me my question was “preposterous”.This points to an important point. If pro-Israel speakers expect to be invited to a university campus to defend the Jewish state, it pretty much has to be at the invitation of student groups like Students Supporting Israel or the College Republicans. Even then they can expect to be disrupted by SJP/MSA students or off-campus radicals. University departments prefer to expose their students and the public to anti-Israel speakers like Erakat and Barghouti.In fairness, I should point out that in 2010, the UC Irvine Law School and Political Science Department joined with Jewish groups to host Michael Oren, the then-Israeli ambassador to the US. The results were disasterous as the speech was repeatedly disrupted by the campus Muslim Student Union. Eleven arrests were made. I was present and reported on it.Perhaps that incident set the template for universities all over the nation as to why they think they should avoid pro-Israel events since they are going to be disrupted. If that is even part of the rationale, then universities are guilty of cowardice in caving in to the mobs. I suspect, however, that the real reason is that these departments tend to be sympathetic to the Palestinian narrative. That means they are guilty of betraying the fundamental purpose of the university-to expose students to differing points of view on topics. New York University has failed the test. Putting together an event dedicated to the study of anti-Semitism (and Islamophobia) hardly corrects the problem. Perhaps, they might look at their own role in helping to create an atmosphere of anti-Semitism on their own campus.

This article first appeared in the Times of Israel Blogs.

[effipateng]

San Miguel ist gar nicht original spanisch?!?! 28.01.17

Die erste Nacht oben im Doppelstockbett war richtig gut. Ich habe nicht einmal Garrett und Matt gehört, die erst am frühen Morgen wiederkamen. Beide aus Kalifornien und richtig gut drauf. Ich glaube, die letzte Belegung aller acht Betten hatte ich einmal in Bari erlebt. Aber das ist kein Problem, entweder schlafe ich sehr fest oder die anderen sind ziemlich ruhig. Sophie aus London, Rachel aus Australien, Sharif aus Ägypten, Leona aus Bremen und Juan aus Miami. Ich war die Erste, die aufstand, weil ich mein Glück mit der Free Walking Tour probieren wollte. Man traf sich an der Rezeption des Hostels. Was sollte also schiefgehen? Die Zeit natürlich... Instagram war wieder spannender als alles andere und so war ich fünf Minuten zu spät dran. Der nette Rezeptionsmensch sagte mir aber, wenn ich mich beeile, schaffe ich es zum eigentlichen Treffpunkt, der acht Blocks entfernt liegt. Schaff'ch! Abgehetzt vom schwülen Wetter, fand ich den lila Regenschirm und nun ging es drei Stunden durch das Gotikviertel von Barcelona. Sankt Georg war anscheinend ein viel beschäftigter Mann, der es sich nicht nehmen ließ, weltweit die Drachenpopulation zu minimieren. So auch in Barcelona. Die höchste Erhebung in Barcelona liegt 16,9 Meter über Normalnull und bis 1992 war es die Stadt mit dem Rücken zum Meer. Mit der Olympiade kamen auch Gelder, um den dreckigen Industriehafen zu verlagern und einen Strand herzustellen. Um diesen zu erhalten, wird jedes Jahr Sand aus Ägypten geholt und aufgeschüttet. Mit der Modernisierung der Stadt kamen auch immer mehr Touristen und so gehört sie mittlerweile zu den drei am meisten besuchten Städten Europas. Als wir fertig waren, hatte ich Kopfschmerzen und Hunger. Knoblauchhähnchen, Kartoffeln und Ei. Und Aspirin als ich im Hostel war. Ich beschloss mich den Gepflogenheiten anzupassen und startete meine Siesta. Dummerweise verpasste ich es nach 20 Minuten aufzustehen und so war ich noch müder als vorher. Das passiert schon mal. Ich trug mich in die Liste fürs Abendessen ein und merkte, dass ich nur noch fünf Euro im Portmonee hatte. Ich stromerte durch die Straßen, die sich übrigens alle sehr ähnlich sehen und suchte nach einer Bankfiliale. Den Automaten direkt an der Straße traue ich immer noch nicht so ganz. Nach 20 Minuten fand ich endlich, was ich suchte. Und wurde auch hier nicht überfallen. 21 Uhr gab es dann die lang ersehnten Tapas! Vorher hatten wir uns Sangria besorgt und Sophie erzählte mir, dass San Miguel Bier eigentlich auf den Philippinen gebraut wird. Erst seit 1953 wird es für den europäischen Markt in Spanien hergestellt. Wahnsinn. Neben Tapas und Sangria, spielte und sang jemand spanische Lieder auf einer Gitarre. Ich finde manchmal, dass in der Musik Schwermut mitschwingt, auch wenn ich kein Wort verstehe. Es dauerte aber nicht lange an, denn Matt erklärte uns wie man Bullshit spielt. Ein Kartenspiel wird verdeckt auf alle Mitspieler verteilt. Einer fängt an und legt verdeckt Karten in die Mitte. Er sagt beispielsweise, dass das drei Fünfen sind. Der nächste muss auch verdeckt Fünfen drauflegen oder kann Bullshit rufen, wenn er denkt, der Vorgänger hat geblufft. Denn die fünfte Fünf wäre ja unmöglich, kann aber trotzdem die letzte Karte gewesen sein, wenn andere davor geblufft haben. Der, der falsch liegt oder beim bluffen erwischt wird, bekommt die Karten vom Haufen. Kurz nach Mitternacht ging es weiter in einen irischen Pub und gegen drei war ich wieder zurück. Der Rest wollte in den nächsten Club, aber da ich hier nur noch zwei Tage habe, sparte ich mir das. Dafür sind Erfahrungswerte doch manchmal von Nutzen.

[r-oving]