tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6358737.post-52402983992565466482008-03-25T13:51:00.000-07:002008-03-25T14:21:54.551-07:002008-03-25T14:21:54.551-07:00Israel doesn't like cultureNot content with stealing many aspects of Palestinian and Arab culture, from food to clothing to music, and then relabeling it as 'Israeli', the Zionut entity also has problems with Palestinians expressing said heritage. What if people found out falafel was actually NOT commissioned by King Soloman two thousand years ago?! The very fabric upon which Israel is built-lies and theft-would come crumbling down.<br /><br />For this reason, Israel is very sensitive to the idea of Palestinians celebrating Palestine. Up until the 1990's, raising the Palestinian flag in public was considered enough of a reason to justify getting shot, and the world Palestine was banned from appearing in print. Books that mentioned Palestinian history were censored or banned, and Palestinians were not allowed to have their own media.<br /><br />Paranoid, despotic fucks.<br /><br />Anyway, the Hakawati Stage in East Jerusalem was set today to be the scene of festivities celebrating the appointment of Jerusalem as Cultural Capital of the Arab World in 2009. Foreign dignitaries, representatives of civil society and representatives of the Palestinian Authority were present when Israeli police stormed the venue soon after the celebrations started, arresting several Palestinian officials and civilians at the scene and closing down the Hakawati.<br /><br />Israel wants to impose on the world it's desire to have all of Jerusalem as its capital city. This would include East Jerusalem and the Old City, which are predominately Palestinian, and a huge tract of the surrounding West Bank stretching from Ramallah in the north, Bethlehem in the south and Jericho in the east. As such, it feels extremely threatened by the Palestinians of Jerusalem when they celebrate their history and their culture, because none of it meshes very well with Zionism. It will rush to crush any such expressions of Palestinian of Arab identity.<br /><br />Just another day in the only democracy in the Middle East.Mohammadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11510190887007072121noreply@blogger.com