Press: The College Zionist

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Regal Royalties: How ACUM and YouTube prove Israel's Right-Ness

Since the Napster/Metallica controversy in 2000, I have had split affinity in the debate over artists' rights.

As an artist, in general, I am protective of the intellectual property that my fellows produce. As a graffiti artist, in specific, I dislike the notion of private, protected space. Graffiti artists are a rather magnanimous, giving bunch who share their work freely, even when it might not always be wanted. Within that same ideological vein, graffiti artists also take freely and it is a culture that, at its worst, supports an anarchistic belief in theft and, at its best, a utopian, communal ideal that all goods should be distributed evenly amongst the largest possible group.

Israel too has a bit of the radical and the hippie in its own national construction. On the one hand, Israel is so vastly different then its neighbors in the Middle East with its civil rights that it seems shocking. On the other hand, Israel shares these freedoms with all her citizens, like a 1960's flower child would want things to be. Like a graffiti artist, these two ideas exist at once in Israel. And, like a graffiti artist, Israel often finds herself somewhere she is not wanted, creating art and beauty even in the face of criticism and threats of violence. The Middle East is a murky place.

There is nothing more murky then the field of technology and artists rights, licensing and fees. Production houses, record labels and the ever-growing network of sites like YouTube, Facebook and LimeWire are trying to figure out how to best share creative content in a digital way without hampering either their user's desire to share digitally as they used to hand-to-hand or the artists' rights to receive just compensation for their output. The 2007 Writers' Strike was the first of what threatens to be many negative consequences of this failure to come to terms.

A licensed drum roll please then as Israel enters with a solution. Please see article HERE. Working with ACUM, an Israeli non-profit organization representing the rights of authors, composers, musicians and other artists, YouTube has agreed to pay artists a royalty each time their music is played. This money will not come from the fans' pockets but, rather, from advertising revenue generated by YouTube. This solution satisfies both the eager public hungry for art and the starving artist. The anarchist and the hippie are one and Israel has proven that they remain the home of artists' rights.

Now, if an Israeli organization can get YouTube to resolve this conflict, surely Israel can make peace if they find a willing partner. Anyone out there?

so close to genuine praise

Today we have a two-fer of stupidity that almost got me with my optimistic blinders on.



The first was an article that I really wanted to like about the first performance of the Palestinian National Orchestra. What caught my eye wasn't what they were calling themselves but rather where they elected to play for the first time. I was immediately curious as to why a group of musicians with obvious desire for a Palestinian nation would debut in the jewish state? The first sentence threw me right back to reality that this was a poorly written article that was more of a fluff piece than anything else.

It is the obvious skewing of facts that creeps into your brain. In the first sentence the author uses the adjectives "occupied", "annexed", and "Israeli". Even though that are all parts of the same state the adjectives make it seem that these places are different. Sure there is a different demographic in each place (and thankfully the author does mention that there are Israelis and Arab-Israelies in the audience) but unless something happened that missed every newsite on the planet then they all belong to the same state.

Even if you disagree with my previous points aren't you a little miffed about the size of the article and all the unanswered questions? like...
1) Where did they get the instruments?
2) Who taught them to play?
3) Where did they practice all this time?
4) Why did they have to premier there and not in Gaza or some other Fatah/Hamas owned place?
5) How did they feel about their Israeli audience?
6) How were they recieved?
7) Will they tour?
8) What is the Palestinian national anthem? was it this?

etc etc etc etc. So many questions, so many questions.
________________________________________________________

The second is another article that is ridiculously short and leaves way too many questions unanswered. It is incredibly odd that a simple thing as people running a marathon can spur people into wanting a boycott. I hope Adidas knows that they did nothing wrong in sponsoring this event and that bowing to these ridiculous demands won't get them anything. Yet again, way to many questions arise.....

1) Who are these two Meretz council members that are now calling for the boycott of Adidas?
2) Why are they changing the route?
3) What is the big deal that people now run through a different part of Jerusalem?
4) Why couldn't some agreement been reached to prevent it from going this far?
5) Was it about money? (isn't' always about money?)
6) What do the runners have to say about this?
7) Who are the type of people to run in the marathon in israel?
8) What was security like before this change? What about after?


I combined these two articles into one post because they both had incredibly interesting topics but fail to come close to anything that helps the reader make an unbiased decision on the matter. The worst part is that it would have been incredibly simply to expand on these topics since I doubt these articles made print and were online exclusives. Either way it is important to understand what you are reading and ask as many questions as possible.

p.s Happy new year to everyone. May this year's happiness and success far outweigh the sadness and frustrations of the past.

let the promiscuity begin!

Who's in? I'm all hot, bothered, and excited after seeing the hilarious and highly sexual video "Burqa Woman" by Saad Haroon. It's just tickles this lizard part of my brain and I can't seem to control myself!

Ok that is my poor attempt at humor, I'll leave it to the professionals like Saad Haroon. It is a funny video though. Saad is a stand up comedian who performs in both English and Urdu in Pakistan. He is an up and coming comedian who is planning his first international tour. Unfortunately this foray into music video parody didn't go as well as planned because the negative feedback is ranging from "people are going to laugh at us" to people wanting him stoned to death. yes, you read that correctly.

It is reactions like this that regress my mind into that of a three year old asking these people what is the worst that can happen. Will you be punished for being funny or for laughing at a serious topic presented in a humorous manner? There is a log jam in my brain of functional thought because insane reactions are suppressing rationality and causing stupefying confusion. Is there something in the video I'm not seeing? nope, because it is hilarious.

The people with the negative reactions seem to forget that Saad is an observant Muslim and it is highly likely that he did everything on the straight and narrow to make this video. He took so much care not to touch the woman in the hilarious scene of him 'pushing' a woman on a swing. Is the fact that he is funny or a comedian make him into a bad Muslim that deserves death or punishment? It's not like comedy or arabic comedy is a new thing. There are examples from old poets (see quote in the middle from article on top) to the modern day "Axis of Evil" Comedy Tour.

So let's celebrate this comedian and his work instead of trying to shut him up.


ps "i'll go home practice flirting, with a living room curtain." If you aren't on the floor something may be wrong with the comedy part of your brain.

Letter to Vanessa Paradis, Johnny Depp, Karl Lagerfeld, Isabelle Adjani, and Bambou

Dear Vanessa Paradis, Johnny Depp, Karl Lagerfeld, Isabelle Adjani, Bambou, and everyone else coming with you,

THANK YOU!!!!! Your upcoming show/vacation in Israel is going to be amazing not just for you but also for the people eager to see a great performance. Israel has so much to offer that I hope you can take advantage of it all. There are fantastic beaches to lounge on, historical sites, places to hike in the desert or mountains, and many places of unmatched beauty that are too numerous to list here.

I want you to be aware that there are people and groups that will try and pressure you into not performing/coming. I strongly urge you to ignore them. It is easy to get caught up in the hyper-political state of affairs of Israel from people within and without. They will spout lies about the country and about what it stands for. If you take one thing away from your trip there it is that Israel stands for freedom in all it's forms, the same freedoms you enjoy elsewhere.

It is these freedoms that this group, Artists4Israel, are trying to protect, specifically, artistic expression and the freedom of speech/press. These are things that are cherished in Israel as evidenced by its plethora of non-state run newspapers and many cultural centers for the performance arts (to name a few). Sadly, there are pressures against top talent like yourself to not preform there and in the end you and your fans are the ones who are hurt. No one gains from it.

So again.....THANK YOU!!!!!!


p.s. If you need some great places to eat just let us know, we'll hook you up.

Sympathy Unswayed

I reread this article about 'photo journalist' (more on that later) William Parry and projection artist Beverly Carpenter "hijacking" of huge wall spaces in London to display photo's of Palestinian children, the check point, and their Christmas message, several times because my emotions were flowing from disgust to anger to sympathy to in-credulousness.


The first thought I thought that William Parry was simply copying what Artist4Israel did with their amazing murality project. Then I realized that would be an insult to that organization, their effort in putting it together, the artists involved, and the work they created. Looking at all the photos just made me laugh, not because they weren't good but because they were so obviously staged. It is just a pale imitation of the original idea. Parry was even helped by someone who worked on that project. The artists in the original at least had interesting art to put on the walls instead of some cheesy poorly stenciled Christmas message.


To be honest, I did like some pictures, the one with the small children. Like this....
I enjoy these photos because they show the resilience of kids and how easy it is for them to simply have fun despite the terrible situation they are in. That is as far as my enjoyment of the photos go though. All the happy feelings are separated away because the longer I look at the photos the more obvious it is that the innocent children are just being used yet again. Parry isn't using them like the typical member of Hamas (i.e. as a human shield) but as a pure propaganda prop. I can almost hear the thoughts in his brain; "oooh look at how they resist!", "oooh look inspirationaly at something off in the distance!", or "oooh look they are just like normal kids!".


Here is a question for you the reader. What was your first reaction to the Christmas message spray painted on the wall? Mine was just plain confusion considering what is really going on in that city. Bethlehem is not the safest place for a Christian and it is directly because it is under Muslim control, NOT Hamas control but rather Fatah control (apparently it doesn't matter which Muslim is in charge). Here was the truely shocking part for me (in case you don't want to read the whole thing)...

"There are many examples of intimidation, beatings, land theft, firebombing of churches and other Christian institutions, denial of employment, economic boycotts, torture, kidnapping, forced marriage, sexual harassment, and extortion," he said. PA officials are directly responsible for many of the attacks, and some Muslims who have converted to Christianity have been murdered.

...Parry, go ahead and bring Bethlehem to London, it sounds like a great idea. I'd like to say that Christians have it better in other places under Muslim rule but sadly i can't.


Even if I ignored all that other crap in the article there is still one tihng that really pissed me off the most. The fact that this douche calls himself a "photo journalist". Every tiny thing in the article points to the fact that this is the furthest thing from the truth. Everything was set up and planned ahead, which is the exact opposite of of what a jounalist is suppose to do. If this was all done internally by a local artist I wouldn't mind as much but since it was "Parry’s initiative", it just pisses me off. He is nothing but a spineless pimp using other people for his gain and spreading false talking points without thinking anything through. Don't think he is profiting from this? then why the plug for his book at the end. Santa's Ghetto ( the original idea) and Artists4israel aren't getting one cent, it is all to the benefit of others.


p.s. I loved the quote by a worker waiting on line at the check point. It kept me laughing. I know that it isn't easy to wait on line to go through security everyday but no matter where you are in the world someone is complaining about their commute to work.

Press: Frank151

From one of our own...

Check out the amazing work in a featured article of one of our artists in residence and all around fantastic guy, Sue Works. He has been affiliated with us for some time, and was on our first trip to Israel on the Murality Project. It is great to have him with us. This is just a small sample of his awesomeness.




Learn more about SueWorks bombing around the world at his facebook.