I've been a busy bee these past few days.
I had a fairly large exam today and handed in the paper I stayed up all night doing (same course, BTW). If I never touch this material again it will be too soon.

In two weeks the second semester exam season is to commence.
*glomps*

Monday and Tuesday there was a bunch of activity on campus planned and arranged by the Student Coalition (with your truly being one part of the planning and arranging team. Yes, I'm touting my own horn) regarding the Occupation, as June marked 41 years of the Occupation in Gaza and the West Bank).

On Monday we arranged an open discussion regarding the One State Solution and the Two State solution. It was great, as a whole bunch of opinions were heard and discussed.
The majority were Leftists, obviously - though the posters and fliers were worded to not be too demagogic or partial, we wanted the Mainstream student body to come a listen - of which there a few but out of thirty or so people that quickly dwindled to twenty to fifteen there weren't a whole lot of Liberals, though those that were there spiced things us a bit.There were no outright Rightists, as they know us and hate us... that's okay, we don't like them much either.

On Tuesday we had a myth busting session; an ICAHD activist gave a hugely informative lecture about the population control that goes on in the West Bank (specifically East Jerusalem, which is a world in and of itself within the Occupation discourse) under the guise of Security and how that word is used as a motivation for a whole slew of attacks against civilians in the West Bank (these attacks include House Demolitions, "Check Points", the Separation Wall etc. etc.).
After the ensuing discussion and break we had MBC reporter Qasem Hatib who came to talk to us about the "No Palestinian Partner" myth and discourse. We discussed how that particular discourse became prevalent in the Barak and Camp David years (and following) and how it has been used since then as a political tool by Israel to keep the status quo (not what he said, but what I gleaned from his very cynical journalistic words - such a pessimist, made us idealists all sad... kidding, I don't think I've ever met a bigger bunch of cynics than those in the Coalition).

Very successful half week so far, I'd say.

So it was a good, if stressful week on campus.
Wednesday was a bad day for Jerusalem.
A man went on a killing spree on a tractor. ( Read more about it, there is a plethora of links to be found behind )

Yeah I slept for four hours.
What of it?

As stated before, at least I finished that bloody paper and won't have to pull a White Night (an all nighter) again.
I'm not optimistic enough to think that this will be my last White Night... though it is my last in this particular course, which I will hopefully pass without too much humiliation.

With an exam in the same course in which I wrote the aforementioned paper on Wednesday and actual formal exam season starting in two weeks, my stress is up, though not as much as you'd think.
Staying up all night and going to sleep at dawn tends to mellow you out.

In any event, have a ( GIF )

It's amazing how much our perceptions are just a matter of arbitrary perspective.

Yesterday, I was telling my parents about the LGBT studies and Queer theory conference that went on at Uni (the eighth "The Other Sex" con at Tel-Aviv University) and was asked if everyone there was as strange as I.

They said it as a joke (or not, I try not to dwell), but I couldn't help but think about it in a more critical way.

Am I strange?
I mean, really?
And in any event, define "not strange", or "normal", or "normative" - none of those are synonymous.
So beyond that little venture into semantics land, I have to say that this year's conference was fun, as I actually knew some of the people speaking on the panels and understood the theory that was being discussed there. Last year, was my first Queer academic conference and there was a whole lot that I didn't understand, other than what I had actually experienced as a queer person.

Where was I?
Oh, yes, the "strangeness".

Walking down the street, in my day to day life, I wear my political identity on my sleeve; which not everyone gets, understandably so, I suppose. Most of the time I feel as though I somehow escape the scrutiny of the hegemony because I don't break any societal conventions in the way I present myself to the world (correct me if I'm wrong IRL people). But I'm aware of where I and the "mainstream" meet and conflict, that place where I know that I don't fit into the categories society assumes to subject me to.

And today, at this conference, it's always amazing to hear the theories that describe the reality in which we live and the people who, along with me, don't fit the *deep breath* Patriarchal-heterosexist-Ashkenazi (i.e. white)-Jewish-nationalistic hegemony.

There is always a problem of representation. There wasn't any panel (that I saw) that touched on Bisexual identity specifically, there wasn't a whole lot about Trans' issues and there was a lot of Judith Butler bashing, which seems to be a trend in current post-structural theory and philosophy - which I don't get, personally.

There was a whole lot of talk on Queer identity, which a lot of times is used as an umbrella term for LGBT, but as (the amazing) Amalia Ziv said this evening, Queer is also an adjective and a verb... but not everyone has an identity which is fluid and shifting and changing.

I consider myself and call myself queer in certain circles, but I know that my some members of my family don't understand what I mean by "queer", but "bisexual" - with the baggage that word carries, is something most people who aren't queer themselves and know queer culture - is easier to understand, because it holds within the binary mainstream society insists we live as either homo or hetero, being bi is a little skew from that, but there is the option of one way or the other - with Queer, the options, the categories, themselves are put into question.

And that's what I felt what the conference was about; mainly about literary texts and more theorizing than practicality... but hey, this is academia, sometimes theory is the praxis.

There's something fun about writing in the Uni computer room.
It's a bit like spending time in the library, only instead of people breathing and pushing papers there's a clickety-clack of key boards.

I just had the most fascinating lecture about the Canaanite movement; how they were secular and wanted to create a new nation separate from Judaism which would bring together the different groups in the Middle East (the movement opposed Zionism and Pan-Arabism, as their goal was to create a nation based on the view that Jews (in the jargon, the "Hebrews") and the Arabs in the Levant were descendants of the ancient Canaanite people.

It's pretty neat, in a Nationalist way I suppose.

They opposed the Partition Plan, regarding it as a total disaster to the whole ethos of a united land and new nation, as it created an even greater rift between the local Arabs and the immigrant Jews.

It's an interesting History which had a great impact on Israeli and Hebrew culture after the formation of the state. It had a lot of potential, but it neglected to take Arab culture, history and language into account, which I think would have proved just a hindrance just as powerful as Judaism and the British mandate were in the formative years of the movement.

The lecture was specifically about Aharon Amir one of the ideologues of the movement who died (at 85) just a few months ago, because he was a writer and poet who, though not a recruited author, was quite clear in his ideology in his writing.

I think the nucleus of the idea, a new nation separate from the authority of religion and based on the land and territory, is still powerful. Because of the greater rift that is occurring between Israel and the (American) Diaspora (and other various socio-political reasons), it seems that there will be no other choice, eventually, to somehow create an alternative nationality that will incorporate all the multi-cultures that are found in this tiny stretch of sand.

Because of the holiday I had a very long weekend in which I managed to actually meet friends, earn some money, write a short paper for Lit. (about Foucault, don't tell me that takes five minutes, because I will have to kill you).

There's a lot in the News about stuff that may or may not go on in Gaza, which is worrying, because that means a whole lot of dead people.
Always a negative.
A positive is that the Shalit family have received a letter.

Another plus is that Hamas and Fatah are communicating. Yes, actual communication between the Palestinian factions which makes me feel optimistic, though again, my cynicism is getting the best of me and I have the feeling they're just doing it for show in order to try and get more sympathy from governments while leaving the actual people to rot in Gaza and the West Bank.

Leadership in these parts is quite nauseating.

I was discussing with a friend of mine who we were going to vote for in the elections, which have yet to be confirmed, but with the way things are looking it's not a long shot that Israel will be having elections not too long after good ole Uncle Sam.

Who are my options do I hear you ask; well it looks like every time I think about I can't help but shudder. The only person I wouldn't "mind" so to speak, out of the big three (Netanyahu, Barak and Livni) is Livni. I would never vote for Kadimah as it lacks any kind of moral or social fiber and stands on a platform of "security".

Axing the top three of Labour *snort*, Likud *vomit* and Kadimah *aforementioned above*, I'm left with Meretz (social-democrats), Hadash (communists) and the Green party (yes, the environmentalists).
I'm leaning towards the greens, as they've yet to get any seat in the Knesset and haven't been corrupted beyond recognition.

Ach, this is very frustrating!

I think I need to go back to Foucault and read about how as a Subject my identity is established by language and that if I'm not in the discourse I cease to exist.
Neato!

It would appear I volunteered to lead a team aimed at busting the myths and misinformation concerning the Occupation towards the Student body at TAU, my Uni.
I really like being a part of the Student Coalition*.

Dude, talk about stress, especially since my fellow team leader lives quite far away from me and both of us have tons of stuff to do academically. But both she and I thought that the most important thing to get out there is the fact that there is a whole lot of misconceptions in the Israeli public (in this case the average TAU student) concerning Gaza, Sderot, '67 and its consequences (for which this activity is being done, this week is the 41st anniversary to the Six Day War and the Occupation of those extra pieces of land), the Settlements in the West Bank and the whole "1984" mentality of "Security is Peace".

I think I need to get some of my friends to join this and spread it around, hopefully we'll get a large audience at Uni.

A new subject related to the above.

Every Wednesday there's a Happening on Campus, which I hadn't noticed was a regular thing, it just seemed that the Student Union *snort* arranged stalls and booths sponsored by various private companies on random days... it's quite nauseating. The Union *snort* isn't really interested in actually representing the student body (my faculty rep is such a bitcah I can't even describe how much she irritates me!) and "earns" money by getting these companies to participate in these Happenings.
There's not much to say, other than that the Union considers us consumers and not the actual people they exist for. That, and it's just a political jumping board for the Union Committee, which in and by itself is fine, but not when they use my fees to use it for their own benefit!

I had a point.

Oh, the Union has put the financial support they are meant to supply to the Student Coalition on hold, in an attempt to shut up any kind of critical or oppositional action that the Coalition has put forth.
Which is at once irritating and hypocritical.
They're meant to support any kind of student action or activity (so long as it isn't treason, and I'm sorry, criticism of Student leadership doesn't count as national treason!).

I hope the low key activity the Coalition has planned for the end of the month, won't be brought to a sudden halt because the Union has decided to go into cahoots with more "moderate" factions in the University activist population. Apparently the demo that the Coalition and the committee for Arab Students put on the 15th of May to commemorate the Nakba wasn't well received and a Zionist Student Coalition was formed based on the Coalitions organisation.

So here's to hoping the Union has a new Chair next year that isn't an ass and that the committee have an iota of integrity.

Who am I kidding, my cynicism gave me a big pinch when I wrote that sentence.

*Which is just a shorter way of saying "The Coalition of Students for Left Action and Students Against the Occupation".

The Lit. test I had earlier this week was a total disruption, not to mention absolute pain.
The week away in South Africa really whacked up my whole schedule and I'm only, now, finally getting my act together, just in time tow finish off an three page essay for Sunday, a one page essay for Thursday and a ten page analysis fort he following Monday.

Add to that another exam I'm taking on the 18th (approx. two weeks from now, less actually now that I think about), plus the regular reading I need to do for my classes.

A wee bit overwhelmed... which is why I'm wasting time blogging about it. Duh, right?

My life is quite quickly reducing itself and the semester is already half way and soon it will be over and then I'll have even more exams!

*wails against the injustice of being a First Year student who feels she has no idea what she's doing*

My peeps :D


The Student Coalition at Tel Aviv University presents its 3rd extra-curricular, extra-political and extravagant course, Hurray!

This year, we will be discussing neo-liberalism and privatisation. How do these rather abstract concepts relate to different spheres of life in Israel/Palestine and what kind of influences do they have on various social groups?

We will also look into struggles and alternatives and investigate new forms of anti-capitalist action. You don't want to miss it.

Mondays, 18:00, Room 326, Gilman (Humanities) Building.

( Flyer and Course list )

I'm tired.
I'm never taking a course that requires me to wake up at six AM.
Or alternately I could start going to sleep at reasonable hours...
But fuck that right?

But the fact that I'm tired won't stop me from reporting this shit, that went down in the beginning of last weekend and which may or may not be resolved.
It pissed me off royally.
Beyond the tragic and cruel nature of these invalidated conversions, it spotlights a grave and important matter about the relationship of religion and state in Israel.
That it is rotten.

I got into an argument about what is acceptable involvement of religious establishment in the state.
Personally, I think they can fuck off, since these establishments are chauvinistic, sexist and racist.

There is no civil marriage in Israel, the closest we have is common-law unions which were established so that "un-marriageable" couples could have legal standing.
Who are the "un-marriageable" you ask - they are members of the population that cannot get married through the Rabbanut. The system was initially built for couples who according to Halakha couldn't marry each other: Cohens and divorces mainly. But this also includes Mamzerim (bastards) who cannot marry through the Rabbanut, Jews cannot marry Muslims or Christians, nor can Muslims and Christians marry each other, there is no same-sex marriage either.
This, is of course easily solved by marrying elsewhere; Cyprus, Canada, the USA, Anywhere that allows foreign nationals to marry.

And after marriage (which brings great civil benefits) comes divorce (more and more these days and don't let anyone tell you otherwise).
It's a great invention, Jews are practical that way.
Of course it is the Husband that must grant the Wife the Get (divorce), she can "choose" whether to accept it or not. Not that the man would give a shit, all he needs in order to have a Halachikly legal family (while not divorced to his first wife) is something like a 100 signatures from 100 Rabbis and he can marry and have (halachicly)legal children - bigamy and polygamy are illegal in Israel - so he can ignore with impunity the pleas his Wife makes so that they can be rid of each other. There are sanctions, monetary usually, but go beg a Yeshivah Bochur to pay alimony when he can't sustain himself without a wife, or just a run of the mill asshole who doesn't want to pay alimony and that putting him in jail only postpones the writ of execution of whatever he owes his wife, his lawer and his children should he have any. The wife, due to all this, is now an Aguna - another side effect of the Rabbis revocation of the conversions - there are hundreds, if not thousands, of Agunot women in Israel.

My side of the argument was that we either take the anti-patriarchy hammer and bash the Rabbanut until nothing is left of that racist, sexist establishment, or have the state acknowledge the fact that there is more to Judaism than Orthodoxy so that that the pluralism we pretend to have in Israel have some basis in reality.

A mixture of reform and revolution - I'm more keen on rebuilding from the grassroots, but others kind of like the way things are... or at the very least don't mind the way things are; seeing as the privilege of being born Jewish has the added bonus that no one will be nosing around our private life and checking to see if we're actually being Jewish.

It makes me sick.

I've heard people say it takes time for these things to change, after all blacks in the USA only got civil rights in the 60's of the 20th century and the women only got the vote less than a hundred years ago.
Change is slow but it happens.

Yes, change is slow... when those in power have no incentive to change, when the atrocities that these establishments perpetrate don't touch their lives, then change can be slow.
When the status quo is just fine and dandy to The Man, then change can be slow.

Classical liberal* bullshit.

*No offense to any liberals who may be reading this.

Well, I have my first University test. Ever. This morning.
It went fairly well, nothing like previous tests I acquired for practice suggested it would be, which in a way was better. This test was Intro to Ethics (interesting, obviously, but also a bit boring because went from Plato to Kant and didn't get to JS Mill or Nietzsche, because of the strike) and instead of giving us a question which was: "here is principle what does philosopher A say about it and what does philosopher B say about it? Compare.
That's easy.
We got questions about Subjectivism and Relativism and about Reason between Plato and Kant. So we actually had to think, which is something I do indeed love to do.
Hopefully my thoughts made sense on the paper.
I certainly took my time, two and a half hours and I left with only fifteen minutes to spare.
This is, by the way, my first exam since I matriculated five years ago (the Psychometric doesn't count, and in any event I also did it three years ago).

( Ink Blot Test )

Ummm, it's fairly me. Yeah, I'd say it's me. Pretentiousness and all ;P

End of Semester (technically yesterday and actually on Sunday, since I have a make up class).
Monday is my first exam.
Yeah, I know what am I doing blogging? It's called procrastinating - of which I am the champion.

Just wanted to let you all know that I'll be updating very sporadically over the next month, ao not to worry.

That is, if you care enough ;)

See you all on the flip side.

( I'm a Chaotic Good Human Sorceress! )

What a long, long day.
I went to sleep at around 3 a.m because I don't know how to manage my time in a proper manner. On the other hand I know I can work into the night and have a pretty good assignment done on time.
I can imagine what my Semester tests are going to look like.
*sigh*
It was mainly the defensive driving course that put me out of whack, because it basically ate up all the spare time I usually use to read articles, essays and finish up my notes.
Tomorrow is the final class of the course and there will be a test and dir ba'alak if I have to do this whole thing over again.
Any way I need a cup of coffee and some supper.

Part the first and not to forget that these are the answers to the Meme.

The car I drive

We have one car and it's a Renault Kangoo. It's a gear engine, meaning that during rush hour it is a pain to drive and in my itsy-bitsy country every hour is rush hour.
I enjoy driving alone, but because of my slight paranoia I drive much more carefully when I'm in company than alone and I hate driving while my parents are passengers, it's uncomfortable any way you look at it.

Women, Men and In between
( Cut for sex talk and a bit of TMI )
Activism - where I fit in and my thoughts in general

I only began to be really active in the past two years so I'm really trying to find where I feel most comfortable in the huge array of Leftist social activism in Israel, which is as diverse as can be due to the turbulent nature of our little stretch of land.
At this point I consider myself affiliated with feminism, queer pride, anti-oppression, anti-war and anti-occupation, I don't know at this point how to incorporate all of them into action even though my own ideas, ideals and principles include all those things.
So I'm registered to a bunch of email lists that let me know of activities, I'm friends with people who do more than me or are actually members of groups and organizations and they let me know when stuff is happening.

I don't do nearly enough, but I know I do more than a lot of people, so I'm trying to juggle the whole Uni thing as well, which is a bit overwhelming. Not to mention that being active, puts yourself a whole lot more out there and exposed, which this little sheltered child was never exposed to as a child - I mean I knew it happened to other people and I knew that my parents were active in South Africa, but by the time I came along those times were long past (goodbye 70's, hello 80's).

Activism in Israel (like anywhere when you think about it) especially Left activism can, at times, be very divisive; what issue is more important? The Occupation? Women's Rights? Israeli Palestinians Rights? Queer Right? Privatization of public offices and issues?
All these things are a part of the same symptom, which gives the whole "One Struggle" theme a great deal of validity, but on the other hand it ignores the inherent differences and history of each issue and aspect - like at times anti-Occupation actions ignore the fact that when you're affirming one national identity (Palestine) you're calling the cancellation of another (Israel), it just doesn't work that way.
Or the way Queer activism calls for equal rights in marriage when there isn't even civil marriage in Israel... let's get rid of the Rabbanut before we start with specific demands to certain communities.
And all that.

So that's what I think.
Yeah.

Reply to the Meme:

Buffy and the Basics

My favourite season is probably the third (even though most of my favourite individual eps are from the fourth and sixth seasons), but the arch with the Mayor, Faith and the way ethics and morality got all mixed around in that season, making it so much more complicated than the second and most certainly the first. I feel the third offers the most foreshadowing (in retrospect obviously) to the rest of the seasons; Buffy's relationship with her friends, her independence, Willow and Xander finally closing up the feelings that were quite obvious between them before... I mean two of my favourite eps are the two most connected ones, The Wish and Doppelgangland... 'tis cool with the sexy Willow and the foreshadowing of #1 her Lesbianism (which admittedly I felt had more to do with Tara as a person rather than her inherent sexuality) and #2 her total badassness as a villain - the Troika may have been the baddies, but Willow was the Big Bad - especially as a Vamp.

And a little basic information on me: I'm 22, I had a perfectly normal sheltered childhood, most Jewish families have in the towns surrounding Tel-Aviv from Anglo-Saxon background (my family is South African) I'm the first Sabra, I was born in Israel and have never lived anywhere else, unless you include the six months I spent in the US with my sister as an Au Pair (see the America saga for time I spend there between Feb-July 2006).
I have no idea what I want to do when I finish Uni, I've barely started that yet.

A defining/important moment in my childhood/teen-hood

*sigh* I don't know! I lived a little sheltered life, nothing happened to me, ever, I was totally oblivious to everything that didn't concern me... even the Gulf War in which Scuds came down on us passed without scarring me (I think, my therapist doesn't seem to think it affected me especially).
There are two things which really come to mind as defining moments or events - and that's probably the birth of my oldest Nephew... suddenly I was auntie and my sister was a mother, I was pretty overwhelmed at the time. I was 16 and when I held him the first time I cried and was really scared I'd drop him or do something horrible, but all I had to do was hold him close and it was okay. Now the boy is six and I have to struggle just to give him a kiss, *sigh* they grow up quick - we do argue about the Beatles though, I'm a John-girl, he's Paul all the way *grin*.
The second event is the second Lebanon War, it affected me in a way I never thought could actually happen in real life, you can find out more by reading my entries about my reserve service (which I no longer do) here - July-Aug 2006.

Vegetarianism

I became a vegetarian very late in life, only two years ago.
My oldest sister has been a veg most of her life and for some reason it never rubbed off on me until I was 21.
I decided to go veg when I realized I wanted to live a more ethical life (which I felt started when I stopped consuming disposable menstrual products and began using a Mooncup), I briefly considered going vegan, but that would have been too much of an imposition on my mother (who cooks the food I eat) and thus kind of negate the whole ethical thing - when I live on my own we'll see what happens.
The whole vegetarian thing, when it comes late in life, is sort of mystifying to old friends and acquaintances: Why now and not before? How much difference does it actually make? Where do you get your protein? But you eat fish* right? It's almost (but not quite) like coming out of the closet, because it requires other to adjust to this new information, which, while not exactly conflicting with the image that one has of me, is still not exactly what they thought.
I really love being a veg, as it opened up a whole new avenue of food that I now eat, which I didn't bother to before - Tofu and different kinds of cheese, fried aubergines, pine nuts - I have more, but none at the top of my head.

*Because for some reason fish is a variant of vegetable o_O

Not to worry! More to come.

Yeah, it's been three years and I get to do a twelve hour course (three meetings, four hours each) where I get to be bored out of my mind in order to get my license renewed.
Blah, what a waste of time!
But at least they don't fall on University hours, two classes are on Tuesday which is a free day and the other is on Sunday when I finish classes early.
So it's not all bad.
Other than, you know, it being a complete waste of time!

But oh well, I'll survive and barring any really negligent and crappy driving on my part (unlikely since I'm a defensive driver in any event and hate driving like I'm in a race for my life) I shouldn't need to go to one of these ever again.

And onto something completely different; On the 4th of March Wafa Sultan was in a debate with Tal'at Remieh on Al-Jazeera: Video with translation on MEMRI-TV.
I really admire Wafa Sultan going up against the culture she left, really going into their faces and saying what needs to be said. I don't agree with her politics as such (because she's a bit of a neocon), but I think she needs to be listened to, she's another voice which is often silenced in the Arab and Muslim world, not only as a moderate but also as a woman.

Is technically tomorrow on the 8th, but that's my Nephew Shvo's birthday and I don't want anything to overshadow that.

There was a panel at the Uni yesterday about "Body and Politics", which I couldn't attend in its entirety due to the fact that I actually, ya know, had courses to attend, well next year.
And my fave Women's Studies Prof smiled and waved at me *squee*

I have a cruch on my teacher, I never had those in high school and such... but blah, she's married with children, which doesn't make her any less cool.

Here's a pic of the day for you all:

Things are tense as you can probably imagine.
I'm not really good at putting my point across when it comes to things I'm passionate about, there are often times where my chronic foot-in-mouth disease becomes acute.

I always end up sounding so emotional and irrational and blubbery, as though those are bad things and make my arguments thinner. It's bloody irritating that the only times my views are even listened to is when I speak "logically", "unbiased" and "rational".
As though there's anything logical, unbiased and rational in the situation we're living in.

Yep rockets, sieges and disharmony... the balanced way of life. *sigh*

I think I give the impression, or I actually may be, a whole lot more moderate than other activists I'm in touch with.
I'm as anti-Occupation and pro-Human Rights as they come... but I can't deal with hypocrisy.
The hypocrisy of "Anarchists" who fight for the right of National Determination while saying that another kind Nationalism is wrong - "we only fight against the Occupation!" - yes, well that's all very nice isn't it, if your point of view is so narrow you can't see the wide spectrum of where you're standing.
Like I previously mentioned, I believe that since Jews have a homeland, Palestinians deserve the same thing.
Often when I mention this to the more anti-Zionist people I know (my kind of post-Zionism is too moderate for most of them, as I've said) and I ask them what will you do if there is no longer an Israel? Where will you go?
What does that matter? They reply.
A great deal - citizens of the world we all want to be, but to be rootless and disconnected from where we come, to be doomed to become "Wandering Jews" again... that kind of Cosmopolitanism kind of ended in disaster... more than once.

Maybe it's the memory of persecution, maybe it's just a sense of unfairness, but I was born here and this is the only home I know and I want it to be a better place for my Nephews, Niece and my next potential Nephews and Nieces and maybe even potential children.
To just give up and go? To abandon what's been built here, what's been accomplished and what can still be built and accomplished?
That seems like anathema to me.
I won't give up on being Israeli, because I want to have allies and friends (in Palestine and beyond) and not wander loosely in the world with only a memory.

And in a less wolly manner: my brother, that clever guy, if only he wrote his ideas (hint-hemlock_sholes-hint).
He has great suggestions for non-violent direct action which would really be constructive if people were made aware of how powerful they could be.
I'll definitely pass those ideas along to people who might actually be able to do something.

---

I wish I had time to write feminist comic book and sci-fi criticisms like I used to, but all I do now is read my articles for Uni and my News feeds and blogs.
Doesn't let my brain veg in a constructive manner.

Ah, Uni.
I love Uni.

My fave course is probably, and funnily enough, the Feminism and Law course.
The lecturer is political and angry.
I love that.
She gave us a quick overview of the different kinds of feminism we'll be using in order to interpret a law and the feminist issues surrounding certain laws in Israel and what its societal affect is.
So cool!
One of the articles I'm reading at the moment, and taking a break from, is about "Honour" Killings in the Arab/Palestinian sector is Israel.
Can I just say the injustice if fucking infuriating!
Another article is about the clashes of different kinds of feminism in Israel - like the The Israel Womens Network and the anti-militarism organisations, like New Profile.
Fascinating I tell you.

The Lit. classes are getting a more interesting and they're still intros and I think they will only get interesting next year when I'm done learning what the tools are and actually use them in a way I find interesting.
So, less fascinating so far, but we'll be talking about Marxism and social atmosphere as a way to interpret a text in front of us, and not just look at the way it looks or structured "physically" - like in Formalism (bleh).
Okay, so it is a little fascinating.

Did I mention I love Uni?!

First (proper) week of Uni is finished... now I have a ton of papers to read!
OMG! So much stuff to read on the same subject.
But I'm having a blast, finally I can the interconnectedness of my subjects, especially in Literature where I've taken all the intro courses where yeah, there's a lot of repetition but there are a few differences and I can see where the basis will help me later on when I want to do my own research for deeper courses.
The Literature courses are by their nature very conservative, in the second Semester we'll be learning the more post-modern interpretations and readings, which to me are far more interesting, but one has to see where it came from.
It does, however, balance really well with the more edgy and somewhat subversive content in Women and Gender studies, seeing as Feminism, by it's nature (at least IMO) is a post-modern idea - at least where's it's implemented best and most effectively.

So yeah, much fun... though quite tiring.

And now a quiz, which in a fun way reaffirms my idea to maybe be a ( Librarian )
Via bitter_moss