Jews

Behind the Green Line

Thanks to my friend I. I had a rare opportunity to celebrate Passover in a settlement called Efrata (or Efrat), which is in the Gush Etzion territory (Judean mountains, West Bank). Of course, it was a challenge. Like probably most of you, I am used to thinking about the inhabitants of Jewish settlements in the West Bank as some kinds of statistical units that are rhetorically used to justify one or another statement. Not despite, but because of that I highly valued the opportunity to meet the locals and learn about their lifestyle.

OstRacism: dating a person or identity?

'Ost' means 'East' in German. Today I want to discuss a particular kind of established 'Orientalism' against (a) Israeli Arabs, (b) immigrant women from the Former Soviet Union (FSU), and (c) their relationships.

I heard a rather disturbing story about Tel Aviv municipality chanelling thousands for a special programme to 'treat' (!) girls 'at risk' (!) of dating Arab and non-Jewish immigrant men. Read this blog entry about the issue. Even though the problem is deep and painful, and one-sided judgements on either side should be avoided, I couldn't agree more with the author of the entry, saying that the response is primitive and inappropriate.

RIP great Yiddish poet A.Sutzkever + some remarks from his funeral

The world lost a great poet whose lifespan embrased almost an entire century. Lithuanian-born (we'd like to consider so - he was born in Czarist Russia and lived in Poland, but nonetheless was sort of a part of the culture that thrived in Lithuania at the time) Avrom (Abraham) Sutzkever died on 20 January in Tel Aviv. Thanks to the Association of Yiddish Writers and Journalists in Israel, I was able to participate in his funeral in Kiryat Shaul.

How the world spreads

I can't help but come back to the topic of misrepresentations of the debate about the Nazi and Soviet crimes. The Minister of Justice Remigijus Šimašius, previously part of the neo-liberal mouthpiece, the Lithuanian Free Market Institute, wrote an entry in his blog about the accusations against Lithuanians for massively collaborating with the Nazis during WWII. The world reaction was translated back to Lithuanians in the same manner as always...

Portal manipulates information about Holocaust survivor

I'm really worried how the way certain news are presented in the most popular news portal Delfi fuels tensions in the society and perpetuates harmful stereotypes. Unfortunately, it seems that some journalists of the portal consciously exploit the emotional undertones of the messages they spread, in search for scandals and subsequent profit.

About

This blog is about urban transformations, the use of urban spaces, and how all of it relates to broader political frameworks in Eastern Europe and beyond. 'Wonderland' expresses, on one hand, my ironic view over what I see. So don't accept what you see here as objective information. What is stated in this blog is a position, yet I hope you'll find it interesting. On the other hand, with this blog I want to encourage everybody to never stop wondering, even if you are in your native city. So, let's start wa/ondering together! All photos posted here are taken by the blog author unless otherwise noted. If any problem with the posting of a particular photo is brought to my attention, I will review the problem and remove the photo if necessary. For those who write comments: they can be CENSORED. Although I'm interested in hearing different opinions, even radical ones, I won't tolerate swearwords and hate speech on my blog. Comments must be written in one of the languages I understand (LT, EN, DE, SE, RU, JP, HE). Remember that this is a blog, so I'll regard such comments as "The views expressed here are subjective and biased" as meaningless.

babelblogs

Behind the Green Line

OstRacism: dating a person or identity?

RIP great Yiddish poet A.Sutzkever + some remarks from his funeral

How the world spreads

Portal manipulates information about Holocaust survivor

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