Unforgettable Short Stories by Ayelet Tsabari

Ayelet Tsabari's short stories, published under The Best Place on Earth were a literary revelation for me. My aim was to purchase her recently published memoir, The Art of Leaving, but got a bit lost into the recommendations of my Amazon algorithm and challenged by the descriptions of some of the stories. Convinced, I purchased the short stories first and since then - yesterday afternoon - couldn't put them down.

I am not a great reader - and not a writer either - of short stories. I am in love with big, long stories and I rarely get the literary enthusiasm for couple of pages only stories. Especially when it comes to accounts defined by a specific identity and geographic realm, I prefer those boundaries to be journalistically clear, simple in order to allow in the good filling of the story. 

Ayelet Tsabari succeeded to achieve it in a very entincing, I dare to say even addictive way. The stories do have a clear geographical reference - Israel - and a frame - Jewish life, mostly of Jews of Mizrahi (Oriental) origin, specifically Yemeni. Within this matrix, memories are created, unique stories are told and existential crisis or questions are occurring. At the end, frequently the reader is left out, as it seems that once you are reading the next one, in the previous one there is still a life going on, you are not privy to. Thus, expectations and inner discussions are created. 

There is always a tension - mostly between the new and old, the traditional lifestyle versus the modernity liberation, the silent revolt against the Askenazi establishment - around which each of the stories are created, but those tensions are gently, fuel the story and nicely make the balance. 

After becoming familiar with Tsabari's writing, I am very curious to read more about the sources of her writing, her own life story and therefore can't wait to start reading her memoir. 

Rating: 4 stars

Let's Talk Moral Lows

For a long while I am trying as much as possible to keep myself away from the poisonous nonsense. Either in politics or personal affairs. It doesn't make me feel good and as long as I consider that my power stops in the front of other people's bad will. All shall pass, after all.

However, being active on social media - a serious sourse of yetzer hara both for the political and personal wellbeing - the ways in which some public intellectuals position towards certain sensitive topics cannot be ignored by someone so much into fine analysis of human goods and wrongs.

I know that the example I am about to mention is not new, doesn't have any chance of changing stances in the next decade or so. I also know that I personally cannot stop from being involved, even so randomly lately. I am still optimistic that my words can one day bring change, for me and other people. One word plus one word plus one word can make a strong outstanding sentence.

In one of my rare moments of procrastination, I was lately scrolling some Twitter and Instagram accounts, of people that at the first sight might look the kind of persons I would love to talk with about politics, Middle East, arts and science. PhD holders, with a good research position in European universities. Some of them do have a background from countries that say every couple of minutes that want to destroy Israel. But they go visit Holocaust memorials in Europe and are impressed about the extent of the annihilation that was planned by the Germans.

But they also have a steady obsession: Gaza. Free Gaza! Resistance! Take down that Wall! Resist! Are the short, from the bottom of the heart messages uttered by those civil vigilants. Poor Gazans! Cruel inhuman Israeli Army who is killing babies! Stop the war! Once in a while, when it is the case, the border their profile picture taken in sunny European places with a widget in support of those poor people from Gaza.

However, there is nothing on the profile of those brave public intellectuals about the children killed in Yemen, or those in Syria, or the girls kidnapped in Nigeria by the Islamic militants. Nothing about the horrors of ISIS in the Middle East or the way in which gay people are treated in Gaza by Hamas. They do not adorn their smiling pics with a ribbon and the moral outrage is completely absent. Of course, it might be they are too busy counting what they call the human rights violations of poor Gazans by Israel. 

Of course truth, especially when it comes to conflicts is not black and white and there are so many nuances and special circumstances to be taken under consideration. I am always ready to openly discuss Middle East politics and its interesting stage this part of the world is going through. But I prefer to have such discussions with people with an open mind, whose long years of intellectual dedication for science or humanities taught them how to use their mind to abhor any kind of propaganda and put themself outside their comfort zone and think, think, think. With their own mind. Those kinds of people I can't wait to have as friends.  

About the Failure of Taking Stances

When I watched Munich, I was sure that this is the 'best' you can get in terms of creating an artistic reality which is so edulcorated and 'politically correct' that it completely distorts the artistic value of the movie. When you approach a political topic, or a topic with a high political implication, from a literary and visual standpoint, it's obvious that taking stances is important. Based on research the film director or author must take a certain position. I know there are some very early Marxist or neo-Marxist writings that are still hidden in a private corner of my head, but I think it is impossible to create something valuable artistically when you just want to present in a very easy going way very complex historical facts. 

I've heard first about 7 Days in Entebbe one year ago, when it was presented to the 68. edition of the Berlinale. I wanted to watch it but I've read some reviews that were not favorable and needed some time to completely detach myself from them and evaluate the movie with my own mind. Finally tonight I took the chance for keeping myself busy for over 1h watching it on Netflix.

The movie covers the 7 days in the life of the passengers of the AirFrance Flight from Athens to Tel Aviv, hijacked at the end of June 1976 in a joint operation of representatives of the German terrorist organisation Baader Meinhof and terrorists of the Organisation for the Liberation of Palestine. The two organisations had a quite good collaboration at the time, with Baader Meinhof members permanently training in the OELP camps in the Middle East. They were trained to attack and perpetrate acts of terror very often for a Palestininan cause, not to plant flowers or collect money for sick children.

There are two Germans (Wilfried Böse, played by Daniel Brühl, and Brigitte Kuhlmann, played by Rosamund Pike) looking to add a sense to their life, naive, intellectuals aiming to put into practice their theoretical revolutionary talks. There are Palestinians looking for revenge and not trusting the Germans - because, the movie says because of them Jews come to 'Palestine' and started to 'oppress them, doing what the Germans did' (very deep). When the intellectual level is so high, the fact that over 200 peoplewere kidnapped and brought to Uganda - not the 'eretz Uganda' of the Zionist Congress, but the Uganda of Idi Amin. 

In Israel, Shimon Peres and Yitzak Rabin, later portrayed as active supporters of the dialogue with the Palestinians, as it was necessarily a direct connection to the Entebbe case, are rather keen to send dozen of Israeli military to rescue the hostages, regardless of the risks, than to give up to the requests of Palestinians. Yoni Netanyahu's death is somehow the cause of Bibi's entry into politics - most likely not. 

The film avoids violence, which is inherent to such a situation, avoids taking stances, avoids clarity for ambiguity because you better avoid being so direct with your thoughts, in the end, maybe you are not right. Carlos the Jackal was also portrayed - according to a very long and boring movie - a kind of Robin Hood, a revolutionary misunderstood by its times. 

The only moments who are really dramatic and worth watching are the dance insertions admirably played by the dancers of Batsheva Dance Company.

My life didn't change for good or for worse after watching 7 Days in Entebbe. I don't like art with a thesis, as I don't like obsessive neutrality. If you are smart enough - and also not a real sympathizer to a cause but trying to hide it - you can create an interesting moral case and push the public to further thinking. If not, you just avoid anything and assume that wars are done for candies. Peace and love for the revolution!