Win or lose, all the soccer teams playing in the World Cup will hear the call of the South African horn called the vuvuzela. The steady background drone at the games reminds some people of the sound of swarms of bees; others say it’s more like mosquitoes.
Posted in vuvuzela
What an exciting, evocative, intriguing find. Her added order at the end gives one chills.
This papyrus document, signed by Cleopatra, grants tax exemption from sales of imported wine to the Roman businessman Publius Canidius, a friend of Mark Antony. The manuscript, intended for an official in the Egyptian bureaucracy, was prepared by a court scribe. At the bottom of the document, in a rare example of her handwriting, Cleopatra herself added the Greek word “ginesthoi,” “make it happen.” (Credit: Agyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung)
Posted in Cleopatra
An article about “Dick and Liz” in Vanity Fair got me thinking about Nevill Coghill my older son’s “honorary grandfather.” He, C.S. Lewis, Tolkien and others made up the Oxford group, the Inklings, who gathered at the Eagle and Child pub. Once we were having dinner in Williamstown, MA, where Nevill was to speak at Williams College when a waitress came to the table to tell him he had a phone call. (Long before the advent of cell phones.) He asked if the person could leave a name and number since he, Grandmother Helen, Clifford and I (were there others?) were in the middle of dinner. The waitress grew uneasy and said that it was an international call, and then, perhaps because she did not want to alarm a distinguished elderly gent, or perhaps she just could not contain herself, she announced that it was Richard Burton. Nevill rose, shaggy, tweedy and a bit lumbering, and was ushered to the phone.
Tables around us fell silent as people stared, then went back to their conversations. When he came back, though, the local hush descended again as some diners eavesdropped on his explanation that Burton wanted to confer with him on some of the fine points of his performance of Dr. Faustus which they had been working on together. For years I had remembered it as when they were doing Antony and Cleopatra, the VF article gave me an aha! moment; A & C was a couple of years earlier.
“. . . Hamas is not just a terrorist organization. Hamas is an idea, a desperate and fanatical idea that grew out of the desolation and frustration of many Palestinians. No idea has ever been defeated by force — not by siege, not by bombardment, not by being flattened with tank treads and not by marine commandos. To defeat an idea, you have to offer a better idea, a more attractive and acceptable one.”
-From a June 1, 2010 article by Amos Oz in response to the attack on the Turkish ship MARMARA (below).
Parents of Rachel Corrie pay tribute to ‘courageous’ activists
MARY FITZGERALD
Mon, Jun 07, 2010
FAMILY REACTION: THE PARENTS of Rachel Corrie, the US activist killed by an Israeli bulldozer in Gaza in 2003, have paid tribute to those who attempted to break Israel’s naval blockade on a ship named after their daughter.
Activists, including several from Ireland, who last month set sail for Gaza onboard the aid-laden MV Rachel Corrie , were today returning to their home countries after Israeli forces intercepted the vessel on Saturday and towed it to the Israeli port of Ashdod.
Those onboard the Irish-owned ship had earlier rejected a proposal to discharge the cargo at Ashdod, and insisted they would continue on to Gaza. Days before, an Israeli commando raid on an aid flotilla sailing ahead of the vessel had resulted in the deaths of nine activists.
Cindy Corrie said those on board the MV Rachel Corrie were “courageous” in their determination to continue their journey. “They hold such a warm place in my heart because I have seen the work that they do, I know how important it is, and what amazing individuals they are. I feel so connected to their efforts,” she told The Irish Times .
“I applaud them for not agreeing to turn the boat into Ashdod port, because clearly the intention of their efforts is not just to bring humanitarian aid – while that aid is tremendously important – but also to challenge this ongoing, illegal siege of Gaza.”
It was “humbling” that the vessel bore her daughter’s name, Mrs Corrie said. “I know it would be humbling for Rachel too. She wanted more than anything to bring attention to what she was seeing. She went to Gaza to be a witness.”
Ms Corrie was 23 when she was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer as she and other protesters were trying to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes. Her writings – published posthumously – and a play about her life have made her a rallying figure for pro-Palestinian activists.
“I think Rachel would feel that if her name helps, if her story helps to continue to bring attention to what is happening, to continue to encourage people to take action right now to improve things for people in Gaza, she would be supportive of that,” added Mrs Corrie.
The Corrie family now run the Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice in their hometown of Olympia, Washington.
Mr Corrie said their thoughts were with the families of those killed during the attack on the flotilla last Monday. “Our hearts go out to them. We have some understanding of what they are going through in these days and the days that will follow.” The couple, who visited Gaza twice last year, said they hoped the renewed international focus as a result of the events of the past week would bring further pressure on Israel to lift its blockade. “I feel very strongly that this is a watershed,” said Mrs Corrie.
“I think the world has awakened this week in a way that is different to before. I think now it is up to all of us to ensure that there is a very determined and continuing effort to keep attention on what is happening, and to end this terrible siege of Gaza.”
© 2010 The Irish Times
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Posted in Amos Oz, Rachel Corrie
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