Patricia Smith: Monday
Posted on | November 3, 2008 | No Comments
Books still not here, but promised now for delivery at 10 am tomorrow. High stress, a million phone calls, some cajoling.
So let’s talk about the Israeli elections instead, for most likely the most complex democracy on the planet. The Knesset is currently “dissolved” for elections. What is more interesting than the elections themselves, perhaps, is that people speak of a sense of pregnancy, transition, tenuous possibility – tied with the results of the U.S. election. In the Israeli newspapers you read as much criticism of the settlements on the West Bank as you do of support. You hear more open talk of a two-state solution and of dividing Jerusalem into the West and East sections, with East Jerusalem under Palestinian authority.
We met with Amira Dotan, Knesset member, at her office at the Knesset today. She was thrilled about the book and wants to link it to a large gathering of Israeli and Palestinian women around International Women’s Day on March 8. The book team – Elana Rozenman, Ruth Gardner, and I – got very excited and immediately agreed. Gathering the women in the south of Israel, where fewer resources are available, working also with the Beduoin women.
Tomorrow evening the book launch in Ramallah, all organized by Rula Salameth at the gourmet Darna restaurant. We expect around 150 people. The dilemma now is what to wear – the gold silk blouse or the leopard spotted ruffled sweater?
