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Urban Planner: October 29, 2008

By Ian McGrenaghan

20081029.jpg
FILM: Give yourself something more exciting to contribute in the Starbucks lineup tomorrow than your ruminations on the latest episode of Gossip Girl, and check out Trouble the Water at the opening of the 2008-2009 Doc Soup season. Chronicling the story of a black couple (and yes, we did need to mention their race) finding themselves in the middle of the chaos that is post-Katrina New Orleans, the film is being hailed as one of the most important documentaries to have come out of America in a long, long time. Bloor Cinema (506 Bloor Street West), 6:30 p.m., 9:15 p.m., $12.
BARGAINS: It’s the 85th and final year of Toronto’s Hadassah-WIZO Bazaar. Grab your fanny pack and join thousands of bargain hunters from across the city in a quest for steals, deals, ethnic food, and old ladies more than willing to overcharge you for a $10 handbag if you don’t know how to barter loudly enough. One word of shopping advice—Hadassah-WIZO is a Zionist fundraising organization, so you may have a hard time finding any of those cool kaffiyehs from Urban Outfitters that all the hipster kids are wearing. Direct Energy Centre, Exhibition Place (100 Princes Boulevard), 9 a.m.–7 p.m., $5.
MUSIC: Swallow a tab of acid, tell your parents you’re going to a friend’s house, and listen to a musician who knew how to weird people out way before Marlyn Manson was chewing off chicken heads while wearing a jock strap on his face. David Byrne (of Talking Heads fame) will be performing songs from his epic 1981 collaboration with Brian Eno, and he is so avant-garde that he wears over-sized red dress shirts from the eighties and somehow still looks cooler than us. Massey Hall (178 Victoria Street), 8 p.m., $39.50–$69.50.
DISCUSSION: Before you send the $100 money transfer to that ousted African king who just emailed you, we’d recommend giving author Larry Krotz a few minutes of your time. He’s recently released The Uncertain Business of Doing Good, a book that discusses the power dynamics that underlie western fiscal interventions in Africa (upon further investigation, it seems he focuses more on humanitarian projects than Nigerian bank scams, alas). Duke of York Pub (39 Prince Arthur Avenue), 7:30 p.m., FREE.
Photo by Tidewater Muse.

Comments

  • Rachel Lissner

    Was the Zionist comment really necessary?

  • David Topping

    I’m frustrated about the lack of kaffiyehs, too, Rachel.

  • torontothegreat

    I appreciate the Zionist comment actually. As an anti-zionist jew, I would never support such a thing and actually did plan to attend.
    I guess I’ll give my tickets to someone else.

  • Marc Lostracco

    Well, the “Z” in WIZO does stand for Zionist, and they proudly proclaim themselves as such, though they recently changed their name to CHW Toronto to give “members and chapters more confidence in fundraising, because it is now easier to explain what we do, who we are and what we support.” With multiple interpretations (and hateful misinterpretations) of what “Zionist” means, it’s probably wise.
    That being said, I think the kaffiyeh comment was more of a comment on the co-opting of the cultural garment by Urban Outfitters than a statement on the Middle East crisis.

  • atomeyes99

    uh oh. the Zionist debate…
    only in the past 30 or so years has “Zionist” become a dirty word.
    115 years ago, it was created by European Jews who dreamed of a homeland for Jews where Jews could live free of persecution (see pogroms and blood libels for reference).
    in the 30s and 40s, it was a dream word used by Jews who wanted to escape Europe to British Palestine to avoid being murdered at the hands of the Nazis.
    suddenly, in the 60s and 70s, it became bastardized by the Arab world and by the Jewish right. the radical Jewish right used it for their dream of Israel covering the Biblical Israel map (which includes Jordan and parts of Syria, along with the West Bank and Gaza). The Arab world used “Zionists” because they refused to acknowledge the existance and legitimacy of a Jewish state – something the rest of the world and the UN accepted long ago. its also used by the Arab world to elicit emotions that farcical fictional books, like “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion”, elicited about the secret Jewish dream to take over the world, and how Jews own banks, the media, US presidencies, etc etc insert random lies here.
    So you can interpret “Zionist organization” as you like. nowadays, media has twisted “Zionist” to be akin to “Klansman”. but its true origin and meaning is meant to describe people who dreamed of living free of oppression.

  • Mark Ostler

    atomeyes:
    Therein lies the problem. The term is used by organizations from all over the map, from non-aggressive cultural/social organizations and charities with no political agenda to radical extremist groups that want to annex parts of other countries. One has to do some research into any given “zionist” organization before understanding their interpretation/use of the word and how this is manifested.

  • torontothegreat

    It’s a moot point.
    What the word has become in the last 70 years has completely overshadowed what it meant before that. Words and their meanings change. Policies change, movements change. It’s called evolution. For better or worse.
    If you are an organization that uses the word ‘Zionist’ to describe yourself, you’re immediately making an association with a political mindset regardless of your intent. That much should be obvious to anyone in the world with half a brain nowadays.
    The fact that the words jew and zionism are somehow related is embarrassing to me, to say the least.

  • torontothegreat

    Not to go too deep into this discussion (there is now way we could do this in a comment section of a blog) I would suggest anyone wanting read for thought should read these books:
    http://www.amazon.com/Pen-Sword-Edward-W-Said/dp/1567510302
    http://www.amazon.com/Holocaust-Industry-Reflections-Exploitation-Suffering/dp/185984488X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1225294153&sr=1-1
    Both amazing books with some extremely good points on this subject.

  • canuck1975

    I wonder if the Zionist school I went to still teaches its students that Israel’s western boarder is a straight line south from Syria to the Red Sea.
    I’ll go with yes, based on these comments from the linked site:
    “What an exciting time we have just been through, with the celebrations of Israel’s 60th anniversary, and Yom Yerushalayim, the commemoration of the 41st reunification of Jerusalem, and the re-establishment of Jewish control over the old city in 1967.” Um, is that part of the Occupied Territory?
    I too am an anti-Zionist Jew. At least in its current form.
    Next year in Jerusalem indeed.

  • atomeyes99

    torontothegreat:
    you fail to look at two facts:
    1. Haddassah-Wizo has been around for almost a century; their “Zionism” is clearly related to the existence of a Jewish state and not based on a the right-wing Jewish or Arab definition you attribute to Zionism
    2. they are changing there name. So either they want to distance themselves from all things attributed to Zionism or they want to covertly funnel your money to right-wing Israeli settlers.
    and Canuck1975:
    read over the battles of the War of Independence, please. not justifying the “occupation” of the West Bank (and please define the occupation as you wish, since that’s not my point here and its another can of worms other people can discuss on other forums), but Jerusalem was lost and then sacked during that war. I personally would use the “occupied territory” to describe east Jerusalem suburbs, but I think that its a (political) stretch to include the Old City of Jerusalem as part of the Occupied Territories.
    if there’s one thing I can appreciate about Israel-related discussions is the manipulation of both media and history. there are inaccuracies on both sides. but the “occupation” and its true definition has been distorted and stretched by propaganda machines in the Arab and Palestinian world, as it has in Israel.

  • torontothegreat

    I care about the ‘historical’ meaning of zionism as much as I care about the ‘historical’ meaning of nazism.
    I could also care less about the media or history ‘skew’. The fact is innocent people are dying over nothing and my religion and culture is being exploited to accomplish it. There is absolutely nothing skewed about my statement either.
    How would you react if an aboriginal came knocking on your door and said?
    You’re in my house and on my land. Get out or I’ll kill you.
    And let me point out that aboriginals would actually ‘have’ some sort of substantiated claim there.

  • canuck1975

    atomeyes: you may want to factcheck your own argument. The Partition Plan called for Jerusalem to be governed independently of Israel and Palestine (of the time), under the guidance of the UN. The 1949 Armistice Agreement split the city in two parts; one falling under Israeli control, the other under Jordanian (who at the time had annexed the West Bank).
    That lasted until the War of 1967, when the Israeli army invaded East Jerusalem and eventually occupied it (along with the rest of the West Bank).
    As for calling the West Bank “occupied,” I’m using it in the sense that, until recently, even Israel recognized the West Bank as Jordanian territory, but it was “occupied” by the Israeli army to protect the peace within Israel proper. I’m not using the term in any other way, but to illustrate that the West Bank was never annexed by Israel and were never recognized as part of the state.
    FYI: My bias is by someone who spent a few years going to a Zionist school (it says it’s so on the outside of the building) who eventually realized the historical inaccuracies that were being taught within its walls. If you want to get into a discussion about Israel, I’d be more than happy to, but you might be surprised that I would argue they’re all wrong.

  • atomeyes99

    torontothegreat: hyperbole to its finest.
    comparing zionism to nazism is quite sad. both by scale and practice.
    and you are neglecting my original post. your concept of zionism is strictly the right-wing insane settler concept of zionism. you might at well label all muslims as jihadists who believe the entire world should and will submit to Allah and convert to Islam. because if you did, you would be equally wrong and equally racist.
    canuck1975: Jordan annexed the west bank after winning it in war. israel won it in war and did not annex it. and if israel did, Jordan and the arab world wouldn’t accept it anyways. not sure what your point is. if you are arguing that Jerusalem or the west bank is part of Jordan, you are wrong. if you are arguing that part of all of it should be part of a Palestinian country, then i would somewhat agree with you.

  • torontothegreat

    >comparing zionism to nazism is quite sad. both by scale and practice.
    are you retarded? I made NO such comparison
    they both have histories and ideals that ‘started’ out different then how they ‘ended’
    now… re-read my statement and tell me how foot cheese tastes…
    and ummmm… are you trying to call me racist? Against zionists? Or maybe against my own culture and race?
    lmao! Zionists are not a ‘race’ and I’m a very proud Jew, in case you’re wondering.

  • torontothegreat

    atomeyes99.
    Jews are not Zionists just as Muslims are not Jihadists
    Jihadist Muslims are jihadist and zionist jews are zionist
    Your ‘you may as well call all muslims jihadist’ is totally out of balance with what you are ‘attempting’ to prove.
    A spades is a spade my friend. Zionists are Zionists (regardless of what you ‘think’ it meant 115 years ago). Jihadists are Jihadists. Their respective ‘religions’ or ‘cultures’ are almost totally irrelevant, especially to this discussion.

  • Rachel Lissner

    I’d just ask that if you’re going to highlight the “Z”, you should do the same for all the listings you have…or just leave politics out of it.
    For example, every time you have something about UofT, you could mention the fact that the university has 2M$ of stock in Lockheed Martin. (According to the Varsity.)

  • atomeyes99

    torontothegreat:
    there is nothing i like more than a well-thought-of, well-laid-out opinion.
    sadly, you provide neither.

  • atomeyes99

    oh, and further to my above-stated point:
    it doesn’t matter if you are ordering a plate of spaghetti or discussing the finer points of quantum physics: no one will take you seriously if you preface your opinion with “Are you retarded?!?!”
    perhaps they should have taught you that at Zionist High.

  • canuck1975

    atom, it’s apparent that understanding written English isn’t your strong-point, so I give up. Everything you say is right. Whatevs.
    Rachel, sorry to hijack your comment. You are correct that it didn’t make sense to point out the Hadassah is Zionist. Of course, if you think about it, so is the Canadian Government, regardless of who is in charge.