LETTER FROM JERUSALEM

The more Palestinians and Israelis talk,
the more a real peace agreement recedes

By Ira Sharkansky

JERUSALEM—Key Israeli and Palestinian officials have been meeting since before the Annapolis conference. We hear that they are negotiating toward principles, or the elements of a final settlement. They have agreed not to release details of their conversations. Some have emerged, but it is difficult to judge if they are hard information, disinformation, non-negotiable demands, or somebody's wishful thinking.  

What we hear is not encouraging.

The Palestinian prime minister does not think things are moving fast enough. " . . . not enough has happened over the past nearly three months that could suggest to me that a treaty per se is going to be possible (by the end of 2008)."

In recent days the participants have been hung up on discussions about what to discuss. In particular,Jerusalem.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert cannot admit that he is discussing the division of the city. The topic has become a hot button for right wing and religious Israelis, as well as overseas Jews. No matter that the city sprawls hither and yon over more territory than any other Israeli municipality, and includes Arab neighborhoods that few Jews visit. Some of those neighborhoods are obvious bargaining chips, but the name "Jerusalem" says "holy" and "never again." The city is political tinder.

The SHAS ultra-Orthodox political party, with 12 Knesset members of the 67-member governing coalition, says that it will withdraw if Olmert discusses the division of Jerusalem with the Palestinians.

Olmert has said that he has the agreement of the Palestinians to postpone the discussion of Jerusalem until other issues are settled. That would seem to save his government for the time being.

But oops. Palestinian leaders deny any such agreement, and say they must discuss Jerusalem along with other important issues.

Is this another one of those times when the Palestinians never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity?

Or is a lack of willingness to admit flexibility with respect to Jerusalem Israel's stubborn insistence on missing an opportunity?

My guess is that the votes are here for pragmatic concessions on Jerusalem if we can get that far. I fear that the Palestinians will not let us get that far.

If they cannot accept a tactical concession of timing that helps Olmert keep his coalition together, how likely are they to make other compromises from what they have said are their non-negotiable demands?

I have yet to hear a commentator say that there is really any hope to these negotiations. And without Olmert's coalition, there is nothing on the political horizon that would be more promising.

Gaza is a major lump in everybody's throat. Rockets keep flying in the direction of Sderot and other Israeli communities. The IDF has small units in Gaza on a daily basis. It frequently takes prisoners or has its helicopters fire a missile that removes yet another figure from its wanted list.

Palestinian negotiators object to this level of active defense as violations of international law that make it impossible for them to negotiate. One can imagine what they would say about a larger scale invasion that might resemble the 2006 war in Lebanon. That would mean at least 1,000 Palestinians killed and whole neighborhoods reduced to rubble. The IDF is planning something like that. Prime Minister Olmert, Defense Minister Barak, and ranking officers of the IDF are not inclined to take the risk of heavy Israeli casualties, but continued attacks on Israeli civilians may require a large response.

Palestinian negotiators come from the Fatah party that Hamas expelled from Gaza after a short but bloody civil war. Israel's prime minister has said that he will not make peace with Palestinians when part of their country is in the hands of Hamas and other factions committed to Israel's destruction.

What is the answer of Fatah? The Palestinian prime minister says that progress in peace talks will create "a positive dynamic," generating support in Gaza for the Fatah government."

In other words, Israel should bring about renewed Fatah control of Gaza by making concessions that Fatah wants in the peace talks. 

This sounds like pie in the sky, as well as a continuation of the Palestinian mantra: why should we solve our own problems, when someone else is responsible for them, and must solve them for us. 

Even if a miracle happens and Hamas concedes Gaza to Fatah by recognizing that Israel really is peace loving, this seems unlikely to help the residents of Sderot. When Fatah was in control of Gaza, with perhaps 30,000 individuals in its security forces there, it was unable or unwilling to stop the rockets.

If God helps those who help themselves, the Palestinians are in trouble. Their often proclaimed misery produces no end of free food and sympathetic lip service. It will take more on their part to achieve a state.

Sharkansky is professor emeritus of political science at Hebrew University








Singer lauds Nimoy for photography book giving 'full-bodied' women kind exposure


By Candye Kane

SAN DIEGO—It was so awesome to see my friend Leonard Nimoy promoting his flabulous new coffee table book The Full Body Project on the Colbert
Report on Comedy Central. Amazing close ups of Leonard's photos of Heather Macallister aka Revalucian, Jukie Sunshine, Lady Monster and
all the luscious big women in the book beamed from my TV screen and
they all looked so bountiful and beautiful.

Leonard did an eloquent job articulating how women are assaulted every day of their lives by the poisonous idea that we are not good enough just the way we are. As Leonard pointed out, only 20% of women will actually have the thin, emaciated Paris Hilton type bodies that our culture idealizes and many
of them will literally, die, trying to be thin. Leonard pointed out
that in a recent survey, young women polled said that they preferred oral sex to intercourse because they didn't have to show their naked bodies during oral sex! Women worldwide are continually bombarded with images that they need to be borderline anorexic to be beautiful and the messages are more constant and intense than ever before.

I also posed for Leonard and his camera in his lovely Los Angeles home a year ago. I didnt make it into his book, because unlike my luscious and courageous fat bottom burlesque sisters, I chose not to pose
completely nude. I am no puritan, beloved readers, but the last time I was brave enough to pose completely naked for a camera was back in 1984 and that was 100 pounds ago. Yes, I love my body and its mountainous curves, but I felt that posing in the buff might somehow undermine the hard-won credibility I have earned as a singer, even if it was for "Mr. Spock." Its been a rough road these last twenty years, and I have worked hard to be taken seriously as an artist and musician and to overcome
the novelty name tag that has been assigned me because of my prior exposure in the sex business. I have continued to be a champion of large sized issues thru my song writing and performing and tried to lend support to sex work issues thru my activism and outspoken advocacy but I felt that posing nude at this time in my life might be a detriment rather than a triumph. Still, I couldn't help but feel envious of my gorgeous sisters when I flipped thru the pages of Leonard's incredible book and witnessed the magnanimous beauty of my fleshy friends.

This is especially poignant as it is the one year anniversary of the death of our brilliant fallen sister Heather Macallister/ Revalucian. Heather was the gorgeous vixen who founded the Fat Bottom Burlesque troupe that performed with me in Hollywood, San Diego, Santa Cruz, San Francisco, Seattle and points beyond. Heather lost her battle with ovarian cancer last year and all of us are still reeling from the loss.

It was she, who brought Leonard Nimoy into our lives and she, who inspired so many of us to love ourselves and our queen sized bodies all the more. Heather was a genius and she would be so proud and happy to see Leonard's book getting the attention it so deserves. How we all wish she were here now to see how beautiful this book has turned out.

Heather's work on this planet is far from finished and its up to all of us to make sure that her memory and her hard work were not in vain. Heather often said, "Any time a fat woman appears onstage, its a
radical act." As a fat woman who appears onstage every night, I know firsthand that Heather was right. I have been marginalized because of my size, even in the fat-friendly blues world, and often made to feel like I wasn't as attractive as my thinner, younger musical competitors.

The music and entertainment business have long ignored big women and denied that we are sensual and sexual human beings and worthy of the same love affairs, sex lives, successful careers and classy fashions as everyone else.

Even now, large-sized women have yet to be featured in any major motion picture or prime time series as a romantic love interest. Instead, we are relegated to roles as the funny sidekick, or the supportive best friend. Kirstie Alley's short lived Fat Actress series seemed at first like it would turn the tide, until it turned out that the whole premise of the show was her self loathing and quest for weight loss.

Gorgeous, large- sized women like Queen Latifah and Roseanne weren't featured on the cover of Vanity Fair until they lost weight and underwent radical reduction surgeries. Carnie Wilson and Rikki Lake were only on the cover of People Magazine when they were willing to state publicly how unhappy they were when they were fat. The only fat women you see on television are those who are talking about how much weight they have lost on Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem and all the other billion dollar, high- sodium, diet- industry businesses that prey on our insecurities. Valerie Bertinelli wasnt even fat, yet she is paraded around in baggy clothing in a successful marketing scheme designed to make even average-sized women feel obese.

These dieting businesses survive by making us feel inadequate, driving us into the closet further, and ironically promoting sedentary lifestyles out of shame and despair. When you are made to feel like you are a freak, when you are told at every turn that you are disgusting the way you are, is it any wonder that many of us want to retreat to our comfortable sofas in horror, with our Tivo, lap tops and our favorite boyfriends, Ben and Jerry?

It is our duty as fat girls to get off of our big, soft, grab-able asses and shake our ample booties for the world. We owe it to ourselves and to the memory of my friend Heather Macallister to continue our
fight for fat dignity. We are luscious and sexy with our soft, cuddly bellies, deep cleavages and our strong thundering thighs. Declare it to the world! Own your FAT! Reclaim your Largesse! Embrace your power!

Ride a bike, go for a walk, wear a bathing suit or belly shirt, jump on a trampoline, skateboard, roller skate, jump rope, jog and dance - dance - dance to your own fat girl celebration songs. Tune out the
angry glances and rude comments. Wear your ipods and headphones. Put on your invisible blinders and ignore anyone who would dare to tell you that you aren't absolutely fantastic and gorgeous exactly as you are.

I agree with Leonard that his long overdue book should be on every coffee table in the country, and especially households where there are young and vulnerable women, to prove that beauty comes in all shapes and sizes. Leonard is in my top friends on myspace with the full body project. Please buy this beautiful book, even if you aren't a fat girl yourself. Support the full body project and make a statement once and for all. Because all bodies are beautiful and worthy, not just the ones that shop at the 5-7-9 store!!

Kane and Nimoy both are members of the Jewish community












DOING IT BETTER


Grandparents, beware a call like this

By Natasha Josefowitz, Ph.D.

LA JOLLA, California —On a Friday afternoon the phone rings. “Hi, Grandma, it’s your grandson.”

“Oh hi, Daniel—How are you?”

“I’m O.K., Grandma, and you?”

“Fine. So you think you might come visit us this Summer?”

“Yes, I plan to and really looking forward to it. But, Grandma, I’m in a bit of trouble.”

“Oh dear, what?”

“Well, I’m calling you from Vancouver.”

“What are you doing in Vancouver?”

“Well, I got really tired after my exams, so some friends and I decided to drive to Vancouver and go to a few parties—and on the way, we hit a lamppost, but don’t worry, no one got hurt, except the car is quite damaged.”

“Are you sure you’re O.K.?”

“Yes, Grandma, I’m fine, but I need $3,000.”

“So why don’t you ask your parents?”

“I don’t want to upset them now—but I plan to tell them when I get home.”

“I think you should tell them now.”

“No, really, Grandma, please send me the money. They have such high expectations of me. I don’t want to disappoint them and besides they don’t know I’m in Vancouver.”

“What? That’s terrible!”

“They want me to stay and study. I really needed a break. Can’t you send me the money?”

“O.K., I’ll send it FedEx.”

“No, send it by MoneyGram from Wal-Mart.”

“Why? I don’t even know where there is a Wal-Mart.”

“What big city are you nearest?”

“You know I live in San Diego.”

“I’ll call you right back.”

I tell my husband who gets very upset and says we should call his parents. I don’t want to, Daniel trusts me. I don’t want to violate his confidence in me. He calls back. Herman gets on the phone and for the next half hour harangues him about being a man and taking responsibility for his actions. Daniel listens, tries to talk him into sending him money. Herman refuses and hangs up.

I spend an awful evening worrying about what to do.

Finally at 9:00 P.M. I can’t stand it and call Daniel on his cellphone. He answers and I hear music.

“What’s the music?”

“Oh, I have some friends in my room.”

“What room?”

“My dorm room—in college.

“You’re not in Vancouver?”

“I’ve never been to Vancouver.”

“You don’t need $3,000?”

“What would I do with $3,000?”

“Oh my, it wasn’t you who called?”

“I didn’t call you.”

Initial shock, then relief—a scam! Thank goodness for Herman—I would have sent him the money—Two months ago, when Daniel’s parents were in India, and unreachable, I would have.

In talking to Diane Bell, a good friend who writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune, she tells me that she has heard of this scam. If one calls residents of a retirement community about half would have a grandson, young voices, long distance sound similar enough.

If asked for money, be sure to get identifying information—ask things only the family would know, like the dog’s name or a recent event.

We seniors are easy targets. The person calling did not know Daniel’s name, I provided it, as well as where I live. Tracing the call is difficult, it it’s from a cell phone or a phone booth.

So this is a warning. I came out lucky.

Josefowitz is a freelance writer and poet residing in La Jolla