Category: Politics

Political Protest Songs – The Mixtape

Here is a mixtape of 10 favorite political protest songs. You are welcome to listen to them here or download them as one mp3 file:

Listen:
[audio:http://yohayelam.com/recordings/PoliticalProtestSongs.mp3]

Download

I took my original list of 5 political protest songs, added 5 more, mixed them and put them here.

This is the list:

  1. U2 – Sunday Bloody Sunday – from a live performance in Rome (1987).
  2. Tracy Chapman – Talkin’ Bout a Revolution – from the album Tracy Chapman (1988).
  3. The Times They Are A Changin’ – Bob Dylan – taken from Essential Bob Dylan (2000). The song was recorded in the 60s.
  4. Ignoreland – R.E.M. – from Automatic for the People (1992).
  5. Russians – Sting – from The Dream of the Blue Turtles (1985).
  6. Fitter Happier – Radiohead – from OK Computer (1997).
  7. Have A Cigar – Pink Floyd – from Wish You Were Here (1975).
  8. The Queen is Dead – The Smiths – from The Queen is Dead (1986)
  9. The Restless Consumer – Neil Young – from Living with War (2006).
  10. Rockin’ in the Free World – Pearl Jam (originally by Neil Young) – from Live: 07-11-03 Mansfield, MA (2003).

I like all these songs’ lyrics and music as well. Most of these songs are popular mainstream songs, and a few are less known.

Like in the previous mixtape, Remember to buy the original albums. I’m not encouraging piracy of any form. If I’ll be asked to remove this mix tape by the owner’s of the rights, I’ll obey at once…

There are lots of other excellent political protest songs. I created the list with some small help from this Vikki entry.

If I missed something really great (and I probably did), please tell me. I hope you’ll enjoy it. 

Did “Peace Now” make a difference?

10 days ago, I’ve participated in a special protest, organized by Peace Now, against the Israeli government’s peace refusal policy. Yesterday, winds of change began blowing, when PM Olmert said that he was willing to treat the Saudi peace initiative seriously. This is a major shift from FM Livni’s statement made on the day of our protest.

10 days ago, I’ve participated in a special protest, organized by Peace Now, against the Israeli government’s peace refusal policy. Yesterday, winds of change began blowing, when PM Olmert said that he was willing to treat the Saudi peace initiative seriously. This is a major shift from FM Livni’s statement made on the day of our protest.

The problem with declarations from our current prime minister is that the speaker is not reliable. Most Israelis, left wing and right wing alike don’t believe a word he says. A recent survey showed that only 3 percent preferred Olmert over other candidates. Support level is around 14% (if I’m not mistaken, I can’t find the link).

Such declarations were usually followed by praises from the left and criticism from the right. This time, the politicians were quiet. They just don’t take him seriously and ignore this statement.

In addition, prime minister Ehud Olmert met with the Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (Abu Mazen). Even though meaningful decisions weren’t agreed upon, the existence of such a meeting is significant. Maybe the declarations about the Saudi initiative were published only for making the meeting more smooth.

The main headline that emerged from that meeting is the possible release of Gilad Shalit, who was kidnapped last June. Abbas declared his possible release before the erection of the new Palestinian government. His release was mentioned many times in the past. Hopefully, this time it’s for real.

Anyway, I doubt that our small protest made the shift in policy (if it’s real), but at least for one day, I can be satisfied.

Discrimination against Women – Israel 2007

Today is International Woman’s day – March 8th. Israel is a democratic country, that officially gives equal rights to anyone, without discrimination of any kind.

Officially, gender, race and religion do not play a part in an individual’s chances to succeed in our society. Unfortunately, women don’t have the same opportunities as men.

Feminists’ organizations in Israel usually protest against sexist commercials on television, forced prostitution (inc. trafficking) and against indecent acts by senior politicians. All these issues are important. In our modern capitalist society the most important issue is MONEY.

There is a huge gap between men and women’s incomes in Israel: The average man makes 20% more money than a woman (Hebrew link). When comparing people with an academic degree, the gap reaches 30%. Too often, men are paid more than women in the same position and in the same company. Women also have less opportunities for promotion and are in lower rated jobs.

I find this inequality in opportunity and and inequality in wages very frustrating. This issue demands serious protests. I know that it happens in other Western countries, but I live here and I don’t like it!

Luckily for me, I’m a man. Except solidarity with women and values of equality, I also care because this inequality has an impact also on men as well. Women are paid lower wages and work less in order to take care of their children. The men are expected to work many hours. It is not only a chauvinist issue, it’s also a matter of competitive capitalist society we live in.

Being Ehud Olmert

Israeli Prime Minister is acting like a blind man who ignores reality. That’s how he (me in a costume) looks like:

Israeli Prime Minister is acting like a blind man who ignores reality. That’s how he (me in a costume) looks like:

Ehud Olmert

Peace Now organized a special protest for Purim – a special government meeting around a table with ice, featuring blind PM Ehud Olmert, FM Tzipi Livni as the “Queen of ice”, Amir Peretz as “Minister of War”, Avigdor Lieberman as “Minister of Racism” and Raleb Majadla (the first Arab minister) as the “Fig Leaf”. The event took place in Jerusalem, near the PMs residents.

This special event for Purim was in protest of the government’s failure to do anything for peace. Assad’s declarations were trashed, and FM Tzipi Livni declined the Arab initiative on Thursday morning (Good timing for the protest!)

Peace Now pleaded me to participate as PM Olmert, claiming that there is a significant resemblance between us. We both lack some hair upfront and have a bright complexion, but that sums up our similarities. I wore a suit (courtesy of Sir Bob) and held a walking cane. Anyway, in the last moment they brought the mask that you see, so anyone could be Olmert…

The event was covered by a few representatives from the media. I was interviewed by Ynet, which quoted only a very short portion of what I had to say. Here’s the link in Hebrew.

Could Iran follow North Korea?

North Korea agrees to nuclear disarmament. They agreed to shut down their main reactor within 60 days. It looks like the first step in peaceful resolution to the nuclear crisis with the dark regime that performed a nuclear test in October. The other nuclear crisis, Iran, is slowly escalating. Could N. Korea’s path be followed by Iran?

North Korea agrees to nuclear disarmament. They agreed to shut down their main reactor within 60 days. It looks like the first step in peaceful resolution to the nuclear crisis with the dark regime that performed a nuclear test in October. The other nuclear crisis, Iran, is slowly escalating. Could N. Korea’s path be followed by Iran?
Continue reading “Could Iran follow North Korea?”