From archive 2008 (See below, free download)
To ruin, to inflict disaster upon, is not usually what we associate
with the nation. The nation and national identity is rather a
constructive and integral part of life, which makes our collective
existence meaningful. However, when the political community to
which we belong is engaged in self-ruination and/or in the ruination
of others, our identity, a real and a metaphorical home, becomes
an uninhabitable place. At least two forms of exile from this home
then come to mind. These are self-exile from a political community
through rejection and critique of its basic assumptions, and actual
exile from a place of origin. This special Eutopia Magazine issue is
devoted to Israel/Palestine, and it features contributions by Israelis
and Palestinians. The authors reflect on the complex and tenuous
relations between various identities shaped in Israel/Palestine, on
the virtues and the oppressive dimensions of these identities, on
real and metaphorical exile, and finally on political exile and the
realities of exile. We thus mark the sixtieth anniversary of the State
of Israel, and the Palestinian catastrophe, al-nakba. Not all the
contributions have a somber tone, but they have all been conceived
in the shadow of political catastrophes – in the past, in the present,
and in the making. Hence, they are brought to you here under the
heading of ruination.
By Hilla Dayan
Ruination, Identity and Exile in Israel/Palestine
Hilla Dayan
The Erotics of the Occupation
Yael Berda
Reflections on Identity
David (Dudi) Mahleb
Al-Nakba and the Palestinian Identity,
an analysis of Mohammad Bakri’s film 1948
Ihab Saloul
Death to Arabs” versus the Death of the Arab,
the Modern Jew, the Mizrahi, and the Arab in him
Anat Rimon-Or
Political Exile from a Land with a Sea
Ghada Zeidan
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