Monday Night 12.02.02 -- Palestine Video Petition + Virilio Reading
CONTENTS:
1. About this Monday
2. About the Reading
3. About Video Petitions
4. Suggested Links
5. Downloading Instructions
6. e-fax Note
7: Download (for regulars)
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1. About this Monday
Monday December, 2 2002
What + When: Video Petitions at 6:30pm + Reading Discussion at 7:30
Where: 16 Beaver Street, 5th Floor
Who: Open to All
This Monday we will be discussing the recent Virlio text entitled "Ground
Zero", published as a part of the Verso series related to Sept. 11.
(The book should be available online or at St. Mark's if you do not want
to download the first half)
In addition, we are also participating in a video petition project against
the Israeli occupation being organized by a group of artists based in
Chicago [ARTISTS EMERGENCY RESPONSE (AER)], including our very own Paige
Sarlin.
The petition requires the participation of as many people as possible to
testify against the occupation in front of the camera. SO we are asking
those who are interested to come at 6:30, and we will tape the petitition
before the reading. Please give some thought in advance, below (see #3) we
have provided the basic context and some sample texts.
These statements will be sent to Chicago where they will be combined with
statements from other people and included in an Anti-War exhibition in mid
Jan. at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago (MCA).
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2. About the Reading
"Ground Zero" by Paul Virlio (Verso, 2002)
How would it be if what we take for human advance was simply a
technological process that leaves us out of its equations? What if
Progress is not humanity striking out bravely towards the future, but an
ultimately destructive force? In a remarkable tour d'horizon, Paul Virilio
paints a bleak picture of current scientific, cultural, social and
political values. Art has succumbed to the techniques of advertising and
in politics, the battle for hearts and minds has become a mere convergence
of opinion. TV ratings have triumphed over universal suffrage. The events
of 9/11 reflect both the manipulation of a global sub-proletariat and the
delusions of an elite of rich students and technicians who resemble the
'suicidal members of the Heaven's Gate cybersect'. In this post-humanist
dystopia, we are morally rudderless before the threat of biological
manipulations as yet undreamt.
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3. About Video Petitions
The initiators of the petition sent us the text below which contains more
information about the mission statement and about the possibilities of
what one can say. The examples are hopefully not meant to prevent you from
formulating your own statement against the occupation.
ARTISTS EMERGENCY RESPONSE (AER)
CONTACT: artistemergencyresponse@hotmail.com
MISSION STATEMENT
We are a collective of artists and activists some Jewish or Arab
American
working to respond to the current Middle East Crisis. We seek a Just
and
Lasting Peace through an end to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine, and
demand a just solution to the Palestinian Refugee Crisis. We strongly
condemn the escalating violence against civilians on all sides of the
conflict as a result of the Occupation. We are dedicated to fostering
dialogue between communities, and working to combat anti-Arab, anti-
Muslim,
anti-Palestinian, and anti-Semitic rhetoric and violence.
We are working to document and present the growing opposition by North
Americans many of whom are Jewish to the illegal Israeli occupation
of Palestine and the unilateral economic, military, and political support of
the Israeli government by the United States. Based in Chicago, our goal is
to speak out through our various artistic practices (writing, video, graphic
design, painting, performance, etc) in order to engage in critical and
constructive dialogue on local, national, and international scale regarding
the Middle East Crisis.
We acknowledge and support existing networks dedicated to ending the
Israeli Occupation and a just solution to the Palestinian Refugee Crisis,
as well
as those which build vital dialogue between our estranged communities. Our
intention is to form relationships with these individuals and organizations,
while sharing our time and resources
AER VIDEO PETITION PROJECT PROPOSAL
The AER Video Petition Project is a visual testimony of North Americans
voicing their opposition to the Israeli Occupation of Palestine and who
seek a just solution to the Palestinian Refugee Crisis and an equitable and
lasting peace. These voices are underrepresented by the mainstream
and corporate North American media, despite their large and growing
numbers.
They are comprised of Jews and non-Jews alike and cannot be
dismissed as self-loathing or anti-Semitic simply due to their opposition
to the Israeli government and its policies.
AER has written 13 petition statements that represent the various facets of
this opposition. In the summer of 2002, AER began collaborating with
community organizations throughout the United States and Canada to
organize
a mass participation in this project. Participants are asserting on camera
personal statements that represent their particulars stances within this
opposition. These statements form a Video Petition to be screened and
discussed in schools and college campuses, public venues, non profit
centers, art galleries, and museums, public access television, radio,
internet, and to public officials and leaders. The goal is to further the
acknowledgement and rightful consideration of this growing movement.
PETITION STATEMENTS
NOTE: These statements were written by members of AER and can be
read
verbatim, expanded upon, or disregarded completely. Please look into the
camera lens as much as possible when making your statement and limit
yourself to 2 minutes. Our only requirements are that petitioners speak
from
an anti-Occupation perspective. Hate speech will not be included in the
project. By speaking on camera for AER, all participants grant AER full
permission to use the footage as they see fit in accordance with AERs
mission and project goals.
1) MY NAME IS______, I LIVE IN______, AND I AM______. I
CONDEMN THE KILLING OF ALL CIVILIANS WHETHER THEY BE
ISRAELIS OR
PALESTINIANS.
2) MY NAME IS______, I LIVE IN______, AND I AM______. I CONDEMN
THE ISRAELI
GOVERNMENT'S COLLECTIVE PUNISHMENTS, WHICH TARGET
INNOCENT CIVILIANS
3) MY NAME IS_____, I LIVE IN_____, AND I AM_____. I WANT ISRAEL TO
END THE
OCCUPATION OF PALESTINE AND TO WORK TOWARD A JUST
SOLUTION TO THE
PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CRISIS.
4) MY NAME IS_____, I LIVE IN_____, AND I AM_____. I WANT ISRAEL TO
END THE
OCCUPATION OF THE WEST BANK, GAZA STRIP, AND EAST
JERUSALEM AND TO WORK
TOWARD A JUST SOLUTION TO THE PALESTINIAN REFUGEE CRISIS.
5) MY NAME IS_____, I LIVE IN_____, AND I AM_____. IT IS NOT
ANTI-SEMITIC OR SELF-HATING TO CRITICIZE THE ISRAELI
GOVERNMENT AND ITS
POLICIES.
6) MY NAME IS_____, I LIVE IN_____, AND I AM_____. I SUPPORT
THE ISRAELI SOLDIER REFUSNIKS WHO REFUSE TO SERVE IN THE
OCCUPIED
TERRITORIES.
7) MY NAME IS_____, AND I LIVE IN______. THE STATE OF ISRAEL
GRANTS DIASPORA JEWS THE RIGHT OF RETURN WHENEVER WE
WANT. MEANWHLE, THERE
ARE MILLIONS OF 1ST, 2ND, AND 3RD GENERATION
PALESTINIAN REFUGEES WHO ARE NOT PERMITTED TO RETURN TO
THEIR HOMELAND.
UNTIL PALESTINIAN REFUGEES ARE GRANTED THEIR RIGHT OF
RETURN, I RENOUNCE
MINE.
8) MY NAME IS_____, AND I LIVE IN______. THE STATE OF ISRAEL
GRANTS DIASPORA JEWS THE RIGHT OF RETURN WHENEVER WE
WANT, WHILE
PALESTINIANS HAVE NO SUCH RIGHT. I WANT A JUST SOLUTION TO
THE PALESTINIAN
REFUGEE CRISIS.
9) MY NAME IS_____, I LIVE IN_____, AND I AM AN AMERICAN
CITIZEN. I DO NOT WANT MY TAX DOLLARS TO PAY FOR THE ISRAELI
OCCUPATION.
10) MY NAME IS_____, I LIVE IN_____. I DO NOT WANT THE
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT TO FINANCIALLY, MILITARILY, AND
POLITICALLY SUPPORT
THE ISRAELI OCCUPATION.
11) MY NAME IS_____, I LIVE IN_____, AND I AM_____. I SUPPORT
ONE PEACEFUL AND DEMOCRATIC STATE FOR BOTH ISRAELIS AND
PALESTINIANS.
12) MY NAME IS_____, I LIVE IN_____, AND I AM_____. I SUPPORT
A STATE OF PALESTINE LIVING PEACEFULLY SIDE BY SIDE WITH A
STATE OF ISRAEL,
WITH A SHARED JERUSALEM.
13) MY NAME IS_____, I LIVE IN_____, AND I AM_____. I SUPPORT
PALESTINIAN SELF-DTERMINATION.
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4. Suggested Links
Here are some links we had suggested last time we read Virilio:
Cyberwar, God And Television: Interview with Paul Virilio
http://www.ctheory.net/text_file.asp?pick=62
Speed and Information: Cyberspace Alarm!
http://www.yorku.ca/kartz/2930/techandculture_virilio.htm
Virilio - Cyberesistance Fighter: David Dufresne -- An Interview with
Paul Virilio
http://www.apres-coup.org/archives/articles/virilio.html
Beyond Postmodernism? Paul Virilio's Hypermodern Cultural Theory
by John Armitage
http://www.ctheory.net/text_file.asp?pick=133
Virtually Wagging the Dog by James Der Derian
http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/theory_&_event/v002/2.1r_derderian.html
Interview with James Der Derian:
http://proxy.arts.uci.edu/~nideffer/_SPEED_/1.4/articles/derderian.html
http://horsdal.uradio.ku.dk/~enterprz/virilio.html
http://www.popcultures.com/theorists/virilio.html
http://www.freecyb.com/virilio/index.html
http://www.freecyb.com/virilio/INTERVIEW.HTM
http://www.thing.desk.nl/bilwet/adilkno/TheMediaArchive/13.txt
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5. Downloading Instructions
Directions for downloading reading:
1. To download the text for this week, you will first need
to download a free copy of efax messenger, see efax
note below for instructions.
2. If you have efax messenger,you can proceed to the link:
http://www.16beavergroup.org/virilio-groundzero.zip
3. Be sure to have some form of unzipping program once you
have completed the download.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO RECEIVE THE EFAX FILE VIA
E-MAIL OR IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH THE DOWNLOAD
WRITE TO:
readings@16beavergroup.org
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6. e-fax Note:
For this and future readings you will need to have a version
of the efax messenger on your computer.
You do not need to open an account but you will have to give
an e-mail address to get your free version for MAC or WIN.
just visit
http://www.efax.com/need/
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7. DOWNLOAD
You will need to have some program for unzipping (PC or MAC)
http://www.16beavergroup.org/virilio-groundzero.zip
