SALLAHM

All war, hatred, racism, oppression and terror aside (i know that that is a lot to put aside, especially given the context but just bare with me a minute...)

Both sides are fucking up in big ways with regards to the landscape and environment

Seems to me that all the fighting is about the land

In this us vs. them battle, the land has become nothing but a pawn, a concept, a strategy in this struggle.

forgetting the true importance of why this place is so special, removed from its physicality, cultural importance and connection to season and agriculture.

ours, not theirs is the rhetoric from wherever you're standing. 

looking from hill to hill

looking from jew to arab

looking from arab to jew

I wish it were that easy to explain.

"hey everyone, we all love this land, can't we just share it! treat her kindly and continue practicing our rituals with tolerance and patience!"

I'm pretty sure the concept (the words exist) of patience doesn't directly translate into hebrew or arabic. 

hahaha

here are some drawings I hung in Benji's Vanishing Landscapes exhibition. A visual commentary on contemporary land occupation strategies of Israel and Palestine. Hung as a triptych using our view from Abu Fahkris Lab as direct inspiration. Har Homa (Israeli settlement) on the left, No Mans Land (where we live) middle, the Agglomeration of Bethlehem (Palestine) on the right.

(click to images to enlarge)

EXHIBITION

This is a part of the urban study work done for the Vanishing Landscapes Exhibition (Bethlehem, September, 2010). 

Following the implementation of the 1993 Oslo accords, the agglomeration of Bethlehem expanded drastically within restricted boundaries (Zone A,B), consequently devouring the traditional landscape in the vicinity. The physical destruction inflicted by the contemporary building modes is also degrading the heritage of a seasonal life-cycle, connectivity/identity to place. 

(click on maps to enlarge)

INTRODUCING...

the newest squatter of Team Abu Fahkri, 

RUEFUSS...

met him one day when he snuck into the house

gave him some milk and we played games

he showed up in the evenings to get some food and kick it

you know, play with string, get some ear scratch lovin

he even came by to help plant the garden 

and snag some lizards

haven't seen him in a few days

he is an independent kitty

but maybe he just got fattened up and bounced

or that shifty one eared cat chased him out of bounds

either way there's a mouse in the house and we could use his help

come home Ruefuss

earn ya keep

<3

Birfday Best

another revolution completed, and, wow, i could not have done it alone

please pass the message on to people i missed or didn't have the address for (specifically mikey, gary-san, and extended famo)

i hope this note finds you in good health and high spirits, 

and although i may be thousands of miles away

across oceans and continents,

valleys and mountains,

i keep you all close to my heart always,

keep on,

[s][a][m]

http://callofthezula.blogspot.com/ 

to the mentors, teachers, elders, experts

to those who helped me and those i have helped 

to friends, peers, students

to bicycles, adventurers, vagrants, intellectuals

to story tellers, musicians, artists, architects and craftspeoples

to farmers, bakers, cooks

to sisters, brothers, aunts, cousins, uncles

to our mothers, extended mothers, and grand mothers

to our mother whose firm surface we ride and sweet fruits we eat

to our fathers who planted the seeds

to the great big sky, everything under and beyond

to the waters, moon and tide

to the winds, rains, sun and season

thank you for your patient guidance

thank you for the fruits of our labors

thank you

(שנה טובה to the members of the tribe, a happy, healthy and sweet new your to you)

HAMSA

requested by my moma

but, made with love for all the momas

SOLSTICE POWER

our father sun has reached his peak///

a full cycle witnessed sensationally///

ears, hands, hair, skin... eyes... heart. phased///

the road is calling, grabbing greedily///

for now, she sings from the east///

go running towards her uncertain embrace?///

or is patience the humble strategy of growth?///

///

the long green stalks stretch and reach///

soon she will hang her head at the death of her father///

only to lift it upon his rebirth each dawn///



















RE:VISION

Desert Adventures

masada in the distance and on down to the dead sea