The Occupation (and Life) Through an Absurdist Lens

2003 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-73 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elia Suleiman
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central Character ◽  
Film Festival ◽  
Cumulative Impact ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
Virtual Absence ◽  
Divine Intervention ◽  
East Jerusalem

Elia Suleiman, born in Nazareth in 1960, is the first Palestinian filmmaker to be selected for the "official competition" of the Cannes International Film Festival: his Divine Intervention: A Chronicle of Love and Pain was not only one of the twenty-one films out of 939 entries chosen for the fifty-fifth festival in May 2002, it also won the Jury Prize and the Interna tional Critics Prize. Suleiman had already come to the attention of the 2001 Cannes Festival, where his short Cyber Palestine was shown at the "Directors' Fortnight." Though without formal training, Suleiman has been winning prizes since his first film, a short entitled Introduction to the End of an Argument, won the award for best experimental documentary-USA in 1991. This was followed by his 1992 short Homage by Assassination, which won a Rockefeller Prize. By the time he made his first full-length movie, Chronicle of a Disappearance (which won the prize for the best first-feature at the 1996 Venice International Film Festival), his style was already well developed: a progression of sketches——witty, surreal, ironic, often devastating——and a virtual absence of narrative; in the case of Chronicle, a main character (a filmmaker called E.S., played by Suleiman himself) appears in a number of the episodes, most of which shed harsh light on life in Nazareth, but his presence seems more accidental than part of a storyline. Film critic Stanley Kaufman of the New Republic called Chronicle of a Disappearance "a film of the absurd. If Ionesco had been a Palestinian and a filmmaker, he might have made it." While his recent film, Divine Intervention, is still very much an assemblage of vignettes, it does nonetheless have a semblance of narrative: a "central character" (again, a filmmaker named E.S., again played by Suleiman) shuttles between his hometown of Nazareth, where his father, beset by business woes, has a heart attack and lies dying; his apartment in East Jerusalem, where he is working on a screenplay; and a checkpoint between East Jerusalem and Ramallah, where he holds tender but wordless meetings in a parked car with his lover, a Ramallah woman hemmed in by borders and closures. In one of the checkpoint scenes that combines the visual beauty, whimsy, humor, and satire characteristic of the film, the hero inflates a large red balloon bearing the smiling visage of Yasir Arafat and releases it, creating havoc among the soldiers. Taking advantage of the ensuing confusion, the hero and his lover manage to speed through the checkpoint, while the camera follows the balloon as it soars over the landscape toward Jerusalem, floating over the rooftops of the Old City and past the Church of the Holy Sepulcher to a light on the Dome of the Rock. When Divine Intervention won the Jury Prize at Cannes, the New York Times (27 May 2002) called it "a Keatonesque exploration of the large and small absurdities of Palestinian life under occupation." And indeed, despite the humor, moments of tenderness, and laugh-out-loud sight gags, the film presents an all-too-realistic picture, pitiless and meticulous, of the devastating impact of occupation on Palestinian society both in Israel and in the occupied territories. Suleiman is witty and light, but dead serious; allergic to preaching, propaganda , and clichéé, but highly political. The underlying grimness of the film is relieved not only by the humor but by resort to fantasy: the hero, cruising a long a highway, casually tosses an apricot pit out of his car window and a tank blows up; a stunningly beautiful woman (the hero's lover) strides through a checkpoint, mesmerizing the soldiers with her fierce beauty, and a military watchtower collapses. The most elaborate such sequence is the spectacular "Ninja scene," a violently beautiful and stylized choreography wherein the same woman is imagined as a guerrilla fighter who dispatches (seemingly bloodlessly) a whole phalanx of Israeli sharpshooters who have been firing at her effigy in a shooting range. The meaning of the images, whose connectedness one to the next is not always immediately apparent, can leave the spectator temporarily puzzled; the New York Times of 7 October 2002 called them "cinematic riddles and visual puns, delivered in elegant deadpan." The cumulative impact, however, is clear, and the images themselves linger long after the film ends. New York Times critic A. O. Scott, while noting the film's "appearance of randomness," adds that there is "an oblique, elegant sense of structure here" and that "the interlocking series of setups, punch lines and non sequiturs add up to something touching, provocative, and wonderfully strange." Divine Intervention currently is being shown throughout Europe and will be opening in the Middle East and Israel in January 2003. Shown at the New York Film Festival in October 2002, it will open commercially in the United States in January. Suleiman, in Paris for the opening of his film, was interviewed by Linda Butler, associate editor of JPS, on 26 September 2002.

scholarly journals GOVERNANCE OF THE FACEBOOK PRIVACY CRISIS

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence J. Trautman
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Audit Committee ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
Front Page ◽  
Select Committee ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
Social Media Platforms

In November 2018, The New York Times ran a front-page story describing how Facebook concealed knowledge and disclosure of Russian-linked activity and exploitation resulting in Kremlin led disruption of the 2016 and 2018 U.S. elections, through the use of global hate campaigns and propaganda warfare. By mid-December 2018, it became clear that the Russian efforts leading up to the 2016 U.S. elections were much more extensive than previously thought. Two studies conducted for the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI), by: (1) Oxford University’s Computational Propaganda Project and Graphika; and (2) New Knowledge, provide considerable new information and analysis about the Russian Internet Research Agency (IRA) influence operations targeting American citizens.By early 2019 it became apparent that a number of influential and successful high growth social media platforms had been used by nation states for propaganda purposes. Over two years earlier, Russia was called out by the U.S. intelligence community for their meddling with the 2016 American presidential elections. The extent to which prominent social media platforms have been used, either willingly or without their knowledge, by foreign powers continues to be investigated as this Article goes to press. Reporting by The New York Times suggests that it wasn’t until the Facebook board meeting held September 6, 2017 that board audit committee chairman, Erskin Bowles, became aware of Facebook’s internal awareness of the extent to which Russian operatives had utilized the Facebook and Instagram platforms for influence campaigns in the United States. As this Article goes to press, the degree to which the allure of advertising revenues blinded Facebook to their complicit role in offering the highest bidder access to Facebook users is not yet fully known. This Article can not be a complete chapter in the corporate governance challenge of managing, monitoring, and oversight of individual privacy issues and content integrity on prominent social media platforms. The full extent of Facebook’s experience is just now becoming known, with new revelations yet to come. All interested parties: Facebook users; shareholders; the board of directors at Facebook; government regulatory agencies such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC); and Congress must now figure out what has transpired and what to do about it. These and other revelations have resulted in a crisis for Facebook. American democracy has been and continues to be under attack. This article contributes to the literature by providing background and an account of what is known to date and posits recommendations for corrective action.

THE TRANSFORMATION OF THE IMAGE OF NURSULTAN NAZARBAYEV ON THE PAGES OF “THE NEW YORK TIMES” (1989-2001)

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Stanislav ALEXANDROV ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
Current Image ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
White House ◽  
Corrupt Politician ◽  
Central Asian ◽  
Soviet Space ◽  
Post Soviet Space

The purpose of the research. In accordance with the problem-chronological approach, the article systematized the materials of “The New York Times” newspaper about Nursultan Nazarbayev in the period during 1989-2001. Despite the membership of the Communist Party from 1962-1991, the condemnation of the collapse of the USSR, the promotion of the idea of new economic and political integration in the post-Soviet space, the President of Kazakhstan was portrayed on the pages of “The New York Times” as a progressive independent pro-American politician. Nevertheless, by the end of the second half of the 1990-s there were dramatic changes in the current image, the Kazakh leader began to associate with an autocrat and a corrupt official. This work is aimed at finding the reasons for the transformation of the image of the Kazakh politician. Results. The study concluded that the reason for the transformation of the image of the President of Kazakhstan was the deterioration of relations with official Washington. The favorable image of Nursultan Nazarbayev in “The New York Times” was an indicator not only of the benevolent attitude of newspaper journalists, but also of US loyalty. During the period of partnership with the White House, the image of politician Nursultan Nazarbayev remained pleasant for readers of the New York newspaper. In the late 1980s and the first half of the 1990s. Washington was favorable to Nursultan Nazarbayev, since the president’s policy satisfied the United States: defending independence, switching to a market economy, renouncing nuclear weapons, and access to Kazakh oil. During this period, the negative features of the Kazakh leader were not displayed or smoothed out on the pages of the New York newspaper, while the strengths were intentionally emphasized. After the current American goals in the Central Asian republic were achieved, interest in the figure of Nursultan Nazarbayev began to fade. Over time, scandals related to Nursultan Nazarbayev began to be fully covered by journalists of “The New York Times”, changing the image of the president to an authoritarian and corrupt politician.

Africa in the Shuffle

1995 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-23
Author(s):  
Immanuel Wallerstein
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
African American ◽  
African Americans ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
The U.S

Once upon a time, not so very long ago, the study of Africa in the United States was a very rare and obscure practice, engaged in almost exclusively by African-American (then called Negro) intellectuals. They published scholarly articles primarily in quite specialized journals, notably Phylon, and their books were never reviewed in the New York Times. As a matter of fact, at this time (that is, before 1945) there weren't even very many books written about African-Americans in the U.S., although the library acquisitions were not quite as rare as those for books about Africa.

Hastening Death: Dying, Dignity and the Organ Shortage Gap

2009 ◽  
Vol 35 (4) ◽  
pp. 562-584 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wojciech Baginski
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Terminally Ill ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
Organ Shortage ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
Life Sustaining Treatment ◽  
Imminent Death

Imagine that you are lying in a hospital: conscious, partially paralyzed, and terminally ill. Physicians predict that you will die in a couple of weeks. You have heard about the shortage of viable organs in the United States and consider consenting to transplantation of your organs after you die. Trying not to think about your imminent death, you open the New York Times brought by your family and skim the table of contents. You notice an article and slowly start to read. The headline reads “Surgeon Accused of Hurrying Death of Patient to Get Organs.” After you finish reading, you are not willing to donate your organs for transplantation. It does not matter that you are altruistic or that you want your life-sustaining treatment to be removed when your condition worsens. You do not want your death to be hastened. You do not want the physician to play God. You want to die with dignity in a peaceful and friendly environment.

The Journalist Who Interpreted Too Much: The New York Times’ Courtship, Defense, and Betrayal of John W. White

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-236
Author(s):  
Kevin L. Stoker
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
New York Times ◽  
State Department ◽  
The United States ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
Foreign Correspondents ◽  
Business Interests ◽  
Foreign Governments ◽  
Foreign Correspondent

This study analyzes the behind-the-scenes correspondence, from 1928 to 1941, between the New York Times’ news executives and editors and John W. White, who served as the paper’s first Chief South American Correspondent. An analysis of the correspondence and White’s dispatches shows that interactions between news management, foreign governments, and the U.S. State Department influenced White’s writing to the point that he avoided writing about Argentina’s neighbors; provided more positive, “Pollyanna” material; and censored his own dispatches. The study provides further evidence that Arthur Hays Sulzberger meddled in the paper’s news coverage, even before he became Times publisher in 1935. The correspondence between Sulzberger and White also calls into question the romantic myth of the autonomous foreign correspondent, free to report without fear or favor. Instead, it shows that American foreign correspondents faced scrutiny not only from their news executives and editors but also from foreign governments, police officials, local newspapers, Nazi and Fascist spies, U.S. business interests, the State Department, and even the President of the United States.

Conversations in the American Newspaper «The New York Times» at the End of the XX Сentury

2016 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 47-51
Author(s):  
Маркина ◽  
Yulia Markina
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Editorial Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
Intellectual Elite ◽  
Rich People ◽  
The Rich

In this article the author analyzes factors and social conditions that in the 1990s affected the transformation of the editorial policy of the «The New York Times», one of the most respected and influential newspapers, not only in the United States, but worldwide. The author of this article traced trends and conditions of the development of American quality press that turned «The New York Times» from strictly quality newspaper intended for the intellectual elite and high-ranking officials in qualitative mass edition. The publishers were forced to adapt to the wishes and sentiments of new readers. Consequently, their decision was to simplify the official style of respectable «The New York Times» paying more attention to the scandalous articles and the criminal chronicle. The article also explores the thematic focus of updated elite newspaper, addressed now not only to the rich people of high society, but also to representatives of different social groups. The subjects of this article are typological innovations in the newspaper related to social, cultural, economic and political changes in the United States. The purpose of the study is to analyze the above changes in content of the newspaper’s publications.

From Afghanistan to Chechnya: News Coverage by Izvestia and the New York Times

2000 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olga V. Malinkina ◽  
Douglas M. McLeod
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
Media System ◽  
Russian Media ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
The Impact

This study analyzed newspaper coverage of conflicts in Afghanistan and Chechnya by the New York Times and the Russian newspaper Izvestia to examine the impact of political change on news coverage. The Soviet Union's dissolution included dramatic changes to the Russian media system. In addition, the dissipation of the Cold War changed the foreign policy of the United States. A content analysis revealed that the changes to the media system in Russia had a profound impact on Izvestia's coverage, but political changes had little impact on the New York Times' coverage.

scholarly journals What can we learn from the death of Terri Schiavo?

2005 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILLIAM BREITBART
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
Medical Research ◽  
New York Times ◽  
Feeding Tube ◽  
The United States ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
Sanctity Of Life ◽  
The World ◽  
The U.S

Terri Schiavo died on March 31, 2005, at the age of 41. Virtually thousands of others died or lay dying on that day throughout the world, yet the death of Terri Schiavo gripped not only the attention of the media throughout the United States and much of the world, but the attention of the U.S. Congress, the U.S. President, the Vatican, and millions in the United States and around the world. Why? Well, in the words of U.S. President George Bush, “The case of Terri Schiavo raises complex issues…. Those who live at the mercy of others deserve our special care and concern. It should be our goal as a nation to build a culture of life, where all Americans are valued, welcomed, and protected—and that culture of life must extend to individuals with disabilities” (The New York Times, March 31, 2005). Terri Schiavo, in her persistent vegetative state of 15 years duration, was being kept alive, in her Florida hospice bed, with the help of a feeding tube that artificially delivered fluids and nutrition. The attempts of her husband over the last 7 years, in opposition to the wishes of his wife's parents, to remove the feeding tube and allow his wife to die have created a firestorm of controversy and debate in judicial, medical, political, ethical, moral, and religious arenas. When Terri Schiavo died, some 13 days after the feeding tube was removed, the noted civil rights activist Reverend Jesse Jackson said, “She was starved and dehydrated to death!” (The New York Times, March 31, 2005). A Vatican spokesman said “Exceptions cannot be allowed to the principle of the sacredness of life from conception to its natural death” (The New York Times, March 31, 2005). Clearly, the death of Terri Schiavo rekindled a variety of debates that were perhaps dormant but unresolved. The political debate in the United States and the appropriateness of steps taken by the U.S. President and Congress will likely continue through the next cycle of elections and the process of selecting and approving judicial nominations. They will also, undoubtedly, influence several aspects of medical research and practice including end-of-life care. The religious and moral debates regarding the sanctity of life will continue and also significantly impact on medical research and medical practice. For those interested in reading more about these particular issues I refer you to two excellent pieces in the April 21, 2005, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (i.e., Annas, 2005; Quill, 2005). For clinicians and researchers in palliative care, however, the death of Terri Schiavo has raised some rather specific clinical and research issues that must be addressed. These issues pertain primarily to the experience of suffering in the dying process.

scholarly journals CNN Effect in Yemen War

Jurnal ICMES ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Hilal Kholid Bajri ◽  
Nugrah Nurrohman ◽  
Muhammad Fakhri
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
New York Times ◽  
The United States ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Political Interests ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Effect Theory

This article is a study of the involvement of the United States (US) in the Yemeni War thas has already taken place since 2015 by using the 'CNN Effect' theory. The authors analyzed documents and mass media coverage and conducted discourse analysis on US mainstream media news, namely CNN and the New York Times. The result of this research shows that CNN and the New York Times did not report the Yemeni War proportionally so that public opinion ignored this war and did not encourage further action from the US government and United Nations to stop the war. This way of reporting is in line with US’ economic-political interests in Yemen and US support for the Saudi Arabia.

scholarly journals Leipzig 2003

2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ron Holloway
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
New York ◽  
New York Times ◽  
White Men ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Satire ◽  
The New York Times ◽  
German Edition ◽  
International Festival ◽  
Made In

INTERNATIONALES LEIPZIGER FESTIVAL FUER DOKUMENTAR- UND ANIMATIONSFILM 2003 The timing could not have been better. Shortly after the 45th Leipzig International Festival for Documentary and Animation Films (15-20 October 2002) opened with the hit documentary of the year, Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine (USA), the German edition of Moore's bestselling "Stupid White Men" hit the book stands. The biting, acerbic, stinging Bowling for Columbine had been invited to compete at Cannes and was awarded there an especially created "Unique Prize of the 55th Anniversary Festival." And "Stupid White Men," a riotous political satire penned in the journalistic vein of H.L. Mencken and Mike Royko, rode the best-seller list in the New York Times for nearly a year. How did this hard-nose statement on gun-related deaths in the United States and the ongoing battle with the gun lobby in Congress get made in the first place? Armed with a disarming...

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