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How do I occupy thee? Let me count the ways…

I remember long ago Bill Buckley was reviewing a book by, I think, a Polish dissident. He began to complain (eloquently, of course) about how tedious it was to find new words to describe and narrate the horror of communist totalitarianism.  How many dissident memoirs did he have to read? Even as it was necessary, […]

I remember long ago Bill Buckley was reviewing a book by, I think, a Polish dissident. He began to complain (eloquently, of course) about how tedious it was to find new words to describe and narrate the horror of communist totalitarianism.  How many dissident memoirs did he have to read? Even as it was necessary, the rhetoric of anti-communism was by nature repetitive, with the danger of descending into tedium. There’s a famous quote by Robert Nisbet (Dan would know where) about how never to underestimate the role of boredom as a catalyst for social change.

I sometimes feel that way about writing about the Israeli occupation. That feeling is lazy and irresponsible; I have the privilege of not suffering from it directly, at all. But checkpoints, denial of access to resources, denial of every basic civil right: it is important that Americans know about this, as they subsidize it. Still it can be struggle to find fresh ways to convey the oppressive awfulness of what goes on.

So I especially liked this, a  clever graphic put together by 972, a  smart internet magazine produced by young Israelis who who  want to live peacefully and in justice with the Palestinians. A strong message, all without benefit of paragraphs.

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