Slavoj Zizek lately: a multimedia reader

In a desperate bid to get what’s become a (mostly) minor case of Zizek personality-worship out of my system, here’s a compilation of some of his more recent internet-born appearances:
Videos:
Slovenian Philosopher Slavoj Zizek on Capitalism, Healthcare, Latin American “Populism” and the “Farcical” Financial Crisis — 15 October 2009
World Renowned Philosopher Slavoj Zizek on the Iraq [...]

Hussein Ibish: one-state ‘outcome’ is not a one-state ’solution’

Is Hussein Ibish a level-headed pragmatist key to Palestine’s future, or a Washington socialite unwittingly co-opted by an intellectually bankrupt mainstream? I don’t know…it’s a loaded question, but it got you reading. In any case, he does a impressive job of distinguishing bewteen a one-state ’solution’ (potentially desirable) and one-state ‘outcome’ (unthinkably disastrous). From Jeffrey [...]

a zizekian ramble on truth and ideology

This is a new kind of post where i have no idea what it is i want to say, other than that i need to say something. I just finished watching yet another brilliant Slavoj Zizek talk, so brilliant that i find myself uncomfortably close to deifying the man. I don’t know how to post [...]

Lessons for a new Israel-Palestine?

Apropo the previous post, there are precedents for fully administering contested areas via multilateral UN institutions. The crucial precedent that hasn’t yet been broken is establishing a permanent UN arbiter in a contested zone.
For inspiration to be drawn and, perhaps more importantly, lessons to be learned, see East Timor.

Outside the nation-state tinderbox

Here’s a copy of ‘How about, let’s stop deifying the nation-state‘ … Phil Weiss’ post of my own answer to his question: how to offer readers a forward-looking solution in Israel-Palestine…
Life in fortress-Israel can be a comfortable buffer to reality. But reality has an awkward habit of crashing the party. Reports from places like Gaza [...]

Zizek on Israel-Palestine

…from The Guardian.
Quiet slicing of the West Bank makes abstract prayers for peace obscene
Condemnation of ‘illegal’ settlements and violence only blurs the reality of what the Israeli state is sanctioning, day by day.

On 2 August 2009, after cordoning off part of the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in east Jerusalem, Israeli police evicted two Palestinian [...]

The new Zionist myth?

Following up from a previous post, one of many interviews with a solider who participated in Operation Cast Lead:

What does it mean when the state itself sanctions this kind of cosmic-scale, theological rationale for destruction? Is this the 21st century? If so, maybe it’s time for some new mythologies, some new [...]

LA Times prints Neve Gordon: “Boycott Israel”

Israeli newspapers this summer are filled with angry articles about the push for an international boycott of Israel. Films have been withdrawn from Israeli film festivals, Leonard Cohen is under fire around the world for his decision to perform in Tel Aviv, and Oxfam has severed ties with a celebrity spokesperson, a British actress who [...]