[lbo-talk] Why Were The Hussein Boys Killed?

[Bryan Atinsky]

>From: "Shane Taylor" <s-t-t at juno.com>
>
> Who *is* Israel Shamir??

He is originally from Russia but moved to Israel in 69, lives in Jaffa.  And
though he has quite a small following in Israel, he has surprisingly a
sizable international following. I, sadly, often meet people (Like ISMers,
other internationals who come to do activist work in Palestine) who tell me
that they are big followers of his writing.  He even did a talk at Columbia
University a couple years ago with Edward Said and Norman Finklestein.

I really only know him from about three years ago, when we established
Indymedia Israel he would come to some of the first meetings we had, but
then he went on his way (I didn't know really who he was until a little
later as his writing suddenly began to pop up everywhere)

I usually can't bear reading his stuff (his latest is a good example of
why), but once in a while he writes something interesting:
http://www.indymedia.org.il/imc/webcast/61943.html

But his work is contraversial to say the least, for instance check out what
Ali Abunimah and the rest at Electronic Intifada
(http://electronicintifada.net/new.shtml) wrote about his work:

http://nigelparry.com/issues/shamir/

anyway, here is a bio of Israel Shamir:

"Israel Shamir is a Russian-Israeli writer, translator and journalist.

Shamir was born in Novosibirsk, Siberia, a grandson of a professor of
mathematics and a descendant of a Rabbi from Tiberias, Palestine. He studied
at the prestigious School of the Academy of Sciences, and read Math and Law
at Novosibirsk University. In 1969, He moved to Israel, served as
paratrooper in the army and fought in the 1973 war. After the army, he
resumed his study of Law at Hebrew University of Jerusalem, but abandoned
the legal profession in pursuit of a career as a journalist and writer.

He got his first taste of journalism with Israel Radio. As a freelance, his
varied assignments included covering Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in the last
stages of the war in South East Asia. In 1975, Shamir joined the BBC and
moved to London. In 1977-79 he wrote for Maariv and other papers from Japan.
While in Tokyo, he wrote "Travels With My Son", his first novel. He also
managed to find time to translate a number of Japanese classics.

After returning to Israel in 1980, Shamir wrote for the Israeli daily
newspaper Haaretz and Al Hamishmar newspapers and worked in the Knesset as
the spokesman for the Israel Socialist Party (Mapam). He translated the
works of SY Agnon, the only Hebrew Nobel Prize winning writer, from the
original Hebrew to Russian." [...]