Tag Archives: Peace

Music Profile: Marla Mase Announces Summerstage Appearance

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marla maseNYC ARTIST MARLA MASE ANNOUNCES SUMMERSTAGE APPEARANCE

New York rock/crossover artist Marla Mase has confirmed that she and guitarist Tomás Doncker will be bringing her “Speak” show to Summerstage 2013, joining a lineup that includes The Zombies, Django Django, Dead Prez, Lianne la Havas and Rakim. The CD “Speak Deluxe” found Marla touring both China and Europe, being honored by Friends of the UN, and receiving top reviews from publications such as The Huffington Post, who said “her feisty message of peace will perhaps wake up the beast in all of us”.

“Speak” is a multi-media concert and dance piece inspired by the songs of Marla Mase’s acclaimed 2013 album, “Speak Deluxe”. Combining live music, spoken word, dance and visual imagery, Marla has teamed up with choreographer Adrienne Hurd, filmmaker James Jankiewicz, and director/producer Sara Berg (who directed A Brief Night Out, Marla’s rock opera about a women going through a mid-life rock-n-roll crisis in 2012) for one of a kind show. “Speak” presents a powerful portrayal of “the universal woman’s” confinement, sexuality, body image, trauma, oppression and freedom, celebrating the raw reality of the human condition as expressed through the eyes, bodies, and voices of women. Through the expressive movements of a troupe of seven dancers, each of whom has a distinct voice and tale in the mini-stories, the dancers will explore the archetypes that make up the idea of what it means to be a modern woman.

The music, co-written by Marla Mase and Tomás Doncker is an integral part of “Speak” and features elements of Rock-n-Roll with World Beat, Punk, Funk, Electronica, Reggae and Soul and will be performed live at each performance with both Mase and The Tomás Doncker Band.

Marla Mase’s “Speak” performance takes place on June 15th, 2013 in Herbert Von King Park and August 17 at The East River Park. Both performances are free to the public. Event information can be found here.

For more information on Marla Mase, please visit www.marlamase.com and www.speaktheshow.com.

Artist: Marla Mase (backed by Tomás Doncker Band)
Location: New York, New York
Styles: rock (alternative/classic), punk, spoken word, global soul, funk, reggae, experimental
Similar to: Patti Smith, David Byrne, Frank Zappa, Iggy Pop, Ian Dury, GTO’s, Jim Morrison, Henry Rollins
CD: SPEAK DELUXE

Marla Mase is a writer/performer/producer/singer/songwriter from New York City. She writes songs, plays, monologues, short stories, erotica, blogs, and poems. Marla is known for her provocative, raw performance style and intelligent lyrics and is regarded by her peers as being a true musical pioneer of our time. She is backed by the Tomás Doncker Band. Just off her first tour in China where she was invited by the Friends of the UN to perform for UN GLOBAL PEACE DAY in Linzhou City, Marla was given an honorary Messenger of Peace award for her visionary work as a songwriter and performing artist. Her fans span the globe.

Marla is about to release the DELUXE Edition of her album SPEAK (on Feb 28, 2013) which will include the 10 songs on the original 2010 album plus 6 new tracks including Piece of Peace, AnnaRexia (a reggae track featuring
Garrison Hawk from Bill Laswell?s Method of Defiance), and Bill Laswell?s dubmix version of AnnaRexia. AnnaRexia is spearheading the StayImperfect Project or Love Your Butt Campaign, which Marla created to empower women to not only accept but love themselves and their bodies. Proceeds from AnnaRexia as well as emerging artist, Lael Summer?s track, The Good Fight (whose EP Marla co-produced with Doncker) will go towards theprojectheal.org, a non-profit organization founded by two teenage eating disorder survivors, that raises scholarship money for girls whose families cannot afford to send them to treatment.

Mase is currently developing THE SPEAK SHOW, a multi-media concert/performance piece using music (from SPEAK DELUXE), spoken word, dance and visual imagery to explore the themes of confinement, sexuality, body image, trauma, oppression (internal/external) and freedom as a means of celebrating the raw reality of our human condition as expressed through the eyes, bodies, voices of women. It was recently booked for NYC Summerstage 2013.

Her debut album, the rock opera, A Brief Night Out (BNO), tells the story of a woman, having an affair, breaking-down, obsessing on war and re-assessing her life. It is also the soundtrack to a theatrical version of the same story that has been performed in New York City with Broadway Veteran Martin Vidnovic playing all the male roles and also as a one-woman show directed by Sara Berg.

Marla’s play, The Canarsie Line directed by Kathryn Rossetter, ran at The Bank Street Theatre to sold out audiences in 2002. Her play Man/Woman was work-shopped at the Abingdon Theatre in 2004.

Marla has her MA in writing and performance from NYU and is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Most importantly Marla is the mother to two beautiful souls.

Members/Instruments:
Marla Mase – Lead Vocals
Tomás Doncker:  guitars, vocals
Josh David :  bass, vocals
James Dellatacoma:  guitars, computer (sounds, etc)
Damon DueWhite:  drums
Alan Grubner:  violin
Heather Powell:  back-up vocals
Manu Koch:  keyboards
Daniel Sadownick:  percussion

Production:
Produced by Tomás Doncker and James Dellatacoma
Engineered by James Dellatacoma of Orange Studios
Mastered by Michael Fossenkemper of Turtletone Studios

Is China Buying The World? | Book Review

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This short book is more than food for the brain, it is fascinating, a snapshot of history. Touching on a popular subject and often asked question by the global media; Is china buying the world?

Peter Nolan’s well researched short book is full of facts and weighty political and financial debate. Nolan certainly knows his stuff, as well he should; he is Professor of Chinese Development at the University of Cambridge and is one of the leading international experts on China and the global economy.

Did you know?: China accounts for 26 percent of the total foreign holding of US debt. However Britain and Japan hold more US public debt than China. China only holds 12 per cent of total US public debt.

Everyone in business should read this book. It also has lots of fun, fascinating graphs and tables. This book gives a stunning insight into business in China, the UK, US and beyond.

Another point I got from the book is a certain racism against China. I know China has a dodgy history of human rights, but it would seem that the western world is finding it hard for anyone else to take over it’s dominance: perceived or otherwise. A point that Nolan point out is not good for peace or international relations. The book also touches on another subject “Who are We?” and are there any business which are British, or American left?

China is the world’s second biggest economy and its largest exporter. It possesses the world’s largest foreign exchange reserves and has 29 firms in the FT 500 list of the world’s largest companies. ‘China’s Rise’ preoccupies the global media, which carry regular articles suggesting that it is using its financial resources to ‘buy the world’.

Is there any truth to this idea? Or is this just scaremongering by Western commentators who have little interest in a balanced presentation of China’s role in the global political economy?

This book is a must-read. A lot of people are worrying about the ‘awakening giant’ of China, let Peter Nolan allay your fears.

You can buy Is China Buying the World? here.

James Yardley on The Elusive Peace – An examination into the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Part 2.

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The Elusive Peace – An examination into the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Part 2 – What are the internal divisions within Israel and how does this affect the chances of a future peace settlement with the Palestinians.

Israel

At first glance Israel appears a united country but when it comes to the question of the Palestinians, Israel is deeply divided. These divisions are exacerbated by Israel’s electoral system which is one of proportional representation. Israel has a wide range of different political parties. Many are very small special interest parties often campaigning on a single policy. The Israeli parliament, the Knesset is made up of 120 seats. To form a government a party needs to gain 61 seats. However because of the system of proportional representation no party ever forms a majority. In 2009 the largest party Kadima achieved only 22% of the vote gaining 28 seats. Miles short of the 61 needed for a majority.

Israeli governments tend to be a fragile coalition of various parties and as a result tend to be weak. Often the main body of a coalition may struggle to appease more radical elements. Unsurprisingly the average Israeli government has only lasted 25 months as inevitably elements within the coalition fall out with one another. A series of weak governments has made it difficult for an Israeli prime ministers to take decisive action regarding the Palestinian question.

An important point to consider in regard to the Palestinian question is that Israel is surprisingly only about 70% Jewish. There is a substantial and growing Arab minority making up around 20% of the population. There are two Israeli Arab political parties, United Arab List (4 seats) and Balad (3seats). Some commentators have speculated there is potential for internal conflict should this minority continue to grow. The strained situation is heightened by the fact that the Arab minority maintains very close ties with those in the occupied territories. There have already been incidents of rioting and unrest during the first intifada (1987-1993) and the second intifada (2000- ).

Many in Israel are also very much aware of this threat. This is illustrated by Yisrael Beiteinu, a secular nationalist party which uses the slogan, ‘no loyalty, no citizenship’ towards Israeli Arabs and is described by the Israeli media as ‘far right’. The party wants to create a new Palestinian state and then transfer areas of high Arab population in Israel to this new state in exchange for Jewish areas in the West Bank. Despite being a very new party founded in 1999, which initially only achieved 4 seats, it has now grown to be the third largest party in the Knesset gaining 15 seats in the 2009 general election. Israeli Arabs remain vehemently opposed to the idea. Israel has a much greater standard of living compared the occupied territories.

Likud (27 seats) the party of the current prime minister Netanyahu continue to oppose the creation of a Palestinian state and supports the building of more settlements within the West Bank. Shas (11seats) a religious party also tends to support this policy.

It has always been Likud’s policy to seek the whole land of Israel including in particular the areas of Judea and Samaria (the West Bank). They believe Israel has a right to own this land. This is why Israeli settlement building continues.

In the past their have been big internal divisions within the party and the country regarding the policy. This was most famously highlighted when Ariel Sharron (then prime minister and leader of Likud and previously known as the champion of the settlers) abandoned the policy and his party in 2005 forming a new centrist party (Kadima) in order to carry out a disengagement plan. Removing Israeli settlements from Palestinian areas in Gazza and some areas of the West Bank.

The withdrawal has been heavily criticised within Israel for many reasons and many view it as a failure given the Hamas rocket attacks from Gazza in 2008. Since the withdrawal Israeli public opinion has seen a large shift in support back towards the right. In the most recent elections Likud more than doubled its number of seats.

A combination of deep internal divisions and successive weak governments continue to contribute to the lack of progress regarding a settlement with the Palestinians. Although these are by no means the only or most important factors. In the next article we will examine the impact of internal Palestinian divisions on a future peace settlement.

by James Yardley

James Yardley on The Elusive Peace – An examination into the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

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The Elusive Peace – An examination into the future of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Part 1 – What are Israel’s Options Regarding the Occupied Territories of the West Bank and Gazza?

Its now almost 75 years since the first attempt was made to divide Palestine into separate Jewish and Arabic states. Back then the British Peel commission recommended that 80% of the land in Palestine should make up part of a new Arab state. Today it’s hard to imagine such a proposal was ever considered. Since the Peel proposal a Jewish state has been created and gone on to prosper but the Palestinians remain without the state they have been seeking for so long. But Israel’s options over what to do with the occupied territories are limited and diminishing. Has the time finally come for the creation of the elusive Palestinian state?

In 1988 King Hussein of Jordan renounced all claims and ties with the occupied territories (Gazza and the West Bank). This ruled out one of Israel’s major options for the territories which they had been occupying since the 1967 war. Many Israeli’s had hoped that the Palestinian problem could be solved with a peace agreement with Jordan. The West Bank would be divided between Israel and Jordan. Jordan would then take on the difficult responsibility of governing the Palestinians.

After Jordan pulled out of the West Bank calls for a Palestinian state became increasingly vocal. It was much harder for Israel to ignore the Palestinians and the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) since Jordan stated, ‘the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people’. Prior to the withdrawal Israel had always been able to avoid dealing with the Palestinians directly, dealing instead with Jordan. After 1988 this was no longer an option.

Jordan’s decision left Israel with only 2 options over what to do with the occupied territories. The first is a one state solution, whereby the Israel annexes the West Bank and the Gaza strip, thereby assimilating them with the rest of Israel. However this is never considered a realistic option by the Israeli government or Israeli Jews. To assimilate the millions of Palestinians would defeat the purpose of a Jewish state and many fear it would threaten its existence.

This leaves Israel with the only one viable option, a two state solution. The creation of a separate Palestinian state encompassing both the West Bank and the Gazza strip, alongside the existing Israeli state. This is what the Palestinians want and given we know a one state solution is not an option, this is surely what Israel wants as well. A poll in 2007 showed that 70% of Israeli Jews were in favour of a two state solution. So why is it so hard to implement if both sides want the same thing? Why are negotiations always at a permanent stalemate?

Despite that lack of options remaining most Israeli’s are certainly in no rush to create a Palestinian state. It has been 22 years since Jordan renounced it ties with the West Bank and it still appears as if a Palestinian state is a long way off.

There is also a third option for Israel which we have not yet considered. That is a policy of maintaining the status quo or consolidation. A number of the right wing parties openly endorse this policy some of whom are part of Benjamin Netanyahu’s (prime minister of Israel) fragile coalition government. Likud itself (the right wing party Netanyahu leads) does not believe in a fully sovereign independent Palestinian state.

The Palestinian situation is also much more complicated. Many still refuse to recognise Israel’s right to exist. Some will settle for nothing less than the complete replacement of Israel with a Palestinian state.

The situation has been severely complicated by large divisions within both sides. The next article will take a closer look into these internal divisions. Why do some Israelis fear a Palestinian state and should they? Why is Israel still building new settlements in East Jerusalem? Will Hamas moderate? What is the future for Fatah? Is there any hope for a settlement in the near future?