Joel Schalit

Last Day in London

The day after I returned our rental van at the Europcar office on Clapham High Street, I flew back to Milan, formally concluding our half-year sojourn in the UK. Before I left, I made sure to purchase copies of my two favorite British periodicals, and read them on the flight home.

Given how hard we struggled while we were in town, our only consistent solace was having access to what remains, in my view, one of the most interesting news industries in the world. As has often been said about the BBC’s World Service, British newspapers and magazines oftentimes project a more ideal United Kingdom.

Well, not every publication, by any stretch of the imagination. Take a look at the country’s tabloids, for example. They’re equally representative. But, the inclination to say so, when one can only attribute such sentiments to four or five publications in toto, says a lot about the cultural significance of said periodicals.

The Politics of Ambiguity

Not long after Israel began its military offensive in Gaza last month, a senior Bush administration official told the Washington Post that the Jewish state had embarked on its campaign in order to create ‘facts on the ground’ before the Obama administration assumes office on January 20th.

In our first collaboration together, Arthur Neslen and I push the envelope, discussing how this ‘leak’ has helped frame an otherwise confusing and brutal military operation, and illuminates the unfortunate tensions that exist between America’s president-elect, and the present Israeli government.

If you haven’t read Arthur’s work before, now is as good a time to start as any. For those Tikkun readers among you, I interviewed Art about his fabulous book, Occupied Minds, in the January/February 2007 edition of the magazine. A PDF copy of our convo can be downloaded from the Clips section of this site.

Safe European Home

It was a far better title than the one I had originally given the piece. A Diplomatic Thaw, my analysis of Shimon Peres’ visit to the UK last month was published this morning in The Guardian. Coinciding with Monday’s decision by the European Union to upgrade its overall relationship with Israel – on economic, diplomatic and security grounds – the timing of the article’s publication turned out to be absolutely stellar.

A friend who is a seasoned Comment is Free Israel contributor warned me that the piece would definitely push some buttons, particularly given the deliberately dry, ironic voice I wrote it in. To that end, this time out, progressives are having their way with me in the comments section.  Compare that with the right-wing folks who leaned in on my Independent Jewish Voices piece, and its a completely different experience.

I’ve worked with a number of editors and journalists who hate reading comments on articles. They make their blood boil, especially when they’re responses to their own pieces. My feeling is the more, the better. Sometimes it hurts, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes they’ll even make you laugh, like the guy who attacked me in Haaretz for being an Israeli who lives in a gated community in the United States. That was awesome.

Local Knowledge

My take on the new Independent Jewish Voices anthology, A Time to Speak Out, was published by The Guardian today. It’s my first contribution to the paper. I can’t recommend the book more highly.

England’s Reading

The day after the US election. Victoria line train heading north, between Stockwell and Vauxhall. 9:45 AM.

The two most popular papers at our newsstand – The Guardian and The Independent – were sold out.