Dandelion Books to Publish Israel Shamir's Controversial 'Flowers of Galilee' -
Recently Banned in France --Dandenlion Books
TEMPE ,AZ
. . . Dandelion Books, an independent Arizona publisher
rapidly becoming known for its “wake-up” books and humanitarian
agenda, has just signed a contract with world-renowned writer,
journalist, intellectual and scholar, Israel Shamir, to bring
forth the English version of FLOWERS OF GALIEE. When it first
appeared in France last month, the book was banned.
Dandelion’s English version of THE FLOWERS OF GALILEE is
scheduled for publication in the early spring of 2004.
Editions Blanche, a subsidiary of Editions Ballard, released the
French version of FLOWERS OF GALIEE on October 9 of this year.
Johan Weisz attacked the book on French Zionist website, www.proche-orient.info
.
Weisz insisted the book was criminal under “hate laws”
because it calls for the alliance of Christendom and Islamic World.
“It was not surprising,” states Shamir. “The Jews
abrogated to themselves the supreme right to decide whom the rest
should love or hate. As if the two world wars in the last century
won’t suffice, now they insist the Christians and the Muslims
should fight to the end, for the greater glory of Israel .”
“My immediate publisher, good Franck Spengler of Blanche
publishers, rejected the claims of the Zionist hate-mongers in
a witty letter to the owner of Balland, Denis Bourgeois,”
states Shamir.
According to Shamir, Bourgeois received his job after “proving
his devotion to the cause” on the position of the chairman
of Calmann-Levy, a big Jewish publishing company.
Denis Bourgeois ordered the book off the shelves and to the stake.
“This is the way of Jewish influence,” states Shamir,
“buying publishers, promoting their own devotees and eventually
scrapping the freedom of press and the freedom of speech.”
“I am deeply in love with the Holy Land ,” writes Shamir
in the Introduction to FLOWERS OF GALILEE. “The essays collected
in this book were written during the years 2001-2002 during the
Second Intifada, but they are not limited to events in Palestine
.”
The essays are perceived as a model of the world. “There
are forces at work here that strive to eliminate its native population,
to destroy its churches and mosques, to ruin its nature,”
writes Shamir. “But there are opposing forces as well, material
as well as spiritual, new and old, and they attract the best men
and women into the fray of the battle for Palestine .”
Shamir believes the fall of the Holy Land would create a point
of no return for mankind and “signify Man’s total enslavement
by the forces of domination. Our victory will set the world free.”
Writes Shamir: “The war in the Holy Land is presented as
the centre-stage of the world-wide struggle of ideas, against
a backdrop of such momentous modern developments as the growing
influence of American Jewry (“the Rise of the Jews”),
the decline of the Left, the ascent of Globalisation, the first
steps of the anti-Globalisation movement, and the outbreak of
World War Three with America against the Third World.”
While seeking the Liberation of Palestine, the author pursues
another broader goal as well: the Liberation of Public Discourse.
A native of Novosibirsk ,Siberia , Shamir is 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.
Shamir got his first taste of journalism with Israel Radio, and
later went 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 the Israeli daily Maariv and other papers
from Japan . While in Tokyo , he wrote TRAVELS WITH MY SON, his
first book, and translated a number of Japanese classics.
After returning to Israel in 1980, Shamir wrote for the Israeli
daily newspaper Haaretz and the newspaper, Al Hamishmar, and worked
in the Knesset as the spokesman for the Israel Socialist Party
(Mapam).
Shamir translated the works of S.Y. Agnon, the only Hebrew Nobel
Prize winning writer, from the original Hebrew to Russian. His
work was published and reprinted many times in both Israel and
Russia .
As the first Palestinian Intifada began, Shamir had left Israel
for Russia , where he covered the eventful years 1989-1993. While
in Moscow , he reported for Haaretz, but was sacked for publishing
an article calling for the return of the Palestinian refugees
and rebuilding of their ruined villages.
In 1993, he returned to Israel and settled in Jaffa , where he
wrote for Russian newspapers both in Israel and Russia and contributed
to various literary magazines.
During this period, he also worked on a new translation of the
ODYSSEY, which was published in 2000 in St. Petersburg ,Russia
. His next big project was translating a Hebrew medieval Talmudic
manuscript into Russian.
In response to the second Palestinian Intifada, Shamir has abandoned
his literary occupation and resumed his work as a journalist.
In the midst of the endless talk of a "Two State solution,"
Shamir, along with Edward Said, has become a leading champion
of the "One Man, One Vote, One State" solution in all
of Palestine/Israel. His most recent essays have been circulating
widely on the Internet and are now posted on many prominent media
sites.
Shamir has also translated selected chapters of Joyce's ULYSSES
and THE ISRAELI-ARAB WARS, by President Herzog [ London ]. His
most popular work, THE PINE AND THE OLIVE, the story of Palestine/Israel,
was published in 1988.
With every new article, Shamir is establishing himself as a journalist
whose work speaks to the aspirations of both the Israelis and
the Palestinians.
Also available at booksurge.com
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