Reflections On A Large Number of Farewells

Nahlah Ayed is a foreign correspondent working for the CBC. She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba and grew up in St. Boniface. As chronicled in her memoir A Thousand Farewells, she moves to a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan at age six, then back to Canada at thirteen. From there she gets a journalism degree, works the Canadian Press, and eventually moves on to CBC.

I have followed Israeli politics very closely, and when I realized this was a book by a Palestinian in Jordan, writing about her various coverage of various conflicts, big events, and "the myriad of ways in which ordinary Arabs have coped with oppression and loss," I knew right where I was going.

Operation Cast Lead. Israel versus Hezbollah.

Yes, I am a cheater. When I am reading a biography and I know of significant moments, I tend to skip right to them, and this case was no different. I lasted maybe three chapters until I decided to move on to that part, which came in chapter ten. Whatever, I'm the reader, and this is the most interesting aspect to me; sue me.

But this isn't a post about politics, this is about Ayed's prose, and I found her views on the conflict incredibly interesting. The small glimpses into the mind's of these Lebanese people, who were literally stuck in a warzone (as Israel had bombed the airport and major highways out of the country), were fascinating. The fourteen year old girl huddled in a parking lot with her family, talking about how her daughter (yes, the fourteen year old girl's daughter) will eventually be regaled with stories of Hezbollah's assured victory. And how no one would say anything negative about Hezbollah.

This focus on ordinary people is a major part of all the stories Ayed tells, and this is no different. It's a much more beneficial method for the reader to be shown the desperation of these people by showing a woman whose presumed-dead husband finally calls on her cell phone, causing her to erupt in "sobs of painful relief," then it is to take a grander approach. So Ayed's story ends up really being told by all the small personal stories of people that sometimes last just one paragraph, but can sometimes stretch on for pages.

I found her journalistic insight into Lebanon's supposed freedom of the press very interesting as well. She admits the country boasts more newspapers and TV networks than any other Middle Eastern country, but on closer examination, you can see how "virtually every paper or network is loyal to one side."

Christopher Hitchens wrote Hitch-22, his memoir, and though both of these authors are journalists, Hitch-22 has a completely different voice. I felt Ayed's book read a lot like a news story, or a documentary that you might see on PBS or the BBC. Hitch-22 gives off the feeling that you are sitting in a pub listening to Hitchens tell you a variety of stories about his life. It's funny, the more I think about it, the more the structure of the two books is actually quite similar. Both take a journalistic approach to various dangerous warzones in there lives, and we go along for the ride around the globe meeting people entrenched in conflict.

A difference though, would be that after finishing A Thousand Farewells, you get the (I assume quite accurate) feeling that all the stories she has told completely shaped how she views the world, and views her job as a journalist. Whereas with Hitchens, some stories seem like they could be passed over, but the happen to just have some interesting angle here or there, (oh yes, I was beaten up by IRA terrorists and nearly murdered, but now hear this...) or they involve a person that is dear to his heart. Hitchens book is amazing, and I don't mean this next part negatively, but I feel like you could have read most of his other work, or listened to his debates, and you would "know" him just as well as if you had read Hitch-22. I don't think you can say the same thing for A Thousand Farewells.

I think journalists can learn how important Ayed's impartiality is to her storytelling. Hitchens is a very opinionated writer, but Ayed's book works so well because it shows it's story through people that Ayed has no bias towards or against. As she says "people are not quotes or clips, used to illustrate stories about war and conflict. People are the story, always." Through these people, she can illuminate much bigger stories, like the 2006 Lebanon War, without pushing the reader in any one direction. This unbiased approach is a great lesson.

In Defence of Allison Bench ie. Shut The Fuck Up You Pathetic, Whiny Little Trolls

Allison Bench just came out with an article for the Winnipeg Free Press. And wow, it was the most divisive, contentious,  and frankly controversial article I've read in some time. What was it on? Well, it's kind of hard to explain how insanely polemic this subject matter is on, but I'll just cut right to the chase.

SHE TALKS ABOUT PLACES SHE LIKES IN OSBORNE VILLAGE!!!

The fucking arrogant nerve of this girl. Fuck this girl! Saying she likes shit... what an entitled bitch!

"I just want to say something nice about Winnipeg, is that so wrong?" Survey says... Yes!

Oh wait, those aren't my feelings. No, sorry, those are the feelings of the cousin-fucking dipshits who populate the Winnipeg Free Press comment section!

These grumbling troglodytes with sticks so far up their asses they can taste what type of soil was used, decided to shit all over the pettiest, most inane bullshit I've ever seen.

Now I, unlike these festering boils of a pig's ass, am not a complete moron. I know Internet commenters are a veritable landmine of asshole-ishness and douchebaggery, and are essentially the scum of the earth. But the difference between a bunch of people around the world telling Rebecca Black to go kill herself and this comment section, is the implied audience. These are Winnipeggers, bitching about a Winnipegger, who likes Winnipeg. I've heard of self-hating Jews, but this...

Are these really that contemptible? Let's see, this first comment from "happyasaclam."

Ms. Allison Bench...let me guess...you're writing this article from the comforts of your home...in Vancouver and are getting it confused with Gas Town...

What the fuck? This internet detective sure puts Poirot to fucking shame. I suppose he got Anonymous to figure this mystery out. What was the big giveaway? The picture of Allison literally standing on Osborne Street? I guess all those zero seconds of research was far too daunting for this clever asshole. I bet he can tell you whose really behind 9/11 too.

Someone is wrong on the Internet!

There's also:

i suspect that a lot of posters on here are young,untraveled and convinced that the "village" is our version of the sidewalk cafes of paris,soho,or the east village in new york......and i doubt that many of the squeegee/ex-punk/skater/panhandlers that frequent the area ans view the alleys as bathrooms will ever know the difference....

Yes, fuck this girl for saying Osborne Village is cool. It's not Paris or New York people! So you can't enjoy it! What a condescending shit-stain of a human being.

I can just picture this guy's kid coming up to him, trying to show him how well he's done at his piano lessons, or playing guitar, and this guy going "Well, it's not The Beatles! You ever heard Strawberry Fields Forever?! You are not my son you Philistine piece of shit."

And wow, panhandlers won't know the difference between Winnipeg and New York. Really? You're shitting on homeless people for being unrefined? The balls on this guy.

Ugh, New York panhandlers are just SO much more adept at their... ahem *craft.*

Finally, this gem:

Into the Music isn't in Osborne anymore. And how could she not mention Spicy Noodle House? Or talk about some of the other places that used to be in Osborne (i.e. Divine, Movie Village, Fair Trade Florist)? Too bad.

This dumb motherfucker was so far up his ass that he didn't even realize his second complaint completely negated his first! He complains that Into The Music (which was accidentally put instead of Music Trader and subsequently changed) isn't actually in Osborne Village anymore. But then he whines about how she doesn't mention places that used to be in the Village. YOU JUST BITCHED ABOUT HER MENTIONING INTO THE MUSIC! Do these people not read the bile that exudes out of them? This is the type of guy who walks into the same desk every day and blames the desk. He just can't process too many thoughts at the same time, or his tiny head will explode.

Whatever, it's not any of these are overly hateful, I saw a few comments were reported as abusive before I could see them. I just think it's so disheartening to see the trivial bullshit that these comments focus on. Honestly, if they were bitching about it being a badly written piece (which I would disagree with, but that's beside the point) then I'd be less angry because at least you could potentially defend your position.

But this insignificant shallow tripe is the just so fucking pathetic. Sadly, it makes me happy I decided to major in Public Relations instead of Journalism so I don't have to deal with this type of frivolous bullshit.

Happy Reading Week!