Mati Shemoelof

Mati Shemoelof (Hebrew: מתי שמואלוף‎, born July 11, 1972), Israeli poet, editor, journalist and activist. Much of Shemoelof’s literary work and activism deals with issues of ethnicity and class among Mizrahi Jews in Israel.

Biography

Shemoelof was born and raised in Haifa, Israel. He now lives in Tel Aviv and teaches at Kedma High School in Jerusalem. He also teaches creative writing at Ron Vardi Center for Gifted Children,^[1] and is a lecturer of Israeli culture at Minshar College in Tel Aviv.^[2] Shemoelof received his BA from the Department of Theater at Tel Aviv University and an MA in History from the University of Haifa. His MA thesis was entitled, "The cultural and mythical meanings of the appearance of the character of Malcolm X in Spike Lee movie (1992)".^[3] For this work, he received the Dean’s Prize of Excellence.^[4]

He is currently pursuing a PhD in Literature at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.^[5] His dissertation topic is “A Monograph of Yakov Rabinovitch as a Cultural Critic (1910-1948)”.^[6] He is a fellow at the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute,^[7] a Jerusalem-based think tank that addressing issues of identity and class. Shemoelof participated in a workshop for promising PhD students, and also in Kedmata forum at the Ben Zvi Institute in Jerusalem.^[8]

Literary work

Shemoelof has published three poetry books, "The Scar Minimizer" (2001)^[9] and "Poetry Between Hazaz and Shemoelof" (2006)^[10] "Why Don’t I write Israeli Love Songs" (2010).^[11] In addition to having his poetry and articles published in a number of leading Hebrew-language magazines and journals. He co-edited two poetry anthologies, Adoma (Red) (2007)^[12] and Tehudot Zehut (Echoing Identities) (2007)^[13] La-Tzet! [To Get Out]! (2009)^[14] Al Tagido BaGat (The influence of the Palestinian Nacba on the Hebrew Poetry) (2010).^[15] From 2006 – 2008, he was an editor at the literary journal, HaCivon Mizrah (Eastward).

He has been a regular op-ed contributor to NRG site, the online edition of the Hebrew-language newspaper Ma’ariv.^[16] He is currently an op-ed contributor at Israel HaYom (Israel Today), a daily Hebrew-language newspaper, and writes reviews at Ynet, Israel’s leading news website.^[17] Shemoelof’s writing focuses mainly on poetry, Mizrahi literature, and political and social thought within the cultural context.

He wrote an autobiographic story titled “The Icebergs of the Memory”, which was included in the anthology “Echoing Identities”, published by Am Oved Publisher House in 2007.

Mati Shemoelof co-edited La-Tzet [To Get Out]! an anthology of works against the war in Gaza, which was the result of the cooperation of a number of literary projects, Cultural Guerilla among them. The anthology of art and poetry came out on the third day of the war and sold an edition within one month. La-Tzet! Can be seen as a continuation of the spirit of unification and revolt in front of the political situation through cultural cooperation seen in projects such as Red: An Anthology of Class Poetry (2007) that has sold three editions. La-Tzet was translated into Arabic and published both in Egypt^[18] and Lebanon.^[19]

With the election of U.S. president Barack Obama, Shemoelof was part of the publication of the Manifesto, which called “New Spirit: An open letter from Israeli Descendants of the Countries of Islam”: “We, the Israeli sons and daughters of parents originating in the Islamic and Arab countries, show our support of the new spirit exemplified by President Obama in his speech in Cairo – a spirit of pacification, sensible vision, and the pursuit of justice and respect. Respect to the different religions, cultures, and humans.”^[20]

Activism

Shemoelof was a founding member of the Haifa branch of the political info-shop, Salon Mazal.^[21]

Shemoelof is currently active in the Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow Coalition,^[22] a social justice organization made up of Mizrahi Jews in Israel working to push Mizrahi issues into the current public agenda. Between 2006 - 2008, Shemoelof organized meetings at Beit Livik^[23] between the Young Ashkenazi Identity Movement and activists from the Mizrahi Democratic Rainbow Coalition.^[24]

Between 2006-2008, Shemoelof has been part of MiMizrach Shemesh, an organization devoted to the Jewish tradition of social responsibility.

With poet Roy Arad, he founded the Guerrilla Tarbut Movement, made up of artists, poets and activists, and funded in part by the New Israel Fund. The movement is committed to the bridging of social change and art, with a particular focus on wealth disparity in the country.

Bibliography

Poetry

• Scar Minimizer (Tel-Aviv: Gwanim Publishers, 2001).
• Poetry Between Hazaz and Shemoelof (Tel-Aviv: Yaron Golan, 2006).
• Why I Do Not Write Israeli Love Songs (Tel-Aviv: Nahar-Sfarim, 2010).

Editorial

• Adoma (Red), ed. Mati Shemoelof, Roy Arad, Yaara Shehori, Asma Agabaria, Joshua Simon, and Nir Nader, (Tel-Aviv: Ha Civon Mizrah, Maayan and Etgar, 2007).
• Tehudot Zehut (Echoing Identities), ed. Mati Shemoelof, Naftali Shem-Tov, and Nir Baram (972 Series, Tel Aviv: Am Oved, 2007).
• HaCivon Mizrah (Eastward: A Literary Journal) No. 12, ed. Mati Shemoelof, Bat Shachar Gurfinkel (Summer 2006). Dedicated to the Work of Poet Erez Bitton.
• HaCivon Mizrah (Eastward: A Literary Journal) No. 13, ed. Mati Shemoelof, Bat Shachar Gurfinkel (Winter 2007). The Mizrahi Gallery Takes Back the Right to Speak: A Critical Discussion of Football.
• HaCivon Mizrah (Eastward: A Literary Journal) No. 14, ed. Mati Shemoelof, Bat Shachar Gurfinkel, and Omri Herzog (Summer 2007). A Discussion of Hybrid Identity.
• HaCivon Mizrah (Eastward: A Literary Journal) No. 15, ed. Mati Shemoelof, Bat Shachar Gurfinkel. (Winter 2008). A Wall Without a Painting: Social and Political Comics.
• La-Tzet [To Get Out]!, second ed. Guerrila Culture, Maarav, Maayan, Etgar, Daka, 2009
• Al Tagido Bagat [The Influence of the Palestinian Nacba on the Hebrew Poetry), Sedek Vol. 5, Zocrot, Parhesia and Pardes, 2010.

Plays

• Ma Nolad Me Tekes Yom Ha’Ziicaron, 2003, (What has Come of Memorial Day Service)

References

1. ^ http://www.roncenter.co.il/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=99:2008-10-27-08-30-01&catid=47:2008-10-27-08-06-15
2. ^ http://www.minshar.org.il/לימודי_תיאוריה/10/סגל_מרצים/61
3. ^ http://aleph.haifa.ac.il/F/?func=direct&local_base=HAI01&doc_number=001384015
4. ^ http://students.haifa.ac.il/html/html_heb/graduates/40/MA/MA40.html
5. ^ http://isefresearch.wiki.huji.ac.il/index.php/%D7%9E%D7%97%D7%96%D7%95%D7%A8_%D7%AA%D7%A9%D7%A1%D7%97
6. ^ http://cherrick.huji.ac.il/eng_conferences.htm
7. ^ http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/pages/ShArtPE.jhtml?itemNo=1005021&contrassID=2&subContrassID=6&sbSubContrassID=0
8. ^ http://www.ybz.org.il/?CategoryID=205&ArticleID=132
9. ^ http://simania.co.il/bookdetails.php?item_id=36218
10. ^ http://www.text.org.il/index.php?book=0603051
11. ^ http://www.text.org.il/index.php?book=1003013
12. ^ http://www.etgar.info/he/aduma
13. ^ http://www.am-oved.co.il/Htmls/product.aspx?C1010=17587&BSP=13477
14. ^ http://www.etgar.info/he/print/article__311/לצאת!
15. ^ http://www.notes.co.il/mati/63877.asp
16. ^ http://www.nrg.co.il/online/search.html?query=%F9%EE%E5%E0%EC%E5%F3&searchAction=search&cx=partner-pub-6812552107781082%3Agof51c-i6ox&cof=GALT%3A%23008000%3BGL%3A1%3BDIV%3A%23336699%3BVLC%3A663399%3BAH%3Acenter%3BBGC%3AFFFFFF%3BLBGC%3A336699%3BALC%3A0000FF%3BLC%3A0000FF%3BT%3A000000%3BGFNT%3A0000FF%3BGIMP%3A0000FF%3BFORID%3A1&ie=windows-1255
17. ^ http://www.ynet.co.il/home/1,7340,L-3340,00.html?txtSearchString=שמואלוף&collarity_appid=ynet_articles&collarity_channel=&collarity_origin=8
18. ^ http://e.walla.co.il/?w=/203/1573358
19. ^ http://alghaoon.com/alghaoon/
20. ^ http://arab-jew.blogspot.com/
21. ^ http://stagemag.co.il/Articles/170
22. ^ http://ha-keshet.org.il/
23. ^ http://www.leyvik.org.il/DefaultEN.aspx
24. ^ http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3395635,00.html

External links

• Personal Blog
• Mati Shemoelof - Left Bank Journal / Hagada Hasmalit (English).
• Articles by Shemoelof at nrg.co.il (Maariv online)
• Mati Shemoelof on the new literature lexis icon
• "Between family and postcolonial Earth", By Yitzhak Laor, Haaretz, 24.8.2007.
• History & Theory, Issue No. 4 - The Ides of April, Eli Petel: Re-identity, Social Process and Inter-generational Vista.
• My society, my self, Tahel Frosh, Haaretz, 29.03.2008.
• As a New Black Panther Party Forms, Poetry and Music Bring Mizrahi Jews Together in Celebration 31, Mati Shemoelof
• Guerrilla Culture, The Poetic Science of Resistance, 8/12/2008
• Shemoelof songs in Arabic
• poets, artists, activists visit embattled Beduin Village, Ben Hartman, Jerusalem Post, 22.8.2010

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Name	Shemoelof, Mati
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Date of birth	1972-07-11
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