Listen to the interview now.

Miko shared his thoughts with the crowd gathered at the Israeli Embassy in Washington DC this evening to protest “Operation Pillars of Defense,” Israel’s latest air assault on Gaza.

Miko Speaking at USC 10.30.12

Miko is continuing to travel across the US–from California to Wisconsin to Georgia to Pennsylvania, but if you haven’t been fortunate enough to catch him in person, don’t worry. Pictures of his lecture at the Levantine Cultural Center of USC can be viewed here.  You can listen to his podcast interview with renowned peace activist Cindy Sheehan, or read his recent interview with the Madison Times following his talk at UW-Madison. See the previous post for a video recording of one of his latest talks.
Also thanks to the wonders of the internet, you can now read Miko Peled’s acclaimed memoir, The General’s Son: Journey of an Israeli in Palestine immediately! This critical book is available for instant download from Just World Books as a Kindle eBook. If you do not have a Kindle, there are free apps that allow you to read Kindle formatted books on any computer or device. So remember, whether or not Miko has come to speak in your town, his message is accessible to everyone, everywhere through his book, The General’s Son, in paper or electronic form!

You may have seen recently on Just World Book’s Newsfeed that The General’s Son is second only to Gandhi’s autobiography in Amazon’s “War and Peace” section and has really shot up the charts with his speaking tour.  In another sign of his growing prominence as a speaker about the important issues facing Israel and Palestine, a video posted on YouTube of Miko’s October 1 lecture in Seattle has gone viral with over 25,000 views to date, being reposted on dozens of blogs and message boards. Fortunately for his fans in the US, he has plenty of appearances lined up in the coming weeks and months across the country–check the calendar to the right for details.

Journalist Alma Khasawnih, who attended Miko’s book event at the church, describes his talk in her article for the Seattle Globalist. She says his presentation is “almost like The Question of Palestine 101″ as he  “begins with some background on Zionism’s movement into Palestine, then the partition of Palestine in 1948 and its occupation by what we now know as Israel.” But, true to form, Alma notes that  “his narrative goes beyond politics to a personal story of self discovery.”

Keep your eye on this blog for updated info regarding Miko’s upcoming book events around the US and beyond. Helena assures us that she will be sending out far more books to make sure there are plenty on hand for his presentations in the future, but remember you can always purchase The General’s Son for yourself or for a gift here.

In his presentation at this weekend’s conference, Miko Peled, the Israeli-born anti-Zionist and advocate of equal rights and decolonization in a single state, made the observation that every cause of social justice in history that has been worth fighting for was divisive in its time. The Civil Rights struggle in the United States was one such cause, but even more divisive than that, Peled reminded us, was slavery. So divisive, it led to Civil War in which hundreds of thousands died.

–Ali Abunimah,  referring to Miko’s speech at the Sabeel Conference held in Albuquerque, New Mexico September 28-29 in his Electronic Intifada article “‘Seeking Balance’: How Albuquerque Cathedral that slammed its doors to Sabeel helps Israeli oppression.” The original host of the event, an Episcopal church, disinvited Sabeel after pressure from American Jewish organizations.

Miko Peled and Alice Walker in Berkeley, CA September 19, 2012.

Miko has just finished three fabulous events in northern California over the past week, including a lecture September 18 at the Resource Center for Nonviolence in Santa Cruz hosted by the Palestine-Israel Action Committee, a book signing in Berkeley on September 19 organized by The Middle East Children’s Alliance (MECA), and a reading September 20 at Time Tested Books in Sacramento. The General’s Son sold out at all of these events, which is perhaps not surprising to those who have had the opportunity to read the book or to hear Miko speak before. His insightful remarks were recognized with a standing ovation at the MECA event. Helena Cobban, CEO of the publisher Just World Books was pleased to be able to attend that evening’s festivities and to introduce Miko to the full house audience of 100-120 people. Alice Walker, renowned author and writer of the foreword to Miko’s memoir was also present and is featured in the photograph to the left. You can buy the book online at Just World Books’ webstore.