Friday, 24 August 2018

WHO IS EVA BARTLETT? A PARTIAL BIO BY A NON-WIKIPEDIA SITE AND WITHOUT #PHILIPCROSS EDITS (THANK YOU!)



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Good (far better than Wikipedia, of Philip Cross mal-edits) entry on me here. I’ll add a few corrections/clarifications, in [brackets].
*
“Eva Bartlett (born 14 June 1977) is an independent Canadian-American​ writer​, journalist​ and human rights activist​ from Ontario​ who covers the Middle East​ region, particularly Palestine​ and Syria​.​ She has a weblog​ called InGaza and has made numerous visits to Syria and Palestine since 2008, including to the Gaza Strip
[ADDITION: I lived a cumulative 3 years in Gaza, from Nov 2008 to March 2013, and 8 months in the west bank as an activist with the ISM. More on that here: https://ingaza.wordpress.com/about-me/]​.
Since 2014, Bartlett has also written about the Gaza Strip​.
[Since 2008]

Early life and education

Bartlett has dual nationality, being born in Michigan​ but raised in Canada
[Dawson Creek, Winnipeg, Fergus].
Between 1991 and 1996 Bartlett studied a the Centre Wellington District High School​ in Fergus, Ontario ​and was awarded an Honours grade 13 (OAC), Ontario Scholar
[I was also a bench warmer on the basketball team :p  Good shot, lousy at dribbling].
Between 1997 and 2002 she attended Mount Allison University​, New Brunswick​, Canada earning a 1st Class Honours with Distinction with Honours in Music​ and a Minor in French.
[Classical piano, Rachmaninov, Brahms, Beethoven and Bach among my favourites].
Between 1999 and 2000 Bartlett spent a year as an exchange student at the Université Marc Bloch​ in  Strasbourg​, France​ and was awarded a French language immersion diploma​.
[Excellent opportunity for travel in Europe. Also landed me an unpaid summer job in Tunisia in 2011, for my then French speaking skills: a “house manager” for my archaeology prof, which entailed driving teams to dig site, walking to markets and doing the food shopping, helping w meal prep. Dream job.]

Career

[I really wouldn’t call what I do a “career”. It’s a compulsion, “career” be damned. That said, scary accuracy. Yep, I worked many jobs during Uni, also took student loans and had a music scholarship. Still graduated with a 20K+ debt, which I paid off when teaching English in South Korea.]
Between September 1998 and May 2001 Bartlett worked as a student librarian​ in the music library of Mount Allison University providing customer service​, information assistance and resource maintenance. She also worked during this period as a caterer at the home of the University president​, planning & cooking​ for social functions.
[Best job ever. Many leftovers to take home.]
Between May and July 2001 she worked as a French interpreter​ and House Manager for Professor Van der Leest in his archaeology​ department in Carthage​, Tunisia​. She also worked as a research aide to Professor Edwards in the French Department transcribing French texts.
[How I taught myself to type 🙂 ]
Between October and December 2002 she worked at Finer English in Kassel​, Germany​ as an English Language instructor, tutoring advanced adult businessmen and women. [Great job, really enjoyed it but felt I’d failed at first attempt before this in South Korea, so I went back to challenge my culture shock, and loved it there.]
From June 2003 until January 2004 Bartlett worked at Daewoo​ Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co. Ltd on Geoje Island​ in South Korea​, teaching English to adult employees where she created her own material to accompany a textbook. From September 2004 until June 2005 Bartlett worked at TBM-SISA, English Language ​and TOEIC preparation academy in Busan​, South Korea as an English Language Instructor, teaching grammar​ and conversational English to various ages of students.
[Walked to work and saved the gas allowance each teacher was given to instead explore Korea’s south on weekends, driving and hiking.]

Volunteer Activities

Between August and December 1996 Bartlett worked and travelled independently in Ireland​, including the Aran Islands​, volunteering on organic farms​ around the country.
[First independent travel foray.]
Between February 2004 and April 2004 Bartlettt worked as a Willing Worker on Organic Farms (WWOOF) during her travels in northern Thailand​, tending plants and vegetables, as well as painting and building adobe​ constructions. [Some photos: https://get.google.com/albumarchive/106862188263818711969/album/AF1QipPx8DqLQ9kd3Tapf5W06qxMtc0SOPwesLW6IcQo]
She joined a Buddhist commune, helping to construct a mud-brick school in central Thailand.
[No, I didn’t “join”, I spent enjoyable some time there volunteering.]
From July until December 2005 she was an independent, volunteer English teacher during travels in India​. From May 2007 she has been a volunteer editor of the Zahel Youth Exchange Program in the Public Relations Departmetn of An-Najah National University​ in Nablus​, Palestine​. [Yes, I was an editor for a period, doing whatever I could to help out. Bless those people in Nablus, and all of occupied Palestine.]
[What should be included in the Volunteer section is 8 months in the occupied West Bank volunteering with the ISM, documenting some of the daily horrors and crimes Israeli soldiers and colonists inflict on Palestinians:
*Just some photos:
And also my years volunteering with the ISM in Gaza, documenting Israeli war crimes, the brutal Israeli siege on Gaza, Israeli soldiers maiming Palestinian farmers and fishers, and more:
…More in drop-down archives on right hand side of blog.

Journalism

Bartlett documented the 2008-2009 and 2012 Israeli attacks on Gaza while riding in ambulances​ and reporting from hospitals​.
[See:
Since April 2014, Bartlett has visited, made videos​ and taken interviews in various areas of Syria​ following their liberation, including Aleppo​, Homs​, Madaya, and Damascus​.
[See:
-men from Madaya speak on terrorists hoarding food, starving civilians
-Madaya Bomb Factory
-Madaya prison and torture room
-Wounded Buqayn employee, Madaya
Bartlett has also given talks on topics of Imperialism​ and North Korea​.
[Imperialism on Trial videos:
[North Korea, DPRK videos and article:
She has been interviewed widely by George Galloway​, RT News, 21st Century Wire​, etc.
On 9 December 2016, Bartlett gave a press conference as part of the Permanent Mission of the Syrian Arab Republic to the United Nations.
[Correction: I asked to hold a press conference as the US Peace Council had done in summer 2016. See: https://ingaza.wordpress.com/2018/01/20/a-personal-reply-to-the-fact-challenged-smears-of-terrorist-whitewashing-channel-4-snopes-and-la-presse/]
A clip of the video went viral and was viewed over 3,000,000 times.
[Correction: One of the first clips, Scoop Whoop, has over 13 million views.
In March 2017, Mexico City​, Bartlett was granted the “International Journalism Award for International Reporting” by the Mexican Press Club​. Co-recipients included John Pilger​ and political analyst Thierry Meyssan​, among others.
Bartlett has been the victim of a smear campaign​ by various supporters of the White Helmets, which she thoroughly exposed and debunked​ in a YouTube​ interview.
[Also written rebuttals:

Interests and achievments

Bartlett maintainted a four year music scholarship and Dean’s List at Mount Allison University. She is a certified scuba diver​, First Dan Black Belt in Tae kwan do​ and certified Grade 10 in classical piano​ by the Royal Conservatory of Music​. She has made years of independent travel around the world including many European, North African​ and Asian countries.
[More photos (but most non-digital and in photo albums) here:

River to Sea Uprooted Palestinian   
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Blog!

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