Ramallah, West Bank -- Naomi Klein brought her act to the Palestinians this week, and this West Bank city was mighty impressed.
The Canadian author of No Logo and, most recently, of The Shock Doctrine , has been on a book tour of Israel and Palestine, now that her latest has been translated into both Hebrew and Arabic.
Anyone having trouble finding the venue of her Saturday night lecture, had only to follow the lines of young people as they converged on the Friends' School auditorium in downtown Ramallah. Astonishingly, for this part of the world, most of the people came on time. In fact, the place was packed 15 minutes ahead of time.
About 500 people filled the seats, the aisles, even the steps outside the main door, craning to hear every word.
Ms. Klein is a very good writer, but she's not the world's best public speaker, something she freely admits. To her credit, she doesn't speak from a text, but from talking points, and she has a tendency to wander.
That didn't matter to her audience.
While she was not interrupted by applause at any point during her presentation, she was recognized at the end of her hour-long lecture with one of the longest and loudest rounds of applause I have ever heard.
No Logo , an international bestseller about corporate globalization and exploitation, was greeted by The New York Times as a bible for a new generation; The Shock Doctrine , about how the Chicago school of economics has encouraged American business to take advantage of disasters around the world, drew mixed reviews, but bountiful sales.
Neither is a book one would expect a Palestinian or Israeli to have on their night tables.
But whether they had read her work or not, they hung on every word of what she had to say. I'm not sure what it is they are drawn to, she is not an evangelical-style speaker, but there is a messianic relationship between her and her audience. They have heard The Word, and they believe.
Her message Saturday night had little to do with disaster capitalism, but a lot to do with Ms. Klein's decision to support the international boycott of Israel. This is the non-violent approach that finally persuaded South Africa to abandon its apartheid policies, she said, and it can work to persuade Israel to adhere to international law and end its occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.
Ms. Klein, a Jew, said she was not brave in taking this stand, but ashamed that it had taken her so long to adopt the cause.
