Questions for Pyalara and response to "Seizing Locality in Jerusalem"

Questions:

1. How do you recruit people to your organization?
2. I assume that the primary goal of Pyalara is long term peace. Does your organization take part in political protests or demonstrations? Or is it more that you try to inform others about what is going on with Palestinian youth?
3. I saw that you have a place for donations, is your funding much like no profit groups? Do you seek individual or institutional monies, like from Arab multinational companies or other institutions supporting Palestine?

Response to "Seizing Locality in Jerusalem:"
The maps in this article, of Jerusalem from past to present, were fascinating. Just looking at the cool old architecture mixed with the modern buildings sitting on hills in the valley in Jerusalem were beautiful! I really like the adobe architecture of the round stone block buildings.

One criticism that I have is that when the author is talking about someone being near the Temple Mount, specifically after the 1967 when the IDF grabbed up the land, the person in the article was talking about how he feels spiritual at the wall. The part that I take issue with is how the person said that he feels close to king David. I think that is kind of bazaar, because king David has been dead for over 2000 years. I realize the significance of the western wall, but it is just foreign to me to think you are close to an ancient celebrity at a wall.

Over all it was a good article. It would be awesome to have a true thorough knowledge of all of the periods of Jerusalem, to be able to piece all the history together. However, a place like that city cannot be memorized like that, because of the thousands of years of history!

Austin's symbol

This is my symbol, it is of things that are important to me. The Air Force uniform, two kufiyas, and the bible make up who I am!

Picture

Response to Walls and Graffiti

I thought that the reading "Old and New Walls in Jerusalem" was strange because it analyzed the ideas of walls. I realize that this article was written from a geographers point of view and for that reason, it discussed the different types of walls, in theory, that exist to serve various political and social purposes in our modern world. When I think of Geography, I think of cartographers on Spanish and Portuguese ships traveling the world drawing maps. No offense to Joseph, I just never realized the place the geography plays in our world. 


It is interesting that they author of that article analyzes why that wall was built. Personally, I would have never really analyzed the purposes of walls. I always thought that if you have rowdy neighbors, you build a wall; this author looks deeper into "walls." Klein compares Jerusalem to Belfast, in Northern Ireland. I recently traveled to Ireland and heard the stories of people from the Republic of Ireland, usually they do not have nice things to say about the Protestants in the North. It is interesting to compare a European city to the strife in Jerusalem. I imagine that most people, save a geographer, would not think to compare the two cities regarding sectarian strife.


Reading the graffiti article was valuable the pictures in the article helped bring it to life. I can see myself in both positions of an Israeli military officer trying to prohibit writing on the wall, because that is the law and as the guy who lives next to the wall who wants to express himself. I would want to write on it and especially when a foreign dignitary comes. I would want to make my views known and appeal to the aid of others. It is a rough situation, I do not see an end to it. On one hand writing graffiti is a small offense, however I think that it is just a minuscule model of the overwhelming strife in that region. I think that the graffiti is just the little guy (in this case the Palestinian guy living next to the wall) trying to speak out against the bigger guy. 

Journal, Questions, Final Project outline

Questions for Yonatan Gher

1. In what ways do you think that the Gay movement in Jerusalem differs from the struggle in other big cities like NYC or Washington?

2. Do you think that it is even more important for the gay community to make strides forward in a place like Jerusalem than in  calmer cities in other parts of the world?

3. Since Israel is much more of a socialized nation than the U.S. and more similar to European nations, do Gays have more financial liberties than in the U.S. ? They do not have the right to make medical decisions for their partner and insurance benefits. Are there similar issues in Jerusalem.

Artifacts

I have many things in my room relating to who I am. I keep religious materials (the bible) , military uniforms, and many cultural pieces from the Arab World. I have a deep religious collection to the Bible. My parents taught me very much about being a Christian and the connection that has to the Bible. That is definitely a part of my personal onion, the Bible, it can be found on my dresser.

As for military uniforms, this shows my patriotism. I am a Cadet in AFROTC, I commission as an Air Force officer in June. I believe in serving our nation and am proud to wear the Air Force ABU.

The most interesting artifacts that I have are 3 koufiyas, one from Jordan, another from Qatar, and one from Egypt. I also have a Bedouin Dagger/khanjar from Petra Jordan, a flag of Spain. All of these are very important to me. I have great memories attached to each of these items. 

All of these things are very important to me. They are items which make up my cultural being. Religious, Military, and foreign culture, these are all things that make up who I am. 

Final Project

Powerpoint Presentation on a military perspective on the Arab Israeli Wars

·        Important movements from 1880s to the Present

1.     Will briefly mention topics like Zionism, the Holocaust, WW2, British Mandate, Declaration of Independence

·        War for Independence/War of Ethnic Cleansing

1. Dates, Where, Why fought, Key victories/losses

·        The wars with Lebanon

1.   Dates, Where, Why fought, key victories/losses

2.     Defining the two different wars

·        Yawm Kibbur war

1.     Dates, Where, Why fought, key victories/losses

2.     Key Players

·        The make up of the Israeli Defense Force

1.     Defense suppliers

2.     Capabilities: numbers, equipment,

3.     Forward deployment?

4.     Bases

GDP expenditure vs. other countr

Questions and response to Galit Hasan-Rokem's article

1. What does being a Jerusalemite mean to you? Is it a personal/family sense of connection with the city or is the fact that Jews have been there for thousands of years that connects you to the city?

2. Do you think literature is the best way to motivate people to change the political situation in the West Bank? Or might new technologies like Twitter and Facebook be more valuable to affect change, than literature?

3. Have you seen, first hand, abuses as mentioned in "The Promised Gas Masks" in research or wherever?

Articles:

These articles were interesting because they show what it is like to live under political oppression. Obviously the articles had definite degrees of bias, simply based off of the perspective of the writer. However, I enjoyed reading them because I did not know how difficult it actually is to live in a country where you cannot travel easily to the doctor or get medicine for you dog because you do not have the right passport. This was eye opening!

Regarding the gas mask article, I would feel so angry if I were treated like those Palestinians. That is really bad how the Israeli soldiers did not treat them humanely. As a member of the U.S. Air Force I can see how from a military's perspective, at least from the individual soldier, that you might treat people like that just out of being guarded. What I mean when I say treat people like that is how the soldiers talked to the Palestinians rudely, they told them to line up and get on the bus. The were ordering them around. That is what I mean when I say, it really is abusive.

The articles were definitely valuable for this class.

Response to the Video on the Orchestra

I enjoyed the movie! Mr. Daniel Barenboim obviously has done a great deal to try to establish a connection between the Israelis and the Palestinians. I really admire what he has done for that cause; it really appears that he is fair in his opinions of the Israelis and Palestinians. What I mean is that he is Israeli, but will speak out against the Israeli government when he thinks there is injustice. The prime example, from the movie, of that is when he quotes the Israeli Declaration of Independence and really ticks off the chairman of the Wolf Prize foundation. She was so angry at what he said in front of the group present with the Jury of the Wolf Prize. I admire him for doing that; what he believes in, is contradictory of his government and he spoke up about it.

Additionally, I did see the physicality of music. I never imagined music to be physically draining. The musicians and the conductor became very sweaty while they were playing. That is what I mean when I say that I can see how much effort he puts into that organization.

It was interesting to see how much the orchestra travels. I was a bit jealous of them, because I personally would love to see Germany and Morocco. What a great experience for those kids to see so many countries in   Africa and Europe.

Response to Yitz "Y-Love" Jordan and Heartbeat: Jerusalem

I think it is interesting that Yitz Jordan converted to Judaism and is now rapping Jewish hymns. The article mentioned that he likes to put old Hebrew parable like stories or versus, and putting them to music. This is very similiar to what some singers do in the U.S. with Christian Bible versus. I can remember lots and lots of Christian songs put together as a combination of Bible versus and music. I think in Mr. Jordan's case, especially not being ethnically Jewish, it is an interesting way to bridge the gap between religious heritage and modern day secular technology.

Heartbeat: Jerusalem has a message of putting aside national identity and embodying the Human identity. It criticizes the views that Palestinians have of Israelis and vice versa. It challenges how the news media portrays each side in its respective media, and call for more focus on getting along. Obviously this would be an ideal situation, to get the two primary sides and all of the other smaller sides, inside this huge conflict, to get along and see one another as human. From my own personal experiences, it is easy to vilify people who are at odds with you politically. I can remember watching the same footage of Palestinian/Israel violence at the dinner table as a child and I began to believe just what my parents' views were. That is a travesty!!!!! I think that this website has a good point, let us look past the media into the eyes of "the other."

Response to readings of Tamari

Questions:
1. When traveling to do your research in Israel/Palestine, did you have trouble with emigration? I know that often times depending on the passport, some travelers would have significant trouble trying to cross from parts of the West Bank to different cities in Israel.

2. What do you think defines a person as an Jewish Arab? In reality, which is the dominant characteristic of that person? Or is that something defined by oneself?

3. Would you be in favor of a two state solution or combining both the West Bank and Israel into one state, to preserve the two distinct cultures that currently fall in this land or put them together under one flag and mix the culture?



I am going to do my final project/presentation on the establishment of the state of Israel. I plan to start with events in 1948 and discuss the wars between the Arabs and the Israelis. I also plan to include information about the peace treaty signed by Jordan and Egypt and Israel and some other important events in the founding of the state. I realize that I only have 10 minutes, and a discussion of Israel could go on for a lifetime with no solution. However, I want to get the most accurate FACTS and present them. My mission is to educate myself, primarily, on this issue. I feel like I have a broad knowledge about the founding of Israel, but a closer look at details would be awesome.

I found these articles had an interesting perspective based off of the type of work that Mr. Tamari did. I read the articles: "Lepers, Lunatics, and Saints" and "The predicament of the Arab Jews in Palestine." I find that the study of culture to be very interesting and this author studied, in Palestine/Israel, how the hill-people "Fullaaheen" interact with one another.

I enjoyed the one reference of how the Muslim Palestinians gave a basket of goat meat and bread to the Jews on the last day of Passover and then how the Jewish recipients of the kindness returned the baskets with Matza and Jam. This is a great example of how cultures should interact especially when there are deep seated religious differences in the mix.

I felt it was kind of strange when the author began talking about leprosy and ended up talking about the cultural mix amongst the rural "Fullaheen." He said that Leprosy has been cured in the rest of the world and even in the west bank but he uses the disease to discuss the culture in Palestine.