Today, I learned that the east side of the city of Jerusalem
is considered to be the Arab side, while the west side is referred to as
“Jewish Jerusalem” in Suad Amiry’s reflection on a folklore festival that never
happened. Before reading any of
these articles I had next to no academic experience dealing with the Israeli-
Palestinian conflict (I could not even tell you the basic details of the Oslo
agreement, who was involved, and the immediate results before coming to
class). It is true that my
background knowledge of this modern-day city and its political implications is
rather lacking, but my hope is that this may help me to soak in the information
with less of a bias.
My decision to study in Jerusalem is uncomplicated in the
sense that I am an Arabic language student, and I wish to learn about cultures
and beliefs that differ from my own.
Yet as Albert’s quote in the Amiry article states, we each carry our own
mirror when we look at Jerusalem.
My mirror contains cultural assumptions and tales from my upbringing
concerning a city that, in truth, I know very little about. I was raised in a Christian home, and
have always considered Jerusalem to be a place that is somehow meaningful to
me, at least symbolically. My goal
for this class and upcoming trip is to respect and learn from the other mirrors
around me.
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