Reading- Finding Different Perspectives About the Wall

Lately, it has been rather easy for me to sympathize with the Palestinian perspective of the wall.  After seeing both Israelis and Palestinians (such as the co-founders of the East-West Divan Orchestra) push for a stop to the settlements, interviewing a young adult involved in peaceful activism, reading about self-expression through graffiti, and watching the powerful film 5 Broken Cameras, this isn’t so hard to understand.

 What I would like to know at this point is the other perspective.  Why was something as extreme as the wall implemented in the first place?  Why did the Israeli government feel so threatened?  I think back to our first speaker, Dr. Herrmann, zooming out on the map to show us how Israel sees themselves and the world around them: a tiny Jewish state in a sea of majority Arab Muslim nations. 

This article was written in 2011 for the LA Times by Dore Gold, former Israeli ambassador to the UN.  It describes the security needs of the state of Israel, explaining that the 1967 boundaries were not sufficient to truly safeguard the nation.  A wall would show the true desired boundaries for the state, as well as make a statement to the world that Israel is powerful.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jun/05/opinion/la-oe-gold-israel-borders-20110605

My second source comes from my browser homepage: nbcnews.com.  This is much more recent- posted two days ago.  In the city of Bait Jala, in the West Bank, Christians and Muslims gather together for a weekly mass in the valley where the barrier is to be built.  Here we see a coming together of faiths, as well as a desperate plea for divine intervention as hope is running out for this community.

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/02/25/17057961-christians-muslims-pray-to-halt-israeli-security-wall?lite

The article also mentions the Israeli explanations for the wall’s continued construction.  Their biggest argument is that the wall safeguards Israeli citizens from Palestinian terror attacks.

Reading- Writing on the Walls

Graffiti on the walls instantly brings to mind the writings on the bathroom stalls of the Central Classroom Building here at OSU.  Although this is considerably different, the image of the different handwriting and colors used, the hand-drawn images (some better than others) simply remind me of the graffiti here at home. 

In a way, if doesn’t matter how petty the opinion written, or by contrast, how widely- affecting the world conflict that people are writing about.  Walls are indifferent bystanders; they are modems for the emotions and opinions of others.  Any firmly held belief, however small, that one may not feel is being heard or represented in the world in any other way may be written or drawn on the wall.  This way, everyone can see it, and perhaps be impacted by it.

The thing I loved the most about Noura’s article was the universals: we all carry with us he hope of reconciliation and peace, we all long for a homeland.  When put this way, concepts like Zionism seem much less foreign to me.  It also brings to mind some of the tragic effects of not recognizing the legitimacy of the “other,” and of their own claims.  This can be said of both sides, and once each side at least recognizes the common desires of the “other,” my hope is that these boundaries one people between themselves and another can begin to fade.  Like the article mentioned, there is nothing about excluding others that is essential to any individual or group’s identity.

The reading about Vardi was amazing.  It is really inspiring to see someone my age (or younger!) taking such a courageous role in the struggle for peace.  The article mentioned that she was in Bel’in, a village I now know vaguely about from the movie 5 Broken Cameras.  In a place and a time plagued with violence, it is incredible to see the resolve in those who choose peaceful protest.

Reading- Parallels and Paradoxes

I must start off by expressing how excited I am to be covering this topic in class, and to have been learning about such a unique endeavor in the world of music!  This project is especially appealing to me as a musician and a person who consistently studies the interaction of language and culture. 

I was interested and pleased to see the commentary on Said’s own musical expertise in the introduction.  This has not really been highlighted in any other information about the orchestra project I have seen thus far.  With the two men having such brilliant minds and such basic passions in life, it is not really surprising that they would become friends (unless their musician’s personalities would render them competitive enemies).

Barenboim’s initial lines of his memoriam for Said are striking.  He begins by describing his friend as the “very essence of human nature because he understood its contradictions.”  This one line sums up the heart of this article, and the rest of the tribute was written just as beautifully as the opening paragraph.

The main article itself was interesting in that it was written in the question-answer format of an interview.  Barenboim’s statement about where he feels at home is what first caught my attention here: he feels the most at home in the idea of Jerusalem.  One of the themes I have taken from this class is that Jerusalem is, in the minds of those who love it, admired and adored for what it could be- for its ideal spiritual or aesthetic qualities that make it the center of the world.

The dialogue became more philosophical than I expected later on.  I managed to learn a bit about how Barenboim thinks and what is most important to him when it comes to his work.  In all of these writings, I have found the writers to be very thoughtful and open-minded, yet not withholding opinion.  I believe that everyone remotely connected to the modern conflict, the world of music, or both would benefit from reading these careful, honest reflections.

Project Proposal

First and foremost, an apology!  My original idea for a project did not work out, so I have a new and improved proposal to share!

In the past five years or so, my family has gotten to know a man named Fareed, originally a Palestinian lawyer.  When we first met him, he was beginning to attend the same church that my family attended at the time, having just found asylum in America.  We learned that his family was still overseas, and would not be able to join  him here for at least two years.

Knowing this, we invited Fareed to out house for Thanksgiving that year.  Even with extremely limited English, we were able to learn a lot about his life and why he had been forced to flee his home country.  In Palestine, he had become a political activist, speaking out against militant groups using child soldiers.

Fareed is a fascinating person who would be very interesting to interview and ask what Jerusalem, and the area surrounding it, means to him.  At the time I met him, he was a Christian whose Muslim family, for their own safety, could not know that he had converted a year after he came to America.  It would be eye-opening to see if/how this impacts his view of the holy city, and why inter-cultural and religious "sharing" is so important.

Journal 3: من أنا؟

Friends

Here are my three best friends I have known since age 14.

Another best friend of mine.

Sacred Space and Sentiment

These photos represent the sacred geography of my University, and how honored I am to participate in its revered practices.

This is a picture that incorporates both my personal faith and the place where I grew up.  The National Cathedral, DC.

This picture, also taken during my summer in D.C., shows an inscription at the Navy Memorial with words that hold deep meaning to me.

Inspiration

Summoning courage- 2010

Some of my favorite things.

"The most difficult lie I ever contended with is this: Life is a story about me." –D.M.,  Blue Like Jazz.

Readings by Dr. Salim Tamari

The first article I read was about the nearly forgotten writer Isaq Shami.  This article brings to light a topic not really discussed in the Armstrong book; that the words “Jew” and “Arab” are not exactly mutually exclusive.  In fact, it seems that the use of these terms to designate two distinct ethnic identities is a relatively new phenomenon.  When, where, and how this changed seems a bit contested, but the post- WWII Zionist movement was a major contributor as to how this would play out.  Shami’s work must be appreciated within the context in which he wrote: a world in which Jews and Arabs were one and the same people, not merely two peoples with a common ancestor.

The reading entitled “Lepers, Lunatics, and Saints” taught us about another important person of that past that we have not likely heard of: Dr. Tawfiq Canaan.   In the years after the Palestinians were expelled from the newly-founded Israel, Dr. Canaan proved to be more than a leprosy doctor.  It was interesting to see how he and his contemporaries sought to document as much Arab/ Palestinian culture as possible, but even more interesting to see how they sought to legitimize their way of life and belief systems for the Western world.  Zionist groups had the advantage here; they could establish a religious connection with the Christian West by portraying for them a fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy.  Canaan’s work, on the other hand, had the challenge of trying to show the ingenuity of a culture that was beginning to be undermined by modern Western ways of life.  The things that Canaan an others like him have accomplished is impressive, and I am surprised I have not heard his name before.

Chapters 14-18

The very title of chapter 14 informed me that I was about to learn something from reading the end of this book.  As it is with many young people who grew up in this part of the world, the term “jihad” has become embedded in my mind as a signal of something frightening.  Since fourth grade, the context in which I heard the term was almost entirely from the news on television, and thus, when reading the boldfaced title at the top of the page, my subconscious instantly flashed to images of those who, for whatever reason, would like to see me dead.  This happened despite the fact that, since I came to college, I have made Muslim friends who use this term in a very different way.  It is safe to say that I have struggled (hah) with trying to defeat these old assumptions over the past couple years.  Armstrong, yet again, helped to give a succinct and understandable explanation of the word’s meaning in Islam in a peaceful context.

The next series of conquers seemed to be portrayed as something like home-improvement projects for the new inhabitants.  When the Muslims under Saladin defeated the crusaders, they felt that they were coming home, but that this home needed to be renovated.  And so the furniture was taken out of the Mosque and rugs laid out.  Whenever a new group came in, it seemed that the new inhabitants would make use of whatever the previous inhabitants had left them- making it work for themselves.

This holds for holy sites only when it comes to the establishment of Israel.  It is, as Armstrong points out, extremely surprising how quickly and successfully the British were able to accomplish their aims.  Whether heralded as a miracle or a disaster, this spark of the “modern conflict” has changed the lives of both Israelis and Palestinians to this day, and likely for years to come (unfortunate as it is).  I wonder how Zionists could have gone about their aims differently.  Perhaps if organizing a peaceful mass- migration to Palestine was feasible, Jews could have naturally integrated themselves into the majority in that area.  I am not sure how this would sound, however, to a Diaspora who had been escaping oppression for centuries.

Chapters 11-13

I found Armstrong’s portrayal of the birth of Islam very refreshing, as well as very uncomplicated.  Refreshing, because Islam is not described to be an exclusive, radical new faith, but rather the simple act of surrender to a God already worshiped for centuries.  Uncomplicated, because Armstrong’s description has been stripped of all the biases and cultural implications that Islam carries in today’s Western world.  Its heart can then be observed: simply an extension of the worship of the one monotheistic God.

Jerusalem under early Islamic rule seemed sort of nice.  Since the religion itself allowed for the respect and acknowledgement of Judaism and Christianity, this early model was an attempt at a peaceful Jerusalem.  Unfortunately, perhaps this was a bit too idealistic in the long run, but I have to admire the humility and dignity with which the Muslims approached their Holy City, a city which they knew they shared with others.

Finally, the Europeans (consistently making themselves the bad guys throughout history).  As anticipated, the final chapter dealing with the Crusades was pretty sickening and incomprehensible.  However “love your neighbor as yourself” could possibly have been interpreted as “I mean, it’s okay to slaughter a few thirty thousand” is totally beyond me.  But whatever the cause of this disturbingly obsessive genocide, there is no doubt that an event of this magnitude can and will be felt a thousand years afterwards.  One phrase at the very end of the chapter stood out as particularly poignant:

“…the violent dislocation of Crusader rule had damaged relations between Islam and the Christian West at a fundamental level.  It had been the Muslim’s first experience of the Western world, and it has not been forgotten to this day.”