Reading- Equality of a Different Kind

It is odd how often I forget that gay rights are not an American issue.  It is not something that some radical sector invented in the United States; there are LGBTQ people all over the world.  They are members of all ethnic groups and religions, and they are all human beings that seek to be loved and appreciated.

Faith, so often a vehicle of unity and love, brings with it an obstacle to acceptance for these people.  Restrictions, rules for living, and things considered “undesirable” are a part of many religions, as a way to separate the faithful from the rest of the sinful world.  Unfortunately for the struggle for gay rights, homosexuality and gender confusion are interpreted as sins and taboos for a variety of cultures for which organized religion is an important part of daily life.

And so I, like a few others in our class I imagine, have grown up under this paradigm, one that seems to conflict with the times as well as the teachings of unconditional love I have been taught all my life.  In the words of Obama (speaking about gay marriage in 2010) “I struggle with this.”

I keep this in mind when looking over these websites about organizations and projects that seek to give this community a haven and show it to a world that seems much like the one I grew up in.  Jerusalem is a holy city, and religious thought will always be prominent there.  It is encouraging to see these brave attempts at equality for anyone who professes to be anything other than heterosexual.

I was especially impacted by the introductory video for the documentary “City of Borders.”  There is something especially impactful about seeing a human face dealing with a certain situation.  It makes the topic less of a policy issue, and more of a real-life identity.  I was moved to see Boody (yes, I laughed out loud at the name) trying to be true both his sexuality and his faith.  I think more of us in the United States could embrace this complex identity rather than choosing one or the other.

Readings by Femenists

As a fellow woman, I found these readings to be both insightful and confusing at times.   The Amiry stories had a very honest and human quality to them, and the “story” format of the reading, rather than a lecture or essay, kept it interesting for me.  I especially loved “A Dog’s Life,” which any dog owner can relate to in terms of that unique unconditional love.   The section about Nura was funny and frustrating at the same time.  I love how Amiry has embraced humor as a way to cope: it is something relatively new and refreshing in our readings.

Hasan-Rokem’s article stayed more in the realm of allegory and metaphor, and so it is not surprising that this was the more challenging article to understand.  It was interesting to note all of the sayings surrounding the city, all coined by men.  It was much harder for me to connect this idea to the real world: Does this mean that men have historically been the only people with a longing for Jerusalem?  Does it mean that women’s expressions for the city were not written down or considered valid?  Her suggestion in the end that we must seek to end this sort of vision of Jerusalem as a sort of “helpless maiden” comes without concrete ways of applying it.  The overall writing was very good, however, I wish 

Journal 4: الموسيقى

I don’t even know where to begin.

I could start with the years of piano lessons, of voice lessons, or of the journey from my first note on a French horn, to my competitive high school years, to a position on Ohio’s All-State Band.  Or I could go the choral route and watch me develop from an awkward elementary-schooler singing in the shower to a college soloist.  Or I could explain to you the detailed (and sometimes still quite painful) decision process that led me to major in something other than music.  I could even bring it right up to the present and talk about that first full summer of sweating and screaming that allowed me to march here at OSU.

I think I’d rather start, though, with the trip from Pennsylvania to Ohio, when I was one and a half years old.  My dad held me on his lap as we climbed 1000 feet into the air, when he heard a sound at his chest.  He leaned in to listen, and found that I had been humming along to the pitch that the plane’s motor was making.  I think that says more about me and the role that music plays in my life than any other story I could tell you.  I cannot imagine my life without it.  It is easier and better than words.

Seeing programs like the East/West Divan Orchestra in Israel and Palestine, El Sistema in Venezuela, and the Kimbanguist Symphony Orchestra in Congo gives me so much hope.  As person who studies language, I have engrained in my mind an appreciation for the conservation of languages- each a system of communication with a unique worldview embedded within.  This idea can be extended to music, which is a system of communication that describes the parts of the human experience that words cannot describe.

Many speakers and experts on the Israeli- Palestinian conflict have commented on the necessity of listening; each side must learn to listen and to see the validity in the arguments of the other side.  Listening is not much of a choice in an ensemble.  In order for a flute to be in tune with the rest of the group, he/she must be constantly be listening to the tuba player in the very back of the room.  It is only through this kind of communication that the group can successfully relate their message to the audience.  I know that seems sort of obscure in a conflict-resolution setting, but there is something about working hard towards a common goal that brings people together in ways they may not even be aware of.

That brings me to the sappy part.  I have always been aware of how music affects people, mostly because I have been involved in music groups my whole life, but I can honestly say that I don’t know many other forces powerful enough to drive men three times my size to tears, or bond the people who would become my closest friends, or be the common form of worship found all over the world, or heal a person in despair.

I have so many meaningful pieces to share, but I picked one (you’re welcome for not boring you):

My grandpa, who fought in WWII, left us with a song that I have had to choke through many times. 

In context, it is sort of a recognition of our smallness in the midst of a giant celebration, and a prayer for my military friends today.

Sorry for the bad quality: It was the best youtube had!!

Readings Regarding Rap

I am once again excited to be dealing with the topic of music and how it impacts the world around us.  Just throwing that out there.

To start, it shocks me how much importance people halfway across the world place on the United States, its politics, and its involvement in international issues.  Especially surprising is how closely our internal politics are watched, because the politics of one powerful nation may affect many other nations as well.  Tamer’s lyrics make a reference to the Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, an event that I would not expect the people of other countries to know and care about.

The article on Israeli hip-hop irritated me when it questioned whether a well-off Israeli could pass as a rapper just as much as a black American in the west could.  A musical genre is not limited to a particular ethnicity or culture, and can be modified to reflect the emotions and styles of the audience that the artist hopes to attract. 

The author even goes as far as to say that Israeli rap is an “inherent contradiction,” attempting to imitate a culture that they know nothing about.  I just have to disagree.  Here is another way to look at it: At its heart, rap music is poetry in rhythm, an ancient form of self-expression used, in some way or form, by  all groups of people on earth.  I realize that in the current day-in-age, rap in an African-American context is prevalent and powerful, but it is not a crime to be inspired by it and adopt this art form to express the thoughts and needs of one’s own society.  In other words, we are the ones who put rap in a box, not rap music itself.

Moving on to the Subliminal interview, I think it would have been interesting to ask him what his experience in the military was like.  He obviously felt that he needed to hide his talents until he was out, and he did not talk about his specific experiences during his mandatory service, or how he felt about serving.  However, he did give insight into growing up in a politically charged world.  The second reading about him said infinitely more about his rise to rap, and the particular flavor of his music in contrast with other forms in the region.

“Rap is CNN for us,” explains Tamar Nafar in “Hip-Hop and the Palestinians.”  To Nafar, Palestinian rap music really did stem from a socioeconomic similarity.  Like African Americans here, Palestinians are the destitute minority who feel ignored and even oppressed by their government.  This suggests contrast between the meaning of Palestinian and Israeli rap at the core.  However, both types of rap can potentially be used toward the cause of peace, and be effective at that.  The final article regarding honor killings is a powerful example of how influential this kind of music can be, when many young people are listening.

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.”

Chapters 8-10

These few chapters managed to keep me engaged out of pure curiosity for the history of a faith I thought I knew so well. 

First off, these chapters surprised and delighted me with the first mentions of women actively changing the history of faith, a breath of fresh air from the lists upon lists of men we have encountered thus far.  Helena, Melania, and Egeria made powerful impacts on history, and it makes me curious as to whether their influence during the early stages of Christianity contributed to later legends and cults surrounding Mary.

I see modern Christianity incorporating both the ideas pushed by Eusbius and the Jerusalem cult.  From the early days, I was taught that God is everywhere- there is no place in the universe that does not contain his presence.  In addition, I was taught that the body of the Christian is the “Temple” of Christ, rather than a physical place.  However, Christians also place high significance in holy places.  Jerusalem is still seen as a treasure on earth, and there are behaviors that are simply not permitted in any church building.  In high school I read a very cool, very strange, Old English poem that described the death of Christ from the perspective of the actual wooden cross, reflecting ancient Christian obsession with holy objects and places.

I was disturbed (although, sadly, not surprised) by the way that Christianity was first implemented.  The early believers seemed to think that the only way that growth and legitimacy of their faith could be established was by first desecrating and undermining the previous existing faith, which in Jerusalem’s case, was Judaism.  The mentality stuck.  This pattern has been repeated almost everywhere else in the world that Christianity has been introduced over the centuries.  Even in the Midwest US, the land I grew up in, Jesuit missionaries who came into contact with native peoples in the1600’s struggled to convince them that their understanding of the sacred was backwards and hopelessly flawed.  This has caused many conflicts, persecutions, and bloody wars throughout the history of the faith that blackens its reputation as a peaceful way to seek God.  I wonder how history would have been different if early Christians had not looked at their faith as a “defeat” of Judaism. 

Journal 2: قصة من طفولتي

For a short time during my elementary and middle school years I attended a very conservative church that occasionally got very political.  My parents decided to attend because it was very geographically close to home, and a good number of our close friends from school and work also attended as their “home” church community.  I found out quickly that the style and focus of this church disagreed with my personality and particular sensitivities greatly, and it sort of became a catalyst for later “rebellious” years, which is not at all what the focus of this journal will be.

My intention behind saying this is that during those years (before my family felt they had had enough and moved to another church community) I was fed a lot of strongly-held, politically-charged beliefs which seemed to be universally accepted by the church as scripturally supported, and not all of which I agreed with.  The topics ranged from the evolution debate, to assumptions about the LGBT community, to modern-day Israel- a country “called into existence by God.”  I know now that the existence and legitimacy of this nation is an emotional issue that is much, much more complex than this church would make it seem.

My childhood vision of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was molded around the story of Abraham, a man from Canaan who was promised a son.  But seeing as both he and his wife were about 100 years old (which I always found pretty gross), Abraham gave up on God’s promise and had one of his servants bear him a son instead (Ishmael).  Well, then God got mad and Abraham kicked the two of them out and his wife did end of having a son, after all, named Isaac.  The Sunday-school moral of this story is, “God always keeps his promises.”

This story, and the interpretation that this particular group held to, had a profound impact on how this church community felt about the modern-day conflict over Jerusalem and the lands surrounding it.  The descendents of Ishmael, I was told, were a result of Abraham’s mistrust, and thus were condemned to be in constant conflict with the descendents of his promised son, Isaac.  According to their worldview, the Israeli- Palestinian conflict had no hope of being resolved, because it was a spiritual battle, and a lesson to us all about trusting God.  Either way, they emphasized, it was in the Christians’ best interest to support the nation of Israel, the home of God’s Chosen People.

Phew, just typing this stuff out gives me ulcers.  I know how emotionally charged the question of Jerusalem is, how much these ancient names mean to people, and the extent to which meanings can be misconstrued.  Needless to say, the views of this old community I was once a part of are not my views today, and when I started taking classes in college and learning about the facts of the modern-day conflict, I felt very resentful of and a little bit furious with many of the teachings I absorbed as a child.  I hope that in relaying this history that it will not be offensive to readers, but rather that it will point out this viewpoint exists and is believed my many Americans today.

Chapters 5-7

While reading chapter five, I had to stifle a few laughs.
I spent my first year in college at Miami University, and I spent a good amount of that time that year as a part of an organization it would have never previously occurred to me to join: Miami Hillel.  My friends, upon hearing this, have always wondered what could have possibly possessed a then- halfheartedly practicing Christian freshman to become actively involved in the Jewish club, and my answer is academic.  That autumn semester, I took a cultural anthropology course that required us to spend time with a group of people not immediately in our circle of friends or comfort.  We were to carefully observe their behaviors, and, when asked, behave in the same manner.  At the end of the course, we would write a rather lengthy paper on what we learned from this experience.

My time at Hillel was a learning experience that never left me with a shortage of close friends, a home away from home, and delicious food.  However, I made a few devastating, and often embarrassing, mistakes which would have me learn the hard way about Jewish traditions.  For example, I remembered one evening on my way back from the gym that I had planned to observe the Yom Kippur service.  When I stumbled in part-way through, fully fed and well-exercised, dressed in bright blue sweatpants and a t-shirt, I knew instantly that I had made a big mistake.  Learning about the origins of this ceremony, as well as the Sukkoth huts, brought back a lot of warm and funny memories.  It also provided insight as to why some of the students clung to tradition so closely, even if they no longer believed in the religious doctrine. 

"Antioch in Judea" somehow struck my interest, and I was able to read the entire chapter smoothly (while staying focused!).  I have never considered the Greek influence on Jerusalem, and would never have imagined them setting up an arena in the city for the Olympics.  Yet, now that I think back on it, I am aware that by the time the gospels were written, Greek was the lingua franca of the land, and much of Jesus' teaching appealed to Greek thought.  It was very cool to see how the Greek concept of education was employed, keeping Jerusalem a progressive city.  I am pretty taken with the ancient Greeks, so I appreciated learning this history.

The title of chapter seven, "Destruction," was at once appropriate and strange to me, since this is the period of history in which Jesus lived and died.  I sense a certain irony in the title, since it involves the coming of a man who promised to bring unity and peace.  I was surprised to hear about the positive legacy of King Herod, who is cemented in my mind as an evil baby killer.  The details of the Temple he built sound nothing short of awe-inspiring, and I am looking forward to seeing the walls that remain! 

Introduction- Chapter 4

Within a few minutes of reading, I knew I was really going to learn a lot from Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths (Karen Armstrong).  Especially enlightening to me was the introduction to this book.  It summed up for me the mystery surrounding the importance of a city.  I have gathered from other readings that the city’s significance is religious in nature rather than geographic or economic, but this book immediately made it clear that this is a common phenomenon that all humans have experienced in some way or another.  The divine/ sacred is a concept that is a part of all human cultures, and the devotion to a holy cite is one of the most ancient forms of expressing this.

I mentioned in my previous blog post that the Jerusalem that people defend and fight for seems more of a symbol to me than an actual city.  This is both confirmed and expanded upon when Armstrong speaks of the “inner geography” which is not necessarily associated with the immediate physical world, but which seeks to satisfy a spiritual human need.  It is, for us, a way of making the intangible reality tangible.  This really helped me to understand why there are so many people, including some of my fellow classmates, who care so passionately about this place.

Throughout this detailed account of the very ancient Jerusalem, I saw a lot of familiar names, whose reality for me, up until now, existed only in legend.  The reading laid out for me a more holistic examination of historical events, which before had been myths I was told as a child.  Armstrong is careful not to undermine these myths’ validity, however, as she repeatedly points out that the human experience has never been documented in a completely unbiased and mundane manner, recording only the observable human and environmental interactions.  Instead, these have always been interpreted and expanded upon by those who find their identity within them.

I have always been curious about the character of the ancient King David, who was first introduced to me in my childhood as a boy giant-slayer.  Beyond this famous legend, however, both biblical and outside historical records have portrayed a multi-dimensional person, with both many talents and many flaws.  Yet David has somehow managed to rise above his significant moral imperfections and emerge with spiritual significance as a “man close to God’s heart.”  Central to this idea is the fact that David was always repentant of his mistakes (even if deception and murder were on that list), and sort of made up for all that with all of the good deeds he did. 

The accounts of Judah were a bit more foreign to me.  I had heard of the Israel/ Judah split after Solomon, but the details were lost to me until now.  Now I can see this is probably because the kingdom under which the elements of the modern monotheistic faiths had been weakened considerably, and so the cultural legends had no room to thrive.  I was interested by a quote on page 58 about the notion of “evil empires,” which evokes images of today’s “war on terror,” as some in our country would call it.  History indeed has a way of showing patterns of human attitudes like that.

Journal 1: الفصل

I took this class having signed up for the trip to Jerusalem in May.  As a student of Arabic, I had been looking for a short-term study abroad opportunity that would give me some insight, any insight, into the daily lives of people in the Middle East.  I believe that language and culture go hand in hand, and thus I cannot fully know a language without having some concept of the way its speakers live. 

The class was not entirely what I expected it to be, albeit for the most part, that is a good thing.  The class being entirely discussion-based in a laid-back environment, rather than a series of lectures and assignments, really shows respect for the opinions and beliefs of the students and helps us dive further into the tough issues surrounding the city.  I underestimated greatly how touchy this topic can be and my own level of discomfort in hearing some of my classmates’ strong opinions.  This past class session, in particular, left me a bit exhausted from all that tension.  I think it would help for me to keep everything in perspective and not get hypersensitive about things.  I don’t feel informed enough to have any strong opinion on the occupation, etc., but I can recognize that the situation is emotional for some, and understandably so.

All that being said, I am very excited for this course.  I am already learning a great deal about the history of Jerusalem and why it has been a contested item for centuries.  I am looking forward to learning more about my classmates and their perspectives, which can differ greatly, and also having a greater understanding of the three monotheistic faiths that find a home in Jerusalem.  Most of all, I am excited for the trip, which will be a life-changing experience.  At the rate we are going, I will have more than sufficient background knowledge to see the things we discuss in class actually played out in the lives of Jerusalem’s civilians.  That is not to say that I will ever fully grasp the scope of these issues, but I will have a foundation to build upon as we observe the daily activities of the people of Jerusalem.  As the film we watched last week stated, these people live ordinary lives under extraordinary circumstances.

Reading Response 2

The more I read, the more I come to think of Jerusalem as a symbol, rather than a piece of contested land.  A Jerusalem worth wanting seems to be an ideological home for the devout and the hopeful, not the geographical reality of the location itself.  This is emphasized in the Dumper reading, which gave me my first real overview of the physical layout of the land.  Its inhabitance is as ancient as it comes, yet the area has a remarkable deficit of clean water.  This has historically accounted for the ebb and flow of the population as much as the overwhelming changes in who controlled the city in each era.  Jerusalem has never had any remarkable economic power, considering that the surrounding area does not have sufficient trade-worthy natural recourses for this.

Still, I have heard about Jerusalem all my life.  Growing up, I was very in-tune with (or at least mildly aware of) current events, as my parents had the news on at 6:30 promptly every evening, and dinner on the table by 7.  My earliest pictures of the modern-day Jerusalem were of street fighters throwing grenades through shop windows.  My parents informed me that this fight was “as old as Abraham.”  Clearly, there is a reason that Jerusalem is contested for and sought after so badly.  This reason, though, must lie outside the realm of geographic practicality.

The article uses the term “frenetic,” but looking at the timeline of the history of Jerusalem-a relentless series of conquests, revivals, pillages, and exchanges of power- I have more of a “hectic” picture in my mind.   It seems as if a  “brief history of Jerusalem” is an oxymoron.  It is fascinating to see how so many different groups of people have at one time been in control of the city, leaving behind traces of their distinct cultures and traditions.  Having almost no prior knowledge of this, I am still getting used to the vocabulary.  For instance, I am confused as to what the term “Old City” refers to.  Any insight from fellow classmates are welcome.

Reading Response 1

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.

About me

Hello everyone!  My name is Elizabeth, and I grew up right here in the heart of Ohio.  I am an adventurous spirit, and have always wanted to travel and experience the world.  I am a 3^rd year OSU student majoring in Linguistics and Spanish.  I am also currently taking my fourth course in Arabic at OSU. 

Jerusalem is a fascinating city of historic and modern-day importance.  I am only beginning to catch a glimpse of what this city means to so many different people, and I look forward to having the privilege to see the "Living Jerusalem" this May.