Reading Response 15

Looking through the Ir Amim, B’tselem and Sheikh Jarrah Solidary Movement websites, I am very interested to hear what Eitan Grossman will say. I am also very glad Amber posted the quote from Grossman. I am beginning to understand that there is no negotiation when inequality is still running ramped. Judging from the crimes committed against them, the Palestinians are not free and are not able to negotiate. 

Looking through the Ir Amim website, I was surprised to learn about the educational inequalities between Israelis and Palestinians. It is an aspect of the conflict I had not previously paid attention to. The website says they have already filed 3 petitions to the High Court of Justice. Each year the public education system has to turn away thousands of Palestinian students because of lack of classrooms. While the government is claiming to build more classrooms, they are doing slow at a delayed rate. It is amazing that education is still not available for certain people in a country such as Israeli. As Alex mentioned in his blog last week, Israeli is often seen as a democracy and a place of progressive ideas, but we are finding out that in certain aspects that is not always the case. 

On the B’tselem website there is a video called “No Minor Matter” that discusses four young Palestinians who were arrested as minors for stone throwing. It was shocking to see that some of them were arrested when they were 13 and 15 years old and taken to a prison where they were abused. It is very powerful video that shows some of the big problems that need to be fixed. 

Questions for Eitan Grossman:

1.       Did you grow up in Jerusalem? If so, what was your personal experience in regards to interaction between Palestinians and Israelis?

2.       What were you taught to believe? How did this change? Was there one specific event that changed your line of thinking?

3.       What is the biggest obstacle that your organization must confront? Is it changing the government or changing individual people?

4.       What is your idea of normalization? Is the mixing of Palestinians and Israelis in the Sheikh Jarrah Solidarity Movement marches considered part of this? Why or Why not?

Reading Response 14

Sexual orientation and gay rights in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was not something that I had considered before. Looking through the different website, from both The Jerusalem Open House (JOH) and AlQaws, I tried to get a feel for their environments and beliefs. (I also viewed the movie trailer for the documentary “City of Borders.” I would have liked to have watched it before tomorrow but I can’t find it on Netflix or other places on online. ) I could be wrong, but while both of them discussed tolerance and human rights, they each seemed to be more focused towards their own group. While the JOH did have its title in Arabic, videos and other media were in mostly Hebrew or English. AlQaws seemed mainly focused on Palestinians and Arabs. I understand, however, that fighting for gay rights is a struggle in itself, but I wonder if these two organizations work together on some of the same initiatives? Was AlQaws included in the march to the Knesset in 2010? I could not find solid information telling me either way. On the AlQaws website it says this organization rejects “all forms of oppression in its various manifestations, whether these be patriarchal, economic, nationalistic or ethnic…”. That being said, I want to know more about their role in rejected the hatred on both sides. 

On the JOH blog, the author of one of the entries put a link to pictures of the rally. One of the men held up a picture of Jerusalem with a message that said “Tolerance is Holy”. While I agree with this statement, it reminded me of something we had heard before. I cannot remember if it was said in a video conference or if I heard it from the documentary “Knowledge is the Beginning,” but the notion of only being tolerant rubs me the wrong way. Someone mentioned this idea and I agree with their idea. What is truly holy is acceptance, not only tolerance. Everyone discusses tolerance, and while I believe it is important to be tolerant in order to be accepting, tolerance should not be the end goal to any struggle, rather acceptance. Tolerance means you can stand to be in the presence of someone or some idea one does not agree with, and that is not enough. To truly have peace (just to throw around that word some more), we need to fully understand each other- and being tolerant is only understanding the surface of someone. 

Questions for Elinor:

1.       What do you identify with more? Your sexual orientation or your ethnicity?

2.       Can the fight for gay rights and the fight for ethnic rights go hand in hand? Do they contradict each other? Does being part of the LGBT make someone more prone to ethnic tolerance/acceptance or are most people still linked to their respective groups?

3.       What is your personal role in the “peace” process?

Video Conference with Aaron and Guy

It was such a great experience being able to talk to Aaron and Guy from the Heartbeat Jerusalem project! I need to focus my thoughts, there is so much more I want to learn! I assumed this project would be more like a West-Eastern Divan Orchestra. I don't know why I imagined this was classical music. While both of those projects are amazing, they seem very different in their own ways. It seems like a great experience for the Israelis and Palestinians to not only learn about music but to also inshallah tear down the walls of distrust between them. I went to the Hip Hop Hudna music website and really enjoy listening to it. Not that I'm any sort of music expert, but for several reasons I think it's pretty amazing music.

It was also really interesting to hear Aaron's take on normalization. Having never traveled to the Israel or Palestine, despite what I read about, it is still hard for me to imagine the inequality between the two groups. I understood from Jenna that her problem of normalization is that it pretends that everything is fine when in reality it is not. But I had never been explained that it creates a false setting of equality between the two groups when in reality they are unequal in their society. Aaron also touched on the fact that each groups says about the other, "We want peace but they don't". It was interesting that he said this because that is what I keep hearing from many different voices. Everyone is stuck in this 'its them' mentality.

Finally, I wish we could have heard what Guy was saying. I want to know from him the sort of reactions he has received being an Israeli working on this project. What challenges has he faced? What does his family think? What did you think about it when you first began working on this project? What got you starting in the project?

I am so glad we got this opportunity. I am really moved by the project. I hope that if/when I travel to Israeli I will get a chance to see the Heartbeat project and the kids who are participating in it.

Reading Response 13

Looking at the Sabreen Center website and the Jerusalem Music Center website, they are both similar yet have subtle details that distinguish them. From what I can infer from the website, the Sabreen Center is community oriented and views Jerusalem as a city that should include all people. It seems focused on the child as a whole and education not only of music but of character. They show through their educational objectives and narratives from children that it is a way of creating a sense of importance for the local Palestinian people and its traditional music. The way the information is presented is very convincing, especially in the language that it uses. On the other hand, a much fancier website from the Jerusalem Music Center exhibits a different feeling. The JMC seems as if it was more proper and had more money to spend! The website focuses on "Israelis" and "Israeli Music". Although it doesn't explicitly say so, the website appears to cater to a certain class of wealthy Israelis. The title is in English and Hebrew, but not in Arabic. It does mention, however, in its objectives that it hopes to preserve Arabic music. Its goals are more in regards to finding talent and nurturing young people with a promising future. While reading the website, it is also convincing that it is a center based on cultivating young talent. 

Questions for Said Murad and David Broza:

1.       1. What challenges have you encountered being an Israeli working with mostly Palestinians?

2.       2. How do the children deal with their situation through music?

3.       3. How many children do you have? What ages are they?

4.       4. Have some of your students gone on to enter the West-Eastern Divan Orchesta?

Weblog Journal Assignment 6: Music

As I imagine it does for many other people, music plays an important role in my life. As a zumba instructor, my job is dependent on music. As a previous dancer, I had to pay close attention to the mood and tone of the song in order to communicate the emotions to the audience. Music can define who a person is based on the political message, the style or the time period. The type of music that I generally listen to is upbeat and has a positive message. I feel like these songs reflect my general mood. I enjoy all music, but I especially like music from other countries, specifically musical styles from Latin America. For many people, the type of music one listens to might speak to their national origins or their religious beliefs, but I grew up in the Midwest and the fact I identify mostly with a foreign country's music that I have never traveled to might seem odd. However, perhaps my desire to travel and my love of Spanish have led me to feel more connected to this type of music. Because I like to dance and 'fiesta' this type of music is appropriate.
In terms of music in conflict, it can play an important role in mobilizing people. It can connect a certain group of people to a single idea or belief in order to reach a common goal. It can also function as a coping mechanism of a marginalized group, as it as been utilized in the past.

Here are a couple songs I think everyone should know, regardless if he/she understands the lyrics or not!
This is my favorite song in Arabic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NjZ-xKLGTY

My favorite Juanes song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayCXeExyJxg&ob=av2n

Reading Response 12

There are two strong and distinct voices in “Sharon and My Mother-in-Law” by Suad Amiry and “Not the Mother of All Cities” by Galit Hasam-Rokem. I was laughing out loud while reading Amiry’s narrative of her experiences living in Ramallah. Even through the humor I could sense the seriousness of the situations she encountered. Humor is a way of coping with the frivolousness of certain circumstances. For instance, in the chapter about receiving the gas masks, the process of the Palestinians getting the masks was slow and unorganized. The way the Israelis had them constantly waiting in line seemed absurd and pointless, especially because they never got masks! The soldiers seemed to treat the Palestinians like children. I loved (because I felt I could hear her voice, not because of what the Israelis were doing) when Amiry said, “I don’t know what it is with Israeli soldiers. They all have a fetish for making Palestinians stand in an orderly line. They complicate our lives with all sorts of permits, make them unbearably chaotic, then insist we stand in straight lines” (89).   What a juxtaposition that creates. 

And again in the chapter “A Dog’s Life,” Amiry was able to create humor in an irritating situation. On page 112 she describes all of the different books on owning a dog that she bought- the titles are hilarious: “Admit Sleeping with you dog, Loving your Dog More than Your Husband, Can my Dog Become my Heir? Cheating on your Dog….My latest book was Growing up with a Lesbian Master” It makes me laugh especially hard because she is not a lesbian? After taking her new dog Nura to the Israeli vet to avoid the ‘sexist and racist’ Dr. Hisham, she again makes light of her nervous situation: “Looking up at the sign, I was relieved that Arabs were not considered animals” (113). It was incredible to learn about the way her dog was able to get a passport when most Palestinians are not. The ridiculousness of that situation was astounding. 

On a more serious note, I appreciated Rokem’s essay on Jerusalem. It is interesting to think of that city as a human being; we would never (or hopefully not) try to possess someone and own someone in that way that people try to do with Jerusalem. Because Jerusalem is so much to many people, Rokem discuss the “need to be her master” (53). Her powerful language not only speaks for the city but for women in general. I appreciate her statement, “Women of flesh and blood also deserve to be loved with less possessiveness and more equality” (54).  

Reading Response 11 (Noura's Thesis)

In Noura Dabdoub’s thesis titled “Homeland Redefined: Spaces of National Belongings,” she discusses the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the perspective of physical and emotional space and how the redefinition of this has the possibility to create peace in the region. She begins by explaining that for both the Palestinians and the Israelis, the concept of homeland is synonymous with exclusion.  Dabdoub states, “identities attached to the same land have continuously affirmed and institutionalized the exclusion of the “other” by perceiving the “other” as a threat to their connection to the land” (3). This sentiment is similar to that argued by Armstrong. Karen Armstrong stated that throughout the history of Jerusalem, one group has replaced another as sovereign. A reoccurring theme in the invasions and conquers has been exclusion and marginalization. Both Armstrong and Dabdoub point out that, despite the history of exclusion and violence, there were moments in the Middle East where Jews, Muslims and Christians were able to coexist in relative peace. Just because there is violence and unrest currently does not mean that it is not achievable.

Through Dadboub’s analysis of Zionism and Arab Nationalism and their ties to the ‘homeland,’ I am struck by her argument of redefinition in order to promote peace. She affirms that these two groups have an overlap in what land is considered ‘theirs’. In the thesis Dabdoub alludes to common teachings of both Israelis and Palestinians. She quotes Evan Weiss in saying that “Israeli children learn that in building that state, they encounter an unpredictable and irrational enemy, the Arabs…” (13). This exact concept is echoed by what is taught to the Palestinian children: “it is also inculcated in them that they have common struggles against a common enemy…the Jews” (18). These two parallel teachings continue to perpetuate the conflict. When at a young age children are taught to have an enemy, that is may become difficult to create peace- but not impossible. Through Dadboub’s explanation of homeland and identity, she affirms that homeland does not have to be restricted to a specific physical location. The identity of a group is rooted in its shared culture, language and history. A homeland serve a group by “providing a sense of collective community, attachment, identity and security” but it is not essential that this be under the political control of this group. I really appreciate Dabdoub’s affirmation that it is possible to coexist and both share the same homeland without excluding the other.  Cultural identity can be preserved without denying another. 

I am really glad that Noura got the chance to travel to Indiana University for the Living Jerusalem workshop on Oct. 12th sponsored by  the Center for the Study of the Middle East, The Jewish Studies Program, the American Folklore Society and the Department of Folklore and Ethnomusicology. It is an amazing opportunity to meet not only Noura and read her work but also influential intellectuals such as Salim Tamari and Galit Hasan-Rokem. This class not only gives us the chance to be exposed to ideas we rarely get a chance to explore, but it allows us to meet the people behind them. I am very grateful for the workshop and all of the sponsors who made it possible.