Living Jerusalem Reflection Paper

         The Living Jerusalem course is an incredibly unique and hands-on way of learning about the various facets of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict and Jerusalem. We covered such a huge variety of topics, covering both political and economic issues, as well as gender and identity related issues. I appreciate that this course was not set up like any other history course at Indiana University: there were no lectures from Professor Horowitz, but rather the majority of the class revolves around student-to-student interaction through various media forms. We also had the incredible opportunity to interact with well-known and distinguished scholars, politicians, and activists relating to study within Jerusalem and/or the Arab-Israeli conflict. Over all, I had a very positive experience with this course and would recommend it to anyone interested in Middle Eastern politics and/or culture; however to comment in more detail, I am going to break down the course into the following subjects: the readings, guest speakers, setup of the class, final project assignments, and recommendations for the future.

            During the first few months of the semester, we quickly made our way through Karen Armstrong’s Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths. Armstrong is a religious scholar, so it was important to keep this in mind while reading the novel since this is the main aspect of Jerusalem upon which she focuses. The novel was extremely detailed in terms of names, dates, and events, arguably even to a fault. The further I got into the novel, the more confused I became with the growing and ever-changing list of political leaders, battles and wars, and dates of importance, since they continually piled up. As an academic source, Armstrong’s book was very well written, but for someone with no prior knowledge of Jerusalem’s three thousand year history, it was a bit too much to take in and digest all of the information she presented.

            Complicating the matter further was the speed through which we were required to read the entire book. During the first few weeks of school, I was able to keep up well with the extensive readings since there wasn’t yet a lot of schoolwork being assigned; however, after the first month or so, I had a very difficult time staying on top of the reading. I used the weekends to my advantage in catching up on multiple chapters, yet during the week I became completely lost. In my opinion, having the reading responses due every Monday and Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. (shortly after many students are finished with classes for the day) was extremely difficult to keep up with. Because of my academic and work schedule, there was no way for me to complete the hundred or so pages of assigned reading and write a creative and well-written reading response in only 48 hours. Therefore, I was not able to read Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths as extensively as I would have liked; instead, I was only reading a section of one chapter and choosing important quotations upon which to comment in my blog posts.

            Conversely, I very much enjoyed the assigned readings during the second half of the semester: partly because they were much lighter readings and partly because I found the content material to be much more interesting. It was easier to stay on top of these readings since we were no longer required to digest a hundred pages of material in the span of two days, but rather we were reading a variety of relatively short academic articles or looking around at websites of related organizations. I enjoyed this because I was interested about learning about present-day Jerusalem, its issues, and the ways in which people are responding. But, as discussed in class, it is necessary to examine and analyze Jerusalem’s past in order to have any hope of understanding its present. So for this reason, I understand why the semester was divided in this ways according to the reading material; however, I felt the first half was too intense while the second half was perhaps too light.

            I feel very privileged to have listened to the work and experiences of so many renowned scholars and activists in this field, and I think I enjoyed this aspect of the class the most. I learned a great deal from each of the speakers because even though all of their studies and areas of interest relate to Jerusalem, they were still quite unique and covered a wide range of topics. Being assigned readings relating to each of the speakers before the video-conferences was a great way to become prepared so that we would have the opportunity to ask more in-depth questions as they arose.

            I also really appreciated the variety of sources that were used: it was obvious that the course attempted to provide intellectuals’ opinions from numerous sides of the conflict so that we would be exposed first-hand to the various faces of Jerusalem and the Arab-Israeli conflict. This is what had the greatest impact on me. Learning about the opposite side’s feelings, opinions, and even justifications of the conflict from a neutral individual (a teacher, for example) is so very different than hearing these things from the individuals involved themselves. Personally, Sahar Vardi was this “face of the other,” so to speak, that truly opened my eyes to the Israeli viewpoint of the conflict to which I had no experience whatsoever before this class. After this video-conference, I realized that there are people on all sides of the conflict, but especially Israelis, who support the Palestinian people and hope for peace while simultaneously supporting the nation of Israel. Before this, I was naively thinking only in extremes and in very “black and white” terms.

            As stated before, I really enjoyed the setup of this class, especially the unique use of media. Even though at times we had issues connecting with Ohio State University or with the speakers, it was a very cool experience to not simply be a single, isolated classroom, but rather connected with students learning about similar material hundreds of miles away. Likewise, the experience of videoconferencing with the guest speakers was so much more interesting and inspiring because we were able to see and connect with them one-on-one. It is nearly impossible to get this same kind of personal connection with someone through merely reading their materials or a biography of him/her. Therefore, regardless of the minor technical difficulties, the videoconferences are an essential component of this course because they allow students to see the “faces” of Israel and Jerusalem that would otherwise not be possible.

            Additionally, the blogs were another unique and potentially effective way (depending on the individual) for the students to communicate with each other. I have had courses in the past that have been centered on blogging, yet it has always been through OnCourse which is obviously not the most organized or efficient way to communicate. Therefore, I really enjoyed the professional blog setup because it was so easy to navigate around the students’ blogs and the other sections. It was also really neat to be able to come up with the design and layout as a class. I think as a whole the blog was very successful both for the class and for me personally. I prefer to communicate with students via written media because I feel I can more accurately express my opinions, whereas I sometimes get nervous or do not express myself clearly in face-to-face, group discussions. For these reasons the blog was very effective for me: I was able to easily access others’ writings, opinions, and reactions, and I could also communicate quite easily and casually with my colleagues.

            I have never been an extremely active in-class participator, simply because I feel uncomfortable speaking up about topics of which I am not very knowledgeable. Also, this class was so large that having class discussions was a bit intimidating because many of the people seemed to be so opinionated and well-informed about the issues at hand. Furthermore, I simply enjoy listening to students’ arguments and experiences because I learned a great deal from them. I think discussion is a very significant part of any course, especially one as “personal” as the Arab-Israeli conflict; however since this class was so large, it was rather difficult for everyone to share their thoughts. The small group discussions were a great way of responding to this issue since they generally allow people to feel much more comfortable.

            I had heard in the past that students completed their final projects individually or with one other person, so I was surprised to learn that we would be doing group presentations. Yet, again, because of the class size, this was an appropriate way of adjusting. I was very happy with how my group’s presentation turned out and with all the logistics. I enjoyed being able to choose groups based on similar topic interests, because oftentimes professors assign groups completely randomly, which is does not always cause the group to feel like one, cohesive unit. Over all, I am very happy with the final projects and have no complaints concerning them.

            I have very few recommendations for how this course could be changed in the future. In terms of the readings, I think Karen Armstrong’s book is appropriate for the course, but the chapter assignments should not be as heavy since they were nearly impossible to keep up with. Perhaps more could be assigned for Monday because of the weekend, while less could be assigned for Wednesday. Also, I think more rigorous teaching or discussion of the historical events would be helpful in class (the small groups often got off topic with this). Regarding the guest speakers; perhaps the class before there is to be a videoconference, we could prepare very generally in class and go over main topics and concepts to be aware of in the readings. I feel like this would be the most effective way to prepare for these speakers in case individuals did not have time to complete all of the readings. Also, I found the use of media to be very effective in encouraging creative ways of communication, and it kept the class interesting. Furthermore, I think both small-group and entire-class discussions are important for emphasizing and discussing/debating key concepts. Over all, I loved the course and learned so much from it, but I would have enjoyed listening to lectures by Professor Horowitz a bit more since she has so much experience in the field. It is true that as students we can learn so much from interacting with one another, but a mix between informal communication and formal “lecturing” perhaps would have been most effective in learning the historical, geographic, and political information surrounding the Arab-Israeli conflict. 

My Position: Changed and Strengthened

I feel like the most significant thing I learned from this class is that there are not only two sides to the conflict: it is not a black and white argument, Israel versus Palestine. There are so many different groups involved, whether political, ethnic, religious, and so on. In the past in thinking about this conflict, in my mind it was simply the oppressors versus the oppressed.  And in this way my position has changed dramatically because I now feel that I am beginning to understand the various underlying actors and networks that are all shaping the realities of the conflict in their own ways. Both Israelis and Palestinians, Muslims and Jews have all had their share of injustices from an outside party: there is no single group in the wrong or in the right. I think this is the key thing that needs to be understood in moving beyond the two-party rivalry of the conflict, and into action and compromise.

With that said, my position has also strengthened because I am still more sympathetic towards one party versus the other. I find it hard not to sympathize with those people of lower economic and living standards, and who have been suffering from the consequences of land dispossession for decades. This is just my opinion, and I am sure my personal and academic background makes me slightly biased towards this. However I think the most important thing is that I am now able to view this conflict through multiple "sides" / multiple parties: I truly do see the injustices and human rights violations that have been committed across the board, which many people are never able to do (I know this from personal experience, as I'm sure many of you do). Over all, this class has been a huge eye-opener in exposing me to so many different pieces of the Jerusalem puzzle that I never even knew existed, and for that I am very grateful. 

Personal Struggles with the Course

In looking around at others' blogs, it seems like a lot of people found the structure of the course to be challenging. Personally, this wasn't the case for me because I have taken another course at IU that required blog posts after each reading, so I didn't find this too troubling. I will admit the due dates were a bit odd: since classes are on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I expected to complete the blog posts on those days or at the least the night before. Completing the reading responses by 5 pm on Mondays and Wednesdays was a challenge and took some adjusting, but once I got into the swing of things it was pretty easy to keep up with.

Along the same lines, I found the heavy amount of reading, especially at the beginning of the semester, to be challenging in completing, particularly by the 5 pm due date on the day before class. I felt like I was constantly struggling to catch up in the Karen Armstrong book, and not because I wasn't reading, but because reading three chapters/ 80 pages between Monday and Wednesday at 5 pm was nearly impossible with my hectic schedule. Over the weekends, I was usually able to catch up to Monday's readings, but come Wednesday I was always behind. In my opinion, the first half of the course was too heavily-based on readings, and conversely, the end of the semester was too light. I do enjoy the contrast in the literacy pieces we read towards the end, as well as exploring different websites, but I struggled with the transition between the two sections and in adapting to the assignments.

In terms of a more personal struggle, I truly had a difficult time putting myself into the Israeli mindset, especially relating to building the separation barrier and settling in Palestinian lands. I was never able to empathize with their actions or the struggles they may have been facing, especially before taking this class. However, listening to the Israeli speakers was really eye-opening because in meeting real, Israeli individuals with differing opinions of the conflict, I stopped thinking of Israel as a comprehensively violent or oppressive entity, and rather one made up of diverse individuals with different views of the conflict. I was surprised to hear that some of them sympathized with the Palestinian struggle, and most of them just wanted to live in peace. I suppose this is because when you are only hearing about the atrocities and injustices a community commits, you start to think of everyone in that community in a negative manner. I feel like this class was a wake-up call in proving to me that this is never the case, and that generalizations and stereotypes are extremely dangerous concepts to hold on to.

LGBTQ Groups in Jerusalem

I was surprised looking at the Jerusalem Open House's website because I did not expect an LGBTQ group in Jerusalem to be so cohesive and successful in many of their projects. They seem to have established a sense of security and community, that I'm guessing is a little nerve-wracking in a city with so many religious ties, and therefore (probably) very homophobic.

I was also surprised to read about their sources of funding, since normally organizations that are politically or religiously charged are not funded by government institutions. There website says that after 12 years in court, the JOH received a ruling from the High Court of Justice that the municipality had to provide the JOH with funding and treat them like any other community center. They go on to say that the municipality has provided as little as possible, but this is still a momentous achievement in my opinion. I'm not really familiar with the politics of LGBTQ institutions in the United States, but I'm assuming they never receive funding from government or state institutions. That makes this especially significant in a city so religiously charged with the beliefs of three faiths, all of which are quite homophobic (I'm not sure about Judaism on this point so correct me if I'm wrong).

"When I read in the Bible I could be killed for being gay, I understood what it was like to be Palestinian." I wonder if Israelis and Palestinians in the LGBTQ community get along better with one another than those outside of the community. It seems like the extra oppression  would bring closer together those already oppressed ethnically and/or culturally, since they have in common such a large part of their identities. I'm sure this documentary would be very revealing about LGBTQ "politics" and daily life in Jerusalem. I wonder how different it is from the community in the U.S.

Sharon and My Mother-in-Law: The Ramallah Diaries

I have actually read this novel before for a NELC class on Middle Eastern Literature, the topic of which was "Conflict through the eyes of the Author." I remember really enjoying this book because of the almost informal and light-hearted manner in which it is written. The author, Suad Amiry, uses a large amount of humor in portraying the cynical and illogical experiences of everyday Palestinians living in the West Bank. I think the contrast is effective in making more obvious to the readers the absolute absurdity of some of the things that Palestinians must deal with on an everyday basis, for example, going to get gas masks at six in the morning. I think humor is a tool used quite frequently as a means to deal with an otherwise extremely depressing situation.

The chapter about the dog needing an ID was equally as humorous / cynical. She tricks the Israeli soldier by saying the dog is from Jerusalem so he doesn't need an ID, and he is so perplexed he just lets her through. This situation is so obviously ridiculous from the point of a soldier requiring an animal to have an ID, but sadly these types of situations are so much more common for Palestinians than people realize. And moreover, they are usually unsuccessful in their endeavors.

I like Suad Amiry's writing style of incorporating so much humor into relating her experiences living in the West Bank; it is a welcome relief from fact-based, and "to the point" writings. However, I wonder which style of writing is more effective in getting the message across. For me personally, I enjoy reading more poignant renditions of conflict without the use of humor, for example, White Masks by Elias Khoury. This novel relates the Lebanese Civil War and particular individuals' experiences, such as a father losing his son in the war, and a young woman constantly beat by her husband. Obviously these types of things are much more unpleasant in reading about, but I think these messages need to be conveyed realistically to others so that they do not go ignored. 

Weblog Journal #4

The role of my music in my life... This is such a huge topic to tackle and put into words, I don't really know of any other way to look at it other than how my experiences with music and my taste in music have evolved throughout my life:

Throughout my childhood I grew up listening to operas and classical music in the car. My mom grew up playing piano and often played in the house, so my first exposure to music was definitely classical. I also began playing violin when I was 7, which obviously got me even more interested in classical music and composers.

My first exposure to other genres of music (besides what was played on the radio) was through my older brother who was a huge fan of rap from a young age. So I began listened to Eminem in fourth grade, and I remember feeling exposed to a new world of music that I had no idea existed. I listened to all kinds of rap throughout middle school, which I suppose was linked with my adolescence and finding my own identity as a pre-teen/teenager.

During my freshman year of high school I was exposed to The Doors for the first time, and I became immediately obsessed. I went through a huge phase of getting really into 70's rock, like Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd, as well as some 90's grunge and jam bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam. I suppose this also related to this typical rebellious teenage phase that most people go through.

Since high school, I've gotten into all sorts of new genres and artists, which probably has to do with meeting so many new types of people with various interests in college. My current obsessions are Tyler the Creator, OFWGKTA, and The Weeknd, as well as some electronic music like Infected Mushroom, Crystal Castles, and Big Gigantic. I always seem to be a few years behind with the new music scene; I find it rather stressful to stay on top of it all. Some of my favorite artists are in completely different genres of music, so I guess I like a little bit of everything, as long as it's music with some sort of deeper message. (Nothing annoys me more than all the overrated songs played on the radio. And furthermore, I think the best music that is produced, no matter the year, usually isn't played on the radio.)

In terms of music's role in conflict, I think ultimately music is a form of expression. It is a way to voice one's opinions, but I'm not sure if I would consider it a form of communication because an artist can record music, but he or she can't make people listen to it. I also don't think music can solve conflict in itself, perhaps other than exposing issues and problems that may otherwise go unnoticed. But I'm sure there are some counterexamples to this that I'm unaware of.

Channels of Rage: Israeli and Palestinian Rap

"Gimme a mic and you'll see how good we go together, like Lewinsky and Clinton." This lyric from one of Tamer's raps (from Channels of Rage) is obviously striking, because I think it goes without saying that Lewinsky and Clinton did not go well together. Their affair caused an arguably unprecedented amount of controversy, particularly in relation to American politics. Americans began questioning the morals of their president and their government. But this lyric is nonetheless very telling: perhaps Tamer is implying that controversy is a good thing. It gets people talking about issues that might otherwise be swept under the rug. As a Palestinian, he has often been politically ignored and left without a voice so to speak, so in "giving him a mic" and allowing him to voice his opinions, the public is forced to pay attention to these issues that often aren't told from the Palestinian standpoint.

Rap is not only a means to expose issues within one's community to others, but it also can expose issues within one's own society. In this case, Palestinian rappers are not only commenting on Israeli politics and the conflict, but they also focus upon honor killings, which is a very controversial issue within Arab society. In the Middle East, the topic of honor killings is avoided, which is why I think it's amazing that this group (DAM) rapped so bluntly about the subject and even made a music video of a fictional honor killing. The only way to stop these human rights abuses that are so complexly linked with culture is to raise awareness and educate the public of their prevalence. "We feel that when there is a crime against a woman, it is seen as the end of the story...it is just another death. A death justified merely by the fact of being a girl."

In the Global Post article, I found the comparison between Tamer and Tupac to be very striking. Not only did both use rap music as a means to convey political messages to youth, but they were/are both minorities living among majorities in their communities. And both used music as a means to "escape the realities" in which they were living. It's funny to think of how much rap has evolved: one could say, generally speaking, that today rap is more so about showing off material goods, partying, or insulting other rappers, etc. (Generally speaking. I know there are numerous exceptions.) However, I think it's safe to say that rap historically began as a form of rebellion against society, especially in the United States, and that it is very much still used in this way, but on a more "underground" level. For example, rap with political messages often isn't played on the radio. Just something to think about.

I really enjoyed this week's readings because I find it so interesting to learn about the ways in which societies express themselves in times of war or conflict, whether this is through art, music, or other such mediums. It is such a cool idea to look at graffiti specifically as a tool for political expression and/or resistance, especially in the Middle East where I think this is so much more common due to perhaps laxer laws against graffiti, and also because of the huge amount of current political issues happening in the region.

When I think back to my semester in Cairo, I immediately think of the huge amount of graffiti literally almost everywhere you go in the city. It is without question a political tool that was and still is being used here: people were using public spaces to express their views against the Mubarak and (afterwards) the Morsi regime. Egyptians put so much effort into this public artwork that many of them were amazing to look at. One image I have in my mind was a huge tank painted under a bridge with an Egyptian soldier sticking out, while in front of the tank (above to get run over) was a man kneeling and praying (in the form typical for Islam). There are also sprayed images of young men who I'm assuming were killed in the Egyptian Revolution and maybe even afterwards (they are considered martyrs).

Here are examples of some extremely detailed and complex Egyptian graffiti in Tahrir Square during the recent protests. (One of my friends took them; as a woman, I wasn't safe to go downtown during these protests).

I find it so interesting that in these types of countries going through such huge transitions, political protest manifesting itself through graffiti is so expected that it is not even punished (or if so, it;'s very rare). I don't know if this would be possible to do in a large city like New York or Chicago without police intervention.

Parallels and Paradoxes

I really appreciated the honesty behind both Barenboim and Said's responses to their feelings of one's "homeland." Coming from a mixed ethnic background, I could relate to Barenboim in that he felt at home with the idea of his homeland (Jerusalem), and perhaps not with the physical space just in itself. Throughout my life I have always wanted to visit Iran and see with my own eyes the geographic places in which my father and his entire family lived, and still live. Yet, I don't think I would feel at home there, at least not in the ways that I do living in the U.S. I think it would make me feel closer to my ethnic roots and will therefore always hold personal significance for me, as I'm sure holds true for all individuals as they grow to understand their own cultural identities.

This idea of one's "homeland" is, in a way, very fixed and constant. But I like how Edward Said brought up identity as constant, fluid, and forever-changing. Therefore, identity is not, and should not, be only linked to our families' pasts. We should not only think of ourselves in terms of the places from which our families came before we were born, but rather, in relation to one's present and future.

I thought it was really interesting that Barenboim said he is not happy with himself unless he can let go entirely and embrace rapid changes around him. This is probably because he has lived all over the world and is constantly doing drastically different projects, but either way, this is a great way to view things. I often find myself resisting big changes that occur in my life, whether school-related or whatever the case may be, but accepting the fact that people, places, and events are constantly evolving is a great way to take advantage of every new opportunity that presents itself.

These are two incredibly intelligent and talented men that I have increasing respect for the more I learn about them. 

Social Media Project: My Part

I recently switched into the Social Media group because I thought of a new idea for a final project after Issam Nasser's lecture. His talk about cultures being misconstrued by others (whether indirectly or not) is something I decided I wanted to look more into, especially in relation to the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Going off of this concept, I intend to analyze the ways in which American media has portrayed the Arab-Israeli conflict to the American public. As of now, I would like to specifically analyze Time magazine articles, since it is a highly read magazine throughout the U.S., and it also uses images and large blocks of texts in highlighted articles (basically, they're longer than some newspaper articles and are more opinion-based).

In relation to the time period, I think analyzing articles in the months after the First and Second Intifadas would be most interesting and are likely to have a good amount of press surrounding them; however, this might also change as I begin doing research.

Some things I will be searching for are whether or not images and rhetoric are used to convey specific representations of Arabs, Palestinians, and/or Israelis to the American public. For example, the use of any "gendering" language, representing peoples as "the other," possibly representing all Arabs as terrorists, etc. Obviously, none of these might be apparent in the American media I will be researching, but I think that there will at least be something of significance to say about whatever images are chosen to be in these articles.

Here is a general outline of what my initial plans and ideas are:

1. American portrayals of Israel as a state
2. American portrayals of Palestine (as a community, state, etc.)
3. American portrayals of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
4. American portrayals of the Arab-Israeli conflict

in these time periods:

1. 1967 War
2. First & Second Intifadas
3. Battle of Gaza / Gaza War

through these media:

1. images, mainly photography
2. newspaper articles
3. magazine articles

This is a huge and very broad topic of research, so I plan on cutting it down and making it more specific. I think once I begin doing initial research, my preliminary findings will lead me in a certain direction.

Said, Barenboim, and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

I can relate a great deal to this topic because I have been playing violin since I was 7, and even though I am no longer involved in professional ensembles and orchestras, I can relate a good amount to the constant rehearsals with very different types of people. In this type of setting, creating relationships with others is definitely based on musical interests and not nationalities or religious backgrounds. I think this idea of bringing together people of such different backgrounds into a close, personal environment like an orchestra is a great way to promote cross-cultural communication. I think more programs like this should exist in the U.S. to end racism which is still so prevalent.

"Knowledge is the Beginning" sounds like such a moving and creative way for Arab and Jewish young adults to interact with and learn from one another. I think music, and the arts in general, is the perfect medium in which to bring together individuals from diverse backgrounds, because every culture and nation can relate to music in the expression of personal identity. I wonder if there has been any attempt to measure how successful this workshop has been, whether in increasing willingness to communicate with rival cultures, or in "breaking down barriers" as mentioned on the website. I'm also wondering how exactly Mariam Said and Daniel Barenboim keep this project alive and evolving, since it is not simply a question of performing music.

Like a couple of the musicians said in the YouTube clip, obviously an Arab-Jewish orchestra is not going to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict, but it does get them talking to each other about their own experiences that they may not have heard otherwise. Even though activities such as this most likely will not bring peace to the region, is does provoke communication and empathy with the "rival" culture, which I believe to be the first step in conflict resolution.

I really enjoyed this week's readings, not only because they are more informal and therefore a bit easier to read through, but I also like learning about current grassroot projects that build dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. Daniel Barenboim and Edward Said are both incredible people with a huge legacy of talent, academia, and creativity they have left behind (well, I guess in Barenboim's case, he's not quite finished). I am really looking forward to the lecture with Mariam Said tomorrow and cannot wait to hear her opinions about the conflict.

"Jerusalem in 19th Century Photography"

I wrote a bit in my last reading response about this article, whoops. But I re-read it and found some more interesting things to comment about:

1. I definitely agree with the author in that labeling photographs with false information, for example referring to the Dome of the Rock as Solomon's Temple, is unacceptable because it is spreading this misinformation on to people who may not have any knowledge in the area, and are therefore more likely to believe it is true. From my point of view, photography is an attempt to portray to the public something as it exists in actuality, and therefore, incorrect captions and labels are a huge problem.

2. However, going off this first point and the arguments of the author, I do not think that photography can be completely objective, because after all, the photographer is an actual human being with his or her own biases and individual experiences, which in turn influences the objects that seem important to him or her, i.e. the photographs he or she takes. Personally, I think it is quite obvious that photographers will want to capture the religious essence of Jerusalem because of the huge importance for so many people. Yet this can definitely be done in a way which does not purposefully exclude the normal, everyday inhabitants in Jerusalem.

3.  I think the desire for people living in "developed" countries, and in the Western world especially, to view "traditional" buildings and monuments as detached from people and civilization is actually quite common (I put these terms in quote because their usage is quite controversial, and I don't mean to be offensive by using them). The best example of this that comes to mind are the Pyramids of Giza. A lot of people think that these famous pyramids are located in the desert, or at least not near Cairo, when in fact, this picture is a more accurate portrayal:

I'm not saying that I find it acceptable that photographers portray other cultures and societies as "the other," or as "uncivilized," but I think it is a lot more common than we realize.

Here's just one example. 

My identity through symbols...

This is a pretty accurate portrayal of how I view myself. Even as a young kid, because of my mixed ethnic background, I have always been interesting in learning other languages and travelling the world. Now as an adult in college, I view myself through the places I've been to, and  what I have learned about myself in the process:

My father is first-generation Iranian: he came here in his twenties during the Iranian Revolution, barely knowing English (he still has an extremely thick accent). However, all of my dad's huge family stayed in Iran so I was not exposed to as much Persian culture as I wish I would've been looking back. My mom's side of the family is Catholic and has been for generations, so I actually grew up more influenced by Catholicism than Islam, unlike one might think. Here is a picture of the few Persian objects I have here in Bloomington. (I have lots of cool artwork and clothing at home in Indianapolis):

In high school I was accepted into a two month immersion program in France. This was the first time I left the country, and this trip solidified my love for travel and my desire to study foreign language at the collegiate level.

The summer after my sophomore year at IU, I studied abroad in Vietnam through a SPEA program. (I bought this artwork while I was there; the ones on the bottom are old communist posters, and the ones on top are traditional pieces of art). This was my first time in the "developing world," and after this travel experience I realized I wanted to work in an international development related field after graduation.

Here are a couple of things I bought while studying abroad in Cairo, which was definitely the most influential trip I've been on so far. My interest in the Middle East and especially U.S.-Middle East relations grew dramatically from actually living in the environment for a semester. Because of this and my Iranian background, I want to work in this region in the future, particularly in areas of public health or development.

From the Palestinian Perspective...

It's refreshing to move on from Karen Armstrong's book which we have been reading since the beginning of the semester, and to finally read articles whose authors' biases are apparent in one way or another. I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing, especially in a class such as ours, because being aware of the differing opinions surrounding the Jerusalem conflict is quite significant in addressing the problem. It was obvious to me in reading this week's articles that the authors are Palestinian (or at least Arab), but like I mentioned before, I found this to be quite refreshing in getting points of view other than the historical, "non-biased" facts from Karen.

I found Issam's article on the 'Biblification' of Jerusalem in "service of colonialism" to be an interesting read. The topic of how photographers manipulate photos to convey various meanings was quite unique, and I found many of his arguments to be valid. For example, some early twentieth century European photographers were ignoring current Arabic names of buildings and monuments, and were instead referring to them by their ancient biblical names (an example: referring to the Aqsa Mosque as Solomon's Temple). This is an obvious example of how photographers "biblified" Jerusalem, yet I do not think this was purposefully to degrade and ignore the Palestinian people, which is what the author seems to be arguing. I feel like it is to be expected that individuals will portray and choose to see what is important to them, in this case, religion. After all, there is so much of religious significance in Jerusalem, how could this realistically be left out from photos?

 Tamari's articles were about such a random assortment of topics, I was sort of confused about their relevance to what we have recently been discussing in class. There was one major point that stood out to me from the article "Lepers, Lunatics, and Saints" however. When Tamari is explaining nativism and ethnic identity, he mentions how Iran's nativism reaction and formation was in response to Orientalism, which was not the case for Palestine. I found this to be rather counter-intuitive, because I would think that with the strong British presence in the early twentieth century that perhaps orientalism would have at least some kind of effect on the formation of their ethnic identity. I think this concept of identifying oneself with the things which one is not is quite common for many cultures.

I hope tomorrow's lecture with Tamari will offer new, "insider" perspectives in the Arab-Israeli conflict, and I look forward to hearing his opinions and research on the matter. 

Karen Armstrong, Chapters 14-18

The Mamluk caliphate in Islamic history has always fascinated me: as children, they had grown up in slavery but organized a rebellion which ultimately overthrew the Abbasid caliphate. Armstrong doesn't go into much detail about how this actually occurred, besides explaining that they converted to Islam, were drafted in high regiments of the Muslim army, and then seized control of Egypt and created a new Mamluk state. I wonder if there are any other major ancient powers that were formerly slaves or of poor economic classes...

I found the book to be much more interesting to read once the Crusades started coming into play. They were obviously extremely significant events that affected Jerusalem and the entire region in various ways. I have never studied the Crusades, so I was very shocked to read how gruesome and violent the Christian armies were in conquering Jerusalem. It's disturbing to me that religion was and still is used to justify atrocities to that magnitude. I was very struck by Karen Armstrong's description of Jerusalem and its resemblance of a "ghost-town" after the First Crusade: there had previously been 100,000 people living in Jerusalem, but afterwards there were only a few thousand, if that. All the bodies had been left rotting in the street for five months. It's kind of mind-blowing to think about just several hundred years prior, Jerusalem was a city of low importance that the kingdoms were having trouble populating. But in 1000 AD and after, major global powers were causing mass destruction in their attempts to conquer it. It's rather ridiculous how much destruction and reconstruction Jerusalem has experienced...

After finishing Karen Armstrong's book, I have rather conflicting feelings about it. At the beginning, particularly when the history is rather dry and before the chaos of Christianity and Islam, I found Armstrong to be almost detailed to a fault. There were so many names and dates that I stopped trying to remember things because it seemed impossible for me to understand what was going on. It is so purely historic in context that it becomes difficult to read. Shouldn't there be some opinions mixed in? Any opinions at all? But at the same time, this clearly gets the point across to the reader of the insanely tumultuous history that Jerusalem has had for about 5000 years and counting. It is impossible for one person to fully comprehend the cultural and religious significance that Jerusalem holds for so many different types of people. Yet I think this point is crucial to understand the conflict as it is now: there is no easy fix since religious and cultural identities are so complexly entwined in the city itself. And Karen Armstrong does a great job in presenting all this madness to the reader, while allowing them to form their own ideas on the matter.

I now feel like I have adequate knowledge about Jerusalem's history (or at least as good of an understanding as it's going to get) to be able to zoom forward to the current issues going on right now, and to be able to analyze these issues in as unbiased of a way as possible.

Politics Group Project Ideas

For the large group dealing with political issues, we have decided to break into two smaller groups while still working together as a whole. The first group, "Reality," is going to research the embargo and supply chain issues of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, focusing more on the facts and what is actually going on in reality. The second group, "Representation," is going to analyze how the embargo/supply issue is represented, whether through the media, through leaders of Arab countries, by the international community, etc. Honestly, I am not too familiar with this issue so I do not really have any specific ideas on what individual topics should focus upon.

I think the first thing we're going to need to do is to make sure all of our group members are on the same page in terms of understanding the issue on a general level, before we are able to pick more specific, individual topics. A few questions/issues: I'm not exactly sure to what extent the two groups will be working together, and I think we need to make sure that the "reality" group doesn't have too narrow of a focus, and that the "representation" group doesn't have too broad of a focus. 

Reading Response, Chapters 11-13

I enjoyed reading this week's chapters because it was interesting to learn about the formation of Islam from a historical standpoint. Last semester while studying in Cairo, I took two classes on Middle Eastern history so I learned a good deal the various dynasties and caliphs, but I never actually learned about the ideals of Islam itself. For example, I never knew that Islam (as Karen Armstrong puts it) is more about the "moral imperative" than orthodoxy, or "theological speculation about matters that nobody can prove one way or another." I feel like there are a lot of misconceptions surrounding Islam in the Western world, like Islam being a radical religion full of unjust doctrines that degrade women. However, Islam is more so about surrendering oneself completely and entirely to God, and not placing mundane importance on prophets and laws which only distract from the one true God himself. In my opinion, the lack of women's rights in some Middle Eastern cultures is more so due to specific countries' and governments' laws than from the Qur'an or Islam themselves.

The reappearing concept of "sacred geography" is important to analyze with respect to Islam, since we have already seen the significance it had among early Judaism and Christianity. According to Islam, all space is holy and therefore no particular geographic region is more sacred than another, yet Karen does point out the three places that are central to the Islamic faith: Mecca, Medina, and Jerusalem (Bayt al-Maqdis). This seems rather paradoxical: why exactly are these three locations so very important in Islam if all places are "sacred"? Karen explains that every faith needs symbols for its people to focus upon. This also explains why the Muslims began building mosques in Jerusalem, even though they respected and held in high esteem the holy places that were already there.

And finally, I appreciated the description of the formation of and religious importance of the Dome of the Rock. This is a very significant symbol not only of the Islamic faith, but for Judaism and the city of Jerusalem. However, I am still a little confused about the historical significance of the rock itself. I know it is believed to have been the entrance to the Garden of Eden, as well as (I think) the site of Abraham's (almost) sacrifice of his son Isaac, but is there any other historical significance to the rock?

Jerusalem, Chapters 8-10

There were several principal themes that I found significant from this week's reading of Karen Armstrong's Jerusalem: the loss of the Temple and what this meant for Judaism, the birth and spread of Christianity, as well as the ways in which this new faith affected Judaism, and finally, how the idea of  'sacred geography' manifested itself in both of these religions. Over all, these chapters highlighted the huge amount of change that was taking place within religion during this time, not only in terms of the relationship between God and his people, but also relating to physical representations of the sacred and divine.

It is interesting to note how both the Jews and the Christians reacted to the loss (for the Jews) or the gain (Christians) of their sacred geography. When the Temple was destroyed, the Jews found consolation in studying the Torah, and they believed that God's presence would follow them wherever they were, as long as they studied religious texts in groups. They also replaced animal sacrifice with acts of charity and compassion, for they began believing that they could experience God's presence in other human beings. Therefore, it seems like at this point in time, physical space representing divinity ceased to be important, but rather they saw human beings representative of sacred space.

Sacred geography was sort of the opposite for the Christians. They believed Jesus' main objective had been to remind them of the "spiritual nature of religion," so that they would focus more on the invisible, indescribable facets of religion, rather than physical structures which had been typical of Judaism. However, once the Christians tore down the pagans' Temple of Aphrodite and found Jesus' tomb underneath, the importance they placed upon sacred geography changed completely. Armstrong explains that "an unexpected reunion with one of the physical symbols of our faith and culture can reawaken this enthusiasm for sacred space," which is precisely what happened in the Christian mindset. Suddenly, Jerusalem become a city of great significance for Christianity because they now had concrete landmarks representing milestones in their faith (i.e. Jesus' birthplace, his agony in the garden, his resurrection, etc.).

The religious evolution of Jerusalem throughout the centuries has been interesting to read about, moving from paganism to Judaism to Christianity to paganism again, and so on. I can't wait to see how much more confusing things get once Islam is brought into the picture...

How to End the Arab-Israeli Conflict...

In first reading the instructions for this assignment, my mind went blank. I have no idea where to even start when attempting to address this issue. It is so overwhelmingly complex and deep-rooted in a variety of issues that I feel I have nowhere near to a comprehensive understanding of the matter or what it would take to bring a resolution to the conflict.

After reading the Pressman article, I was shocked by the sheer number of agreements / accords that have been created in an effort to bring an end to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Many of these were extremely close to being signed by one or both parties. However, in every case, it seems like there was always one faction that wasn't entirely satisfied, or events would suddenly change (violent attacks, for example) causing the parties to change their minds about ending the violence.

If none of these diplomatic plans or resolutions could bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian violence, let alone come to an accord about settlements and land, what will it take now? It seems that with time, hatred of the opposite culture or ethnicity have only had more time to brew and grow stronger, but hopefully this also means that creative solutions have had more time to form. I have no idea what it will take to resolve this deep-rooted conflict; however, I do believe it will take creativity, patience, and sacrifice from both sides. Until both the Arab/Palestinian population and the Israeli population are willing to compromise and accept that they will not be 100% satisfied with the end results, I don't think a resolution will ever be made.

With the issue of the "ownership" of Jerusalem, I think it is pretty obvious that it will need to be made an international zone, since all three monotheistic faiths have religious claims to the area. How could we decide which religion has had more historical precedence in the area, and would it be fair for an outside party to do so? Of course not. Therefore, I think individuals of all religious and ethnic backgrounds should be able to visit the city without fear of attack or persecution. However, as my group and I discussed in class, there are many issues with this: for example, how do we decide which military should be present in the city while still remaining representative of the entire inhabitant population? Obviously, this is a complex part of the Arab-Israeli conflict that will also require compromise and sacrifice from all parties involved.

I hate to admit it but I am rather pessimistic about the conflict being resolved anytime in the near future. This is a cultural and religious issue so deep-rooted in history that it seems like if there hasn't yet been a proposal both sides will accept, why would there be one in the future? My only answer to this is that insha'allah both sides will become so tired of the violence and pointless destruction that they will be willing to listen to and compromise with one another.

Random Thoughts: Chapters 5-7

Why is Jerusalem gendered as female? Karen Armstrong depicts the city at one point as being unclean, "her garments covered in menstrual blood." Why aren't cities depicted as male figures? They are often grandiose physical structures ruled by economics and politics, typically male-dominated social activities. Therefore, I think it is significant that the comfort and safety (female qualities) a city can offer its people is of higher value than its political and economic wealth. Perhaps this is why cities are usually, if not always, depicted as female.

"People inside the family were regarded as acceptable marriage partners, while those outside were undesirable." This concept of the Torah decreeing it is better to marry within one's  family unit reminds me of the public vs. private dichotomy that I studied in numerous Middle East history classes while in Egypt. In pre-colonial Middle East, for example, the public sphere was associated with being of lower status and the working class, while if someone (especially women) was mainly to be found in the private sphere, i.e. their homes or also harems, this portrayed their elevated statuses and wealth since they could afford to have others provide for them.

Within the harem specifically, only those of noble blood or relatives of the women were allowed to spatially move deeper within the palaces (harem comes from the Arabic root meaning "forbidden," i.e. the women were off-limits to anyone unrelated to them. This also has a purely visual connotation, not sexual.) Anyway, this concept of public vs. private relates to the harem in that "holiness" or "sacredness" (for lack of better words) is found when moving deeper into the private sphere. We can see this here in terms of marriage: Remaining within the smallest unit, or marrying within one's family circle, was the most desirable option for retaining one's cultural, religious, and economic heritage.

"The history of religion shows that in times of crisis and upheaval, people turn more readily to myth than to the more rational forms of faith." I find this quotation perplexing. What are the more rational forms of faith? Isn't all religion rooted in myth, even its traditional customs, practices, and stories? In my opinion, religion serves to relieve the stress of people in times of despair and to give them hope, regardless of whether they turn to myths or "rational forms" of faith to do so.

Just some thoughts I had while reading chapters 5-7. I would love to read any comments or critiques you may have.

An Eye-Opening Perspective

In beginning Karen Armstrong's book Jerusalem: One City, Three Faiths I was expecting rather dry, historically-focused writing that would be difficult to read. However, I was extremely taken aback by her introduction and viewpoints shared only within the first fifteen or so pages. This prompted me to look her up on the internet because it became obvious that she had had quite extensive religious education, and I was totally shocked to find out that she is a former Catholic nun. I actually went to a Catholic high school, so I found it odd to imagine one of the sisters who taught there to write scholarly books relating to Islam and Judaism, such as Karen Armstrong has. I find it quite amazing that she has taken such a non-biased approach (at least in what I have read of the novel so far) in researching and analyzing Jerusalem's ancient and near history, as well as the undeniable forces of Judaism, Islam, and Christianity in shaping what the city has become today.

Armstrong's introduction brought up a very good point about the importance, or rather lack thereof, of who arrived in Jerusalem first. I have noticed that even in discussions with my friends about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, this question of who were the first inhabitants is always brought up as sort of solution for who should  have political and geographical rights over Jerusalem. Sometimes I even find myself getting sucked into this historical conversation of ancient Israelites and Arabs pre-WWII, however Armstrong reiterated a great point: this question is of little importance, and furthermore, it will not help in resolving the conflict. All sides are going to have to accept putting the past out of their minds and focusing upon the present if the conflict is ever to be resolved.

I found Armstrong's discussion on the importance of myths and legends to be something that I often discredit in terms of the validity or reliability of a source, but her take on it was quite eye-opening. She says that myths relating to "sacred geography," or the geographical places which form a part of a people's or culture's identity, "express truths about the interior life," and that even if they themselves are not entirely factual in nature, there are elements of emotional truth within them. Furthermore, she argues that for these reasons, myths are important exactly because they are myths.

While reading Chapter 1-4, I kept her viewpoints of myths and sacred geography in mind, because personally, I too easily discredit stories from the Bible because of the fact that they are myth-like in nature and couldn't possibly be based on fact or evidence. I really like Armstrong's way of thinking because the importance does not come in the literal acceptance of every single statement in these types of religious stories (concerning Moses, Abraham, and Isaac, for example), but they are still very significant in themselves and can tell us many things about the people and culture at the time the text was written.

Over all, I have enjoyed reading Karen Armstrong's book. At times, it is difficult to get through due to a large amount of ancient historical names, dates, and facts, but I thoroughly enjoy learning about the formation of Israel, Judaism, and Christianity through entirely factual and text-based means, instead of through a lens of religious bias.

First Weblog Assignment: Thoughts About the Course

I had heard about this course from a very good friend of mine who took it during the spring semester of 2012, and by talking to me about the goals of the course and how it was set up, she convinced me to take it. Therefore, I felt like I knew more than most about this class coming into it, however I have definitely been pleasantly surprised by what we have done during these past two weeks. I love the fact that this course is set up rather informally and unlike a lot of other university courses, yet one could say that it is more significant or relevant than some of these classes because we are attempting to understand and come up with innovative ideas that could ultimately lead to the resolution of this longstanding political and cultural conflict. That in itself is absolutely amazing to me, and I am so excited to communicate on a face-to-face basis, albeit through the use of technology, with experts on the subject.

I think the blog is a great way to encourage free expression of our opinions and ideas, but it is also important to be aware that sometimes written words can be misinterpreted or that the author may have had difficulty in expressing what he or she actually meant (I often have this problem). For these reasons, I think it's also important to have discussions in class. However, the blog is great for responses to which we may not be comfortable speaking about in front of others, or for issues to which time is needed to collect one's thoughts and think about how to put them down in writing. This class is a great mixture of both, so I think we will be quite successful in hearing ideas and opinions from everyone.

Reading Response #2: Jerusalem throughout History

Looking at Jerusalem's chronology and the multiple empires that at one time or another controlled it, it is extremely overwhelming to comprehend a city with such a vast amount of historical significance. Not only does it hold extreme importance for Islam, Christianity, and Judaism, it has also passed through the hands of many great empires (the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, and the Ottomans). No wonder Jerusalem is such a fought over city. I wonder if there are any other major cities in the world that are important to Judaism, Islam, and Christianity, and if so, why aren't they so severely fought over like Jerusalem?

I thought Dumper did a good job of not coming across as biased in his article. For example, he describes the importance of Jerusalem to each monotheistic religion instead of focusing solely on one. However, I do not think he provided enough detail when it came to certain historical events, which made it difficult to understand the full extent of change (and destruction from war) that the city has experienced over the centuries. But over all, for a relatively short article, Dumper balanced the cultural complexities of Jerusalem well, without obvious biases, and he covered a vast amount of history in a way that was interesting to read.

I found it interesting that Dumper described Jerusalem as becoming "a place for tourists rather than daily living." I never thought about Jerusalem as being a "touristy" city, yet I suppose this makes sense since there are so many important buildings and historical sites to Jews, Christians, and Muslims alike. This also made me think of Egypt because there are numerous cities throughout the country that are solely functioning as tourist attractions, so if Egyptians are not in the tourism industry, there would be no point for them to live in that particular city. It is important to be aware that there are a good amount of cities like this all over the world, whose economy relies mostly on wealthy foreigners and whose conditions are not necessarily suitable for people to live in.

I like that Khalidi's article was more historically-oriented because, although a little boring at times, it provides a significant  amount of context to understand why Jerusalem has been so contested over throughout the centuries. I was also interested to read his explanation of the significance of the Dome of the Rock because I heard mention of it several times throughout my stay in Egypt, but I was unsure of why it is so important. Does it hold special significance to Jews and Christians, as well?

In contrast, I did not really care for Rubin's article. Even though his writing was primarily historical like that of Khalidi, I found his rhetoric to be very dry and boring, and it was especially hard to follow towards the beginning. Personally, I find it hard to comprehend historical events when numerous years and names are listed without much explanation; therefore, I did not really learn too much from this article.

Media Project Interests

I'm very interested in political science and law, so I think it'd be interesting to examine either the United States' role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (obviously this is rather general so it could go in a variety of directions), or the Israeli government and Hammas' views and/or opinions surrounding the conflict (one way to look at this could be through media representations).

I also really like the idea about examining both Israeli and Palestinian fashion in order to determine how this relates to their respective cultural identities. 

Reading Response 1: Initial Impressions

I did not expect Suad Amiry's article "Researching East Jerusalem" to portray so realistically the cultural and political problems that Palestinians were facing (and still do face) on a daily basis. Even despite her need to communicate with various East Jerusalem inhabitants for her research, she was oftentimes unable to arrange meetings or reach certain areas due to all the chaos and unpredictable circumstances. Yet, I found her perseverance and dedication to the project quite inspiring. It's such a shame that the project was never able to take place because I am sure it would have inspired some great dialogues and new ideas. In the interview with Suad Amiry, she stresses the numerous cultural complexities that would have been difficult to convey at the festival in Washington. For example, how could they realistically portray the military scene and the separation barrier so that the festival would be representative of life in Jerusalem? Obviously, it's impossible to create a comprehensive imitation of society in another country, especially one as complicated as Jerusalem, so I wonder how effective the festival would have actually been. Yet, even if the reinterpretations were not dead on, it still would have been a huge leap forward to shed so much public light on the religious and cultural issues, as well as bringing together such a large variety of people for a common cause.

In the article "Dialogue as Ethical Conduct: The Folk Festival That Was Not," I noticed that the author seemed to portray the Palestinian researchers and the Israeli researchers in competition to and separate from one another, instead of working together on the same festival for the mutual desire to increase cross-cultural dialogue. Were they actually not working with one another, or did the author perhaps intend for this often automatic cultural separation to carry over into his/her writing?

I surprised but pleased that from the beginning of Dr. Horowitz's paper, she mentioned "the American partner whose role complicates the already existing asymmetry and ambiguity" of Jerusalem. I have found that in talking to others about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, they are usually unaware of the major role that the United States has played and continues to play, and therefore I think it's an extremely important part of the conflict that is oftentimes ignored or left out. I also found this sentence to be quite intriguing: "A Jerusalem festival program would require public acknowledgment of the political, cultural, and religious controversies that characterize the city and underlie the traditional practitioners who create there." ...Perhaps this is one of the reasons for which the festival was never carried out. 

A Brief Introduction

My name is Elizabeth Panahi (but please feel free to call me Ellie) and I'm a junior at Indiana University. I'm double majoring in Near Eastern Languages and Cultures (with an Arabic language track) and International Studies (with a thematic concentration of Global Health and Environment) and am minoring in French. I recently returned to the U.S. after spending a semester studying abroad in Cairo, and I never expected to miss living in the Middle East as much as I do right now. After all, it is not easy to live in such a politically and economically unstable area, especially as a woman. However, living in Egypt during these tumultuous yet significant years since the revolution has exposed me to different political views and ideologies concerning the Middle East, which is the main reason why I am so interested in taking this class: I want learn more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how it undeniably affects the stability of the entire region. I look forward to communicating with and learning from you all!