It pleases me to know that not only will we be able to discuss topics on Jerusalem in class, but also with students actually experiencing and living in the conflict day after day. I too, like some of you, was a bit disappointed to see that the students from the Hebrew University were study abroad students. I would have liked to hear from Israeli students, as they grew up there, and have much more insight into the situation. However, videoconferencing is still an excellent way to communicate and share our thoughts. I had previously done a videoconference with students from the Dubai in my "Economy Development of the Middle East" course. That was interesting as well, although some of them couldn't answer political questions due to their positions held in the government.
I am very interested in culture, and history of each individual; I think it is important that this aspect of Jerusalem is not overlooked. However, because of the dire political and economic situations that people are now facing, I find it hard to look at just someone's story about how they make bread, without really looking into the political situation. I feel at times it can gloss over the despair, and injustices being committed daily, and paint a picture that is a bit idealistic. I truly want to be optimistic about Jerusalem, that it will one day be an international city, as stated in the UN resolution 242, yet there are people who do not even have their basic necessities. It is difficult to focus on just Jerusalem (for me), when a short distance away from it, people are starving. People cannot get to school because they are stopped at checkpoints. People don't have clean water.......and I say people, but I specifically mean the Palestinians. It is they who suffer the most. I wish I could say it was equal. that both sides suffer equal amounts, but they do not. The Israelis make the rules for the Palestinians as well. It is the Israelis' checkpoints, it is the Israelis' wall..... The Israelis dictate much of what can and cannot go on, who can go where, and who cannot. As of 2006, the CIA World Fact Book on GDP places Israel at number 55, at 166 billion dollars, and the Gaza Strip and West Bank at 158, and 159, together equaling 11 billion dollars . The Palestinians are now desperately looking for jobs and a way to feed their family. I know not every Palestinian is poor and suffering like this, but the majority do.
My greatest frustration is that whenever a Palestinian commits a crime or fires a rocket, they are seen as " Muslim fundamentalists" and "terrorists." Let us not forget, that Israel is based on the Balfour Declaration: "a homeland for the Jews." It is a state that is founded on religion, and carries out operations and makes laws that are heavily based on the fact that God has given them that land, and it is theirs. The ideology is identical in both instances. The Israeli army is constantly punishing Palestinians in the occupied territories, trying to make the state of Israel more secure. They arrest citizens, have air raids, and often times kill civilians to prevent the Palestinian militia from furthering any plans they might have. Yet, who is there to stop the Israeli army, when they have thousands of Palestinian women, children, and men in their prisons? When they go into Nablus and raid their cities? When they killed around 60 people, thirty of them children, in the Lebanon war who were in a building escaping from the air strikes? The Israeli government's response: "sorry it was a mistake." They launched a three-week war over two captured soldiers. Israel has thousands of Palestinian prisoners. When are the Palestinians going to be allowed to resist the Israeli military without being considered "Anti-Semites" or terrorists? When will Israel realize that their actions and behavior are very similar to the German occupation of Europe in World War II? You cannot condemn one side, without condemning the other.
Anyways, I've rambled on again..... I guess my point was that I hope we do not forget the political aspects as to WHY situations are the way they are. Many circumstances are due to laws that have repeatedly been broken and illegal activities.
Both the Palestinians and the Jewish people have beautiful cultures and traditions. I just wish that people could focus more on their art and truly be able to enjoy their gorgeous land, rather than worry about how they will survive on a daily basis.
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Ashanthi:
First of all, I want you to know that I do agree with what you're saying - the Palestinians are facing hardships that no one should have to live with, and I, like you, hope desperately that someday there will be a peace where everyone can live their lives to the fullest without interruption by chaos and violence. I don't agree with everything that the State of Israel does (the settlements, for example), but I want to point out a few things if I can.
First of all, the issue of labelling Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation as "terrorism" stems, in the most contemporary context, from the very nature of the Hamas organization. It is "virulently anti-Semitic and uncompromising in its goal of riding Palestine of the Jews," and it is my firm belief that ANY country (the USA, Uganda, Sweden, etc) has the right to defend itself against an organization that vows for its destruction. What makes Hamas so dangerous is that it bases its violent, hateful doctrine on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion (see article 32 of the Hamas Charter), a document forged by the ruling regime in Russia at the turn of the 20th Century to put forth a conspiracy of Jewish domination throughout the world. This document has been proven time and again to be false and yet Hamas relies on it as the basis of their rhetoric. To rely on lies and hate is to tend towards violence and mistrust, and it makes for a very dangerous situation. For more information, you can visit these sites: http://www.mideastweb.org/hamas.htm
http://www.palestinecenter.org/cpap/documents/charter.html
When it comes to the occupation of Palestine by the Israelis, the Israeli government has made strides in pulling back their troops from the area so as to end the occupation. Ariel Sharon, former Prime Minister of Israel, made world news last summer when he ordered a massive pullout of Israeli troops from Gaza and the West Bank, vastly reducing the military presence in the area and evacuating many of the Jewish settlements in the area as well. This was a remarkable feat for Sharon and his government to achieve, but it ended 25 June 2006 when Hamas militants ambushed Israeli troops and kidnapped 19-year-old Corporal Gilad Shalit, who is still in their custody to this day. From the Israelis that I have talked to and from the many perspectives I have heard on the issue from the Israeli side, they do not WANT to continue to occupy Gaza and the West Bank and would like to see a peaceful resolution to the current situation.
To compare the Israeli occupation of Palestine with the tactics used by Germany in World War II is incorrect as it seeks to find an analog between two situations, one historical and one contemporary, that simply do not exist. To the Germans, Europe was seen as lebensraum - potential living space in which Aryan Germans should live. Israel does not seek to overtake Palestinian land by means of the current occupation, and much of the justification is that it is operating in self-defense. The issue of a "united Jerusalem" since Israeli conquest in 1967 does not apply to Israeli military presence in Gaza and the West Bank. (Keep in mind that as I say this I'm trying to only represent the Israeli perspective; my views on the situation in Jerusalem are slightly different) Furthermore, the intentions of the Germans under the Nazis in World War II were dominated by fanatical, racist ideology that sought the destruction of "inferior races" of people, not only Jews but Gypsies, the mentally handicapped and homosexuals as well, just to name a few. If you want to find an organization that is dominated by fanatical racism, look again at the Hamas charter. It is official policy of the Israel Defense Forces to look after the lives of civilians first - Israeli soliders are instructed that it is better to risk their own lives if it means protecting innocent people than to kill their initial target at the expense of civilian lives, no matter if they are Israeli or Palestinian. Mistakes do happen, and while they are inexcusible and horribly sad I am trying to illustrate that the Israeli Army makes it its policy to preserve the humanity of all who are affected by it. To compare Israel to a regime dominated by its genocidal intentions is simply unbased when you look at the realities of each situation.
I hope I have not offended you with my response to your post. Like you, I have very strong feelings and opinions about this issue and I try to be as balanced as I can when dealing with it. I can do little justice to this debate by limiting it strictly to written comments, so I would really love to talk with you about this in person if you'd ever want to!
Thanks :)
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