Evaluations

1.Class Discussion/ Facilitation/ Conversation

I think this was an essential part of the class. Although it took a little bit of time for all of us to get comfortable with sharing our thoughts, I think as the quarter went on, the discussions became much more constructive. The readings definitely helped facilitate these conversations. I don’t think there is a way to speed up the process of getting more comfortable in a discussion setting. I think it just depends on the group’s familiarity with the subject matter and comfort level with such a volatile subject and the other students in the class.

2. Video Conferencing

I really enjoyed this aspect of the class. Although I wish we could have done so more often, the three times we did video conference definitely added depth to my understanding and learning experience that can’t really be paralleled. Especially since I am not one of the students going to Jerusalem, the video conferencing gave me an opportunity to get a very real (for lack of better term) look into Jerusalem. It would have been really interesting to meet with more university students, but I think just the fact that we were not able to, and the reasons behind why we couldn’t serve as learning points.

3. Readings and the topics

I found the readings to be very helpful. Although I had some basic knowledge about the region before I took this class, the readings made me realize how much I didn’t know. I really appreciated the diversity of the topics. I think too often in talking about the region, people focus on one thing and forget to consider the many aspects that affect that one thing. Our readings, ranging from architecture to short stories, gave me a much more holistic perspective of life in Jerusalem. In addition, the readings in this class really made me appreciate the power of history.

4. Lecturers and Speakers

I thought each of the lecturers/speakers was very interesting. Kasa’s talk gave me perspective that I had never considered before. Although I do not agree with all her views, I now have a better understanding of how passionate a person can be about a place based on one element of their life that in essence becomes the defining feature of their life. I though the three professors on the religion panel were also very interesting, not necessarily for the subject matter of what they said, but more so for the interaction between them. Professor Herrmann was definitely my favorite speaker. He provided a very comprehensive and accessible presentation on the political situation that I think is so hard to grasp with all the biased media coverage. I think having the guest speakers also facilitated easier class discussions.

5. Blogging

This aspect of the class has probably been the most challenging part for me. For some reason, posting things online makes me more nervous than writing papers that get turned in. This is probably because of the permanent status the post takes on “out there” once I hit the “submit” button. Blogging has definitely forced me to loosen my writing style (in a good way). It took me awhile to get used to it, but now that I have used it on a regular basis, it seems to me that it is a very efficient tool for both the writer and the readers. It was a great way to get to know what everyone else in the class was thinking, even if I was only able to browse through the posts without reading each word in all of them. Writing posts on others’ blogs is an activity that I thought was very beneficial, not only because of the interaction, but because it forced me to think more critically about the posts than just read them on a surface level. The class blog was very helpful in keeping track of what was going on in class and communicating with the class as a whole. I especially liked that the comments from various people we met were posted on there.

6. Syallabus and its clarity

I thought it was great as it was.

7. Final Project

I really appreciated that open ended nature of the final project. I think it really reflects the essence of this class. It gave me a chance to explore music, something that wasn’t specifically covered in class but was indirectly hinted at. The music group Sabreen caught my attention the first time I heard them in class. Therefore, being able to learn more about them and their ties to Palestine through the final project was really interesting to me. And sharing what I learned through a multi-media project was a completely new experience for me. Having never made a “movie,” the final project was two dimensional in subject matter and presentation. Also, given the open ended nature of the projects, it was really interesting to see what everyone else came up with. It diversity of living Jerusalem was clearly represented in the diversity of subjects and modes of presentation, from the painting to interviews.

8. Personal Reflection

This class has by far been one of the best classes I have taken at OSU. Unlike any of the other classes I have taken, this class incorporates aspects such as video conferencing and blogging that make the class engage in direct interaction with the “real world.” As such, the class also incorporates diversity in many forms: the topics, people, and methods of information gathering. This diverse approach not only offered a much more holistic information base of “living Jerusalem”, but also gave me a new perspective into how various forms of technology can be utilized to facilitate dialogue. Although I won't be able to go on the trip, the class itself has been a tremendous learning experience for me. I have a much better understanding of what is going on in the region and how people live within such circumstances. Although much of history and the conflicts we have covered in class serve to shed a depressing light on the current situation, the common bond of humanity and the persistence for dialogue gives me hope.

Old and New

Old:
I realize this is a bit delayed, but I wanted to post a response to our meeting with PYALRA and for some reason never got around to it till now. There were two things in particular that I remember from our conversation with the members of PYALARA. The first thing that struck me was when they talked about the concept of "normalization," and viewed it as a form of betrayal. It was particularly interesting that they mentioned this in light of the conversation we had with the students and professor from the Israeli University where they made it a point to illustrate that life was in fact normal in many aspects and that the conflict was not the defining factor of everyday life. I think these two very different views in and of themselves illustrate the importance of talking to different groups of people to gain a more holistic perspective of any given situation. The second bit of conversation that particularly struck me was when the members of PYALARA were talking about the international community's view of Palestine and the surrounding Arab/Muslim countries in relation to Israel. In regards to Israel being located in the midst of predominantly Arab/Muslim countries, they said that Israel plays the victim card and the international community believes them. In particular, they said that it is absurd that Israel says that Arabs/Muslims want to get rid of them (want them to fall into the sea) and the world actually believes them. This comment just struck me as particularly interesting, especially given the previous conversation we had just had with Professor Hermmann. In talking about the region and the conflict, I think we often neglect to see the international community's views and actions from the perspective of those actually involved in the conflict.

New:
On a completely different note, I realized that I also never posted what specifically my final project is about. Although you will see it in a couple days, here is a brief description. It is about the Palestinian musical group Sabreen. My interest in the group was sparked with the very first video we watched in class. I'm not sure if any of you remember the video we watched towards the beginning of the quarter depicting life in East and West Jerusalem, but the music in the intro was a piece by Sabreen. Although I didn't know it at the time, I really liked the music and decided to just follow up and see if I could find some other songs. And since I was looking them up anyway, I decided it would be a good topic for my project. It turns out that Dr. Horowitz actually has a lot of material on Sabreen and in fact did a radio program about them a while ago. So for my project, I am using her production of the program as a framework and am also using some interviews of members of the group along with some other footage and pictures. I've never done a multi-media project before, so this is going to be an experiment. I have bits of audio and a lot of text I'm incorporating into this, so this may be an unusual viewer experience as well. I hope it turns out ok.

Week 8 Reading Responses

I think there is a really interesting connection between the "Old and New Walls in Jerusalem" (Menachem Klein) article and the PYALARA articles, especially the "Overview of the Political Context and Developments" one. It seems like the very first sentence of Klein's article: "The concept of Jerusalem as an open city negates the existence of any deep division in Jerusalem" can in fact have effectively served as the opening sentence of the PYALARA article as well. Both articles clearly illustrate the divisions that exist within the city, and region at large, albeit from two different perspectives that counteract the title of an "open city." Klein's article almost serves as a precursor for the PYALARA article in that it lays out the different types of "walls" that exist and the PYALARA articles add the human component of the lives of those who are separated by those "walls." Given this background, I think our conversations tomorrow will be extremely interesting. I'm really excited to meet the Palestinian youth behind the PYALARA articles and hear their perspectives first hand. It is also really interesting to note the focus on the political history and current politics that was specifically diverted in our last video conference meeting. Pending our session tomorrow, I think these differences will definitely be an interesting subject to further discuss.

Responses

Tuesday:
It still amazes me that we were able to video conference with a university professor and students in Jerusalem on Tuesday. It was extremely interesting to hear their perspectives on a topic that we have been studying about and they are literally experiencing on a daily basis. It is only through 21st century technology that we can literally talk with people face-to-face while being thousands of miles away. I was particularly struck by our conversation's constant shift of focus from the "conflict" to the day-to-day interactions of the inhabitants of the city. Perhaps by focusing on 'living Jerusalem' we are in fact missing out on 'living in Jerusalem.' I wonder how much of a difference there is between the conflict affecting day-to-day life versus day-to-day life affecting the conflict?

Thursday:
I must start of by saying that I am generally very interested in politics. As such, I found Professor Herrmann's session extremely interesting. I thought that he offered the information in a very balanced and comprehensible manner. Seeing all the maps and hearing about all the peace deals on both sides really helped put things in perspective for me since popular media and my general exposure has primarily focused on only certain bits of information. Although I now have a better understanding of the politics of the situation, I am now even more overwhelmed with the intricacies and complexities of the situation in particular and region at large.

Irony

There is a common thread of irony among all three of the articles: "The Promised Gas Mask," "A Dog's Life," and "Jerusalem: Not the Mother of all Cities." In the first two articles, I was particularly struck by the tragic tone that cuts through the surface layer of humor. I think that Suad Amiry actually conveys the sense of injustice and frustration more through her writing style in which she makes it a point to inject humor and not focus on directly listing grievances. I also think it's very interesting that she chose to use gas masks and dogs symbolically. Although Galit Hasan-Rokem's article also deals with irony, it does so in a much more direct manner. It wasn't until Hasan-Roken pointed out in this article, that I realized that land is in fact very often likened to the female persona. It is interesting to note that in characterizing Jerusalem as a female, people have called the city anything from beloved mother to even prostitute. Thus, Hasan-Roken illustrates that characterizing Jerusalem as such undermines both the female gender as well as the city.

For my final project I want to focus on music in Jerusalem. In particular, I'm interested in finding some way to showcase the immense diversity within that region that has manifested itself in the music. As we saw in the movie, it's not just that there are many different group of people, but also a lot of diversity within each group. I haven't quite figured out exactly how to go about this yet though.

Music and Jerusalem

As I was browsing the Internet looking for anything related to music and Jerusalem, I came across two particularly interesting articles. The first one is an NPR article on a musician named Jordi Savall who performed a history of Jerusalem through music in New York on Monday night. Although it's not a concept I have specifically entertained before, I think it is amazing that history can be conveyed through various means. Just as we have studied the history of Jerusalem through words for the past few weeks, Jordi Savall shows the history of the Holy city through music which incorporates musical traditions from the many different religious and ethnic groups that have made up the city's population. This article is also particularly interesting because it references Karen Armstrong's use of sacred geography and quotes her as looking forward to Jordi Savall's concert. Here is the link to the article: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126390261&ft=1&f=1039
The site also has a link to the music itself.

The second article I found is not as directly connected to the class material. It is actually a poem by William Blake titled "Jerusalem." What I find particularly interesting about this poem is its connection to Britain. After talking to Professor Tamari, we see that Britain has played a prominent role in the region and the ensuing conflict, or at least in fueling the conflict. As such, in this light, the poem is very ironic. Here is a link to the poem and a short analysis of the poem right under it:
http://www.progressiveliving.org/william_blake_poetry_jerusalem.htm
It is also interesting to note that this poem has been set to music. The one piece I found was I believe a hymn, but I think the poem has also been set to other pieces of music.

Tamari Readings

Both the Tamari articles offer us a different perspective on life in Jerusalem than most of the readings we have done thus far. Although the religions clearly play a role in both the articles, their primary focus on other social factors such as music and medicine offer the reader a more holistic and day to day understanding of life in the holy city. By illustrating Jerusalem through the stories of two Jerusalemites, Wasif Jawhariyyeh and Tawfiq Canaan, Tamari adds a personal dimension to the history that has been so structured by dates and events so far, especially in the Armstrong readings. In essence, these two articles portray the "social history" of Jerusalem. One of the things that struck me about both articles was that there seemed to be a heavier emphasis on highlighting the similarities among the various religious and ethnic groups than on pointing out their differences. Although Tamari didn't specifically outline the similarities, the social interaction of the Muslim, Christian, Jewish, and Armenian communities through music and the "peasant madness" psychology effectively did so.

Armstrong, last chapters

Although there are many things that can be talked about in these last chapters in relation to the book as a whole, there is one phrase is particular that stood out to me. "...attitudes harden after an atrocity..." From the beginning of this book which chronicles Jerusalem's history, we have seen one atrocity after another concerning one or multiple groups of people. And as the final chapters and current news sources show, the atrocities continue. As such, it is much more understandable, given the immense spread of history leading up to the Jerusalem that is today, why there are such hardened attitudes on multiple fronts. It seems that at any given point in time, one or multiple groups of people within the city are being oppressed, disadvantaged, or outright persecuted. And as a result, attitudes of each group and groups within broader religious or ethnic groups have been hardened, leading to building walls and pointing fingers further diminishing hope for peace.
In this sense, Jerusalem seems to be a city painted of dark and bleak colors. However, I can't help but think of the vivid and colorful images from the video we watched in class at this point. Karen Armstrong does an amazing job in laying out a framework of the history of Jerusalem in a largely unbiased and complete manner. However, as is often the case in written history, the human aspect becomes hard to distinguish. I realized as I started writing this post that the entire time I read this book, I pictured the events in black and white. However, when I think about the video depicting life in East and West Jerusalem, the first thing that strikes me is the color. I like to think of color as the human aspect. Beyond religion, people share music, clothes, literature, customs, and culture. Many of these aspects of life are interconnected, but many also overlap across religious and secular divides.
Although history shows us how difficult peace in Jerusalem was, is, and will be, the present life in Jerusalem where the people of three distinct faiths and countless ethnic and racial backgrounds have lived for so long shows us that people are resilient and despite hardships and conflict have nonetheless managed to coexist in one holy city. Armstrong's book has provided a solid foundation for understanding why attitudes have been hardened and each group feels entitled to lay claim to the city. However, I think it's important to keep in mind that Jerusalem is as much a binding thread as it is a dividing factor and that people are multidimensional and by nature desire a peaceful existence.

Ch. 14 and 15

In these chapters, we see a shift in the Jerusalem's history. Although I can't find the exact words to describe this shift, I think saying it illustrates the era of modern history in Jerusalem to some extent conveys this shift. There are two points in particular that stood out to me. The first is the Lurianic Kabbalah, "a spiritualized version of the old mythology. There was no need to make the physical aliyah to Jerusalem." It seems that so much of the past history of Jerusalem in based on the physical connection with the city. This new school of thought marks a rather prominent shift in ideology that changes how the city itself is viewed. Although many people today still feel a physical connection to Jerusalem, this idea that the religion can be within ones home and self seems to have a much stronger hold and is probably what enabled such a spread of the religion across the globe.
The second point that caught my attention was Napoleon's attempt to conquer Jerusalem. Most of the conquerors before Napoleon had some form of a religious connection to Jerusalem and as such felt a need to conquer the Holy land. Napoleon therefore again presents a definite shift in the history by wanting to conquer the city for the sole purpose of possessing an "eastern empire." Although politics always had a role in who ruled Jerusalem, so did sacred geography. It seems in these chapters however that the balance between politics and sacred geography had been tipped more on the side of politics.

Ch. 10-13

Within these chapters, we have seen the people of each of the three religions occupy the role of the ruler and the persecuted at some point in time. It surprises me that although each of the groups knows what it feels like to be the oppressed people, they still play the role of oppressor to other groups. Although not all the rulers or groups in power displayed the same levels of oppressive behavior, almost all of them did so to a certain extent. This is a recurring theme throughout history all over the world that seems to scream that we don't in fact learn from our past.
Karen Armstrong makes the statement somewhere in chapter 10 or 11 that it wasn't until the monotheistic faiths started viewing themselves as the only true religion that there started to be intense conflicts. I was surprised to find out that there was a point in time that the three religions were seen as different revelations of the religion of the same God. It is frustrating to see that as socio-economic and political aspects started playing into the picture, then each group asserted themselves as the only true religion wiping away any hope of peaceful co-existence.

Here is a link to a youtube video a friend showed me as we were discussing this topic. It's a comic commentary on religions in general by the comedian Patton Oswalt. Just a disclaimer that he does use quite a bit of profanity.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55h1FO8V_3w&feature=PlayList&p=3E65FD41F73B2971&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=38

Chapter 8

"Monotheists have always had to come to terms with the fact that previous occupants of Jerusalem venerated it as a holy city, and the integrity of their own tenure often depends upon their response to this fact."
This preface sets the stage for the entrance of the other two faiths that will eventually play a crucial role in this one city. In the past chapters, we saw the convergence of various deities and the evolution of religions. At the end of this chapter however, it seems that there is a distinct change in the course of events that shape Jerusalem. The introduction of Christianity, brings into play the second monotheistic faith in her story. We already know that as new rulers came into Jerusalem, they destroyed what existed before to create their new vision of the holy city. Yet, we also know that in present day, Jerusalem is one city with three monotheistic faiths. Therefore, with the introduction Christianity in this chapter and the eventual introduction of Islam, it will be interesting to see how the city adapted and the people of each faith responded to the fact that Jerusalem was venerated as a holy city by a different group of people before them to allow for the existence of all three faiths to some extent in the same city.

Armstrong ch. 5-8

The thing that caught my attention about these four chapters was Karen Armstrong's ability to make the story, per se, flow. Having grown up in a fairly religious household, many of the biblical stories and characters in these chapters are events and names that sound very familiar to me. But they are not events that I necessarily connected with one another, or even placed in a particular geographic location. For me, religious stories always seemed somehow removed from concrete spatial dimensions. This is not to discredit any religious stories. Rather, it is the sense of mysticism that was attached to it. Within these four chapters however, Karen Armstrong connects all these stories, times, people, and places that for some reason I always pictured as separate. In addition, she adds the element of concrete history by blending biblical stories with historical accounts that we learned in history class. The one particular section that really illustrates this is when she talks about Julius Caesar and his subsequent downfall. These four chapters for me were a combination of old biblical stories I learned growing up, specific chunks of various history class, and a good amount of new information all presented in a completely new and rearranged way.

Armstrong Reading 1

I must admit that before I started reading this book, I was a little worried about how dense the material would be considering how much there is to cover. I imagined that it would have a very history textbook sort of approach. But Karen Armstrong does a wonderful job of conveying the material in a very accessible manner. I particularly enjoyed the introduction section in which she outlines the relationship between religion and the human experience and the role of mythology. By establishing this great framework of the human connection to the sacred, the holy city, mythology, symbolism, and artwork, Karen Armstrong provides a better way to understand the various strands of religious history that shaped Jerusalem.
Having grown up in the household of a theologian, I am more or less familiar with most of the biblical stories that are covered in the first chapters. However, reading these chapters made me realize how vaguely and out of context I knew them. The thing that struck me the most throughout the readings were the connections I was making through the smallest details such as the roots of words.
For example, completely unrelated from the biblical aspect, the thing that first caught my attention was the way Karen Armstrong wrote the word "disease" in the intro. She phrased it as "dis-ease." Although I probably should have made that connection years ago, I never did, and the word makes so much more sense now.
Also, the word "bethel." I actually know a building named bethel, owned by a very religious person. The fact that it means beth-house and El-God, hence house of God, makes so much more sense now as well.
And lastly, the fact that El, El Shaddai, and El Elyon were initially terms for different Gods is something that shocked me. I have heard all these terms used in reference to the same God and just assumed that it was always so. I find the merging of the various Gods into one larger identity on some level very beautiful.

Reading Set 2 and Video Response

The Readings:
The second set of readings really shows the immense diversity in Jerusalem's history. In all honesty, I can't say I retained much of the specifics of all the events that went into shaping Jerusalem as she is today. But I definitely got a sense of why she represents a holy site for three religions and is one of the most disputed territories. Just the three articles we read was an overwhelming amount of information, and I imagine that it is only a very brief summary of both reality and perceptions of history. Although it is easy to see why three distinct religious groups lay claim to the same piece of land, I wonder if understanding these intricacies is going to make me more hopeful or less so about the peace process.

The Video:
The first thing that struck me about the video was the music. I absolutely loved the song played during the intro. and thought it was a very powerful piece. It turns out that it is an instrumental Palestinian nationalism piece that would only be recognized by those who know it.
Perceptions are extremely interesting. The way the video was set up, especially in the second half depicting the Palestinian side of Jerusalem, I thought that most of the sequential events were in some way connected. Especially the scenes cutting from a terrorist attack to a woman singing a mournful song to a graveyard scene (I don't remember the exact order). However, as we were discussing the video after class, I learned that those three scenes and many of the others were in no particular way connected to each other. This made me think about how interesting representation is in media from both the producers' and viewers' perspectives.

My Identity

This is a picture I took while doing some volunteer work in Honduras. Although two separate trees, the close proximity and the intertwining branches make it look like one unified tree, especially from a slightly different angle. This is an image that represents my identity on many levels.

I was born in India and spent a little less than half my life there. As such, my Indian background is a large part of my identity. Most of the objects and images found in my room and house reflect an Indian influence in my present life here.
Here are four distinct examples:
1.
Along with the mac and cheese in my kitchen cupboard, there is always some rice and Indian spices. Although my cooking skills are very limited, everything I attempt to make inevitably has a hint of Indian flavoring to it, intentionally or not.
2.
The only religious artifact in my room is a small Bible dedicated to me by my grandparents and gifted to me by my parents. As such, it illustrates the strong religious setting I was brought up in, not only through my parents, but also my extended family.
3.
Most of the images on my walls have a more international theme to them. Ranging from the Ugandan flag to a Laotian fabric. I love traveling. Although not everything on my walls are from my personal trips, they represent places that people in my life have been to. The two most prominent pieces on my walls are batik fabrics of two different types of dancers. This illustrates my love for dance. Although I am formally only trained in one form, I have a passion for learning new types.
4.
My books range from Jane Austen to International Development textbooks. Each book however is a little piece of who I am. I have an odd relationship with books in which I only own and keep books that I have read (fully or partially) and really like or intend to read because I know I will really like it.

I look forward to getting a glimpse into everyone else's identities :)

The Palestine/Israel conflict is an issues that I was not particularly interested in before my college career. In my past four years here however, because of people I've met, my increasing awareness through the media, and my desire to work in the international development field, my interest has been steadily growing. To me, the humanitarian aspect of the conflict is the most important. However, I realize hat religious, political, and economic factors are intricately intertwine, and must be better understood in order to have a sustainable humanitarian impact. As such, I am very excited about this class. Given the nature of the Palestine/Israel conflict, it is very difficult to find unbiased information unless you actively seek it out. This class however offers the perfect opportunity to learn about both sides and the community as a whole. I think this is an extremely rare opportunity. As such, I am very excited to be a part of this class and larger project.
As is probably evident at this point, I am completely new to blogging. Writing about my reflections and feelings are also something I don't do very often. In fact I've never been able to keep a diary. As such, most of the writing I've done has been formal academic papers. I think it may take some time, but I'll try to make this sound more free flowing. Additionally, as many of the other mentioned, I am also technologically quite challenged. I am still amazed that we are going to be able to video conference with two separate communities and be able to gain a whole new real of knowledge through it.
As for the readings, I am actually very surprised that the Jerusalem festival was even attempted at the point here. Although it is very disappointing that is was not able to be put into action, I think it is extremely important that it was even attempted. Hopefully, the fact that it didn't happen once does not mean that it cannot happen again. Although the budget seems to be only one of the factors deterring the festival from happening, the fact that there are many layers to Jerusalem and her people is more widely understood. Even though the complexity of Jerusalem can never be conveyed through a display alone, the effort to do so, I think, was a relationship building process that I hope has and will continue to send ripples in the right direction.
I personally have no problem with leaving the blogs open. I think the discussions we will have are a microcosm of a global discussion, as such, I think leaving the blog open makes sense. However, I completely understand if others object to doing so.