Is There a Solution???

This is a question that I feel like I never have the answer to....

**Just a little side note before I continue; let me just make it clear that I truly believe that ONLY free men can negotiate, and unless freedom is equally spread all negotiations are a waste of time.**

At the beginning of this course I was keen on the fact that I don't see a solution and that I can't see peace lasting forever... But all I needed was a fifteen minute talk with Noura to make me realize otherwise.

I came to believe that yes, there is a solution but I don't know what it is exactly... I mean this might sound crazy but hey.... it's better than where I was before!

I think that the only way that the two sides could ever be at peace together would be if they got to know each other more.... if they got to experience what the other was deprived of ... if they were more compassionate with each other and if they focused on their similarities more than their differences....

During this phase of mine, I wanted to believe that having a one state solution was a the answer... that everything starts from scratch, people are given a second chance and they all live happily together... no walls, no check points, no occupation! clearly, I wasn't thinking right...

Now that we have finished the Armstrong book I am more convinced that history is bound to repeat it self like it has in the past ! I believe that a new leader will lead the nation to a revolution and I don't know if will bring ever lasting peace but I am sure that during the time of this leader/ruler there will be peace.

This doesn't mean that we just let go on the thought of bringing peace... In fact this means that we should continue to fight the fight. Another way of thinking of it is; instead of bringing peace to the land think of it as bringing peace between the people.

It amazes me what humans can do to each other after infatuating themselves with a complete biased belief... I can only hope that one day humans will embrace compassion, love, equality, and freedom in it's true form.

The last chapters in the Book.

These chapters were really important, there were so many things to keep up with but in this blog I will just brush on some of the things that stood out to me...

I liked how in the book Armstrong pointed out all the good that came out from the Muslim leadership in the Holy Land. It was the first time that we see the people actually putting effort into the educational curriculum... In these chapters she also mentioned the word Jihad a lot and it was not till the 15th chapter until she actually gave the real definition of what Jihad actually meant, which of course that is something that made me "shrug my eyebrows" as I was reading because I feel like this word "jihad" is being misused in context. In the beginning chapters she uses that word to describe the killings in the name of religions to claim land. When reading this it reminded me of when Amer was talking about how the word "crusader" is misinterpreted-- I can understand where he was coming from.

In these chapters what really made me a proud Muslim was how Salahideen was presented and how he ruled when he conquered the holy land. He was the one of the few that ruled with the real meaning of Islam which meant equality, peace, and respect.

This class has taught me that people from both sides need to have compassion for each other and Salahideen truly portrayed that-- Pg. 293 "we shall deal with you just as you have dealt with the population when you took Jerusalem" but then consulted with his people and decided to take the city peacefully after Balian made a desperate plea instead making them prisoners and could only be released with money ... but then it says that the poor people could not ransom themselves and became prisoners of the war , "Large numbers were released, however, because Salahideen was moved to tears by the plight of the families who were being separated when they were taken into slavery." ---- more rulers need the compassion that Salahideen had.

Salahideen did many great things to the people living in jerusalem, one of them was that he invited the Jew's to come back to Jerusalem, from which they had been almost entirely excluded by the crusaders. He also, gave the Greek orthodox the custody of the Holy sepulcher church.

In many ways it seems that he was keen on maintaining the presence of coexistence which to me is the solution to a peaceful life.

I didn't comprehend when Armstrong said " The crusades had not only inspired the new Jihad in the Muslim world but also that they had given rise to a form of Zionism among the Jews of Europe and the Islamic empire."..... Interesting... but I don't know how I feel about this at the same time...

Just a thought that came to me as I was reading ... it seems to me even though during the time where the Jews were treated fairly and given the right to live in the land just as the Christians and the Muslims it was never enough for them .... No matter whatever good was thrown their way they took and ended up wanting more, keeping their focus on ownership. It's like the more fairness/welcoming they received the more they convinced themselves that it was their PROMISED land... Why, can't they be happy with the land being for everyone??

to add to this thought/confusion, I also don't really get the whole aliyah, maybe I over read that part but I don't get if it was something from their holy scripture of if it was an idea created by the people/ a person.

For example I think with the case of Nachmanides who was exiled from Spain, made the aliyah to Jerusalem.... So if he wasn't exiled would he have still made the aliyah..... I guess could be another example of how people use religion to their own benefit...

Later in the chapter I found it astonishing how many times the Christians kept attempting numerous crusades!!!! I think there were like seven crusades... WOW!

(Throughout the several chapters I enjoyed learning more about Palestine's economical state and how it was beginning to thrive.)

There was some lines that I read in the book that I had never heard said in Christianity before ; pg. 362 " the Bible went out of its way to show that the Israelites had taken both Palestine and Jerusalem from the indigenous population." I know that we are at a point where we have agreed that saying that it is not adequate or right of us to say that the land belonged to certain peoples first , but it is something that keeps popping up in the book and it obviously gets me thinking so I had to mention it...

To be honest I didn't get through the rest of the 2 chapters so "my bad" on my part....

A Jew's Perspective on the "state of ISRAEL"--اعتراف حاخام يهودى بعدم شرعية دولة اسرئيل

What really interested me in this video is how he talks about how Zionism focuses on the concept of of transforming Judaism a religion that is about spirituality into a materialistic religion that focuses more on ownership. This guy really look' s like he is someone who practices what they preach. BUT that does not mean that the Jew's don't have a right to live there, they have more of a right to live there just as any other, they just need to do it peacefully.

I love how he portraits Judaism in its true forms; to me it sound holy by saying that they were the people of exile.

chapter 11-13

I didn't know what to expect when reading these chapters... especially knowing that they were going to be about Islam...

I guess the reason I was nervous was because Armstrong has not given Christianity a good image in the history of Jerusalem. I was actually surprised why she did that, I felt like Christianity / Jesus(pbu) was not given the proper intro.

She gives you a great understanding of what the religion (Islam) was like during the time of the prophet. I thought it was extremely interesting why the Dome of the rock was built, seeing how it seen as a disadvantage that the Christians and the Jews had their own churches...

I never knew that the Jews also regarded the Rock! I didn't know that they viewed it as a foundation of the temple etc.. proves my point even more that the faiths are of similarity !

OH! I also really liked how Armstrong pointed out in the beginning that the prophet Mohammad(pbu) did not see his revelations as new; what was revealed through him was simply the old religion of the one God worshiped by the Jews and he Christians (218). I am really surprised at why she did nt say the same about Christianity in her book ??? don't the Christians believe that Jesus(pbu) came to reform the corrupted religion??

what an amazing scene when the Jews welcomed the Muslims during the times of the Byzantines .... which goes to show you that YES, Jew's and Muslims have worked together before.. they have gotten along an it was by CHOICE ! and because of the Jews support/welcoming the Muslims were able to conquer the Byzantines ... and the Jews and Christians lived together in harmony and peace with out anybody being forced out of land, or to practice a certain religion. They were all United.

Parallels and Paradoxes....

I really liked reading about Edward and Daniel, I thought it was amazing how the two could put aside their differences and focus on what similarities they had. I see how that worked so well though, Edward was an extremely understanding person not to mention that his life was pretty much in displacement. He was a Palestinian who never lived there, and so it might be easier for him to have such laxed views of the situation. regardless, I think it still is amazing because I believe that in order for the Jews and the Palestinian to get along they must admit that before a certain time in history they were all jew Palestinians, Muslim Palestinians, and Christian Palestinians. Understanding that the Jews have their history in this land just as the Palestinians ... which I actually believe that majority of the Palestinians accept that. I totally agree that the time has come to realize that we have a problem of human and social justice that must be solved, and that the national aspect of this conflict is only one of its many dimensions.

questions :

1) do you think that through music the walls of politics can be torn down?

2) How has working on projects like this changed your perspective?

3) Do you ever see peace between the two sides? do you see both the Jews and the Palestinians living together again like they used to in the past?

4) do you think the "state of Israel" would be willing to advocate what Daniel and Edward had started so that somehow peace could be attained ?

Noura's article was great, it was very precise and thorough. A lot of the things that she pointed out were things that I have thought about in the past in regards of what the real problem between the two sides was. Noura is right, both sides are fighting for something that they both want,which makes them forget about their similarities and only see their differences in order to prove each other wrong... one thing that I disagreed with just a little is when she said that BOTH Palestinians and Israelis have denied the legitimacy of the others ties to the land ... I don't necessarily believe that that is the issue with the Palestinians, I think that the Palestinians are or were more opened to the idea that they have their reasons of why the land was so important to them. I think that in the way Israel has been treating the Palestinians it has left the Palestinians to feel negative towards them in general.

Chapters 5-7

Again, Late ... had technical issues but here it is..

I am now a little more comfortable with the book and I am starting to catch on the important bullet points of the history more so. There is so much history that has happened on this holy site, at a certain point I was sort of depressed... What has happened to the people that lived on the land is so sad. We see it being ruled by so many different people and every time there seems to be a new system which works well for a while then later collapses or one that starts off in some sort of seclusion of different sects.

Of coarse while reading these chapters I have in the back of my mind " what is the problem with why the people in this land cant get a long" and the more I read I have noticed that the answer lies in between the lines ... I know we haven't talked about the other two faiths, well actually Christianity was mentioned briefly which was a little surprising due to the history given about Judaism you would think she would go into more of the roots. Instead I felt that Jesus was the bad guy during his time. Going back to what I was talking about noticing the other two faiths one of which I know great history about (Islam) I have come to the conclusion that the issue of why there is so much separation between certain faiths is because there is more focus on the differences than the similarity's. Each religion has there own reason for why the land is "Holy" instead of noticing that it is not JUST the religions that make this land holy but, it is that these religions and different kinds of people actually existed on that land. I mean it is obvious that the land its self is holy because it was chosen to be a place of importance for all three religions!

I have repeatedly seen in this book through out the different rulers, God reminding the people(Jews) of their true roots of their religion... reminding them that they should only worship one God, not bear hatred in ones heart, to not be guilty of unjust verdicts, to not jeopardize your neighbors life, and if a stranger lives with you in your land you do not molest him... that you must count him as one of your countrymen ans love him as yourself because they were once strangers in Egypt. Wow, clearly that is not what is being practiced in recent history. just goes to show how human beings have the capacity to love something so much to the point where it could destroy them.

Again, there is a lot of repetition that goes on with in these chapters, you see the temple being rebuilt, you see repetition in how tend to go back to the pure version of their faith but then falling of track, disappointment,and repetition of the people adapting to new rulings .... I guess it is true when said that history tends to repeat its self.....

A really important point that I tend to focus a lot on is how people might/have the tendency to misinterpreted the words of God. like for example in the book it mentions how during the passover the words that are used are "Next year in Jerusalem!" which refers to future messianic age and not the earthly city.

Seems to me that the people/human kind has had the tendency to get carried away with the love of their religion to the point of where it becomes dangerous instead of peaceful and misinterpretation is a big factor. I see that exclusion is not just between the NOW "Palestinian/Israeli conflict" but it has been a problem of this land since way way back.... I think a good example is when Ezra commanded the members of Golah to send aways their wives and where people were not allowed to marry outside of their tribe. Marrying an outsider at that time was equivalent to leaving the sacred enclave and going into the god-less wilderness.

Also, another thing that caught my attention is that a wall was being built to protect the temple that was later demolished... seems kind of crazy but in a way in our present history Israel is and has built a wall claiming that its for protection..... wonder what the end of that wall will be ...

In conclusion really I have come to the thought that what is now the Palestinian/Israeli conflict is not a new thing in a certain way.... because clashes between different faiths , race, and ethnicity has been a recurring part of history of The Holy Land (Palestina).

chapters 1-4

a little late... but here we go...

I actually thought that these chapters were really interesting! yes, it was long and extremely dense but it talked about the land and the people that were living in it. As a Muslim a lot of the religious stories that were included in this book were familiar to me because my religion was built from the two previous faiths.

I never really thought about the word "holy" from the other perspectives... I mean, I have always known the in Islam there are three holy sites but I never really knew what the word "holy" meant to the other religions. I had always heard about "zion" but I can understand why mount zion is so important to the Jews just as masjid al-aqsa is holy to the Muslims and as the grave of Jesus is holy to Christians.

Through out these chapters I saw some repetitiveness with in the religion and how it was being formed. Earlier in the chapters when Karen talked about Baal and how he lived in zaphon ( the holy mountain), it mentions that there he would remove war from the earth, the he would pour peace in the depth of the earth and that love would increase in the depth of the fields. I in many ways felt re-assured of the way I felt about Judaism knowing that it was the result of the formation of love, peace, equality etc.. In theses chapters no matter who ruled the Hebrew prophets had urged and insisted on the prime importance of social justice ! it seemed to me that the rulers that would take control though the different eras would impose on how the faith was supposed to be practiced but never themselves practiced it! how is that okay?

Something that I had not thought about was how the Israelites were originally (slaves) from Egypt ! I have no idea how i didn't connect the two together knowing that it was moses who helped escape by splitting the Red sea! Also, I was kind of lost on who Yahweh was, I assume that that means GOD in Hebrew.

Philistia or philistine is such an interesting and fascinating land! to me it seems like its not the events from every religion that make it holy, but because God chose it to be the land where all kind of people with the three different faiths are connected. I think if more people saw the land its self as what is holy and focussed more on the similarities then the differences then maybe the land can be at peace. In my eyes it is so sad to see these similarities and know that all that is focussed on in reality is the differences.

oh, another story that I felt connected to was the story of Abraham and how he left hagar and his newborn in the the desert because Ishmael was to be sacrificed; in Islam when Abraham left the two stranded in the desert hagar had ran seven times back and forth looking for water for her son. she had placed him on the ground and while he was crying he was kicking his feet and from underneath his feet water appeared (zamzam).

I liked how in the book it said that when Abraham had reached Canaan he had lived there as an migrant and that he didn't own land there until he bought a burial plot for his wife when she died. This Proves that this land belonged to others and not just to the Muslims Jews or Christians !

It was the land of all people.......wow just saying that sounds holy ...

Week Two Response

Jerusalem Then and Now:

I really learned so much from this reading because it talked more of the history of Palestine and how it got to where it is at. It was very important that they stressed the fact that Palestine is a land that is made up of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam from what I have read it shows that the Arabs were not the ones who kicked out the Jews out of Palestine. The graph goes into great depth about the rulings in Palestine but if we look at the graph from the end we see that it was "roman and the Byzantium" that took land from the "Maccabean Jews" and it was not till Arabs gained more territory that they took over from the romans. Even after we had Arab rulers in Palestine they were kicked out by the "Christian crusaders" and in 638 AD they were defeated by the Arabs. No where did I read that the Arabs were the ones to kick the Jews out of the holly land. This is an important part of Palestine's history. Not to mention that even after that the land was colonized and was never given a chance to grow on its self! the people of the land never had time to set up a governmental system but instead foreign countries donated the indigenousness peoples land to the European Jews.

The history of Jerusalem: an Arab perspective.

He talked a lot about the history of Palestine, stating that Palestine was a country that was populated by three religions. he goes into depth about the Muslim rulers and how they had political impact in Palestine. I like how he said that if it was not for the Arabs Palestine would have been under the rule of the crusaders, so if anything they regained control of the land that they had taken out of there hands once again and that time it was by Brittan who gave it away like it was a piece of candy.

Jerusalem: the Holy City through Ages.

Again a lot of history talk about Jerusalem or "Israel" as the writer said; but in reality I dont know how I really feel about this article because I feel like I have read too many article that are some ways similar. They both talk about the history of the land, but use different vocabulary which makes the articles more one sided. There is just one thing I do remember reading about and that is the six day war; it said that this event is what reunited Jerusalem. that in my opinion is not true, in fact it is the reason of the separation between the two sides.

Hello, my name is Malak and I am a junior majoring in Arabic studies. I heard about this class through Noura but what made me want to take this class was getting to know the history of the land of my great grandfathers. I am Palestinian, NO I was not born there and NO I have never been there; I am a Palestinian refugee, a status slapped on to my family for the last three generation. I believe that in order to be able to hold constructive criticism or dialog with others one must know the history of the subject. As a Palestinian I feel that it is my duty to know the history of the land I belong to and that is why I chose to take this course. To me, spreading awareness about the occupation and oppression in Palestine is a priority because above everything, I am a humanitarian who believes in Human Rights!

1st article:

I was glad to hear that Jerusalem was included in the festival in D.C. because the Palestinians have such a rich culture and traditions that people now a days don't know about! There is so much more to the Palestinians that what is being viewed on the media! And on top of that the Palestinians are never given the chance to represent their land and their culture ! It is always a one sided view which leaves the Palestinians isolated ! Just what Israel wants! so I was happy to hear that Palestine(Jerusalem) was included.

2nd article:

I liked this one a lot, I love the part where Suad talks about how the more they researched the more they realized that politics and culture was inter winded back then... and that was only when it was a 26 year old occupation, imagine how worst it is now. There are so many talented individuals that are deprived from the everyday life resources that they need to achieve a promising future. Also, when talking about he religious aspects the Muslims are declined entry into the dome of the rock and if given access of entry it is for extremely minimal hours...

3rd article:

Talks about difficulty of representing Palestinian and Israeli cultures in such a different community in the D.C. festival. Also touches the subject of the budget and how the funding was minimal. The womans roles in the peace making was mentioned. with all of this I just want to remind everyone that these are great articles but, they are a little old and the situation in Palestine has only gotten worst. The situation there is not acceptable and Israel is continuing its attempt to ethnically cleanse the Palestinians not to mention that they have succeeded in preventing the Palestinians from attending schools, getting access to health facilities, and blocks humanitarian goods from entering in.