Lila, Allison and Kete

Girls:
Your research was so good! I'm really glad you girls showed the services of the Muslim, Jewish, and Christian churches. Previously, I had never seen neither a Jewish nor a Muslim worship service and it was quite interesting to see!

Kete:
Your research made me sooo hungry! I really think you uncovered something great just by showing the class the importance of food in identity.  I also think the Chefs for Peace movement is a very beautiful attempt to understand the opposing viewpoints and makes me hopeful for the future of Jerusalem.

Blog post for Nov 14

In my opinion, the evaluation should focus on what readings were/weren't helpful. I'm not sure if anyone felt the same way, but for me a lot of the readings either were a) incredibly informative with very interesting information or b) confusing and/or a little bit dry. I also think the evaluation should feature what the students felt was more useful as they leave the class. Because I am interested in going to law school, I enjoyed learning about the issues that featured human rights infringements and those that included issues of laws and lawmaking in Israel.

Anatot

For this exercise, we were asked to look up Anatot and also supplied with two websites that Dr. Horowitz found to be useful for our research.  Previously, I had never heard of this area and looked it up to find that Anatot is a small town of less than 1,000 Israelis that live within the West Bank (a primarily Palestinian area).

I first went to the Btselem website and found a website talking about the average age of a minority civilian in the military-justice system in the West Bank.  According to this article, the age has been raised from 16 to 18. This amendment raises the age from 16 to 18 in an effort to protect the Palestinians living in the West Bank.  According to this article, the Israelis are not affected because Israelis are prosecuted under the Israeli Penal Law regardless of their location.  Apparently, this amendment was made in an effort to protect Palestinian teens that have been accused of crimes such as stone throwing. In this respect, the amendment gives Palestinian teens the right to:

1. Notification of Parents: however, this can be an issue because under the amendment, the authorities are required to only make a "reasonable effort" to notify the parents or guardians. However, this legislation fails to mention the requirements for a "reasonable effort."
2. The authorities must inform teens of their rights to consult with an attorney
3. Under this amendment, minors may not be prosecuted after one year of said criminal behavior, except for certain offenses (such as causing death, assault, stone throwing, and throwing a burning object). The previous statute held limitations of two years.
4. This amendment limits the authorities in the way they imprison minors. They are only allowed to be with adults if they are 16 or older and the adults may not have contact with them while the minors are sleeping.

This article interested me because I am considering law school and anything law-related grabs my attention.  I cannot help but notice how incredibly different the law is in Israel/West Bank as compared to the law in the United States. Here, the statue of limitations is much longer and minors are only allowed to be held with adults if the judge decides they should be charged as adults, therefore in the eyes of the law being seen as adult. I feel as though much of this amendment is very general and could therefore lead to trouble for both the authorities and those being detained. In my opinion, this amendment is a very weak attempt to protect the Palestinian teens and I don't feel as though a Palestinian would be very protected if they were arrested. 

Municipal Inequality in Ir-Amim

I found it interesting that the statistic stated that Palestinians account for 33% of the population yet only constitute 8-11% of the funding for Jerusalem. This seems like a pretty obvious miscarriage of fiscal means as they should be receiving at least 30% of the fiscal means provided to the city. 

This article also included facts on the lacking classrooms available to Palestinian children and how the parents are being forced to send their children to pricey private schools and how some children are unable to go to school because their families are unable to pay the pricey fees of private tuition.

These articles were both useful because they gave me a unique glance at the world that Palestinians see and understand.

My questions for Eitan:

1. In your opinion, what is the most obvious misallocation of funds for the Palestinian minorities of Jerusalem? 

2. Do you feel that the Palestinians of Jerusalem are given reasonable schooling for their children and if not, what are some of your ideas to get more classrooms available for the Palestinian students?

3. Do you feel that the new Amendment will help protect Palestinian teens who are arrested by the Israeli authorities? Do you feel that the Amendment addresses all areas of concerns for Palestinian detainees? 

Question for Elinor

In your opinion, what would be the best way to resolve the Israeli/Palestinian conflict? Is separation vital to the peace movement?

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Reading Response For Nov 1, 2011

Sharon and My Mother-In-Law is the most moving of all of the articles we have read to this point.  This article scared me, enlightened me, and made me feel for the victims of this terrible conflict.  In her writing, you can feel her fear as she goes to retrieve the "gas masks" as well as her frustration upon being constantly told to stand in a line and behave in an orderly fashion. It must get old to be told to do the things you had already intended to do, as if you were incapable of coming up with these notions on your own. Does anyone care to enlighten me as to what the older neighbor meant when he said "If you can't beat them, join them?" Was he an Israeli?
In the chapter about the dogs, it is hard to imagine ethnic restrictions so severe that even a dog vaccination must be accounted for.  It is almost comical to consider that a dog would have to get a Jerusalem ID in order to receive its necessary vaccinations. When the author talks of how she was so jealous of the ID and almost considered putting her own picture on the ID for Nura, it became much clearer for me as to just how intense the divide is for the residents of these communities.  It is also interesting to read that the car needs a form of identification as well as its driver.

Not the Mother of All Cities is an interesting article.  The best part of this article is how she mentions that most of the inhabitants feel the need to be "her master." This so easily applies to the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and how the need for communication and cooperation is so vital in this situation.  She writes of how "women (speaking of the city) deserve to be loved with less posessiveness and more equality." This is an article I wish all of the current residents of Jerusalem would read and understand because I honestly believe it would inspire them to make an honest attempt at communicating with each other in an efficient and reasonable way.

Questions for Hasan-Rokem:
In your opinion, what is the best option to end the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?
Can you tell us what it is like to wake up each morning and be greeted by the wall?
Would it make sense for the country to remain as one, or is separation the only alternative?

Final Project Outline

Megan Watson

I-300

Outline for I300 Final Project

Description: My final project will be a compilation of interviews of various friends, family, coworkers, and complete strangers that will help to give me insight to what the typical American knows of the current state of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.  At this point, my goal is to interview at least 15 people and combine their answers for a collective example of the American knowledge of the conflict. At this point, my current approach to the interview is as follows:

Initial Statement: I am researching for a class at Indiana University Bloomington, do you mind if I ask you some questions? Whatever you choose to say may be used in a classroom environment and/or posted on the Living Jerusalem Blog. At any time you are able to refuse to answer questions or stop the interview.

If the interviewee should submit to these questions, I will use the following questions to gauge their individual understanding of the conflict.  I will then compile their individual answers to try to better understand what the average American understands about the conflict.  Because I am researching the average American, I will incorporate interviewees of various ages, economic status, and ethnicities. Additionally, I will record their responses with a video camera and combine these for a video that I will show in class. This is my first time creating a video so I am sure it will be a challenge.

Questions.

1.     What is your name?

2.     How old are you?

3.     What is your current job, or are you a student?

4.     Where are you from? Have you lived in America all of your life?

5.     Have you traveled abroad?

6.     Can you point to Jerusalem on this map?

7.     Can you tell me about the wall that separates the Israelis and Palestinians within the current state of Israel?

8.     What are your opinions of Palestinian proposal of Statehood to the United Nations?

9.     How often do you read the newspaper or read international news online?

10. Do you have any ideas as to what could settle the conflict of the Israelis and Palestinians?

11.  Have you attended any conferences related to Jerusalem?