Response to Dr. Tamari's Articles

I found Mr. Tamari’s articles quite interesting and it opened my eyes to many other aspects of the situation, especially about the Arab Jews identity and the fact that not every Jew in Jerusalem and Palestine were supporters of the Zion movement.  I have previously assumed that all Jews in Jerusalem were Zion supporters, but now I realize that this may not be true.  Is there a good number of Jews that would rather not have the state of Israel and would rather go back to the Ottoman days were they shared their city?

I also found the cultural change after the fall of the Ottoman Empire very interesting.  I was slightly surprised at the impact this cultural change had on the situation then but once I really thought about it, the things that make us up as a person are based in our cultural foundations, so it became more clear to me that cultural changes can impact social and military actions. Also, culture is playing such an important part today since many Palestinians feel their culture is being destroyed. Again, this is the foundations of their lives and its being destroyed.   Again, because of this article, I was able to see different perspectives and I have a better understanding of how important culture is to the political spectrum.

For my final project, Malak and I want to incorporate our ideas of the lives of children in Jerusalem.  Everything I have researched thus far has inclined that children are taught to distrust the other side and this will only make prejudices become worse.  However, Hands in Hands schools are bilingual with Arab and Israeli teachers, even number of Israeli and Palestinian students in each classroom.  They focus on tolerance and Israelis and Palestinian children become best friends.  My idea for the final project is to make a children’s storybook that encourages tolerance and acceptance among children.  It would serve as propaganda, but not propaganda for fighting but for peace.  These children will be the future leaders so I believe if they have some experience with accepting the other side, it will lead to more tolerance down the road.  With more tolerance, maybe a peace agreement can be reached.

Questions for Mr. Tamari,

1.       How has the technological advances, such as internet and global broadcasts, affected the conflict?

2.       How much or how little do the people of Palestine want foreign aid and support and in what ways would they like to receive it?

3.       How have you seen the culture change in Ramallah since the construction of the wall?