Rachael Sauceda

Class Evaluation Final

Discussion,

I believe that sometimes it was hard to have something to say about the readings or there was not always any direction in the discussion. It was hard for me sometimes because I did not know anything about Jerusalem and it was hard in the beginning to talk about Karen Armstrong’s book when it was all historical based. Sometimes it would have been nice to have a little more direction on the discussion or structure. Once people did get a better understanding the discussions went along nicer and it seems that discussions are somewhat based on time and being comfortable talking or voicing your opinion on subjects you may not be that knowledgeable in.

Video Conferences

I thought that all of the video conferences went really well, and the only issues with them would have been technical or things out of the realm of our power. I would have liked to have had a little more background information or have looked up more information on the people that we were conferencing with. It was also nice for example with the PYLARA group to conference with because they were around our age and somewhat less intimidating, they were more relatable from a social stance in having a more normal conversation. The conferences gave an interaction that is unbeatable when trying to get a feel for where another person’s perspective is coming from. There is nothing more powerful then to see human emotion and to talk with people from so far away is just amazing.

Readings

I thought that all of the readings were interesting, and were able to help with the discussions. The readings were all pretty different and gave many aspects look at when dealing with the city and the conflict. I liked the range of the topics and different authors. Some of the readings were a bit confusing for me at times but they were all so insightful on different scales. The diversity in topics was also interesting, even though sometimes I like more flow from topic to topic there was a lot of different things to read and engage in. I liked how we got to talk to some of the authors of the readings that we did. It was the first time that I had done anything like that. I always like when people are actually saying how they feel and when you get to talk with them or hear them speak it is so different than just reading a passage.

Speakers

All of the speakers that we had in class were all extremely engaging and informative. I believe it was interesting because all of the speakers were so different and it was nice to hear and speak with people coming from across different areas to all discuss Jerusalem. I really thought that all of the speakers were great because they were all so knowledgeable and seemed prepared in what they were going to talk about or just knew the subject matter very well. I also liked how one was more personal dealing, then there was another which had a power point and overall they were just engaging and interesting. To see so many people who are interested in the city even here in Columbus is also more humanizing than just discussing about readings. I found it interesting how many people in academics were also nervous to state their personal stance on the situation.

Blogging

I had never blogged before and found it pretty easy to use, up until today which I am currently having problems so it is a touchy subject to write about. The blogging was a new experience and I thought that it was a good way to get ideas down. There should be more criteria to respond to other people’s blogs because for me it was a time issue and sometimes I would read through the blogs and just not really remember to make a comment. The class blog and individual blogs I believe were a good idea and a good way to organize all the information about Jerusalem. I found it very convenient that the class syllabus was online, but would often forget to look at it some weeks for the assignments. I think the syllabus was kept pretty simple which I liked since I did not have to search extensively for what was needed to be done or when to blog, etc.

Final and Reflection

I liked the outline for the final project because it let people just enough structure but left a lot of researching a topic of interest. I found it very interesting to see all of the projects that people came up with and just how different everything really was. I liked seeing all of the perspectives and how there was freedom for creativity in picking one’s topic. There is so much information from all aspects of Jerusalem that the ideas are endless and I loved that about this class. Incorporating technology so closely is also an interesting aspect of the class. From not only my own project but all of the projects I have learned something new about that region of the world. Coming into the class I was not knowledgeable of the area at all and now I have a better understanding about what is going on. When people asked me what the class was about before I was actually in it I was even a little unsure myself. I believe that this class has truly changed my perspective on Jerusalem and I now have a deeper appreciation and respect for the area and people that live there. It is hard to try and even come close to imagining what life is truly like to live in Jerusalem and from what perspective you are coming from all differ so drastically. I was glad to see many diverse aspects of the conflict and how Jerusalem is functioning today. I am extremely excited to visit the city and feel already that it will be such a powerful and moving experience that I cannot even imagine what it will be like. This city, this place means so much to so many people and it is their livelihood, even though I will never be connected to the city as much as others it will become part of my life experience and I will be connected to it in one way or another for the rest of my life.

categories I would choose for evaluation are:

Discussion

Video conferences

1. before had knowledge

2. questions

3. reaction

Blogs

1. interaction in blogs

2. class blog

Speakers

After reading over the background information on PYALARA is appears that the programs they are running have the best intentions for young Palestinians and helping them to deal with their frustrations of the occupation in new and artistic ways. The background information of the historical guideline of more recent events in the Gaza Strip and West Bank was also very interesting because the article really emphasized how much harder it was for women who are youth in nearly all aspects of life. I did not realize that Palestinian culture was so patriarchal and that so much social and cultural things were holding them back along with living in occupied territories. I also had learned in previous classes about Hamas and wonder if their negative view on a global perspective is making it extremely hard for the people of the Gaza strip to reach out to the international community, also dealing with Israel restricting them. I just read an article in the news how Hamas recently executed three Palestinians yesterday and all this negative media attention if focused on the area.

Menachem Klein's article started off somewhat confusing when talking about all the agreements that had been previously discussed on what to do with the city,if there should be walls and where they should be, how the city would be divided who would be allowed in etc, etc, but this is a very confusing subject so it is understandable that I got a little lost in all the different possible ideas of the division of the city. I did like though how he discussed all the different kinds of walls because that was something that I had never come across before, and when talking about the context of people in Jerusalem being involved he wrote "When a resident of East Jerusalem and one of West Jerusalem refer to themselves as “we,” it is rare for that pronoun to be grounded in the reality of their lives and consciousness."

It was good to read how people could cross over to seek medical attention in East Jerusalem if they were in need under certain conditions since there was better medical help there. It shows that people are able to work peacefully and always leaves room for hope in bad situations. It was unfortunate the the second intifada brought about a lack of joint understanding between Palestinians and Israelis in Jerusalem and less focus on coexistence.

If I had a question for Menachem Klein I would say do you think that by creating Jerusalem to be divided as how you stated "not a product of agreement but of war" it was doomed from the start to be a territory literally and consciously divided to the people who inhabited the land creating a sense of loss and yearning from each side? How do you think this affected the view of the city before 1967 and then after?

I feel like the presentation gave so much information but it was all done so clearly and concisely it was perfect! I feel like professor Herrmann just knew so much and it was a very insightful presentation. I actually started to see the conflict in a completely different light than what I had thought before and it was really interesting to see how my opinion was somewhat changed of everything going. I am also really excited to be talking with some people from a Palestinian media organization, and seeing even more perspectives of what it is like to live in or close to Jerusalem. I like how the one article says how the walls keep nothing out and nothing in but just bear witness to the flow of faiths and religion through the gates. It was interesting also to read how throughout the time line where the United States was and how closely they stayed by Israels side.

I liked how in the article about architecture it talks about how even though Israel was trying to embrace their own identity it was still taking a lot from arab culture and looks of buildings. I like how it talks about the different eras that people went thorugh with architecture because I want to do my project relating to architecture and Jerusalem and the article gave me a lot of information to look into. It was a different perspective on architecture and made me realize how much the building people see everyday could have deep meaning to thte peopel who designed them or how the dwelling of a city can create a sense of community through the styles of the buildings.

I found the video conference to be absolutely fascinating! It was very interesting to hear and speak with people living in Jerusalem. I had so many ideas about what it could be like to live there from documentaries and different videos I have scene in the past and one of the most striking things I thought was how I guess in the media the conflict is the main point that is portrayed and it is easy to make assumptions about how the different groups living there would interact. It was good to finally see some humans interacting and not just reading from books or articles. Although there was an emphasis on how the politics of it all is what is causing so much conflict and frustration amongst the people, if the general population is able to live peacefully or side by side how can governments ruin that so quickly ? This problem seems to become more and more complex the more that I learn and try to understand what is going on.

The idea that I have for my project is sort of still an idea in progress type of deal and I think that it would be divided into three separate sections but I do not know if I am trying to focus on too much. The first section that I wanted to focus on was the architecture in Jerusalem now and the buildings that are around today and how they came about. I wanted to focus on the more modern Jerusalem and the buildings that I would get to physically see or that were made in say the last century or so. I wanted to see if there was any information on the architecture relating to the current fighting and also how the buildings may have some cultural history. In the second section I wanted to focus on the art of people from the region and art dealing with conflict or how each side portrays their view through artistic expression. There was a few websites that I found one was called resistance art and the other was dealing with artists from Israel. The third topic that I was interested in was just artist in general throughout history that have painted pictures depicting Jerusalem in the background or as the main image in their painting, and to see how the city has evolved through artists interpretations throughout the ages, also just looking at artists from around the world that have used Jerusalem as a subject to paint and the different views that the city could be depicted as. I wanted to use images and pictures and then find some information to present to the class about the pictures that I chose to depict certain aspects of my project. I feel that this is very broad and could be an extremely large amount of information but I believe that I could incorporate all the topics together and still be able to focus in on certain aspects of interest to sort of broadly represent my idea as a whole flowing project.

After viewing the film I found it to be extremely insightful and gave a different perspective on cultural aspects of certain parts of Israel. There seems to be a lot of identity issues for people in the region and how that could be extremely confusing when people are trying to grasp a sense of who they are.

I like the way the story is written and flows very nicely. The gas mask incident seems like the people are always having to jump through hoops and deal with unnecessary extras to try and get the things needed to remain safe, and not even see a final result of secured safety since non of them ended up with masks. I also found it quite amusing how the little dog was able to recieve a passport so easily but it takes years and sometimes people will never be able to get an ID for Jerusalem.

I like how she talked about taking a step back and seeing how ridiculous everything was that they had to go through living and what they had to go through to try and live a normal life. Rokem had a very interesting writing style and the words flowed together very well. I liked the comparisons that were made and the way it was written was very interesting. I am sort of confused by the last line though because it says something about Jerusalem being undivided but then talks of two capitals for two states for two nations which would leave me to believe that it is shared or something along those lines.

I also wanted to talk about my project since I forgot to in the last blog and am thinking of doing something with the architecture of Jerusalem portrayed through paintings in the early ages and now with photographs that are available and how it has changed or the perspective from one artist to another throughout history has differed.

channels of rage

The film channels of rage seems like it will be extremely interesting and to get a perspective from I guess more relevant or less historical viewpoint is going to be something new. All the events we have learned about in class will probably just sort of come together and are leading up to now where there are still extreme issues with conflict. The film seems to have been shown at many festivals and received quite a few rewards according to the marketing website for it, which was Ruth Disken. It is amazing to learn how the rappers are able to put their own perspective on the issues in the Middle East and the conflict while using music as a messenger. I also find it incredible how such dedication was put into the film to have it span a three year period. It is interesting how much music can have an influence when used as a catalyst for working towards some kind of resolution but alone will need help from people to want to change. I like how in our class we are seeing all types of perspective of the conflict and able to see so many differing sides. The video conference was also extremely interesting and enjoyable. After reading an article on line how Mr. Tamari’s house had been destroyed sounded devastating, but then to actually see the person that this has happened to and to her his perspective n issues is quite extraordinary. I feel like this documentary will be extremely relatable and will show a different perspective on the current conflict.

week six

Reading the first article that dealt with Wasif Jawhariyyeh was extremely interesting to read because it gave a first person perspective mixed with historical context throughout. I was fascinating to read of things happening during the early twentieth century from a person seeing and experiencing these things for himself. Going through nearly every aspect of what society was like from education, culture, issues dealing with religion and music are all intertwined even more so then I could have ever imagined. Before the city was divided into four quarters it is always interesting to read about how Jerusalem used to be and how there may have even been some kind of mingling amongst all the different people in the city. To see the changes that happened once the British mandates were put in place seems saddening when dealing with issues of restriction to access of certain areas of the city. It was very interesting to read of different cultural and musical aspects of life that were popular back then.

Upon reading the second paper I liked how it started off by talking about just the specific words he was choosing to use in his essay and dealing with the word 'nativism'. It was interesting to show the different examples even though briefly from other regions of the world where there was some type of struggle with who was there first and how they are all sort of connected in certain aspects or another. I liked how Tamari wrote "Jerusalem became the arena of an intellectual circle that regarded the peasantry as the soul of the nation, the salt of the earth, uncontaminated by radical intrusions of technology and a Westernizing culture." This line for some reason just really stuck out to me in the writing. It was interesting how they viewed the Palestinian culture and what it meant to the history of Jerusalem. It was interesting to read of the different aspects of Palestinian culture and views on certain historical aspects of the region and why the people are the way they are. Also the issues dealing with modernization and the western ways seen as coming in and having influence are interesting. It was unusual for me to read about how the saints were also viewed and the cultural context that they held.

Readings week five

I wanted to start off by talking about the presentation and how much I did not understand or even realize about Jerusalem and the situation. For some reason I just did not know that people were literally being taken out of their own houses and pushed onto the streets. That was really my moment of oh man this is what is happening today and why people are fighting to extremes now. I was sort of stuck in the past and caught up in all the history of Jerusalem and that film made me realize like its 2010 and there is still destruction and its not just reading from a history book about way back when. I think that the exhibit will be extremely interesting and am going to go. On another note as I traveled to Washington D.C. this past weekend I was unable to go to the Palestinian center there but there was randomly when I was walking I saw the people from the Israelite School of Universal Practical Knowledge, and seeing the world Israel stopped to listen. Well it ended up being an extreme group and was interesting to listen to their very opinionated views but were more focused on the flaws of other religions than whatever the message they were trying to portray which I was unable to exactly understand from what I watched.

Getting into the end of Armstrong book, I found it almost amusing when it was pointed out how Christianity and the other religions in getting the main idea of things had failed in Jerusalem at portraying the “charity and loving kindness” of the faith. I also like how Armstrong used the term “biblical archaeology” I believe that is the best way to put trying to use religion off of fact based places and buildings when religion is mostly compromised of faith for people in general. To see how people who are unfamiliar with the area try to come in and want to allow three faiths to live in peace seems like wishful thinking but if people were just more willing to listen to others, or understanding then maybe it could be possible. To read how the city was transformed from an Arab city to a mostly Jewish city was also interesting. It seems that no matter what people are going to fight for the area of the city but things have just gotten out of hand. To read of groups and extreme measures that are taken just distort the image of Palestinians and propaganda is created to fuel the fight between the two sides. In the book when they mentioned Hamas the group I had previously come across that group in a children and war class and seen some of their training videos online and the atrocities that they encouraged were horrible. I liked Armstrong’s quote “One of the inescapable messages of the history of Jerusalem is that, despite the romantic myths to the contrary, suffering does not necessarily make us better, nobler people. All too the often, quite the reverse.”

response 5

It is extremely interesting to read about how Christians started to first take on wanting to know and go through the experience and travels of Jesus and how people started to develop a yearning for wanting to touch the things he did and go the places he did. Christianity seemed to have made a complete 360 in regards to their thoughts and views on “sacred geography” and feeling closer to God. If the two monotheistic religions had anything in common now it was Jerusalem and a dislike for the other to rule over them. To read of all the continued destruction still being a recurring theme is saddening and makes me think how there will ever be some kind of peace resolved today if the history they are continuously looking back on is full of such destruction. I like how chapters go into great detail the history is Islam, a lot of it was familiar to me since I took a class on the history of the Middle East last quarter a lot of the information was fresh in my head. When Armstrong brought up the issue of construction being a way for the three faiths to have a hold on the other and with their buildings and architecture was very different then what was seen in previous chapters since now the focus shifted to people out building each other but during the same time period.

Why did the Karaites build a cheese factory of all the things to build on the mount of olives? I did not realize that Jerusalem was so prone to such devastating earth quakes also. To hear how in history people justified battle through religion is just an idea that I am unable to grasp, and yet it continues to this day. To read about the crusades is always upsetting and just crazy to think of all the people that lost their lives. It seems odd how after the crusaders had killed nearly all the people of Jerusalem that they had no idea of really what to do with the city. It is a shame to read how when other communities and people were thriving intellectually Jerusalem was sort of left in the dust and more focused on military and architectural survival.To see Jerusalem go from a place where people could live, not necessarily peacefully but at least with out killing each other to complete destruction and death seems that people are just able to ruin beautiful things to easily.

Response 4

I wanted to start off by talking about when the tomb of Jesus was found under the pagan temple. Okay, I found it amusing by how awe inspiring and sort of a religious revival had happened before Christianity had even been around for a long time occurred when the tomb was found. I like how Armstrong wrote of how even though the Christians did not accept the idea that they needed some physical sight on earth how even to find such a thing and related them to primal myths of going back to human origin. I also like how the chapters focused on how Jews and Christians were able to sort of realize wholly that their faith and worship can be from anywhere and not just Jerusalem. Even after the city had been completely changed it was astounding to me for people to still hold it at such a holy place in their hearts and to their religion, and am starting to see the importance of the city to the people. I never knew anything about Jerusalem and was shocked to read how many times it was destroyed and created, and I had no idea that the Jews were completely exiled and banned from practicing in Jerusalem for some time. I could not imagine how painful it would be to see the city they loved so dearly completely destroyed and turned into a modern Greek or Roman area. I sort of feel like Christianity being so closely related and not necessarily accepted, but was able to b integrated into the political and economic system to quickly was astounding. At times I thought the book was a little or very so much complex and confusing with all the historical content. It is somewhat hard for me to understand also such a close tie with the land. For me living in America I feel that we do not as a society have such associations with land and a sense of identity of who we are since there is not one place I hold dear, or can think of that as a group is seen as an admirable land or holy area for us here. Taking on this new perspective of Jerusalem is giving me a better understanding of how things have come to where they are today, even though I only know such a small amount, my understanding is better than where it was a few weeks ago but I still have so much more to learn.

Response 3

I wanted to first start off saying that I was glad that I attended the film and now have a new appreciation for how the arts are able to bring people together. I did not realize how serious of a situation the people were facing and were so naive to the others cultures or visa versa. It was astounding to see how the groups despite their differences were able to come together and all share a great appreciation for music and find a common ground of understanding on a personable level.

I am glad that the book gave some type of meaning to the word Sukkoth since I kept forgetting to look up what it was all about. From what I have read so far I am starting to get a better understanding as to why the people held Jerusalem as such a holy place. Since they were exiled it seems that since Jerusalem was destroyed the people still looked and prayed to that direction making it important to them not only geographically but also spiritually. It is interesting to see how the Israelites went about learning to praise or worship within and see how their religion started to take form. I liked how when writing Armstrong also made note to mention other happenings in the world for example mentioning Siddhartha Gautama. I really liked this because it shows how other parts of the world were doing at a time when the exiled were starting to figure out what constituted as holy and how to approach certain areas of their religion. How it was acknowledged that from even extremely early on the walls or fortifying the city was “a bid for political control and preeminence.” Having such harsh exclusionary rules from early on also seems to set how people would try to make claims to the land in present time trying to prove how it was rightfully theirs through archeological studies and finds. I liked also how the book compared the Greek Hellenistic Era to that of people admiring western culture today and think that it is interesting how Armstrong is able to make such clear and relatable comparisons. To make note of the first religious persecution in history seemed like a bold statement but never the less it did change many people’s perspectives of their religion. To read and understand more completely how the Jewish faith was established going over the smallest incidences and how certain holidays came about makes me want to understand and learn more about my own religions history. I was raised catholic but have come to realize that I know much less than I thought about the religion and this class has sort of sparked a new interest on a scholarly level for me to learn about the religion. It is interesting to read how the different religions of the land start to come together and live interspersed. To see the different groups and rulers come through and to see why Jerusalem is so important of a city to the people is starting to become more clear now that part of its history has been explained.

Response week 2

Alright, after reading the beginning of Karen Armstrong's book at first I was a little over whelmed with all of the history dating back oh so far. It was interesting to see certain stories for example the story of Abraham as such an integral part of history for the Israelis. Growing up catholic this was often a story that would be brought up but it is always such a different perspective depending on who is narrating. I also like how the first chapter sort of just talks about how religion came to be of such importance to people and societies and the quote from the book "There is an innate conviction that life was not meant to be like this; we hanker for what might have been, mourn the transitory nature of earthly existence, and feel outraged by death. We are haunted by a sense of more perfect relationships and imagine a world of harmony and wholeness, where we would feel completely in tune with our surroundings, instead of having to battle against them." I also found it interesting how Armstrong stated a recurring theme that stays with Jerusalem throughout its history has been the new creation of a society depended on the destruction of others. Out of all the places David could have picked as his capitol I also find it interesting he wanted to capture and make Jerusalem it. By picking such a neutral place as a not associated with Judah or Israel it seems from even extremely on Jerusalem was always territory just in the middle.

The importance of the placement and type of buildings that were being created in early Jerusalem seemed to take much planning and intricate placement was very emphasized so as not to offend others in the beginning. It seems that from early on though Jerusalem had much importance to the people who encountered its grounds and the closeness Jerusalem placed on Yahweh left many people to take drastic measures to what they considered rightly theirs. The creation and destruction of temples seems to show how people were constantly coming into Jerusalem and each trying to create their own kind of home or representation of what their Jerusalem was.

Readings assignment two

After reading the brief article about the history of Jerusalem by Mick Dumper it sounded like there was deep seeded political and social problems that Jerusalem has to deal with and has left many issues regarding the treatment of the Palestinians go on for quite a while, almost as if they are ignored they will eventually disperse. I see the valid points of how the peoples' historical context leaves each of the three monotheistic religions feeling as if they have the closest and most justifiable rights to the land. There seems to be a lot of emphasis on the historical aspect that relates to issues today regarding who should rightfully be there and maybe there is some mistakes in continually looking to the past in order to make advances in the future when dealing with conflict and the different groups.

The article about Jerusalem from an Arab perspective was also very focused on the history and who did what, or what great buildings and architectural impressions were left on the city to this day. It seemed pretty straight forward and I think just wanted to state more of how in the very beginning of records it is recognized as being arabized and what kind of importance Jerusalem was to Muslim rulers throughout its history of being. Throughout the article it was hard for me to try and find some tone or attitude it was just these are the facts sort of thing. In the end of the article there was mention of how the city could be divided into two permanently so each conflicting country could have their part of Jerusalem. I found it very interesting that Jerusalem internationally is recognized as indefinitely relating to Palestine and Israel.

It was interesting to me how the third article tried to portray the city as coming together in the end and almost as if everything ended up working out alright for everyone. I also found that it is interesting how in all of the articles it mentions at least once about who built what walls and when they were made and how some are even up today. I never realized how much the walls and buildings meant to the people today looking back on the history of the city. Each of the articles were able to point out though how Jerusalem has great significance to Christianity, Judaism, and Islam and I think that this is a very important aspect since people can at least recognize how important the city is to all three religions.

Weblog journal assignment dos

Don't be content with a subsequently less than average life