Reading Response

The videos about graffiti and where and why it is appearing was very interesting.  This was the first real look at a separation wall for me... I didn't realize they were so tall or stretched for 700 kilometers!  Wow.  And, indeed, there is a lot of smooth concrete surface available for artists to go to work on.  I really was amazed at the multi-faceted "Send a Message" business.  You can actually send them your message and, after some basic looking over, they go to work on it and, presto, it becomes a message on a most unusual wall.  I had to smile when they said their 'overhead' was relatively low...and it's neat how they use the profits from their business to try to help Palestinians who have lost their homes.  The mysterious Banksy, the British wall-artist, was quite interesting as well.  Kind of like the face of Tim Allen's neighbor in "Tool Time," the face of Banksy is not known to the public...but his artwork is.  Although his work graces many cities with many messages, he has also been active on a separation wall, painting pictures and images that send unspoken messages.  I especially liked the one that looked like a giant dotted line with a pair of scissors on it, like we find on the back of a cereal box, showing where to cut something out.  Very clever!  Each painting offers some form of positive message, I thought...the little girl holding the helium balloons, obviously soaring with them, seems a message of hope.  I am not sure of the connection with Julie Peteet and the Grafitti, but sure enjoyed the videos!

Also, the information of the Sheikh Jarrah was something new for me to digest...if I understand it correctly, it seems a platform for Israelis to protest against the eviction of Palestinian families and Israeli settlement policies of East Jerusalem?  I think it was interesting, as well as the short article about the amazing young woman, Sahar Vardi.  I look forward to hearing her tell her story.

I also am wondering, through all our speakers, all interesting and insightful, if we will hear any speakers that seem to speak for the Jewish Israeli population.....

I must also mention Noura Dabdoub's well-written thesis, "Homeland Redefined: Spaces of National Belonging."  This is a fascinating article.  It is amazing sometimes how one thing ties into another...for example, in another class of mine we are studying Jewish history's late 1880's and the people she mentions are being mentioned in my other class...small world it is.....I liked how she delved into the historical aspect of each people and followed them through time, establishing their identity and connection with their homeland, which both claim as their own.  And I really had never heard in words, but both sides really do consider each other their enemy.  I know that sounds dumb on my part, but within her article, each side says pretty much the same thing, ending with....[our] enemies the Jews, or [our] enemies, the Arabs....sad that that is true!  Her article leads us right into her conclusion, where she details what could be, if.....very well written.