Response: Difficult Issue For Me

I think I have been on a mental roller-coaster this class, kind of like labor pains that build, rising and falling, yet more concentrated than the previous ones and never really falling back to the original starting point....Probably the most difficult issue for me was the discussion of the 'wall' in regards to Palestinian and Israeli opinions and boundaries, and the results of these differences.  I could actually feel a turmoil of question building inside myself, to the point that I even drifted into my midnight slumber with these thoughts still running through my mind.  In fact, one night well past midnight I shared with my husband a little bit of what was on my mind....how huge this wall is, the fact that it's not a straight wall, rather one that zigzags in and around communities, dividing people from their land, and how sad I felt for the different people affected.  I especially was troubled about the Palestinians and the fact they were isolated from their farms and livelihood, and I tried to explain my feelings to my husband.  We are a pro-Israel family and my opinions surprised him.  There were some quiet moments, and some difficult answers.  We both accept Torah and the Biblical boundaries given to the Israelites, but somewhere in my heart, I shared how one surely cannot look into the sad eyes of the Palestinian women and children, and the old folks, and think they cannot live there and work their land.  My husband offered that I had allowed my faith to be questioned and that the more one learns, the more information one has to sort and sift through, allowing potential to stray from beliefs.    I definitely agree with that last bit, and there has been so much information coming in from so many different directions that I have felt a bit of earth shaking inside of myself.  But I never offered to go there.....only that I know that when Messiah comes, He will bring Peace.  Until then, can we not try to get along? Surely we can work towards peace, try to accept others, even without understanding them, just try to accept...can this be so bad? In the still of the night, our opinions seeming at unusual odds with one another, he was quiet, offering finally that I needed to talk with my Uncle Isaac.....end of conversation.  But I could still see those sad eyes, I still felt torn, I still wished for acceptance that could lead to earthly peace...and sleep was elusive.....

Reading Response: Open-mindedness

In reading 'The Blog of Jerusalem Open House' article on openness, I couldn't help but wonder about the attributes mentioned there as important to resolving differences.  The author mentioned understanding, conversation, and acceptance of one another as prerequisites for creating better lives for the people of their community.  But what jumped off the page for me was how much we all need to consider understanding, conversation, and acceptance of one another.  Whatever we are promoting - our religion, our personal identity, our community, our political stance, or our part in conflict of any nature - how much further could we move toward common ground with these attributes?  How do we get there?  How do we find the open-mindedness to begin this journey?  Is it there waiting to be cultivated?  Waiting to be enlightened?  Waiting for open-mindedness to allow understanding, conversation, and acceptance of one another?.....

The 'City of Borders' further opens the mind to the need for acceptance.  While understanding is not necessary perhaps, acceptance of one another is.  Understanding would make life easier many times, but I think it is not to be expected; It is so core to an individual's identity.  Rather, acceptance that is challenged daily throughout conflict - nationality, religion, political orientation, individual orientation - is basic to achieving conflict resolution and a peaceful community.  Acceptance is not an easy attribute to achieve, but vital.  Is it a left-over "I'm OK, you're OK?" ... I don't know..... Does it mean agreeing with the point in question?  I don't think so.....But I do think that acceptance is a prerequisite for conflict resolution with respect as a foundation block, and that neither seem to have happened.

It is interesting how the sometimes subtle...sometimes unspoken witness...the wall, the music, the people and their choices... cry for freedom, for understanding, for acceptance...I had not considered that gender differences also could or need cry as well.

With the many conflicts within conflicts within THE conflict, where ever to start....where is the beginning of the raveled thread of resolution that needs acceptance?.....It is no simple task and there is no simple answer.....

Reading Response: Suad Amiry's writings

I really enjoyed the two chapters from Suad Amiry's book Sharon and My Mother-In-Law.  Her humor was a pleasant reprieve from the discussions of the past few weeks.  Not only does Suad incorporate a light-hearted approach to life, it seems, but is able to convey this quality during not-so-light-hearted times...during conflict.  I really enjoyed her ability to share the main thread of the story, such as the humor in trying to obtain a gas mask, or a rabies vaccination for a 'Jerusalemite' dog, while using the  background information to paint the rest of the story.  While she creatively weaves a really interesting tale, she shares enough other information to make me wonder what was going on in her surroundings.  That's where her writing fascinates me...bringing smiles with wisps of daily living, kind of like Erma Bombeck's style of writing, yet raising apprehension at what might happen due to her surroundings.

Her ability to "take one step to the side of life" is really interesting...."stepping out of the frame and observing the senselessness of the moment"...I wonder if that might be a useful ability for more than surviving the Israeli occupation she described...maybe it would allow more time to think a situation through...kind of like Tevyah in The Fiddler on the Roof...didn't he do that?  Suspended everyone in time for a moment while he sang and tried to sort out his reactions?...come to think of it, I don't think it helped him at all.  Although he "stepped out of the frame and observed the senselessness of the moment," I don't see where the outcomes were affected by this moment of reflection.....but maybe this stepping to the side allows one's humor to sort through the atrocities... not making sense of them, but possibly surviving in spite of them.....like Tevyah's conflict of tradition versus reality in the face of persecution...Suad Amiry also tries to maintain the logic of life during the Israeli occupation of her home.  

After all, isn't it attention to the details of life that keep us going?  I think so...I really wanted to know if she got her gas mask, or her puppies got their rabies vaccination...and I wonder if she was able to be relieved of the infamous mother-in-law problem in a win/win way?  Were the mother-in-law and Suad both happy?  Why would this even matter in the face of the age-old conflict taking place in their lives, forced as a way of life upon thousands?  It matters... it allows us to take that step to the side, to bring life down to that micro-level that we all can relate to...that aspect that goes beyond tradition or daily routine...presented as something to laugh about...through humor...yes, I really liked her stories in our reading!

Web Blog Journal: Music.....

Music used to totally encompass my life.  During my teen years, I learned to love piano, guitar, and song, with a dream of becoming a composer.  Several influences on my life changed my path (voices of others questioning how I would support myself, children....).  My music was limited with the semi-lonely yet satisfying world I called my own; our family moved very often to follow my father's military career, so current music trends in the US (or almost anywhere) were unknown to me (so much so that in my 6th grade year in Edzel, Scotland, a blonde haired, blue eyed young fellow that thought he was a gift to girls whispered behind me, "Hey Barb, listen to this song I wrote for you," and preceeded to belt out the Beach Boys 'Barbara Ann'-my name-...I looked at him and told him I wasn't impressed!...little did I know.....)  But music was important to me and was both a friendship and a creative accomplice when I should have been sleeping.  My love for music morphed, singing throughout my life time...I remember for many years thinking that life would end if I could not sing...but it didn't, and singing has become a very distant friend within the last decade or more.  My 20 year old son is gifted with a more than amazing voice; a tremendous range and natural vibrato, as well as a song in his heart most of the time.  When I read the reading for today, Galeet Dardashti's article on piyyut, I thought of my son, and his natural love for songs of importance to other countries (I especially love his beautiful voice singing heartfelt religious Israeli songs). And when I clicked the link and heard Galeet Dardashti's singing, and style of singing, I thought again of him, as well as my love for music.  And I also was in awe of the rich quality of voice that she shared with such moving music.  Music is not something you have to understand to appreciate...like her description of the deeply religious songs inspiring the belly dancer to perform; it is felt.  And her singing reflects that.

As I read through her article, I thought of my Jewish Folklore class.  Just yesterday we discussed "invented traditions," how more modern traditions used parts of what was a people's identity of long ago, to form continuity through time and a tradition embraced as their own...and then I read her article.  Click.  She shared the same idea: "Though they have diverse agendas, all are invested in the reclamation and reinvention of a musical genealogy that they feel is vital to their identity as contemporary Israelis. As the nation loses its grip on the collective imagination, we are witnessing a

reconfiguration of previous identities of Israeliness" (Galeet Dardashti, p16).  The previous identities of the Jewish people and the reinvention of this musical genealogy is like the "invented traditions" we spoke of.  Though we spoke of folktales, the music and the stories are representative of the people and who they really are, as well as where they come from, a thread of continuity woven to join their past with their present.

I see music as a thread of communication used to seam together the past with the present.  I also see it as representing the artist who shares it, inevitably becoming a platform for the audience that follows the artist's music.   I think music and it's message is like the proverbial rock tossed into a lake, causing one ripple of wave to make another and another and...the potential for touching lives through music is endless.   I see that music has the ability to draw hearts and minds to forget for a moment and just listen...the message in the music has the potential to make a difference to those around..... we got a glimpse of the difference music made on the combined West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and those involved.  I can see how music could be used to share identity without allowing a wall to be built, although much, I think, depends on the artist.  (For example, the artists in the "Channels of Rage" had great potential to encourage or discourage differences and conflict as a result of their music/message.)  Also, she sings songs that were traditionally for men, from what I gathered.  So, she is opening a nontraditional arena for women, which I think is wonderful.

I have no idea of the meaning of these words, but notice the 'Divan' in WEDO's name, and the DIVAHN in Galeet Dardashti's album...just wondering if they are related.

I could listen to her music all day long, and look forward to learning more about her and her musical world.

http://www.divahn.com/

Israeli-Palestinian youth songs

  Jerusalem with Heartbeat     www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxljoMy5awE

Step for Peace     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-SFMogSFcus

Bukra Fi Mishmish     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Xw6NiUb44o

Reading Response: Channels

Reading about the movie "Channels of Rage" was interesting.  But the way the article wove the details of differences and conflict was really amazing, I think; not just was it a basic explanation of the movie, but an analysis of some of the conflict's effects through the musicians.  We've spoken in class about how identity is reflected in music and language.  This article offers specific lyrics of each of the two musicians, Palestinian Tamer and Jewish Kobi and, indeed, their emotions pour out through their words.  For example, one doesn't need to know which 'side' Tamer is 'on' when you read his words: "...You say the Arabs are primitive, you say the Arabs are aggressive.  Say we are criminals and barbarians, we aren't," or Kobi's "...but we're here to stay.  Zionism's in our blood."  It's a wonderful thing to be able to articulate feelings, sentiment, and emotions into music (I love music) but I think it also becomes a platform (intentional or not) for the artist, with media able to carry them (intentionally) into the heart and heat of political, even national conflicts.  And there I think that the words, the language within music like Tamer's and Kobi's, have the ability to become identities for people to 'belong.'  In fact, the article says that rappers, such as these two, actually become "role models who can set trends amongst their fan followings almost without being aware they are doing so".....  Is it possible then that words from musicians such as Tamer and Kobi can actually have not only tremendous impacts on the hearts of those in the midst of the Palestinian/Israeli conflict, but sway popular opinion?  I really liked Kobi's response to chants from concert fans of "Death to the Arabs!"  He replied, "Cut it out, not death to the Arabs, but life to the Jews!--and they stop[ped]"  That's powerful!

Channels of Rage: Dissecting the Inner Conflict article also spoke of the two musicians, but it seemed to share more of the effect of violence on the concert attendance and on the musicians as well.  In fact, this article also mentioned the "Death to the Arabs" chants Kobi received while on stage.  But it made no mention of his heartfelt and peaceful approach (NOT death to Arabs, but LIFE to Jews), leaving only the brash and negative division to be chewed over and spat out.  As the name 'Channels of Rage' may imply, this article seemed to focus on the violence and repercussion of rage.  Working to tie the musicians and their music to division and violence, the article ironically mentioned that "the media also created fireworks;" apparently they are aware they have the ability to create puppet strings of division, if they choose.

The Global Posts article 'Hip-Hop and the Palestinians' further offers Tamer's music (and his group DAM) as a continued freedom fight: "DAM is still the Palestinian soundtrack to resistance, only better known." The article continues: "...despite their fame, Tamer, Suhell and Mahmoud all still live in Lod and they say their commitment to the Palestinian reality remains as strong as ever. While they write and rap about Palestinians living in the territories, much of their work also focuses on Palestinians, like them, who remained in Israel after the state’s establishment in 1948... DAM, however, has refused to shut up. Tamer said: “Real rap criticizes anyone who denies freedom.”  It is obvious that music, and more specifically rap music, offers an outlet for the artists to not only vent their frustrations and opinions, but to reflect the sentiment of their people as well.    But it is also obvious that the intensity with which the artists present their message, as well as the message itself,  can frenzy the audience and become a platform in itself, is so desired.  And, as Global Post offers us a prime example, the media can serve to fan the smoke into a legitimate flame of passionate 'sides,' able to defend or attack as desired.  So, while music can indeed serve to bring together for common purposes, such as with the WEDO Orchestra, I think it can be as volatile as the conflict itself, able to sway hearts either way in this age-old conflict....