Muj & Parker’s Presentation

Visit Bashir’s and Dalia’s home as researched and reconstructed by Mr. Muj.

http://sketchup.google.com/3dwarehouse/details?mid=83bd72e926c24e2c5734c0c7ef75dff8&prevstart=0

Example Reading Response Post

Response #1

Summary:

The Khairi family has been evacuated from their home in Al-Ramla and has taken refuge in Ramallah, along with thousands of other refugees.  The conditions in the camps are crude:  minimum food allowances, hardly no work, crime, water shortages, etc.  Meanwhile, the Eschkenazis have selected Al-Ramla as their future residence and have selected the abandon house of the Khairis to take as their own.  Moshe becomes finds work in managing the selling and distribution of the “absentees'” possessions and property.

The following are a couple of passages that stood out for me.
“Entire families camped on the ground, huddling around large metal dinner plans to spoon a few fava beans and lentils into their mouths…” (86) and “Zakia was selling her gold, but Bashir began to understand the humiliation of the refugee” (89).  While I was aware that refugee camps are, by definition, crude places to be, I realized the emotional and psychological suffering that happens in addition to the physical hardship.  Many of these people are not used to be poor, not used to going without.  The Khairis are a middle-class family.  I imagine that the impact of the humiliation lasts longer than the physical hardship.  This section also made me think of how hatred and resentment must also fester in camps like these.  In the minds of these refugees, there is a group responsible for the condition:  Israel.   Peace requires addressing these hatreds in addition to finding a home for the displaced.  I was struck by the accuracy of the warning the Israeli minister of agriculture issued:  the Palestinian refugees “will be moved by hatred and hopelessness and infinite hostility to wage war on us, regardless of any agreement that might be reached” (94)  This is precisely what has happened over the last 60 years.  Even when Palestinians and surrounding Arab states have reached agreement with Israel, the resentment and hatred of some have sabotaged the entire process.

Another Example:

I was struck by a couple of passages on how the refugee camps affected the children.  One states that Bashir, then still a child, “breathed in humiliation and defeat” and that” avenging the loss of Palestine became a singular goal, even in play” (98).  The children played “Arabs and Jews” and there was no question for the children who the good guys were.  Childhood experiences impact us tremendously.  Some psychologists work with childhood exclusively, assuming that all adult imbalance comes from problems in childhood and early relationships.  It is hard to undo what is firmly planted in the young minds of children.  I was disturbed too by the hateful song the children chanted at school:  “Our aim is to return, death does not frighten us…we promise to shed our blood for you” (100).  The song alone spells out a reason why the conflict is so hard to resolve.  As children, they are taught that patriotism equals continuing the violent fight against the enemy.  The same kind of distortions occured within Israel, where textbooks describe the Palestinians leaving there homes and fleeing like cowards.  There is a hope in all of this, though.  If schools can train hatred, then they can also break it down.  I imagine any lasting solution to this problem will involve educating both Israeli and Palestinian populations in a new, more peaceful tradition.

Habits of Mind

Get into the habit of thinking critically.  Habits of Mind refer to questions that can help us think more critically about things.  There called ‘habits’ because we should strive to regularly ask these questions as we confront problems and analyze texts.   Include several of your responses to these questions in your human right blog entries.

1. Raise Questions About Evidence:  How do we know?  Is the source trustworthy?
    
2. Identify Perspective:  WHose poin-of-view does this represent?  Whose perspective is missing?  How might different perceive this differently?
    
3. Identifying Omissions:  What is missing?  What could be present but is not?
    
4. Make Connections:  How does this relate to that?  What does this remind you of?  How are these things simiilar and/or different?
    
5. Explore Supppositions:  How could things be different?  What would happen if…
    
6. Evaluate Relevance:  How important is this?  Why is this important?  Why should we care?  Important for whom?

Universal Declaration of Human Rights Video

An efficient and elequent look at this important document. 

New Blog Post

Just showing how this works.

PPT on Intro to History

You can find the Intro to History ppt on the course’s webpage in the introduction unit or at this link:

http://sites.google.com/a/bfischool.org/20thcentury/introduction-unit

Last Names

Find the global distribution of your last name here:

http://www.publicprofiler.org/worldnames/Default.aspx

Revealing Cartographs

See more facinating cartographs at here

Curious Psychology

Missed Class on Friday?

Please watch the tutorial Fighting for Iraq:  A Regional Powerplay.  Pay particular attention to how regional dynamics influence what is happening in Iraq.