These readings were surprisingly pleasant to read after coming back from spring break. It was nice to hear stories told by a group of unique individuals. The article, "The Promised Gas Masks,"was a wonderful article as a whole. However, one part in particular stuck out above all the rest. On page 89 it talked about the Israelis forcing the Palestinians to stand in straight lines. From what I have seen in films and learned about in history courses, this was strikingly similar to what occurred during the Holocaust. While reading, it actually gave me the chills. I remember watching films where the German Nazis forced the Jews to stand in line. Sometimes they would do nothing but taunt them; but other times they would shoot them down one by one. Although the Israelis may not be gunning down the Palestinians, there is undoubtedly a resemblance (in my personal opinion).
While reading the chapter, "A Dog's Life," I was disturbed by the fact that a dog (Nura) could acquire a Jerusalem ID while a human could not. I'm not arguing that a dog's life isn't valuable, but to deny a human being an ID, while giving one to a dog, isn't right. At the bottom of page 115, there is a short passage that reads, "The Israelis would not give her a Jerusalem ID because her father had a Palestinian Ramallah ID, and the Palestinian Authority would not give her a Palestinian ID because her mother had an Israeli Jerusalem ID." Rather, I think she should be allowed to have two ID's instead of none. Also, near the end of the chapter I was amused by the encounter between the girl and the soldier at the checkpoint. She used Nura's Jerusalem passport as a means of getting by the checkpoint, despite the fact that she herself did not possess one. She used the excuse that the dog had a Jerusalem ID and could not drive herself. The soldier let her through.
I enjoyed these stories because they were insightful, yet humorous at the same time. There haven't been many occasions where we have had the opportunity to laugh while doing the readings. It was nice to be able to appreciate the readings from a slightly new perspective.
I really liked how you related the Palestinian experience of being forced to line up, to the experience of the Jews in the holocaust. Its interesting and confusing to me how Israelis could recreate one of the most horrific experiences in Jewish memory. It makes me sad that they have not made that same connection. Israelis should be hypersensitive to human rights issues.
ReplyDeleteBoth the straight line and the fact that dogs could receive Jerusalem IDs stood out to me as well. What's even weirder is that the dog's "driver" could accompany them into Israel, which kind of defeats the idea that this is done for Israeli's safety.
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