We continued discussing the Arab-Israeli conflict this week, covering important events that led to the current situation, the leadership of Nasser in Arab nationalism. The documentary that showed Smith’s lecture was helpful, repeating what we have been talking about and what was in his book.
I looked at the DeirYassin.org site, remembering a massacre of the village of Deir Yassin by Jerusalem, part of the nakba. This site wants the Palestinians experience as victims to be acknowledged, a familiar topic in this class by now. The perspective is obviously slanted, but it is useful because it preserves memory of the people not the (Israeli) state history that typically dominates. The documentary uses space, the Deir Yassin cemetery that is no longer maintained, to show the oblivious feeling toward the village’s history and the deaths of civilians. The silenced group’s experience is important for the proper portrayal of history.
I have been paying attention to the BBC’s news website, and they have been discussing the denial of war crimes by the Israeli state in Gaza and the new prime minister’s conservative anti-negotiation attitude. After watching the documentary and reading Smith’s book it seems terrible that the violence continues, that Israelis fear attacks and Palestinians still live in camps not their homes. The building of Jewish settlements and the fear of Palestinians that the state will never truly dedicate itself to the two state solution, that will end the fragmentation of their communities, as addressed here http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7919832.stm.
I personally did not enjoy reading Touba though it was an interesting attempt at showing societal change over 80 years in Iran and the situation of women.