Joseph's Tomb

In the Palestinian city of Nablus, there is Joseph's Tomb, which is believed to be his final resting place in Judaism. So many Israelis come into the West Bank to pray and pay their respects and the Palestinians allow this, though the IDF patrol the area as well. Isabel Kershner explains the Israelis' pull to claim Palestinian soil as their own:

Here, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is boiled down to its very essence of competing territorial, national and religious claims. The renewed focus on what the Jewish devotees call the pull or power of Joseph appears to reflect a wider trend: a move by the settler movement at large away from tired security arguments and a return to its fundamental raison d’être — the religious conviction that this land is the Jews’ historical birthright and is not up for grabs.

Which I thought was a good way of looking at it, though, to me, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. She also talks about the overlapping personalities in Islam and Judaism: Joseph was also considered a Muslim prophet, so Muslims felt they have a right to the tomb as well. Though, since the Israelis took control of the tomb, the Palestinians have been disregarding the tomb and desecrating it.

Iranian Policewomen

Photo by Abbas Kowsari for the Paris Review.

Yeah, they're kinda badass.

Olive Trees in the Middle East

A look at the Israel-Palestine situation through olive trees.

Menu on the Wall

Image from the BBC.

The Israeli-made West Bank wall passes right through Charlie Butto's restaurant, Bahamas, in the West Bank, which makes for a horrible sight, as written by the BBC. Butto, making the most of the circumstance, decided to use the wall as an attraction: He placed his menu on the wall, allowing customers to order off the wall.

Protecting the Palestinians

In this Reuters article about Israeli settler violence against the Palestinians, Nahla Makhlouf, a Palestinian residing in the West Bank, was given a video camera by the Israeli Rights Group B'Tselem to record vigilante settler violence. During an encounter, the camera lens broke, but the audio kept recording.

Yoav Gross of B'Tselem said the settlers can be heard giving the army a one-minute ultimatum to act against the Palestinians or they would do the job themselves.

"They started counting one, two, three...," he said. "They were giving orders to the soldiers, not the other way around."

One Israeli human rights lawyer, Michael Sfard, says most soldiers do not realize they have not only the right but also the duty, as the occupying power, to defend Palestinians.

It's sad that the IDF doesn't realize what they're supposed to do as soldiers.

Eid & Rosh Hashanah

Photo by Rina Castelnuovo from the New York Times.

The Islamic Eid and Jewish Rosh Hashanah both fall within the same week this year: Rosh Hashanah is tonight and I believe Eid is either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on the moon. Ethan Bronner takes a look at the overlapping religious holidays and how it comes into play in Jerusalem this year. There is something lacking within the article itself. Bronner is, in my opinion, focusing too much on the Jewish side of it, with only one quote from a Palestinian Muslim. However, the feature photo is amazing.

Understanding Israeli Settlements

I honestly can't understand why Israel continues to build settlements in the West Bank and how they are able to get away with it.

Victims of the Victimized

In this Time article about Khaled Kasab Mahameed, a Palestinian man who is trying to make other Palestinians aware of the Holocaust and the horrible things done to the Jews by the Nazis, he says:

"[W]e Palestinians are the victims of the terrible things that were inflicted on the Jews by the Holocaust."

which is a powerful and true statement.

IDF on Facebook

At first, when I glanced at the spattering of links in my Google alerts (seriously, what did I do before them?) and saw the word "Facebook," I just assumed it had to do with renaming Israeli neighborhoods in the West Bank as part of Palestine. But, I was wrong.

Like any other member of Facebook, IDF soliders, both former and current, post pictures online. In their case, however, they're exposing the Israeli Army because of information leaks: interiors of army bases, weapons, locations, etc. The Jerusalem Post took it upon themselves to investigate this and, as a courtesy to the IDF, printed only a few of those Facebook pictures along the article.

Several Israeli Defense departments sent out notices to all IDF soliders, telling them to take out any classified information from their profiles. They worry that, since Facebook is basically open to anyone, that those within the Israel network will use that information to their advantage. IDF soliders that exposed extremely classified information were sent to jail for a month.

Yes, it's true you have to be careful with these materials, but I think this is a bit out there. It reminds me of New York City's apparent policy about recording or taking pictures of bridges or transportation.

Bits: Noisy Egypt and He's Dead! April Fool's!

1.

"Cairo Journal: A City Where You Can't Hear Yourself Scream" by Michael Slackman, from the New York Times

Another one of those "never thought about it" articles that I really, really like.

2.

"In Baghdad, Iraqis Take Their Humor Extra Dark" by Erica Goode, from the New York Times

It's really...I'm not sure what the exact word for it would be, dark? Maybe. Disturbing? Yeah. It makes sense though, because, after all, what else do they have? But when you hear that your husband is dead and assume it's a Kithbet Nessan joke, and it turns out he really is dead, I just can't imagine how that feels.

Seinfeld in Palestine

Haha, so my Google alert for Palestine led me to this gem of an article about Jason Alexander from Australia's The Age.

The writer, Ivor Davis, talks to Alexander about Seinfeld, his latest comedy tour, his acting history and other things, but this bit stood out to me:

"'Last year, I was in the Palestine territories and two Arabs suddenly turned and pointed at me,' says Alexander, who is Jewish. 'For a few seconds I must admit I was worried. But then the guys broke into a smile and began yelling 'George, George...' You would have thought I was their long-lost cousin'"

Palestine on Facebook

So people who live in Israeli settlements on Palestinian land consider themselves part of Israel. They added themselves to the Israeli network on Facebook, but come one day, they found themselves part of the Palestinian network. This is kinda funny.

Bits: Alt+Ctrl+Delete & More About Israel & Palestine, Owning an Island, Owning (a Portion of) a River and Chinese Ramadan

On the Palestinian side of the West Bank Wall, photo by filippo minelli

1.

"A compendium of geek graffiti" by Daniel Terdiman, from geek gestalt via cnet.com

I gotta say, I really like that.

2.

"Your Own Private Island" by Kristina Dell, from Time

I gotta say, it sounds pretty tempting--owning your own island? If only I was rich...oh the things I could do. But then again, that's as bad as private waterfront, right?

3.

"Georgia Claims a Sliver of the Tennessee River" by Shaila Dewan, from New York Times

Once more I will say this: that's the kind of articles I'd love to write, but with a more international-spin to em. And the article's well-written, too.

One of the cover stories of the New York Times Magazines sometime late last year concerned the water drought in the West and how it's a big deal. (The pictures were gorgeous too and await adorning my room, somehow...). That's one of the reasons Georgia wants to claim that part of the Tennesee River as their own. And another reason as to why this story caught my attention: the idea of defining borders and ownership. And, I'm sure, it's about pride and defining and broadening Georgia. Bigger is better, right?

And awesome quote:
"Mayor Ron Littlefield of Chattanooga, Tenn., said he was disappointed that [Georgia State Senator David J.] Shafer did not seem to be having the fun that the mayor sees as one of the joys of Southern politics. 'I saw him grumbling that we didn't seem to be taking it seriously," Mr. Littlefield said. "Well, I'm sorry, we're not.'"

4.

"Dispatches from China's Wild West: Ramadan in China" by Joshua Kucera, from Slate

I thought this Ramadan article was kinda late...isn't Ramadan held during a somewhat universal time (I know Saudi Arabia's and I believe the U.S.'s start within a day apart and end the same way, depending on the moon or something)? Or maybe he wrote the article earlier...

Anyway, I really, really like Slate's foreign Dispatches feature, because they actually cover interesting, varied topics. I found an entire series for Bangladesh, which made me happy. And that's something else I'd be interested in.

And it's fascinating, the whole the blend of two cultures, or rather, the attempts of co-existence between two cultures, in this case a more Arabic and then the Chinese culture.

5.

"Mourning tents spread on Gaza Strip" by Ed O'Loughlin from The Age

And this kinda made me tear, especially his quote, because you know it rings true with people from both Palestine and Israel, yet no one hears their voices and they're the ones suffering.

6.

"Israel closes charities in West Bank" from Press TV

But. It's not their land. How does Israel have the right to do that? What the hell?

7.

"Impossible Travel" from KABOBfest

A long, long, long list of travel restrictions for Palestinians/Gazans/West Bankers (is that correct?) within the Israel/West Bank/Gaza area.

8.

"Israelis, Arabs Join to Save Wildlife" by Lauri Copans, from AP

That is pretty damn awesome, working together and for a good cause.

Costa Rica Recognizes Palestine

So Costa Rica recognizes Palestine, in order to promote peace and establish ties, as any reasonable country should. Israel can't handle it so much so that they "indefinitely postponed" a meeting between Costa Rican Preisdent Oscar Arias (who, it has to be noted, is also a Noble Peace Prize winner) and an Israeli diplomat.

I say good for Costa Rica and the other countries that recognize Palestine. I like Costa Rica and Ecuador even more for moving their embassies from Jerusalem to a less-controversial Israeli city, Tel Aviv. Yes, there are Islamic countries that still refuse to recognize Israel, but that's a stupid move on their part. Costa Rica has it right: don't cut off ties with Israel, but maintain relations with the eventually (and hopefully) state of Palestine.

Reporting on Israel & Palestine

So, a Palestinian holocaust, eh? Why isn't this being talked about?

***

Recently, the lead article on the New York Times website was about the Israel-Gaza rocket exchange. (Before, the main photograph was an Israel's woman's response to Gaza's attack, but now it's a picture of a Palestinian child being buried.) The first thing that popped out to me was the actual chronology of the events and then the order of the events within the article. Israel did in fact fire first, but that's mentioned briefly in the third paragraph and then more bluntly in the eighth paragraph. In the lede, the journalist states that Gazans fired into Israel, but that was in reaction to the initial rockets launched by Israel. The same order of facts is reflected in other papers and news services like the AP.

Isn't the whole point of being a journalist is to report the facts and not mislead the readers?

Then, while making my daily news rounds, I noticed a similar article in the International Herald Tribune (which is owned by the New York Times) about the air strikes, written by the same person. The article covered the same, basic information as the NYT's article did, but the spin is different--the article doesn't have that same Israel-slant to it. Instead, she reports on what happened. So, we have the same writer covering the same event, but the stories are slightly different and are published by two different newspapers within the same company. Where did the difference happen?

Bits: Viva Egypt, Sinking Bengali Ferries and Romanian Traffic Cops/Ballerinas

Cairo, Egypt--1950. Photo from Slate.

1.

"Egypt Independent" from Slate

In celebration of Egypt's independence from the British Empire, Slate posted pictures of Egypt through the years and it looks amazing.

2.

"Thirty-one dead as Bangladesh ferry sinks" & "Chronology - Bangladesh ferry disaster" from Reuters

Because of the recent ferry accident near Dhaka, Reuters decided to compile a list of all the ferry accidents in Bangladesh, which is sort of strange and interesting.

3.

"All the jam's a stage for Romanian traffic police" by Kate Connolly, from the Guardian

So Romanian traffic cops in Timisoara have to take ballet lessons in order to become more graceful and to calm angry drivers, giving them something to enjoy while stuck in traffic or behind red lights. There really is nothing more to say about it.

Jerusalem Without a Country

I'm surprised this story didn't get more coverage. I only stumbled upon it thanks to those handy Google alerts. So Monopoly is putting out a world edition and people get to vote on which countries and cities get placed on the board. These include Istanbul, Turkey; Cairo, Egypt; Paris, France; and Jerusalem.

Originally, Jerusalem was listed as part of Israel, but that caused a ruckus with Palestinian supporters who believe the city, or at least East Jerusalem, should be part of Palestine. In response, someone pulled the country name. This caught the attention of pro-Israel supporters who wanted to know why Jerusalem was the only city without a country. To appease everyone, Hasbro got rid of all the country names. Thus the boards would read: Istanbul, Cairo, Paris, Jerusalem, and so on.

While it's a smart move on Hasbro's part to please their customers, I still think it's unnecessary to not include ALL the countries' names. It is widely understood that Jerusalem is a disputed city so it makes sense to make it a country-less city.

Building in the West Bank

Why, why, why does Israel continue to expand settlements in the West Bank? Why? The Israel government declares those settlements as "illegal," but they don't do anything else about it. Yet, when it comes to Palestinian development, Israel refuses to cooperate. Looking at the statistics in this BBC article proves just that. If Israel really condemned the settlements, they'd evict the residents. It's as simple as that. If it were Palestinian settlers, Israel would have forced them out. If they were really pushing for peace and come to some sort of deal with Palestine, then the least they could do is respect the borders of the occupied lands, no? Don't settle on land that doesn't belong to you.

A Look at Israel

At first, when I read the headline "Israel's Secret Success," in the New York Times, I thought the op-ed would be a typical New York Sun article: calling for more attention to Israel's horrible plight while ignoring Palestine's problems, and condemning anyone who opposes Israel's views and positions.

But I was mistaken.

The author, Daniel Gavron, an Israeli who had his bar mitzah the same year Israel was created, considers himself a Zionist. Yet, he is able to rationally point out Israel's flaws.

Peter Hirschberg of Israel's Haaretz wrote about Gavron. Back in 2003, Gavron was a big proponent of a one-nation state, as opposed to the popular two-nation state idea. Under the one-nation state, Israelis and Palestinians would live in the same country under one government. One of the major reasons as to why the two-nation state isn't viable is, to him, because of Israeli settlers. He said:

"Many Israelis, and other Jews, will argue that historic justice demands a Jewish state...there should be one place on Earth where the Jews can exercise their natural right to sovereignty. They are absolutely right, but, unfortunately, given the choice between sovereignty and land, we chose land. We have manifestly preferred settlement in the whole Land of Israel to a state of Israel in part of the land. It is irrelevant that the settlers are a small minority. The rest of us have permitted them to do what they wanted."

In Gavron's op-ed yesterday, he calls Israel out on what they've done wrong--something that, it seems, every newspaper has been afraid to do, or at least, publish. He talks about how unfair the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories are. He denounces Israel's restrictions of Gaza's electricity.

He also understands that Israel is, indeed, powerful and this get to their heads in the form of paranoia. After the recent suicide attack, Israel now wants to build a fence along its Egyptian border. (The reason being because of Palestinian terrorists, not Egyptian terrorists, so why is the fence along Egypt?) Instead, why don't they try to work it out some other way, showcase some diplomacy and be the bigger person in the situation (or the bigger country)?

Granted, Hamas, the elected Palestinian government, is considered a terrorist group and their actions do support that, and there are Palestinians and other Muslims that deny Israel's existence. But I'm sure there are those who view Israel in the same, violent light (Testing rockets? Right.) and those who want to eject Muslims from areas completely. But no one focuses on that.

And, trust me, I don't consider myself anti-Israel. (Though, I do agree that American funding should be cut back significantly, something Josh brought up earlier last night, but I'll get to that at a later time.) I believe there should be two states, though, to what borders the states should adhere to, I have no idea yet. And, hey, this is only what I know so far, I don't claim to be overly informed about these matters just yet. I've got more to learn about.


(P.S. The fact that Gavron decided to walk across Israel a la Robert Byron and Rory Stewart, though their's were in Afghanistan, and wrote about it makes him even cooler in my book.)

Bits: Peace on Paper, Obama's Grammy, International Learning, Modernizing India, Getting Those Step-Ons and Turtle and Elephant Tales

Unfinished highway in Mumbai. Photograph by Adam Ferguson, via Time.

1.

"Virtual Peace Isn't Enough" by Zalman Shoval, from the New York Sun

Bush's new goal is to set a definition of the Palestine state, rather than creating it. Granted, though, that would be impossible to do in his remaining 7 months.

And Shoval does bring up a good point: on paper, peace means nothing; it's the actual implementation of peace and laws that create it that really mean something.

2.

"Maine to Obama; Clinton Replaces Campaign Leader" by Katharine Q. Seelye, from the New York Times
Hahahaha, Obama won a Grammy and beat Bill Clinton.

3.

"U.S. Universities Rush to Set Up Outposts Abroad" by Tamar Lewin, from the New York Times

Globalization is obviously big and now, instead of international students flocking to the U.S. for education, there is a new place for them in the Middle East and American universities are giving them those opportunities. Brian Baird, a subcommittee member, brings up an interesting point:

"Still, he said he worried that foreign branches could undermine an important American asset--the number of world leaders who were students in the United States.

'I do wonder," he said, 'if we establish many of these campuses overseas, do we lose some of that cross-pollination?'"

4.

"Rebuilding Mumbai" photographed by Adam Ferguson, from Time

These pictures remind me a lot of Bangladesh, except that one picture of the brightly-lit streets at night. In Bangladesh, there was always a dark soft glow of light.

5.

"Indonesia to spray train roof riders" from Reuters

I saw this a lot in Bangladesh: people cram into any space they can when using public transportation, even if that means sitting on the roof of a car, truck or train, without any fear. In this article, it says about 53 people died traveling that way in Indonesia. I wonder what the number for Bangladesh would be. And, come on Reuters, Indonesia isn't part of Africa...

6.

"Turtle Swims from Indonesia to Oregon" from the AP

So he swam 13,000 miles. You go, turtle.

7.

"Wild elephant stray into B'desh village, kill man" from Reuters

And another elephant, though nowhere near where I was.