March 27th Post

My initial difficulties with the class was the blogging itself. I have never blogged in my life and had no intention of doing so until I joined this class. Admittedly, I was terrified of the format and sharing my opinions in such a public format and considered dropping the class. The lectures and topics we discussed kept me enrolled in the course, and I still have a lot of trouble with the format. I wish that I had more knowledge about blogging, especially about political issues that are potentially incendiary to someone of an opposing viewpoint. The fact the class is so large allowed me to find comfort in the fact that realistically, only a few people would read my posts, if any. I have not had a class at IU before where each person in the class has the ability to read each response or I produced. It was definitely caused me to triple and quadruple check every post I had in the very beginning to make sure my point was clear and maybe a little less opinionated than I had originally intended. 

Also, it was interesting to see the different styles people use for various posts, especially the personal reflections. I learned a lot from other class blogs about posting styles that are accessible to the reader. 

Things I'd like to write about for the class review:
1) Relating to topics: I wish we had covered less topics, but more in depth about each topic that we did cover. At times, it felt like we were forced to rush certain topics and were only presented with two or three articles about a subject. 
2) The class size: I found it difficult to really get into discussions with people about the topics because of the class size. Maybe a smaller class in the future?
3) Maybe having the class choose a topic and work on finding a speaker of their own to bring in. Just to change things up.

Questions for speaker about LGBTQ issues in Jerusalem

Question 1: Do Al-Qaws and JOH work together in order to make political progress in within Jerusalem's governmental policies regarding LGBTQ rights?

Question 2: How do LGBTQ rights within Tel Aviv differ from those in Jerusalem?

Week ?: LGBTQ issues in Jerusalem

Learning about a social issue was a great change of pace in comparison to some of the historical or political issues. The issue is still a political one, but less so than in the United States. I sympathized with difficulty the JOH had when they tried to get bills passed in order to receive acceptance from the government in order to fund their parade, but it wasn't exactly surprising to me. Jerusalem and the social and political image is forever tied to religion. Catholics, Muslims, and Jews alike have not necessarily been the most accepting of the LGBTQ community and their rights, especially in the strict orthodox settings. In one response by Maia on the JOH website she said that she wished they could have "...put the Torah aside and considered the realities of people and their desires." I found this to be really powerful because it shows the direct conflict between religion and a real modern issue within Jerusalem. This made me think about so many other social issues people deal with in Jerusalem such as laws of kashrut, intermarriage between Jewish sects, and others. At what point are lawmakers and politicians compromising the needs of Jerusalemites with those of religious the right? It is interesting to look at LGBTQ rights within Jerusalem today and how they have have not been at the forefront of legislature because they have been dealing with more immediate issues such as war. It is sad that people have had to put their rights aside in order to deal with more "pressing problems", but war affects many aspects of life: social, economic, political, and cultural.
"City of Borders" seems to discuss sexuality and LGBTQ rights as a meeting-point between Israelis and Palestinians with Jerusalem as the backdrop. Israelis and Palestinians are affected by the governmental stance on LGBTQ rights and the process of social acceptance. The laws may change, but social acceptance may take years upon years to exist within the minds of the public, if ever. People within the religious right will not accept the LGBTQ community because it is not discussed and many attempt to use scripture to justify this argument (which is often manipulated in order to further their personal agendas).

Reading Response #?: March 18th: Suad Amiry

Galit Hasan-Rokem's discussion of Jerusalem as a feminine entity brought the conflict into a new light. From Karen Armstrong's historical account of Jerusalem, we saw the number of times various groups attempted to seize Jerusalem and claim it as their own. How many times people today try to take city by force, and just like the treatment of a woman, specifically women in the Middle East, the situation requires more gentility and respect than ever. Jerusalem has been given feminine attributes since biblical times, but what Jerusalem as a woman of strength. Cities and countries of all kinds are often referred to with feminine adjectives and qualities. Hasan-Rokem removes some of the poetics surrounding Jerusalem as a city. It sort of reminded me of Issam Nassar's argument that people attempt to pigeonhole Jerusalem as a biblical city trapped in time. She reminds us that Jerusalem is a living entity just like any other.
It is was incredible to read a firsthand account of what it was like to be a Palestinian under lockdown. After reading so many dense articles about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it is easy to lose the reality of the situation. These are real people with families, fears, and daily lives that are interrupted during each attack or threat on their homes. Regardless of the biases people may have or opinions regarding which side is "correct" or has a claim to the land, you cannot help but sympathize with Suad Amiry's fear and the fear of those around them. Reading about their removal from Nazareth and how easily the group on the bus joked about the "transfer". Her accounts about the bus and her experiences with her dog add a sense of humor to living in Ramallah as an area of dispute. Her descriptions make situations such as the attempt to distribute gas masks, while Palestinians were still technically under curfew and were not supposed to leave their homes, even more absurd than they already were.
The fact that her dog's papers allowed her to gain entry through a checkpoint had my jaw on the floor.  I understand the dog does not pose as much of a threat as a person, but it is nearly as innocent as the children that were unable to gain Jerusalem visas that she discussed. A dog. The visa meant absolutely nothing to the dog and it continued to be happy and playful as ever, completely unaffected by the situation. I found it incredible that the Palestinian veterinarian was so sexist towards a puppy. I realize that she was a symbol for sexism within the larger community, but it shows how deep the issue really runs.

Weblog 4: Music in my personal life

Music has always been an important part of my life since I was very young. Some of my earliest memories are sitting in front of the television singing along to Sesame Street and other shows. My elementary school stressed music as a way to learn about cultures, peoples, and languages and forever shaped the way I learn about the world. I was in choir throughout elementary school and was involved in 5 different choirs by my sophomore year of high school. I've always enjoyed listening to new bands and listening to things that are not on the radio. Like most people, middle school was an awkward time for me and I went through phases ranging from goth, a wannabe Avril Lavigne (see Sk8r boi), to outfits straight out of a J-Crew magazine. My taste in music changed in order to match those moods, but throughout all these different stages music was always there for me. I tutored kids for their Bar and Bat Mitzvahs throughout high school and taught them Torah and Haftarah trope. Relating this outside knowledge of music with my Judaism was one of the greatest things I could have done for myself. As a result, I decided that I wanted to be a cantor and lead a congregation in something that I love as a future career. My focus has switched to more theoretical and philosophical topics within Judaism, but I've continued to study ethnomusicology throughout college. 

Music has been a constant throughout the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It acts as a way to console people throughout tough times and as a coping mechanism. As we say in the documentary "Channels of Rage", music acts a way for people to vent their frustrations and to listen to differing opinions about the situation. It acts a way for people to share information about the day to day situation and to listen to someone discuss problems similar to theirs without having to speak words of their own. Music is a huge part of culture and is inherent in both Judaism and Islam. Both religious practices and chants can and have been analyzed as music and have similar origins and sounds on a theoretical level. The West-Eastern Orchestra shows that music can be a meeting ground for people because it exists on the Israeli and Palestinian sides. Music can also reinforce stereotypes about each side, but people that hold these personal views would have them regardless of the music they listen to or not. They would be naturally drawn towards songs that have these views. I swear this rant without a true point will end, but what I mean by all of this is that each group has their own music. Each group is creating music of the same genres as well as different genres. It has acted as a unique outlet to vent about current issues and to spread them to people in order to speak to them, infuriate others, and to create a sense of unity on either end. 

Reading Response Week 9: The Musical Side of Things

Music and art often are places where artists can vent their frustrations in a "constructive" way. People use this term because it is better than an alternative, where people act open their pent up aggression or emotion. I found that Subliminal and DAM were venting their frustrations, but they are representative of a larger group of people and more frustrations.

The description on Channels of Rage is very interesting because it compares MC Tamer and Subliminal side by side in a very honest way. Seeing their lyrics side by side shows how passionate they both are about the conflict. Allowing the music to stand on its removes biases for the listener and viewer of the film. It allows each person to take away something different from the documentary, almost a like a choose your own adventure kind of situation (this is me projecting a bit as we haven't seen the documentary yet and I may want to retract this claim tomorrow). Combining the music and lyrics with historical background is a great way to evoke an emotion from someone regarding their personal feelings towards the conflict. I really look forward to seeing the documentary, as I think music is suc

I found interesting that in the article on the Global Post, DAM said "Rap is CNN for us, the Palestinian people...".  He is more than entitled to express his opinions, but if we are to take his quote literally, that Palestinian rap acts as a news source, you be reading news with extreme biases. If people are unable to get their information from other places then they would be receiving just one side of a specific issue. There is something comforting in listening to music from a perspective that you identify with and it acts as spoken poetry about deeper feelings. His comments were intentionally inflammatory and spread like wildfire, just as he had hoped. It seemed like a quick change of heart after he had performed with Jewish artists during the early days of his career. I believe that DAM has just as much of a right to say whatever he wants, but the comments are deeply rooted. Conflicts would still exist regardless of whether or not he adds fuel to it.

In Tablet Magazine's article about Subliminal it described about his journey to fame, more so than the Global Post's article about DAM. He became known for his interactions with the media and others first and his music second. Being recognized for his personality and size only added to people's interest in his music. He is truly the famous rapper in Israel and his repertoire spans more than just songs about the conflict, giving him legitimacy that many other Israel rappers have failed to achieve, especially internationally. He has had time to change many different aspects of his image throughout his career as it has had many personal ups and downs. The article was not solely based upon the political situation involved in Subliminal's music, which was a nice change of pace, similar to the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra.

The stories about Subliminal and DAM reminded me of the East Coast/West Coast battle between Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G in the 1990's, that resulted in violent deaths. Their messages targeted one another and the people closest to them, but they personally did not exhibit violent behavior towards one another. They didn't always discuss the conflict between them within their music, but when they did it was a brutal and violent outburst. Many people thought and still think that rap is related to hatred and negative sentiments towards society, a specific group, or any specific thing. Through the East Coast/West Coast battle each side blamed the other for various reasons. No one knows the true beginning of the battle, but it took on a life of it's own. What happens when the lyrics aren't just lyrics anymore, but they are plans of attack on a group of people? I know that there is a lot of censorship in regards to things said on both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict and maybe they can learn from other instances such as the East Coast/West Coast battle, which was minor and insignificant in comparison.