What I found most intriguing about this article was not so much the body of the text but the responses that are coming for all across the world. It was here that I found a reference to Obama's quote that I referred to above:
| miguel lupianez United States | 21/01/2009 | |
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| Gaza/Obama | ||
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| He's a fool on this subject,and the people of Gaza and Palestinians should expect nothing as he has said that Jerusalem for the Jews only and believes isreal had the right to throw out Palestinian out of their home and into misery/ghettos,just because isreal says there was no government there.Perhaps he suffers from memories of his own people being dumped into ghettos after their so called liberation.In this aged of independent minds his vocalness using religion makes him like like a real idiot | ||
He makes an extreme claim, but in the spirit of blogging, I think there are some interesting parallels to draw here. The reason why I say that I don't know if Obama really did say this is because I couldn't find a more credible source than this man's blog post (which is clearly not reliable). That said, it's very interesting the dynamic of the conversation that came before and after his posts. There are people from all over the world posting and in 33 of those posts only one is from an Isreali or Palestinian:
| A simple Israeli guy who just wants to live in peace Israel | 22/01/2009 | |
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| The Israeli point of you | ||
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| Not of all us are bad people. In fact, most of us are deeply upset by the suffering of Gazans. Take it from me - Israel would give the whole West Bank and Gaza back if it knew that there will be peace. The fear is that, as many Gazans have explicitly said, they don't want us here at all. They want us all in the sea, dead and will continue to attack. I didn't choose to be born here and also have nowhere to go. I pray that one day some sensible leaders will come and save both peoples! | ||
I feel like personal accounts are the only way that people across the globe are going to begin to understand and/or begin to thinking about and demanding a peace process. Maybe the internet is a good way for both Isrealis and Palestinians to communicate with eachother in ways they they are not communicating today. As has been pointed out from many sources, there is little to no communication between the vast majoity of these neighbors. Could the internet be used as a key to get everyday people communicating and taking strides towards peace?
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I found the Israeli post very similar to what we read in the Lemon Tree; Dalia wanted to find a solution, she was willing to give up land to have peace. As we've seen in Promises, as well as the Lemon Tree and other through media sources, there are plenty of moderates on both sides. Like this man said, he did not choose to be born in Israel and he also has no where to go, there has to be a way for everyone to coexist.
ReplyDeleteI think that personal accounts add a much needed perspective on this story. Too often, our media portrays this conflict through demonized extremists, but there are plenty of people living every day lives. Maybe the answer, in line with what Jacque said, is in a sort of neutral area like the internet. I think a feasible option is an creating an open space like the internet where moderates of both sides can have tangible ways to communicate.
The more I think of things like blogs the more I realize the immense opportunity for connectivity. My mom, for example, is a stay-at-home-mom who turned political blogger essentially since Bush took office. She has blogged on huge sites like DailyKos and Calculated Risk and has met literally hundreds of people through blogging conventions etc. The opportunity for discussion is definitely out there, maybe there just needs to be a forum that reaches out to both sides. It may even lead to meetings/conventions like it does in the US. If nothing else, it's a way to increase transparency on both sides, not just for Palestinians and Israelis but it would give others a chance to learn about the region and conflict on a human level.