It was very interesting reading Lauren's blog about her grandmother. It is nice to hear the view of someone who is so close to the events and has to live with the idea of the genocide. I also think it is cool that they went on a cruise to meet with other Armenians and that it seems like it was a positive experience for them since they had left and no longer lived there. I learned a lot about the genocide that happened from reading Lauren's blog and most of it was information that I didn't know. I didn't realize that only some people concider it a genocide and I guess I don't understand why someone wouldn't consier it as such when 1.5 million people died for no reason other than the fact that they were Armenian. I guess I don't understand how someone couldn't consider it as a genocide when innocent people died just because of their decent. It was good to hear that her grandmother and great grandmother got out of the country before this happened. I also didn't know that they had to have a cross on them in the form of a tattoo just to show that they are Christian. This would definitely scare me because it is a target on them for saying that they have this specific religion when the others are Muslim. All of this information was very interesting and I learned a lot of things I didn't know. It always helps put things into perspective when you can hear the stories of someone who actual went through these thigns in their life. It really helps make it seem real when someone can give you such specific details about what they have to go through because of the genocide.

I chose to write about the topic of Milan Kundera for the Turkish Literature group. He was born in 1929 in Czechoslovakia but ended up living in exile in France for most of his life. Milan is a writer that not only writes in Czech but in French as well. Until 1989 the book of Kundera were banned to be read in Czechoslovakia because of their Communist government, but after the Velvet Revolution the books were allowed to be bought and read again. He was born to a middle class family and not only loved to write but learned how to play the piano from his father. He would later to go on to study musicology and musical composition from the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague. When he was a teenager he became a part of the Communist Party however he wanted to reform Czechoslovakian communism. Even though he went to many schools and got a good education he was still very committed to the communist party and doing things for that as well.

Many of his earlier works were strictly written about communism. Although he wanted to be considered as a novelist many people had a hard time considering him and such as only saw him as a political writer. As time went on however the considerable amount of political talk started to diminish from his writings. One of the most interesting facts that I found, was that his writing influenced the future thoughts and philosophy of Nietzsche. The first novel he wrote called The Joke was banned and people in Czechoslovakia were not allowed to purchase or read the book. He criticized the Soviet invasion and the start of Communism there which caused for this book to be banned. His second book was written in France called The Book of Laughter and Forgetting. This was a story of different people and their opposition to Communism. Much of the writing includes his thought and what was going on while he was in exile.

Much of his writing is about immortality and characters that he makes up and always seems to be concerned with the physical appearences of the characters. He believes that the connection between what he writes and the imagination of the readers is closely related. He wants his writings to be thought of deeply and wants the readers own imagination to help mold the stories that he writes. He was also known to not only write one novel at a time but start many so that he could develop his ideas as he wrote on other novels. This would help him not only have one idea for a book but vary what his thoughts were. I think that this is a good idea and would help a writer who wanted to overlap and get all of his opinions and ideas into all of his books. He sounds like he knew what he believed in and he stuck to that and didn't let others change his opinions. From the sounds of his books it seems as though it was about people that a reader could relate to and truly understand.

While preparing for our presentation today I learned things that were scary and interesting all the same time. I knew some of the basic facts of Israel and what their religion entails. What I never realized was just how much Israel has gone through in history. Israel is one of the earliest countries and areas that anyone populated which makes the history just amazing. I also did not realize just what the Israeli's were fighting for and why the fighting had gone on for so long. It was also very interesting when I started looking through pictures of Israel and specifically Jerusalem. I have seen pictures of things such as the Western Wall and the Dome of the Rock but never really delved into what they stood for or even what group of people used them. I knew that the Western Wall was for the Jews to pray, but I didn't realize just how long it's been there and all of the history that is behind it. I also did not realize that the Dome of the Rock was based for Muslims, I know don't laugh! It was very hard to find a picture of Jerusalem with the picture of the Dome in it which I thought was very interesting.

The part that shocked me the most was when I searched Google Images for pictures of the military. I found some good pictures of the soldiers and what they wore and carried with them. What was interesting was when I typed in "Israeli military and civilians". Honestly, I was slightly taken aback at first. I didn't realize that pictures of children in body bags and people shot on the roads would come up. I always thought, and what we have talked about in class, was how we seem to be so sheltered in America from any of the real problems that are going on anywhere else. This seemed to show me though that we may not be as far off as we think. Pictures of the gruesome truths and what these people go through is a second away on the computer, and if people want to find this it is so easy. It shocked me that this was what came up and I guess it's a good thing because people do have access to learning about the real problems and what these people must go through on a daily basis.

Beaufort

This movie is one that I thought helped me better understand what Israeli military go through. It is hard for me to say how much different this is than what American armies go through, but I would assume that many of the feelings and fear are similar. Basically the only characters in this movie are those in the bunker and we never really see any enemy around them. It is focused solely on what the lives for these soldiers in this bunker are going through. An interesting fact is that the director, Joseph Cedar, was once in the same IDF group as these young men. Once I found this out it helped to validate that what we were seeing with these men and the fears they had were real and honestly what people went through in this situation. Once of the most interesting aspects of the movie was how these men seemed as though they were prisoners within the walls of the Beaufort castle. It didn't seem as though they had any control of situation, even what went on within these walls. It seemed to me that these men never thought that the war was going to end, and even if it did, they wouldn't realize it because we got the illusion that they were trapped inside these walls. They were constantly afraid that the enemy was going to attack and we always saw the men going through the hallways, never without their army gear and never without fear that a shot would be fired and the war would continue. After watching the movie, and finding out that the director himself had gone through in the war himself, I wanted to see if the actors had gone through war as well, and what basis this story had in terms of reality.

I found that many of the actors had not actually been in combat, and many people had problems with that because they would not accurately be able to portray what happens in war. The director, "Cedar commented that the actors had to spend a month at an actual outpost preparing for their roles" and becoming acquainted with how these soldiers had to live. This may seem crazy to us because actors in America are seen as rich people who have everything handed to them and live a glorified life. It seemed strange to me that people in Israel would expect an actor in a movie to have actual been in war, because in America this generally would not happen. One of the biggest things that I found frustrating was the fact that we never really got any idea from the enemy as to what was going on. Obviously, the men in the bunker were going to be scared and afraid that an attack would happen, but we never quite figure out what is going to happen or how everything is going to be carried out. It would have been nice to see both sides to the war, but still focusing mainly on what the Israeli side was going through. In all I thought this was a good movie and enjoyed learning about what soldiers go through in times like these. I think it was a good portrayal of a soldiers life and their fear for war.

After reading A Lake Beyond the Wind, I started thinking about how much is out there on TV, the internet, newspaper, etc. that truly gives accurate information about what is really going on between Palestine and Israel. I found some interesting sites, some with little information, some that tried to only show the history between these two cultures, and some that put all of the information out there. I first wanted to know what the exact history was between these two countries and what reasons both sides gave for why the conflict was even taking place. When Judea, the home for the Jews, was overtaken it was named Palestine and was later taken over by an Arab population. However, hundreds of years later the Jews wanted to reclaim some of the land and invaded the Palestinian land that was lived on by the Arabs. This is initially what caused the conflict. To most, it seems as though the Israelis and Jews are the ones to blame for the conflict because they started to take land that wasn't theirs. I know that I don't know all of the issues or information, but from everything I read this is what it appears to be. Most websites show the Palestinian people as the "good guys" who have the right to their land and that the Jews need to find other places to go instead of stealing other people's land. The website, http://www.mideastweb.org/nutshell.htm, gives a clear outline to the history, but definitely puts a Palestinian twist on the conflict and has topics such as "Palestinian Terror" and "Israeli Repression". From this it is easy to see that many think that what the Israelis are doing is wrong and that the Palestinian people do not deserve to live this way and should be able to return to their homes.

Another website that I found interesting was one for kids, http://www.socialstudiesforkids.com/articles/worldhistory/palestinianisraeliconflict1.htm. This site basically just shows the history from a very unbiased opinion. The website is full of maps that show what land was who's and when. However, it never truly gets into the harsh side of the conflict and chooses not to choose sides. At the end of the website is really the only time that the kids might get an opinion of someone else when it says, "The United Nations called on Israel to give back the territory it had seized, but the calls fell on deaf ears. Israel controls this territory to this day." It seems as though this site also thinks that the Palestinians are being treated the wrong way, but it never really comes right out and says that. I think it is interesting that there is virtually nothing on this site that would tell kids that there is a real problem and conflict happening in Palestine. It never talks about the people who are being killed, suicide bombing, or that there are people living in terrible conditions. I understand that some parents do not want their children to see pictures of people dead or bleeding or to talk about the specifics of war, but I also think that it is wrong to just let kids go on assuming that there is only a little problem happening and that people are happy and living good lives. It does not give anything but a history lesson and doesn't give the kids any indication that lives are being taken and that people have to live everyday in fear. I think this shows us how much we try to protect people, and kids, in this country from seeing what is truly going on. I am not saying we have to show a ten year old everything, but at least give them somewhat of an idea so that when they grow up they aren't totally shocked by what they may see in real life. This just goes to show that we do try to hide what people see, where we should be putting everything out there and having people choose what they show their kids and let people have their own opinions on the conflict.

I am reading the book, A Lake Beyond the Wind for my Palestinian book, and although it is interesting it is quite difficult to follow. I have a hard time remember which narrator is which as it jumps from story to story. It is hard at times to realize who is speaking, especially when the culture is so unfamiliar and it mostly new ideas that I am reading about.

The book does open with a very eerie feeling and lets the reader know that something major is going to be happening. You can tell that things are unsettled and there is going to be a conflict early on. The reader knows that good things will probably not be coming for the characters and from that point I knew that I was going to learn things about Palestine that I didn't know and had never seen before. It made me excited to keep reading, but also nervous because I wondered what kinds of things I was going to be exposed to that I had not known before. Although I enjoy reading about different cultures and the situations that are actually going on, I have to admit that it is scary to think that all these terrible things are going on in the world. I knew bad things happened, but when you see just how much it makes me uneasy about even my own safety.

The vest is the story is definitely a symbol for these people in the story. To many I think this is to show comfort and stability that they are trying to achieve. I also think that the vest is showing power that these people want over their own lives and their need and want to live in a country where the only worries they have are normal everyday troubles. I think the vest is used as a safety net for many and shows that some people think that with this that nothing is going to happen to them. Obviously, some characters have different feelings about the vest and see this as a need and want for peace and not as only the protection they seek. I think this is a good book, and the vest symbolizes and puts into perspective all of the things that people want in their lives, peace, hope, and safety. This is something that everyone is this country wants to achieve, and I think put was written to show what people want, but how difficult it is for them to attain it. Books such as this may be something that people need in order to realize what is going on and that maybe they should end what they are doing because innocent people are being affected everyday and that this fight is not necessary and peace should be found.

As I was looking up reviews on the movie Paradise Now, I found the controversy about this movie very interesting. While I was watching it, I never got the idea that this wasn't supposed to be a movie really about anything other than Palestine and what goes on there. However, after reading the controversy, many of the Israeli officials were angry that this was going to be called a Palestinian film. The American Academy Awards had quite the issue and there was much arguments from both Palestine and those in Israel. People in Palestine wanted this movie to show to others what goes on in their lives and I think that this is what the movie portrayed. After reading everything about this it just seems as though Israel and Palestine will find anything they possible can to argue about and that this should be something that is trivial compared to the things that are going on in their countries and the people that are being killed. Although I do think that it should be a Palestine film the Israeli writer Irit Linor wrote, "according to internationally accepted conventions, the nationality of a film is usually determined by the country that invested in it - and that while the film was categorized by the Academy as representing Palestine, it was produced with European funds, by an Israeli-Arab director." I suppose if you are going by those standards then this would almost have to be an Israeli film. Although I would think that this would make the film much less credible. This could simply be a way that an Israeli sees Palestine and not actually true facts or what really happens in Palestine. It is hard to tell exactly what this movie should be considered as, and after reading all of that it made me question if what happened in the movie was really something that I should take to heart as a part of the Palestinian culture, and to some extent I should, but how much is actually the truth and how much is the opinion of the Israeli director?
Paradise Now was an amazing movie and taught me so much about different parts of that culture. It is hard for me to put into perspective what the people go through in their daily lives, and what would actually bring them to watch to commit suicide while killing many others. I have always hate a weak stomach when it comes to war movies and that kind of thing, but the thought that there would be a movie about someone actually strapping a bomb to them is crazy to me. Of course, we have movies here about war and killing but for some reason when it comes to actually using yourself as the weapon is a crazy concept to me. Being in America we don't see movies made about things like that, I think because of the fear we have that something like this could happen over here. We don't want to bring those kinds of actions into any part of our culture, even in a fictional movie because that kind of thing does happen in other parts of the world. We only seem to portray people from Palestine and Israel in certain ways and then just try to ignore it as much as we can. This is why for me, watching a movie like this really sheds a new light on the things that happen in Palestine. I think that more Americans should watch films like this because it may help them understand what is really going on there and have a better grasp on the way these people lives and be thankful for the things that we don't have to deal with day to day.