weakens your writing and it won’t be
credible.
Editor’s Note…
Writing is a process that if you apply
yourself to, will richly increase your
understanding of the world around you.
When I signed up for writing I will admit I
was petrified wondering if I had it in me to
write a college paper. The challenge has
been rewarding. As I probed into my topic,
the Mideast Conflict- I had no idea of the
complexities of the issue. I had no
understanding of the battle over land and
the history behind it. This topic provided a
great opportunity for me to investigate an
issue and put into writing what I have
learned in class.
I think the hardest part for me was
paraphrasing and contextualizing.
Paraphrasing is putting into your own words
a point another author is making, without
losing its original meaning rather than just
quoting and letting the quotes speak for me.
That isn’t really writing. Contextualizing is
when you share information in your paper
from a cited source; you ask yourself “Why
is this important?” Then you explain to your
audience the “why” to make your point.
When you look at my papers, notice the
unbiased tone in the report as I report from
the angle of how religion has tied into the
conflict, in the position paper I use a
stronger tone and reasoning, the letter to
the editor will take a positive stance for the
opposition’s side of the position paper, that
allows you to use your skill in arguing for
any side, then the review of “Promises” was
just fun as I tried to pick out the parts that
stood out the most to me. It was a unique
kind of documentary in that it wasn’t so
much about educating you on the nuances
of the Mideast Conflict as it was about
showing how it has affected the children
mixed up in this decades old controversy of
whose land is it?
In intermediate writing, we focused on
five genres, report, position-proposal,
review, a memoir and a letter to the editor.
The first paper, the report, was the most eye
opening as it led me to thoroughly research
the topic I chose and to gain an
understanding from many perspectives.
Reports are to reflect both or several sides
of an issue without bias, emphasize
“without bias!”. With reports, you educate
yourself then put your knowledge into
words that flow and are logical.
Through my writing experience I learned
about various kinds of fallacies and to
watch out for them in my writing. Fallacies
are errors in reasoning. There are many
kinds, such as hasty generalizations and
false authority. In writing papers it is
important to represent the facts properly. If
you fall into bad habits of using fallacies it
Enjoy!
Rena Huether
1
Table of Contents
Report- Ancient Beliefs Make Dividing Land ............................................................................. 3
Position- Israel’s Right to Exist .................................................................................................. 7
Review- Promises .................................................................................................................... 12
Memoir- Two Sides.................................................................................................................. 14
Middle-East Cartoon ............................................................................................................... 17
Letter to the Editor .................................................................................................................. 18
Works Cited ........................................................................................................................ 18,19
2
systems. There are some points of
agreement concerning all three belief
systems which complicates the issue of
land. It is important to understand that the
root of this centuries old conflict is based in
these belief systems.
Report
CONTENDING BELIEFS…
In the Jewish Bible, it states that God
spoke to a man named Abram telling him to
go to Canaan where God would make him
into a great nation and that all peoples on
earth would be blessed through him. God
made a covenant with Abram and promised
to fulfill this through his son Isaac.
According to the Bible it was again
confirmed to Jacob, Isaac’s son, that God
would give them the land of Canaan (Israel)
as an eternal possession. According to
historians and archeologists, “Abraham
would have lived around the year 1900
B.C.E” [Frank 12]. The religious Jews believe
in the first five books of the bible called the
Torah.
Ancestral Beliefs and Wounds
Make Dividing Up Land Difficult…
In order to understand why there is
continuing deep seated animosity among
the Jews and Palestinians, it is important to
understand that the roots of this conflict go
back approximately four thousand years. It
is a problem of theology that is intertwined
between Israelis, Palestinians and
Christians. A large population of Jewish
people believes that Israel was given to
them as a homeland by God and Muslims
believe the same. Christian based countries
favor Israel because of their similar belief
The Palestinian’s Koran, Islam’s holy book,
also speaks about God talking to Abram and
fulfilling the promise of a homeland through
Ishmael, the first born illegitimate son of
Abram. According to Muhammad, God
(Allah) promised to bless Ishmael (Arab
descendents) and to multiply him
exceedingly, so that 12 princes would come
from him. The followers of Mohammed are
called Muslims, and Islam is their belief.
With this the story, the Arab-Israeli conflict
3
begins. Author Ostrom states “God did
multiply the seed of Ishmael into hundreds
of millions as they are today” [Ostram 1].
Many Muslims believe they are doing God’s
will in following the Koran which incites
them to destroy the Jewish people because
they killed God’s prophets.
why both Christians and Jews believe that
the land must be in the possession of the
nation of Israel.
Wounds from Modern History…
In 1917, the British Empire was at war and
took control of a large section of the Middle
East. They conquered and broke up the land
into sections which we know today as
Jordan, Iraq, and Israel, the Holy Land.
France had possession of Mideast land that
is presently called Lebanon and Syria. It was
during this war that the Zionist Organization
(Jews who believe they should have a
nation of their own) asked Britain if they
would establish a homeland for the Jewish
people if they were successful in
conquering Palestine, which was part of the
Middle East. In reply, British foreign
secretary, Arthur James Balfour, told the
Zionist Organization that his government
agreed to their request for “The
establishment in Palestine of a national
home for the Jewish people”. This was
called the Balfour Declaration and was done
to try to enlist American and Russian Jewish
support for the war. Since the 1880’s there
had been an increase of Jewish people
returning to their homeland because of
subjugation while living in other nations.
Now the Israelites had a clear “okay” from
the rest of the world.
The Holy Land is where the Christians faith
begins. They believe in the old and new
testament of the bible. According to the
Christian faith, Jesus Christ was the
Messiah, God’s son, born and crucified in
Israel as the atonement for sin. In the book
of Revelation, Jesus the Messiah will return
at the end of times in fulfillment of
prophecy to reclaim his children. This book
of Revelation states that in the end times
there will be severe catastrophes and
destruction prior to the Messiah’s return.
Whereas Christians believe Jesus is the
prophesied Messiah, most religious Jews
reject this. The Jewish people believe the
Messiah is yet to come, that he will return
to Jerusalem to claim his own.
It is believed that part of prophecy was
fulfilled when Jesus died and rose again.
There is still more prophecy to be
completed. Jesus, the Messiah, is to return
to Jerusalem to claim his own when
according to scripture God will bring the
Jewish nation “from the four corners of the
earth”, “ back to their homeland”. It is
believed that this has been happening since
1948 when Israel was declared a nation and
Jewish people from all different lands began
migrating back to Israel [Frank 8]. This is
Within the declaration, a statement was
made concerning the people presently
living there “Nothing shall be done which
may prejudice the rights of existing non4
Jewish communities in Palestine”. “There
was an immediate outcry from the
Palestinian Arabs”. To them, the reigning
powers had given away their land after they
had helped the British to crush the Ottoman
Empire. That year lashes of violent anger
arose and ended up with some fifty dead on
both sides.
acknowledge the Jewish right to exist there
can be no peaceful resolution. Many believe
that every time Israel has given up part of
the land that they have possessed since
1948, they have been increasingly attacked
by Arab terrorists.
Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has
even a different opinion than some of his
people. He states that “painful concessions”
from both sides would have to be made as
direct peace negotiations between Israelis
and Palestinians began for the first time in
two years. He goes on to say “The people of
Israel and I as their prime minster, are
prepared to walk this road and to go a long
way to achieve a genuine peace …as good
neighbors” [Direct peace talk 1].
Years later the United Nations made it
official. In 1948, after the annihilation of 6
million Jews by Hitler in the Second World
War, they declared Israel a Jewish state
[Shadow of the Dictators 102]. Later in
1967, Palestinian guerilla groups, Syria and
Jordan attacked Israel. Egypt also came on
board in response to sharp criticism for not
supporting Syria and Jordan. Israel
responded with anticipatory defense. They
destroyed Egypt’s air force, leaving Jordan
and Syria without protection. The Israelis
drove back their adversaries, captured the
Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank,
Golan Heights and Jerusalem in “The Six
Day War” (Britannica 2). This compounded
the ire already being felt with humiliation
by the Palestinians.
Yet within Prime Minister Netanyahu’s
own administration he faces direct
opposition from Avigdor Lieberman, Israel’s
foreign minister. He has threatened to
block any attempt to extend a moratorium
(cessation on building) on Jewish
settlement construction in the West Bank,
throwing the future of Middle East peace
talks into fresh uncertainty and further
states “We will not agree to any extension.
Yisrael Beiteinu has enough power in the
government and in parliament to ensure
that no such proposal succeeds” [Blomfield
1].
Present Perspectives…
Although all believe in their version of
historical theology, living in a land filled
with conflict has proven to be difficult. A
simple Jewish grocery store owner, Avi Levy
exclaims, “They want to throw us into the
sea…They don’t want peace.” [NY Daily
News 1]. Many Jewish people believe that
because of the Palestinians refusal to
The Palestinian President, Mahmoud
Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu
met for direct talks in Washington on
September 4, 2010, where they pledged “to
5
move the peace process forward”.
However, “after two days of meetings, they
deadlocked over the contentious issue of
Israeli settlements”. Abbas finally said,
“These talks are death…. There is no reason
to hold talks” [Palestinian leader blasts… 1].
encouraging these illegal settlements. He
feels that the U.S. could easily provide
incentives for the Jewish people to move
out of the West Bank with money that it
gives to Israel for military aid [Khalidi 1].
Then there is Dror Etkes, an Israeli humanrights activist, who states, “Do we want to
rape 3 million people to obtain a national
narrative?” His passion is to defend
Palestinian settlements in court [Burleigh
49].
Time magazine reporter Mitch Frank
believes that the Palestinians themselves
have a wide variety of beliefs toward living
with the Israeli Jews as their neighbors.
“Some want all of Jerusalem to be the
Palestinian country’s capital. Others would
accept just East Jerusalem, while others
would accept the United Nations controlling
Jerusalem.” [Frank 111]. Some want
nothing more than to martyr themselves as
an act of sacrifice to regain their country
from the Israelis. Example Hiba
Daraghmeh, the first female suicide
bomber, “walked into a shopping center in
the Israeli town of Afula and blew herself
up, killing two others and wounding
seventy” [Frank 110].
There is a vast array of perspectives in
this situation from Israel being accused of
thievery by participating in illegal land grabs
forbidden by the Geneva Convention and
the Palestinians being accused of terrorism,
which is also forbidden by the Geneva
Convention. The issue is complex,
especially when adding conflicting
theological beliefs to the mix. Both Israelis
and Palestinians need a homeland and it
seems that both want the same piece of
land. There are valid reasons to give the
land to each side. There is also much
justified and unjustified animosity towards
each other. The Palestinians have
retaliated because of dispossession. The
Israelis, in response, have defended
themselves against terrorism. It seems a lot
of waste in time, money and human lives.
Add to this the influence of surrounding
countries and it is easy to understand why
the problem is so difficult to resolve.
Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist group, is
also a factor. They would like to derail
peace talks because their ultimate objective
is to have a country ruled by Islamic law
occupying all of the Holy Land. They do not
want any agreements made with Israel
because they wish to destroy it.
Professor of Arab Studies at Columbia
University, Rashid Khalidi believes that the
Jewish settlers living in the West Bank and
East Jerusalem are “living there illegally”.
He further accuses the United States of
6
When writer Ben-Meir shares about the
Jewish position, that the nation of Israel
was established to set up a homeland which
Jewish people could call their own, he
communicates an important point of view.
Many Jewish people believe their identity
would be lost in time if there were a large
assimilation of Arabs. In Dorothy
Drummond’s book “Holy Land Whose
Land?”she points out that there is a low
rate of natural increase for the Israeli’s,
about 2.5% annually, whereas the natural
rate for Palestinians is 3.5%(49-50). This is
significant. Because of the greater rate of
increase of Palestinians; their population
would quickly outnumber the Israelis in
what was intended to be a Jewish
homeland. The Jewish people would
eventually succumb to being a minority to
Palestinians.
For thousands of years the Jewish people
have been singled out as the recipients of
hate by many nations and people groups.
Most memorable in recent history is the
Holocaust. In the 1940’s the Jewish people
were singled out for extermination as an
inferior race. This was a well thought out
plan by Adolf Hitler. Hitler incited hatred
towards the Israelis. In Poland, Germany,
Czechoslovakia and other eastern European
countries, Jews were taken from their
homes and transplanted to concentration
camps. In these camps six million Jews were
put to death, often in gas chambers, while
thousands more were intentionally starved
to death (World 102).
The world, feeling a great deal of remorse
wanted to make amends. One way they
chose to do this was to provide the Jewish
people with a state of their own. This
resulted in the displacement of the
Palestinians living there. At the time the
U.N.
contemplated
establishing
a
Position- Proposal
Israel’s Right to Exist….
No Israeli land, occupied or owned,
should be allotted to the Palestinians
because any land conceded to the
Palestinians only seems to encourage
demand for all the territory now called
Israel. The nation of Israel has a right to
exist in peace. When President Netanyahu
put this forth as the only requirement for a
freeze on settlement building, the
Palestinians could not acknowledge this
right. Israel should be allowed to keep all
land west of the Jordan River.
Ben-Meir, a professor of international
relations at New York University and Middle
East project director at the World Policy
Institute, states that…
“Israel rejects in principle the
Palestinian right of return.
The Israeli position is
predicated on the fact that,
in times of war, many people
end up being displaced and
that history is replete with
examples of refugees settling
elsewhere, especially when
the conditions in their
country of origin have
changed so dramatically.
Moreover, Israel insists that
the return of any significant
number of Palestinian
refugees to Israel proper
would obliterate the Jewish
identity of the state, which
was created as the last
refuge for the Jew”.
7
Palestinian homeland also. This was not
followed through perhaps because the
Palestinians refused to accept it.
Hamas factor…
Because of this resentment, many of the
young Palestinian boys are targets being
groomed by Hamas to become suicide
bombers, terrorists and to hate the Jewish
people. Hamas believes in the destruction
of Israel which has been a constant
drawback and threat to the Jewish people’s
security and has interfered with peace talks.
Palestinians Distress…
Admittedly, the Palestinians have
suffered in every area of life through their
dispossession. This includes loss of homes
and land, and ability to work because of
heavy restrictions put into place by the
Israeli government. They have frequent
curfews, and are subject to unannounced
searches. Many are dependent on help
from the United Nations Relief and Work
Agency (U.N.R.W.A.). U.N.R.W.A. helps the
Palestinians with healthcare, shelter,
schools, food and water (McCann 85).
Checkpoints are situated at every road
going into the cities. Palestinians need
travel permits to access certain areas. The
vast majority of Palestinians are not
allowed to become Israeli citizens because
of contention between them and Israel.
This is a constant reminder to them of their
limited liberty. While restrictions continue
to grow, freedom for the Palestinians in
Israel continues to shrink.
These
restrictions imposed by Israel stem from a
lack of trust caused by the actions of
extremist groups-Hamas and Holy Jihad
sects. These constraints have resulted in
humiliation and disparagement that have
added fuel to the fire of anger and
resentment that the Palestinian refugees
are forced to live with daily.
Currently these extremist groups have
much influence in the Gaza Strip and West
Bank where the young are constantly
barraged with anti-Jewish propaganda.
Young
Palestinians
are
extremely
susceptible to these racist teachings
because their present living conditions are
so bad. They have little hope.
Blood Rights…
Palestinians also claim that they have as
much right to the land as the Israelis since
they are descendants of Abraham also. The
Arab Palestinians, most of whom are
Muslim, believe “They are descendants of
Ishmael, Abraham’s first born. They say
Hagar was Abraham’s second wife and
believe their claims are as valid as those of
the Jews” (Sanders 2). However, according
to the Israelites, this does not negate the
fact that it was Abraham’s son Isaac that
the blessing of the homeland was to fall
upon.
There has been an Arab population in the
Holy Land for centuries. Mitch Frank states
in his book “Understanding the Holy Land”
8
that “Most of the Jewish people were
kicked out of the Holy Land long ago… But
this same land is also home to the
Palestinians, whose Arab ancestors
migrated there in the seventh century. It
was not the Arabs who kicked the Jews out,
they just moved in later, after most of the
Jews were gone” “From their perspective
(the Arabs), one day the Jews just showed
up and started moving in” (Frank 4).
they shared the same language and culture
with fellow Arabs…” (Peters 25).
Geographically…
Israel is much smaller than the
surrounding Arab nations. If one was to
compare the size of Israel- including the
West Bank to the nations of Syria and
Jordan, their immediate neighbors, Israel is
but one-tenth the size of these two
combined, roughly 10,000 square miles
compared to 107,000 square miles. To
create a new homeland for the Palestinians
somewhere in one of these two nations or
possibly a combination of both where many
of the Palestinian refugees currently live
would be a more sensible solution. The
Palestinians would be resettled into a land
with people of like language, customs and
beliefs.
Jewish Side…
Since the rebirth of Israel in 1948, there
have been literally tens of thousands of
Jewish people fleeing from the neighboring
Arab nations. They fled because of
persecution. Some people think that it is
simply a squabble over land, but in
actuality, it goes much deeper than that.
Through the centuries, the Jewish people
have always made a way to survive in other
cultures where they have often suffered
much hardship and persecution.
Peters, a journalist and author of “From
Time Immemorial” states that “For every
child in Syria, Lebanon, or elsewhere in the
Arab world who elicits our sympathy, there
is a Jewish refugee who fled from the Arab
country of his birth. For every Arab who
moved to a neighboring land, a Jew was
forced to flee from a community where he
and his ancestors may have lived for two
thousand years. The Jews escaped to their
original homeland, where their roots are
even older; the Arabs also arrived in lands
where they were in the majority, where
The funds used for the current numerous
refugee camps in the West Bank, Lebanon,
Syria and Jordan could be used to resettle
the refugees into Arab lands of similar belief
systems and culture.
9
This goal could be accomplished if the
United Nations were to diligently pursue
resettlement. Second, influence could be
exerted upon Syria and Jordan to accept
Arab brethren into their land. Monies could
be given to the Palestinians to be used to
purchase lots of land and help them to
become established in their new homes.
This would be superior to using the West
Bank as a Palestinian homeland.
Israel. History is literally being unveiled as
scientists extract pieces of ancient
treasures. Because the Palestinians feel
such animosity toward the Jewish people, it
is a concern that the Palestinians would
destroy artifacts of archeological value that
would add weight to the Israeli’s rights to
the land through ancient proofs.
In Jewish history, there is a story of a
soldier, Yigael Yadin, who in the Six Day War
used Biblical archeology to defeat the
invading Egyptian army. It was through
archeology that he was aware of an ancient
road that enabled him to surround the
invaders and win the battle (Shengold
Jewish Encyclopedia 29).
Israel’s Security…
Carving out the West Bank from the
nation of Israel could leave it susceptible to
attacks from neighboring nations. “Many
Israeli’s view the West Bank as a strategic
asset, providing a buffer zone between
Israel proper and the neighboring Arab
state of Jordan (Newman 8). Although
Jordan is not aggressive towards Israel
presently, it has in the past attacked Israel
and there is a history of ill will towards the
Jewish people from Arabs. There is a
constant feeling of threat from living in a
land surrounded by neighbors who wish
their destruction. “Many Israelis perceive
that handing over the West Bank to Jordan
or Palestinians would endanger their ability
to protect themselves” (Newman 8). It is
the animosity between these two people
groups that make it so difficult to come up
with a solution.
Hatred…
It is a myth that the Jewish people have
lived in harmony with the Arab peoples
through the centuries and there are many
resources to document that fallacy.
According to Josephus Flavius ‘100,000 Jews
were transferred from Palestine’ by Greek
ruler Ptolemy around 300 B.C., and
thousands of Jews were ‘settled’ in Libyan
cities, employed as a human shield to
Archeology…
Archeology is a concern for some Israelis.
There have been many discoveries of
ancient artifacts since the statehood of
10
protect Egypt from its enemies. The Jewish
community was reportedly destroyed in the
anti-Roman rebellion of A.D. 73. Libya’s
Jewish population has been greatly reduced
from persecution in years past” (Peters 67).
burned alive in their houses” (Peters 70)
Later, Peters states that it was all because
of a perception that there was “Zionist
activity”-Libyan Jewish Boy Scouts sang
‘Zionist’ hymns and ‘Zionist’ clubs were
formed causing the Arabs to become
annoyed”…”Libya’s Jewish population in
1948 was 38,000; by 1951 only 8,000 Jews
remained” (Peters 70). In whatever Arab
land the Jewish people were living, there
were always waves of great persecution
that would settle down to a lower level.
Much would depend on the rulers and their
degree of anti-Semitism.
And once again in the 7th century, Libyan
Jews were brought to subjugation by Arabs.
“They were brought under the same
fluctuating oppressive ‘dhimma’ restrictions
and again they became the buffer against
attack from the Byzantines (Peters 67).
Furthermore in “The Second World War”
a great wave of persecution in 1941 and
1942, Benghazi’s Jews were attacked, and
their property pillaged and nearly 2,600
Jews went to a forced labor camp where
more than 500 died. Later, thousands more
were condemned to forced labor” (Peters
69).
It is highly unlikely that any animosity will
ever be extinguished from amongst these
two people groups. Because of the Arab’s
stubbornness to acknowledge the Israeli’s
right to exist, it has led the Israeli’s to be
constantly suspicious of the Palestinians. It
has been repeatedly spoken by leaders of
Arab nations that they do not have the right
to exist.
Moreover in November 4, 1945, the
community was totally unprepared for the
next anti-Jewish bloodbath. The Tripoli
pogrom was inspired by anti-Jewish riots in
Egypt, but the ravages in Tripolitania were
even more devastating.
Whereas the
Egyptian violence was directed at pillaging
and looting, Arab nationalism and religious
fanaticism in Tripoli was aimed at the
physical destruction of the Jews” (Peters
69).
“Many of the attacks were
premeditated and coldly murderous in
intent. Babies were beaten to death with
iron bars.
Old men were hacked to
pieces…expectant
mothers
were
disemboweled.
Whole families were
Proposal
The Palestinians should be relocated to
several different Arab countries. It should
be the responsibility of the Arab nations to
adopt and take in their fellow brethren.
Much should be done to enable the difficult
task of resettling the Arab refugees into
places of like language and culture to make
transition easier for these needy people.
The neighboring Arab countries share the
same language and religion. There could be
a unilateral exchange of refugees noting
11
that over the decades there has been a
great influx of Jewish immigrants from
Yemen, Aden, Iraq, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria,
Tunisia, Syria, Lebanon and Libya that were
compelled to flee because of persecution,
but in comparison, the amount of
Palestinians being resettled is a small
number.
the Mideast conflict and steers clear of the
political arena. Palestinian and Israeli
children, although living side by side in the
same land- live notably different lives. This
documentary exposes the daily stresses of
these two young people groups as well as
brings to life the caricature of seven
children. Its creators are Shapiro, Goldberg
and Bolado, although Goldberg is the guy
who goes to bat interviewing the kids.
Entertaining is something you don’t
normally get with a documentary, but in
“Promises” you can count on it. The
children in “Promises” make you laugh,
make you sad, make you want to get up and
dance. In the beginning it starts with Yarko
and Daniel, twin Israeli brothers who are
wearing identical pink shorts. I’m thinking
to myself “They’re both wearing pink
shorts! ”Yarko says to Daniel “Hey, how
come you’re copying what I’m wearing?”
“Daniel says” I’m not copying what you’re
wearing.” I found myself laughing out loud
because in the United States you just don’t
do that. They would have been singled out
as weird, but in Israel where “Promises”
was filmed the standards of what’s okay are
different. Next there is the burping contest
between Schlomo, an ultra-orthodox Jewish
boy and another boy. What I thought would
be a quick passing of poor male manners at
first, rapidly escalated into a burping war
that left me chuckling with surprise at how
long they carried on.
Over sixty years ago the Arab Palestinians
could have had a state when on November
29,1947 the United Nations General
Assembly met, and recommended a
partitioning into two states, but the Arab
states and the Palestinians rejected the
plan, feeling like all of the land was theirs
(Sanders 5).
Most recently, Israel’s Prime Minister
Netanyahu offered to extend the
moratorium on building settlements in the
West Bank if the Palestinians would
acknowledge Israel’s right to existence.
Sadly, it was rejected by Palestinian leader,
Mahoud Abbas.
Review of Documentary "Promises"
Crossing Lines
“They have guns and nuclear stuff, we have
stones” says Faraj Adnan, a young
Palestinian boy living in a West Bank
refugee camp.
In the 2001 documentary "Promises",
interviewer B.Z. Goldberg does an excellent
job of focusing on the children caught up in
12
Equally entertaining is Sanabel, a girl from
the Deheishe Refugee Camp who
demonstrates a beautiful Palestinian
“Dance of Return”. She wears Arabic garb of
gold and cream with her movements
perfectly
coinciding
with
rhythmic
instruments to a lively beat of ethnic music.
Then there is Faraj Adnan, a young
Palestinian boy whose family was removed
from their land, shares “They have guns and
nuclear stuff, we have stones”. Faraj stands
out as a rough-neck kid in the beginning,
with plenty of resentment towards Israelis,
and by the end I found myself connecting
with this tough kid who shows his softhearted side. He becomes attached to B.Z.
and sheds tears when it is time for his
friend to leave. B.Z., through time, brings
together Yarko, Daniel and Faraj for a
meeting to get to know each other, Israeli
and Palestinian. Boys wrestling
and laughing. At first I was concerned that
their might be contention between the boys
but B.Z.’s handling of the whole situation
was impressive.
troublesome. The Palestinians having been
dispossessed of land through wars against
Israel and through the Jewish people
moving back to their homeland has put the
Palestinian Arabs in an unbearable situation
that often shows itself with outlashes of
violence. Faraj Adnan, states “We have no
hope”. This feeling of futility is compounded
by a restrictive government that has put
into place checkpoints at every road going
into Jerusalem as a way of protecting Israeli
citizens from terrorists. Faraj shares” They
do this to humiliate us.” Palestinians are
restricted from work within the city,
handicapping them from being able to
support themselves. They rely on the
U.N.W.R.A. (United Nations Relief and Work
Agency) to fulfill their need for healthcare,
shelter and, in particular, the education
they need to allow them to improve their
lives (McCann 85).
As I am a stickler for good information, the
main drawback of
“Promises” is if you
were
uneducated
about the history of
the Palestinian and
Israeli conflict you
might have a hard
time trying to figure
out what these children in “Promises” are
so divided about. In the opening B.Z. does
share that there have been “uprisings”
called “Intifada” in the Palestinian refugee
camps, but is short on background
information of why there is contention
In this documentary there are victims on
both sides and that’s what makes it so
13
between Israelis and Palestinians. For
people who don’t normally watch
documentaries and for people who do-they
would appreciate more background history
so they can put it into proper context.
If you are looking for an out of the box kind
of documentary”Promises” delivers just
that. The creators Shapiro, Goldberg and
Bolado have produced a documentary that
intends to deal with the Mideast conflict
from
still a people without a home. For myself,
there was a deep gnawing inside of me for
this new knowledge of who the Palestinians
were and their grief stricken situation. Up
to this point I would have to plead
ignorance of my understanding of the
Mideast conflict. My dilemma of how to
reconcile this new information with my
faith left me constantly mulling over the
situation. For me, it needed to be
reconciled. How was I as Christian to handle
this information? Yes, we are to feed and
clothe the homeless, and yet, how do you
bless Israel and Palestinians when they are
in opposition to one another? These are
questions that after all of my research,
remain unanswered.
Memoir- Two Sides
Mental Chaos…
Searching for information on my issue, my
heart has been wrenched with distressing
stories, from bullets that killed a baby still in
the womb of a Palestinian woman to the
dirty head of a baby with no body, the
result of a missile, to Palestinian terrorists
ambushing and murdering a Jewish mother
with her ten year old son to Google images
of stone throwing, the weapon of young
Palestinian boys, since that is the only
weapon they have. Ahh yes. Stone
throwing, reminds me Faraj Adnan, the
young Palestinian boy in “Promises”. I
remember him saying “They have nuclear
stuff and guns, all we have is stones.” That
changed my understanding. I see
desperation in these young boys who are
Mulling over…
As I pulled into the parking lot of The
Fellowship, my church home for twentythree years, I was excited with all of the
information that I had learned about the
Mideast conflict. My mind was reeling with
the Balfour Declaration and how this piece
of paper gave statehood to Israel but
infringed on the lives of Palestinians with
such severity that sixty years later they are
14
forcefully fighting the enemy with all they
have, the Israeli’s. It makes me wonder
what they would do if they had guns. Of
course they would use them. They would
try to take the land back. This could all have
been avoided if the Palestinians had taken
the West Bank when it was offered to them
decades ago. From my probing into the past
of the Israelis, they have always endured
waves of persecution from many nations
and empires through the centuries. I don’t
believe that will ever change. There will be
more attempts against the Jewish people.
The bible says so.
revelation of understanding. Yes, it does
also come from the opposition, the party
challenging the old ways of ridiculous
thinking. I hope I would have been such.
So knowing this, how do I synthesize this
new information in a way that is just? What
should be done to help the Palestinians
without compromising Israel and her
people?
Confrontation…
It was after our bible study video of the end
times that I was caught up in an ugly
confrontation with another woman as I was
asked to share what I had learned about the
Palestinians. As I shared their plights of
dispossession of land and homes, inability
to work, forced living in controlled areas as
well as depending on the United Nations
Relief and Work Agency (U.N.R.W.A.) for
healthcare, shelter, schools, food and
water. Sitting to my right was Jane who
responded with an explosion of emotion I
liken to a tsunami set on shredding
everything in its path. She lashed out as if I
had become a traitor to the cause. ” The
Israelites have always been there! There
has always been a presence of Jewish
people!” she exclaimed, “The Palestinians
want to take their land!”They have been
there for four thousand years!” I could feel
every eye on Jane and me, like a bull being
let out of the gate, embarrassment was
flooding my face. She was speaking with
such ferocity that it was impossible to share
Christians are Guilty…
I was aware of what the bible said about
those who bless Israel, will be blessed and
those who curse Israel will be cursed. With
that said, another reality that I was
confronted with is the fact that Christians
in large part today have done some growing
up since the murderous times of the
Christian Crusades. For centuries during the
Christian Crusades the Christians were just
as guilty of Jewish oppression as every
other religious, political or ethnic group that
has brought suffering to the Jewish people.
Mankind is such a wretched mess! To think
that if I was alive then, I would probably be
one of those who thought it okay to destroy
the Jewish people on behalf of God because
Christians judged Israel and found her guilty
of killing their Messiah. I say that because
to a large degree we are a product of the
times until there comes a deeper, truer
15
beyond that. To her I was someone who
had taken up sides with the enemy. How
could I?
As I waited for her emotional outburst to
end, I couldn’t help but think of how
cheated I would feel if I only knew one side
of the story. Yet her flare-up left no room
for me to share all the other information
churning inside of me. This is what I had
worked so hard for, coming to school to
learn not just one side of an issue but to be
challenged in learning many sides of an
issue. I go to school to overcome ignorance
not to be its slave.
After she calmed down minutes later, I tried
to point out that there were credible
sources to prove that the Palestinians also
have been in the land for hundreds of years.
After evenings and hours of processing the
outburst,
confrontation
and
embarrassment, I decided to take with me
the fact that I understand some people are
very set in where they stand on this issue,
but as for me, I will continue to learn about
both or multiple sides of an issue knowing
that it is good to understand the various
viewpoints without feeling pressured to act
and believe a certain way because of how I
am classified by others or how I identify
myself. I do have beliefs that guide me in a
certain direction but they don’t keep me
from being informed. This is just one more
lesson of mastering who I choose to be.
16
Mideast Political Cartoon
17
Letter to the Editor…
In the article “Israel’s Right to Exist” the author mentions that Israel is only one tenth the size of the
immediate nations of Syria and Jordan, roughly 10,000 square miles compared to 107,000 square miles.
She suggests that this provides a possible solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, in that the
Palestinians could be relocated to another area with people of like language and culture. In using that
comparison as a suggestion for support for Israel’s right to exist, she completely omits that it has
nothing to do with size, but rather claims to land. You can suggest that the Palestinians be relocated, but
that is not realistic.
The Palestinians have been steadfast in their insistence of a right of return to the land now called
Israel. The Palestinians also have been in this land for over fourteen centuries. They also have a deep
religious attachment to this place which includes a claim to Jerusalem as their capital city. Just as the
Jewish people have been dispossessed, so too, have the Palestinians. They are presently in refugee
camps and some have been there for over fifty years. There are children and young adults who have
never lived anywhere else. They have no future or hope at the present. Their existence is dependent
upon the United Nations Relief and Work Agency which has been supporting them for decades. They
currently live in camps where there are restrictions that keep them from working and trying to better
themselves. For them it is a spiral of never ending misery and humiliation. The answer will not be easy
and will require compromise on both sides.
Rena Huether
West Jordan, Utah
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