Film Analysis : Paradise Now

This article by Isabelle Duyvesteyn starts off by summarising the objectives that challenge the perspective of terrorism since the last decade of the twentieth century is fundamentally new. In this article certain questions have been debated regarding new aspects of terrorism and they are: “transnational nature of the perpetrators and their organizations, their religious inspiration, fanaticism, use of weapons of mass destruction and their indiscriminate targeting.” ("How New Is the New Terrorism?", 2017)In order to understand the depth of aspects of new terrorism the article talks about “national and territorial focus of the new terrorists, their political motivations, use of conventional weaponry and the symbolic targeting that is aimed in order to achieve a surprising effect.” ("How New Is the New Terrorism?", 2017)

What this essay attempt to do is examine what terrorism is and look at whether the motivation for terrorism

Toward the beginning of the book, the authors suggest that it is hard to determine the motivations of terrorists “terrorists want to—well, it isn’t always clear” (63). There is no motivation capable of making someone blow themselves up; however, the people who commit these types of terrorist attacks are usually brainwashed into believing their sacrifice is well rewarded in the afterlife. But we can break stuff down for a bit, we can conclude a portion of the terrorists’ motivations and ideologies by identifying their targets; if the targets were normal people from society, it means the motivation is to spread terror, and if for example the target was a political figure then the motivation is political. Meanwhile, a terrorist attack can uncover a variety of incentives, but a real incentive would still be

Mainstream accounts of terrorism view it as for attention or respectability in their homeland. I find the movies depiction more credible as it makes more sense. Those whose lives feel unbearable commonly view it as inevitable and continue down dark paths. A divorced man who just lost his job may turn to to drugs, as a struggling middle-eastern who has never been able to keep a job and has nowhere to go, nothing to do, may turn to

Terrorism primary purpose is psychological, as it’s perpetrators are concerned with not the amount of damage they cause but rather the emotional and personal effects of their action. This has been referred to as propaganda by deed, where the actions of the perpetrators of terrorism are not based on strategical gains and instead are focused on drawing attention and fear towards the group. One profound example of this can be seen in the recent attack at Pulse nightclub in Orlando where 49 were killed. While such is a horrific the proportion of those killed compared to the U.S population is small, yet the psychological effects were huge because it happened on U.S soil and in the usually fun setting of a nightclub. This psychological component that exists within terrorism is essential in understanding its own

There are many different topics that come to mind when discussing terrorism. Many will choose to discuss the most recent bombing, shooting, hostage situation, or the latest ISIS video. While it is great that people attempt to stay “read on” to what is going on around the world, it means nothing if they are incapable of understanding the “why” behind the attack. The first step in understanding what lead to the bombing, shooting, or even the latest ISIS video begins with having a general idea of the psychological effect the leaders of these terrorist organizations are trying to achieve with these actions. There are three key factors worth noting that will aid in understanding the psychological approach these terrorist organizational leaders use to influence the members of their own organizations.

The book itself is a great reminder of the harsh events these region has suffered and it is a helpful tool for those interested in learning about the war in the Middle East. As an immigrant, I can personally connect to this book because I understand the potential of culture alienation and displacement portrayed in the book’s premise. This is a common characteristic when living in a country with different values and rules. At the same time, I easily connected to its narrative because it is based on people’s personal experiences in a country torn by its population’s

The constant projection from Hollywood of ‘Never innocent Palestinians’ have transformed a community of positive views towards Palestinians to the concrete message that they are ‘terrorists’ , ‘killers’ and a threat towards society. This stereotype has been evident in countless films initially from the year 1960s till even the present day. The Government of the United States showed their support for the Jew Faith and Israelis by humanizing them, yet leaving the conflict purely sourced from Palestinians as terrorist and trouble makers. The primary base of demonizing Palestinians was exhorted in the 1960 - Exodus. In this film, Palestinians were either seen as ‘no ones' or people who were perpetrators of terrible acts linking with the Nazi’s. In addition to this display of Palestinians, Cast a Giant Shadow- 1966 projected the violence from Palestinians overpowering humanized Israelis. The question is ‘why cannot we humanize palestinians the same way we humanize Israelis?’ The answer is that we can, but Hollywood constantly choose to utilize Palestinians as an evil civilization. Death before Honor created later in 1987 is a film in which Palestinians are seen as harm towards Americans. This behavior is shown through the burning of the American flag and dispatching of a suicide bomber. As a result of this global view, millions of Palestinians have been affected into being made refugees and living in unthinkable poverty. The inconsiderate stereotype of Palestinians has become the norm in society, both causing a skewed view of them as perpetrators of horrific

Mohammed Alatar, who lives in the US as a commercial filmmaker, directs this film. He is a member and co founder in Palestinians for peace and Democracy organization. This film describes the Middle East conflict between Palestinians and Israelis in the holy land Palestine. The film shows the impact of the Israeli decisions to separate the Palestinians land from Israelis land by building the iron wall. This decisions affects Palestinians live and clear expositions of the Israelis settlement policy in the West Bank.

However, many members are possibly just as ordinary as you or me. Radicalization does not happen simply by listening nor by an individual’s experiences but if you combine the two they amplify each other and a terrorist could be born. The process of co-radicalization was an important factor I learned from this paper. I do not think any of us realize that as a society the “West” contributes to the making of a terrorist. Muslims are drawn to the West as a society of freedom and the land of opportunity. However, just because there are Muslim we profile and discriminate against them. In doing this most people do not understand that we are basically radicalizing them ourselves. Terrorism is all about division and this puts a big divide between us and the Muslim communities. Leaders and politicians of the West that use aggressive tactics also fuel terrorism. This was made very clear when al Qaeda reaired Donald Trump’s reaction to Muslim immigration. This article has been very beneficial for me because I am one of those that feel that we need to take on ISIS in a more aggressive manner. However, after learning about the research regarding radicalization and group dynamics in this article I have gained a better understanding of terrorism and how it works. As David Rothkopf wrote after the Paris massacres last November, “overreaction is precisely the wrong response to terrorism. And it’s exactly what terrorists want…. It does the work of the terrorists for the terrorists.” I think this says it

Thus, Zionism and Palestinian nationalism in constructing a livable subject, that is a subject whose life has value, are also constructing a grievable life, that is a life that will be grieved if lost. Both nationalist ideologies are deeply rooted within notions of livability/grievability, in which each ideology understands itself as non-grievable by the other, whether than other is Israel, Palestine, or the larger looming

Today, as in most of human history, the world is always in war, extinct wars like World War II, apparently succeeding wars like Iraq and the United States and more hard as the war of Israel and Palestine. The last war mentioned, the Arab-Israeli conflict, has attracted the attention of the world for various issues such as the failed attempt at peace, or the history of both nations, but what is striking is the daily life of both sides, more specific daily terror of the Palestine for suicide bombings carried out by the Jews and the violation of individual rights to the Palestinian people.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict is viewed in varied perspectives by both the filmmakers from the Arab countries and also the entire entertainment industry. Using movies to represent various challenges and differences provides insight, interpretations and also exposure to reality to the observers. That is a major approach that the Arab movie makers and other filmmakers use in their attempts to solve the conflict between Israeli and Palestine. Many filmmakers have produced films that focuses on the issue between the two countries and that helps in understanding the concepts presented. For example, ‘Parade Now’ is a movie that has created awareness about the problems that

Supporting the Joel Beinin and Lisa Hajjar, the thesis of Wild Thorns addresses the dilemma of accepting and rejecting the Israeli regime which causes division within the Palestine community (9). In fact, Khalifah, the author of the novella, uses the characters, Usama, Zuhdi, and Adil (Usama’s cousin) to support this thesis. In each instance, she tells how the path that the character chooses either supported their acceptance or rejection of the regime. Specifically, she shows how Usama and Zuhdi’s rejection (fighting against the Israeli regime) contrasts Adil’s acceptance of the Israeli regime (taking care of the dead Israeli Soldier’s wife), thus creating a division. Using the three characters to represent the Palestine community, Khalifah’s purpose is to illustrate the division within the Palestine community (divided community: one side rejects while the other accepts the Israeli regime). In essence, the thesis and of Wild Thorns can be seen through the fate which resulted in the decision of Usama, Zuhdi, and Adil.

Suicide bombing is a commonly used method by which extremists attack their enemies while killing themselves. Bukay’s (2006), The Religious Foundations of Suicide Bombings and MacEoin’s (2009), Suicide Bombing as Worship attempt to examine and explain this phenomenon. Bukay’s article approaches suicide bombing by examining jihad and its justifications in Islamic text. While MacEoin’s article evaluates the origins of modern suicide bombing and then examines the justifications in Islamic text that suicide bombers are martyrs. Both articles touch on shared points such as martyrdom and jihad but the main points of explanation vary. Bukay argues that suicide bombings origins lie in jihad and MacEoin’s argues that it is based on not only jihad but honor as well.