Secret Life Of Saeed The Pessoptimist: An Analysis

Israel has used tactics to defend itself, and to get the international “right to exist”. Israel has used security tactics to feel safe, but these tactics are endangering the civil and human rights of the citizens of Israel. “...No country has a recognized God-given or otherwise right to exist, only responsibilities under international law and moral responsibilities…”

In addition, I will examine the current state of political and human rights in Israeli occupied West Bank and analyze how they are approaching a level of apartheid. Finally, I will summarize the effects of these social tensions between Israel and Palestinians in the terms of how potential open conflict could reignite.

Growing up in Palestine, I had contradicting Feelings towards my identity as a Palestinian. I often felt the euphoria and nationalism hearing the word Palestine, revolution, Israel, Yasser Arafat, and resistance. The ecstatic feeling of belonging to a glorious nation and dedicated countrymen equipped me with sufficient mental and emotional dosage to enjoy living in a war zone and ultimately a honourable goal worth sacrificing my life for- freedom.

In this novel, Anna Baltzer documents her experiences in Palestine and her personal eyewitness accounts of the Palestine-Israel conflict. She describes heartbreaking events that she witnessed, such as the kidnapping of a farmer. Baltzer also describes how Israeli soldiers consider illegal matters legal when a Jew does it since they must “protect” themselves from harmful, innocent Palestinians. Although this novel is biased, it is useful since most of it is a primary source. It includes pictures, maps, a brief history and in-depth explanations of the complicated conflict.

Edward Said’s “States” features an insightful, in depth analysis of “Orientalism” as it applies to Palestinians and Israelis. He begins with a description of Palestine and the Palestinian condition using photographs to demonstrate a more humanized perspective of these transient people. Said reflects on his childhood in Palestine and draws from personal experience to paint a picture of a people without a home, or to be more accurate, people without an identity. A rhetorical analysis reveals the levels to which Said’s persuasion actually manages to persuade the audience. Said’s use of pathos is strong and well developed due to his use of anecdotal evidence and his insistence on humanizing the issue, while his ethos is considerably boosted by his personal experiences in Palestine, with Israelis, and his comprehensive study of

After asking my roommates what they thought the word “captivity” meant, I have concluded that the Palestinian lifestyle is an impeccable match. Christopher Varela, my roommate and a freshman at Georgia State University, offered a few words when asked to describe what he thought the word “captivity” meant. His first words were, “prison”, “zoo animals”, and even living in his own dorm. Likewise, it came to my attention that these words share a similar meaning behind them. Prison, zoo animals, and dorm rooms all symbolize a confined, uncomfortable, and circumscribed space. Comparatively, this is like how Palestinians are forced to live their lives daily (although not at such an extreme level).

To a Palestinian that has been displaced from his/her long time homeland, completely displaced by a foreign power. The tone of victimization is easily created. But to an Israeli, that has found security from, long term discrimination, in Israel’s own borders, it is easy for an Israeli perspective to claim the Jewish people had a legitimate claim to the land. Accounts from the Palestinian narrative will often, as Sylvain Ehrenfeld a writer for Ethical Culture, writes “[F]ocus on victimhood, their suffering and dispossession and their deep sense of injustice at being punished because of Europe’s treatment of Jews.”. Moreover, he goes on to elaborate that the Israeli have also created a tone of an unfailing connection to its land, and argues legitimacy for claim to the land that was found in former Palestine, present day Israel. He goes on to mention that both sides are guilty of creating their perspectives so single-mindedly. Both sides will often misrepresent the reality of the situation to gain the support of historians. This distortion of reality will in often cases skew accuracy, therefore creating a limitation to the recording of history.

The Palestinians had a robust social, political, and class identity within Palestine; however, after the nakbah this life was systematically dismantled and reconstituted along national, radical, and traditionalist lines, the result of which is the new Palestinian-ness to which the national movement is oriented. Of course the Palestinian people existed before the nakbah, however, their consciousness was typical of agrarian peasants, based not in a national identity, but upon kinship ties, regional networks, and limited class solidarity (Sayigh, R., 13). This identity was perpetuated through many traditions and familial conditioning, which also formed the basis of extended kinship-solidarity networks (ibid.

Frequently, issues such as human rights violations occur around the world that people are not aware of. It is therefore a great importance to seek knowledge ourselves beyond mass media outlets and our own governments. Previous research suggests, the history of the Palestinian conflict goes back generations. In 1918 when World War 1 had ended, the British gained control of the Palestinian territory. The UN had no intention of displacing or changing anything within the land, but they decided that the Jews needed a safe place to reside after the holocaust. Therefore, many Jews immigrated to Palestine after the Balfour Declaration was issued in 1917. It stated that Palestine welcomed Jews into their homeland (Said, 1999). The fall of the Ottoman empire encouraged the number of immigrants to that in 1947, the total number of Jews in the area was “650,000” (Avineri, 1981; Said, 1999). The Palestinians were surely grateful for the number of people immigrating to their land because they needed their

Suad Amiry’s Sharon and My Mother-In-Law: Ramallah Diaries tells the story of every Palestinian's struggle under Israeli occupation. The sense of humor in Amiry’s memoir is what makes it a unique book. She writes about the altercations with Israeli soldiers, the fear and panic that come from being under constant violence, surveillance and curfews, living in a land where it is easier to obtain a legal ID card for your dog than it is for you to obtain one for yourself, and life in general. Amiry uses comicality to lighten what are often very heavy scenes, but still manages to convey their seriousness (143). The combination of frankness, humor, and pain all contribute to attracting attention to matters important to the Palestinians and the difficult

The year 1948 witnessed the national independence for Israelis and “Al-Nakbah the disaster” (Sa'di 177) for Palestinian Arabs. Jewish Holocaust, Zionist movement, British interference, Arab awakening, religious conflict and disputes over territory built up into this catastrophic war. In consequence, on the one hand, millions of Palestinian Arabs fled into neighboring Arab countries, refugee camps and western countries (Mattar 395). On the other hand, militarization and securitization in Israel disrupted the normal life of its citizens (Éigeartaigh and Getty 18).

Conclusion- Summary of first two paragraphs. We are witnesses to terrible injustices. As Israel responds to real and perceived threats, the Palestine's of the West Bank in Gaza remain dominated by military occupation or under siege, subjected to violent military incursions, and continually traumatic lost. We are witnesses to the world's impotence to achieve justice. Stone by stone, Israeli settlement in the West Bank expand seizing land and water, reducing Palestrina's hope, and increasing their despair. We are witnesses to structural violence. Within Israel itself, Palestine's have full citizenship and legal equality, but their reality is largely shaped by legally enforced injustices such as unequal funding for their communities infrastructures and schools, and the symbolic violence of being treated as a potential fifth column. We are witnesses. The convulsions that are

The dichotomy of historical events, personalities and concepts are central to devising a sense of both triumph and tragedy, varying in perspective for the individuals and groups directly involved. The creation of the state of Israel accommodates this dichotomy, in which the event can simply be recognised as a success for the Jewish people whose religious land was regained, and a calamity for the Arab-Palestinians who became displaced refugees as a result. Since the inception of the Israeli nation-state in 1948, religious and political difference have played a major role in bringing about the Arab-Israeli conflict. The dominance of the Jewish people, driven by religious and cultural ties to the land following their Diaspora, has seen the formation of Israel as a short-term social triumph. However, the resultant dispossession of Arab refugees in the elicited conflict, consolidated by the increase in Arab rebel terrorist activity and interference of other states has

The state of Israel—rich in tradition and innovation, has in its short existence been one of the most politically interesting phenomenons in the modern world. The state, since the signing of the Declaration of Establishment in 1948 has created a specific form of democracy not seen among many countries throughout the world; democracy which incorporates religious law as well as judicial and social law. Within Israel’s Higher Law, written by Steven V. Mazie, religion and liberal democracy are discussed in regards to the Jewish State. Mazie focuses on the struggle between liberal democracy and religion, and how both affect the two types of people living in Israel—Arabs and Jews. Both groups of Israelis

Palestinian refugees are not allowed to legally own a real estate. In the past, Palestinians were allowed to own real estates, but according to law 296, first term, second paragraph, no one can own real estate unless he/she has the Lebanese nationality. Because of this new law, Palestinians can not own a shelter, and those whose parents had owned an estate before can not inherit their parents because of the deactivation of the old law by the new one. So as for many Palestinians, working to provide food is no more the real concern as for ensuring a housing for their kids to grow in a safe environment that safeguards their progress in case the family got any kind of financial crisis. As can be seen, providing the Palestinians with the Lebanese nationality is indispensible to promote and assist their