So, apparently the Middles East is on fire. . .

So, first I want to say I'm sorry that I haven't written a blog in a couple of weeks. Two reasons for this:

1. A full course load of semester work shoved into two months means that mid terms and finals are back to back and I have working my tail off to get them done.

2. I am in the Middle East and have been going to awesome places the days that I think I will finally just sit down and write out a blog.

Now, since those pleasantries are over this blog is dedicated to everyone who has expressed concern that Israel will drop a bomb on Iran.

As far as I know, it's not going to happen. The Israelis are more concerned about when the strike ends that is occurring at the moment with city workers at banks, post offices, and the garbage companies (needless to say it's been kinda stinky around here for the last three weeks.) Despite having more political efficacy than the average American, the average Israeli is just like any other person living in a western democratic society. They care about themselves more than they care about the people around them, the only difference is that they have a history of terrorist attacks against them so they are more aware of that (though honestly I have only heard of one disturbance and that was at a checkpoint.*

*actually two, there was a disturbance in the Old city near the Dome of the Rock, but apparently that happens a lot and since no one got hurt and it was just a lot of shouting it doesn't really get reported)

Currently the issues in Syria have been brought up in conversation and as sad as the events that are happening there, Israelis don't really care. I was at the Golan Heights yesterday, where we could see for miles. Including the Syrian boarder, the UN head-quarters there and see a town five-ish miles from the former military bunker system (now a tourist destination with over priced coffee) and yet, even from that outpost you wouldn't even think that there was a problem in the world with how calm the surrounding area appeared.

Now, truthfully I know that just because I could see Syria and a bunch of the towns doesn't mean there isn't any problems occurring, it just means that I couldn't see the heart of the country or the upheavals that have been shown on the news for the last few weeks.

But I take it as a metaphor.

One of the main things I have been learning is that when people get comfortable in a specific position they start to grow numb to what they are sitting on.

That is what the governments in the Middle East have done. They have grown comfortable in their positions in power and have grown numb to the needs of some or all of their citizens. In the case of the Israelis,(and disclaimer I may offend someone sorry) when they built the wall it became a symbol of us vs them. I am generalizing but many Israelis have forgotten that there is a problem occurring and because nothing significant (like buses blowing up) are happening so strikes from city workers (like the garbage people) and the rising cost of living take precedent. But things like that will always happen, what I don't think people understand is that unless something happens in the next ten years Israel will face something similar to Egypt.

Maybe not as drastic but it will happen because of the kids that are witnessing it all right now.

To put this statement into context I'd like to share a story that happened today at the school that I have been volunteering at in a neighborhood called Beit Hanina. I was standing in a sixth grade class room with Palestinian Students with my partner Travis. The teacher encouraged the students to ask us questions and so we had been answering the, everything from where we were from to what were we doing here in the Middle East. One of the question was about what we were studying and as Travis discussed that we were in Israel to study the conflict and learn some Arabic the student quickly corrected Travis stating that much of what we were visiting was Palestinian (meaning pre-1967 boarders.)

This kid along with his brother and their friends have the potential power to bring down the government. With today's modern media anything can happen in the blink of an eye and that is only to get better in ten years.

It's like when you fall asleep on your hand and when you wake up it feels awkward and uncomfortable and unless you get circulation back into it it stays that way for much longer than it really should. The Israeli government has gotten complacent and it needs to address the problems its ignoring.

So this ends that little rant, though I am not sure how cohesive it is.

Sorry about that.

In any case there are going to be two ish new blogs pretty soon due to timing ha, so I hope you enjoy and I'm sorry that this one took so long to post.

peace and love

Taking a breath after a storm

So, apparently the desert that people are shown on TV and in movies is only present in the dry season here.

Meaning that at the moment, I am sitting on my bed watching the rain hit the sliding glass door that is attached to my balcony and hearing the whistle of the wind come in through the cracks. It maintains the first impression that I had when I first put my things into the closet. Cold rooms but inviting dialog.

Did I mention earlier that I live in a castle? It was built in the late 18oos by an Austrian Duke as a hospital and church thing and converted into what it is now in the early seventies. Their are ruins everywhere and beautiful views that I have begun to appreciate. The director of my program explained to me that people would die to have the type of space and view that we have due to that fact that Israel is small in land mass and large in population. (They have to put all of those Jewish Immigrants some place after all.)

Which leads me to what I really wanted to talk about in this post. It doesn't really have to do with the Law of Return (a law that 1948 Israel put into effect to give any Jew, of any status a place to call home) which many believe is poetic justice for the Jews that have been in the diaspora for the last two thousand-ish years. The last few days my group has been learning about the Zionist movement in Israel. This started as a tour at the Israeli Holocaust museum and ended on top of Mt. Herzl (the birth place of the Israeli civil-religion interesting enough.)
I was even contented to walk through the museum of the 6th Prime Minister of Israel. The Begen center contained a lot of, dare I say it, propaganda. This museum which chronicled his life made it look like he was a God send to the people of Israel, and maybe he was. After all, Begen was the man who signed the Camp David accord with Sadat which Jimmy Carter witnessed. He also received a Nobel Peace Prize, which he also shared with Sadat. Regardless of what I think about him, the museum was well done and even convincing enough that I actually paid attention.

Today I hit a road block in how I was processing different ideas and motives for Zionism and even Nationalism, which is a topic that I discussed in my first paper. The problem I had today involved Christian Zionism, and now that I have had the entire day to process and read a memo that talked about why we had to watch the movie that discussed the view points of what a collection of Christians believe I think I can now articulate how the movie made me feel and why I reacted to it as I did.

Let's just say that my reaction throughout the movie was of utter astonishment and disgust at the lack of tact that these people had. That is putting it as lightly as I possibly can.
I reality, I wanted to remove the connection as a fellow Christian as quickly as possible. Their rhetoric was on one hand that of a normal evangelical back ground, one that I am familiar with. The other half of the movie was of hate, intolerance and ignorance. I cringed every time the main person would come on and justify his language saying it was "a right", whether that right was to spread ignorant statements about religions and cultures he doesn't understand or about encouraging terroristic intentions about destroying another cultures holy places.
Yes, that is exactly how to show love to our neighbors, plotting the demise of their livelihood. YUP, makes me proud to say that I am part of that group. . .NOT.

I can't say that I am perfect or that I am any better than they are but for the last few years I have been trying to live by remembering that everyone was wonderfully and fearfully made. Which makes them important, whether or not you agree with them is besides the point.

Another thing that made me upset was that they were using half truths and corrupted history to make their arguments. I am sorry, but to build an argument on this kind of foundation usually leads to it falling apart because more informed people can tear it down with facts and figures that hold up to a general consensus of academic people.
(I also don't like people messing with history. I understand history is written by the victors and it is important to gather the facts from all sides but some of these claims these people were making was tearing out the part of my soul that is a history major and stomping on it.)

The last straw with the movie I had was when they were discussing the time after the tribulation. To put this into the context for those who may not understand the understanding of Armageddon (or the end times of the world) is understood differently by Christians.
As a Christian myself, I do believe that some time in the future, Jesus will return. I don't know when or where or how, but I believe that he will return because that is one of his promises. I don't concern myself with the prophecy or dooms-day sightings because I believe that God wants me to live my life without worrying if tomorrow Jesus will return.
This group of people interviewed discussed many aspects of the end times which includes the rapture, tribulation, a huge war, and the end all millennium (one thousand years of peace and tranquility). When they were discussing the millennium one of the men had to the nerve to say that he didn't even know if there was going to be seasons any more.
No more seasons? Really dude? What made me the most upset was the fact that this man was a (explicit) engineer! A man of science!
I maintain to be a Christian through and through, even to the point that God created the Heavens and the Earth. I also believe that science is very important. He created intelligent people who have been figuring out how Space and our planets works for the last few hundred years, and guess what, because God made the night and day*

*Quick science lesson: Due to the fact that our earth rotates to give us night and day it also moves the earth closer and farther away from the sun giving us seasons. It's opposite seasons for the North and South Hemispheres, but still, seasons have happened since God created the Earth and will continue to happen until the (explicit) sun blows up.

Now granted, just the fact that I say I believe in an esoteric religion that goes against the very nature of humans many people would say that I am just as ignorant as the people from this movie are. I don't think so.
Just because I believe that people should treat others well. That love, hope, peace, and joy are important things that should be shown everyday. Also the little thing of believing that a stonemason (what Jesus really was, because there isn't a lot of wood in Israel) was the son of God and that is how I am going to heaven.
I think most people agree that being a good person makes the world a little better by following the golden rule (one that is expressed in every culture in every part of the world by the way.) I just happen to have Jesus tacked onto my belief system.

In any case, I do believe that I have used up my ranting quota for the month of February already, but I think the space was well used.

In reality this has been the only thing that really has gotten me upset and much of my experience so far has been fantastic.

Peace and love
Kylie