I like to think of myself as generally open minded. Throughout my life, I have always made an attempt to look at any given situation from as many points of view as possible and to respect and acknowledge others' opinions. I know that no one does this perfectly, but this first week of class was a good reminder of just how much work I still have to do.
I don't know enough about Jerusalem or the Palestine-Israel conflict to have an informed opinion on it, but the little I have heard about each side's argument I respect. However, I, like any other person, have my own personal, and sometimes unrealized, prejudices. In the readings and discussions in class this week, the depth and complexity of the tension in Jerusalem has become apparent to me in a way that it was not before. I was surprised to hear about communities of Jews that spoke primarily Arabic and Arabs who also consider themselves Israeli and hold citizenship. My preformed ideas about the culture in Palestine-Israel was not so much about generalizations as it was about the fact that I have never taken the time to sit down and really consider this city and environment that is a daily reality for millions of people.
I hope that this class will force me to spend much, much more time sitting and down and truly considering this place, these religions, these people, and these cultures in a way that will allow me to appreciate what it means to be Israeli, Palestinian, Arab, Christian, Muslim, Jewish... the list goes on. The more people, even just the nine students in this class, that make an attempt at this understanding, the closer Palestine-Israel is to peace both within itself and the world around it.
I only recently became interested in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict so, like you, I also feel that I have a lot more to learn. I agree that our class can help bring Israelis and Palestinians closer together, which is why I'm very excited about participating in this class. I like to think of it almost as an experiment in grassroots conflict resolution--except not in Jerusalem, which is at the heart of the conflict. I think this class could be considered a success in this regard if just one person comes away from the class interested in working toward peace in the region, whether it is in academia, government, or an NGO.
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