United Shapes of Ambivalence

The work above by Kim Dingle illustrates a theme that we have been discussing in class: American ambivalence to mere geography.  Within Untied Shapes of America (Maps Drawn by Las Vegas Teenages), Dingle takes actual drawings of the United States produced by teenages and collages them together to make a statement about America's lack of knowledge regarding geographical locations.  Variations on America include: enormous representations of Florida, a couple without Michigan, and , one that resembles South America.  While I have to admit that if I were to draw a map of America, the northern boarders of the nation may be shaky, it seems that teenages should be studying this as a part of their education; yet it appears that many students are not even required to have any sort of knowledge as to how their nation is shaped.  Although this article from BBC News may be slightly dated, it does reveal some fascinating facts about American's knowledge of world geography.  The article summarizes a survey done by America's National Geographic Society that tested the geographical knowledge of 3,000 young adults (ages 18-24) from nine different countries.  American's place 8th in geographic knowledge.  This sort of basic geographical knowledge shows that Americans are completely apathetic or else undereducated in regards to mere geophrical information.  Furthermore, if these are the results from a geographical survey, I wonder what the results of a more political survey would reveal.  According to the survey:

• 11% of Americans could not find America.
  
• 71% of Americans could point out where the Pacific Ocean - the world's largest body of water - was located. Worldwide, three in 10 of those surveyed could not locate the Pacific Ocean.
• Apart from the Swedes, only 40% or fewer young adults could name China and India as the two countries with a population over one billion.
  
• Less than 25% of French, Canadian, Italian, British and Americans could name four countries that officially acknowledged owning nuclear weapons.
  
• 58% of Americans know the Taleban and al-Qaeda were based in Afghanistan, compared with 84% of Britons, but only 17% of Americans can locate the country.
  
• 34% of Americans know the tiny Marquesas Islands, where the last season of reality TV show "Survivor" was filmed, is located in the South Pacific. But only 30% could point to the location of New Jersey.
  
• 56% of Americans were unable to locate India, home to 17% of the world's population. 
  

Literature in Translation

The discussion that we had in class last Thursday once we reconvened from our separate groups helped to shape the course of our discussions for the upcoming readings.  Because of the difficulties that are encountered when literature is translated from its original language into another, the question of translation must always be at the forefront of our thoughts when we read this type of literature.  Here is a video that I found online of  the last four winners of Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.  These authors, although none of them speak to the difficulty of translating texts from Arabic into English, outline some of the difficulties that we discussed in class.  Its fascinating to me that some of these translators have never even been to the country that they are translating literature from.  Without a knowledge of these countries cultures, it seems unlikely that the translation would mirror the author's original text; rather, without this first-hand knowledge even with the help of email, the translation will necessarily loose some of its original power.

An Extremely Concise Timeline of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict

1897—World Zionist Organization founded in Switzerland

1917—Balfour Declaration (British) promises “National Home” for Jewish people in Palestine

1919—Fall of the Ottoman Empire; Region under British control

1948—Al-Nakba (or Israel War of Independence): declaration of Israel as the Jewish nation-state (UN Partition Plan);  British withdrawal from Palestine; Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia declare war on Israel.

1949—Armistice between Israel and Arab states; Israel gains 50% more territory than originally allotted in UN Partition Plan

1956—Suez Campaign: Israel invades Sinai Peninsula with French & British.  Fear of Egyptian alliances with the Soviet Union

1964—Palestinian Liberation Organization founded; previously were only considered to be refugees or were under the jurisdiction of either Egypt or Jordan

1967—Six Day War (June 5^th-10^th): Israel invades and occupies Sinai and Gaza (from Egypt), the West Bank (from Jordan), & Golan Heights (from Syria).  UN Resolution 242 calls for Israeli withdraw from occupied territories base on UN Partition Plan

1967—Allon Plan proposed

1968—PLO Covenant: “Palestine with the boundaries it had during the British mandate is an indivisible territorial unit”

1973—The Yom Kippur War: Syria & Egypt lead invasion of Israeli occupied territories

1974—Rabat Summit & UN General Assembly Resolution 3236: PLO named sole representatives for the Palestinian people; Palestinian National Council Program: Palestine willing to consider a solution other than full return of all territory

1976—Palestinians achieve observer status in UN

1974-88: Arab states represent Palestine in conflict resolutions

1979: Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty: Egypt first Arab country to officially recognize Israel

1987-1992—First Intifada: civil disobedience, violence, against Israeli occupation of Palestine

1988—formal withdrawal by Jordan from West Bank affairs; independent State of Palestine proclaimed by the Palestinian National Council

1992-2000—Continued peace negotiations, sectarian resistance/violence

1993-95—Oslo Accords: Israel and PLO mutual recognition; Palestinian authority to be established

1993—Declaration of Principles signed by Israel & Palestine: two-state solution

1994—Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty

2000-2009—Second Intifada: continued resistance to Israeli occupation, encroachment of territory

Continued Conflict: Settlements & Jerusalem

Last week, we discussed the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the problems that arise when the question of statehood and power relations are introduced.  As outlined by the history of the conflict, there has not been a formidable solution to the territorial disputes due to Israel's failure to recognize Palestine as a legitimate nation-state as well as Palestine's continuous demand for all of its territory back.  During the Obama administration's first year, the conflict has continued with little progress due to Israeli settlements continuously encroaching upon Palestinian claimed territory.  In September, Obama spoke in Cairo to these developments and specifically called for Israel to officially condemn these settlers; however, the Israeli government has yet to issue such a statement.  Rather than cease the building of these settlements while negotiations are happening with Palestine, Israel has stated that it has no intentions to stop its citizens from future developments and states that the delineation of national boundaries should not be negotiated until the two nations can reach a peace agreement.  Israeli encroachment upon Palestinian territory has recently lead to chastising remarks from the United Nations, the European Union, as well as various countries within the Middle East.  To me, the failure of the Israeli government to acknowledge the illegitimacy of these settlements underscores their continuing history of denying Palestinian authority and nationhood.  The imbalance of power that favors Israel has continued with the flagrant disregard for the Oslo Accords which may explain the hostility of Hezbollah and Hamas.  If Israel truly wished to succeed in peace negotiations, they must alter their approach to Palestine by recognizing it as a legitimate power and make strides towards defining the boundaries between the nations and be prepared to enforce these boundaries amongst their own citizens.

House of Sand and Fog

I've been doing a lot more thinking about cinematic representations of Middle Eastern people and culture this week and, while the film does not speak to American attitudes towards Palestinian or Iraqi persons, House of Sand and Fog (2003) does offer some interesting insight that correlates with Shaheen's Reel Bad Arabs.  As Shaheen observes, there exists a prevalent attitude in American culture that speaks to the fear that persons of Middle Eastern descent are slowly attempting to purchase America through slow and systematic land acquisitions. House of Sand and Fog essentially positions former home owner Kathy (Jennifer Connelly) against Iranian immigrant Massoud Amir Behrani (Ben Kingsley) in a war over the property that Kathy once owned.  When Kathy the property mistaken seized by the state, Behrani and his family purchase the home and proceed to renovate it.  Kathy and Behrani are thrust into a property battle that spirals into a racial profiling and accusations.  Throughout this process, Kathy befriends a police officer whose ideas of what constitutes an American lead him to attempt to intimidate the Behrani's into leaving the property and ultimately leads to the death of Behrani's son.  Throughout the film, American ideas of Middle Eastern persons become quite explicit.  The Behranis are accused of being terrorists, illegal aliens, and attempting to steal land and money from Kathy.  As Shaheen points out within his film and cinematic guide, Reel Bad Arabs, these portrayals of the Behranis are consistent with racist ideologies within American society.  While the film was enormously successful, particularly within the Academy, its portrayals of Arab Americans are ripe with bigotry and subsequently must lead us to question how American popular entertainments present Arab Americans.

Palestinian Literature Readings

For the discussions of Palestinian literature and culture that Diane and I will be leading, the following texts/films will be used:

One novel: The Lake Beyond the Wind by Yahya Yakhlif, or The Image, the Icon, and the Covenant by Sahar Khalifeh for Oct 15th.

View: Paradise Now by Hany Abu-Assad for Oct 8th.

Read: "Bridging the Gap: Palestinian and Israeli Discourses on Autonomy and Statehood" by David Newman & Gazi Falah (available through the Waldo library database) for Oct 8th.
 
Also: if you decide which book you would like to read, please leave a comment letting Diane and myself know which book you choose.  This way we can keep track of how many people are planning on reading which book.  Thanks!

Suggested: Palestinian New Network and CNN (or other comparable news sites).  Look for commonalities and differences in the ways in which news stories are presented for Oct 8th.

Even War Becomes Routine: Denying the War/Questioning the West

Within Baghdad Diary,  Nuha al-Radi's observations of the war from a civilian standpoint produce a compelling commentary upon the war that shows how war becomes something distant and unfathomable even to those who are experiencing it around them.  While the American government propagated the idea that the invasion of Iraq would be swift and unchallenged, it becomes evident within the earliest portions of the narrative that this was merely propaganda.  Al-Radi highlights by the tenth day of the war that the continuing strife would not be resolved as readily as the American government assured.  Combined with the diminishing water and food supplied that al-Radi speaks of, the speed of the war increased with such fervor that few people would have been prepared to deal with the consequences of the war.  When al-Radi's family member comments that the family should take a train out of Baghdad, al-Radi quickly asks why he would even think the trains were still running.  It becomes evident early on that no one was prepared for the war.  

Within al-Radi's family, the sense of denial is rampant.  The family throws a party for al-Radi's birthday that involves numerous neighbors and family members from Baghdad.  Al-Radi herself comments on the seventh day that, "The worst has happened--beer without ice".  Also, the image of Iraqi's bartering over a stray bomb that fell and did not explode within a hotel courtyard and their desire to keep the bomb as a souvenir further illustrate a denial of the war's occurrence.  Only as supplies run out, access to the outer world is cut off (via the destruction of bridges, lack of transportation, etc), and a system of supply trade emerges within Baghdad do the civilians begin to realize the impact of the war.

Throughout the text, a dialogue of difference emerges as al-Radi questions her position and feelings towards the Western world.  Early on, al-Radi asks if her family should flee to India and comments that Iraqis experience less oppression there than elsewhere.  Combined with the images of shelters, bridge destructions, and increased ghettoization within Baghdad, al-Radi's opinion of the West falls into ill favor.  As the war progresses, al-Radi's opinion of the West becomes more and more negatively influenced.  This raises numerous questions regarding the true intention of Western forces within Iraq. 

The most fascinating portion of the diary revolves around the dreams that al-Radi recounts throughout.  Images of bread trees, drying gardens, and soldiers marching down Haifa Street permeate al-Radi's premonition-like dreams.  Perhaps this is a location within the text that we could analyze using post-colonialism as a lens along within a Freudian or psychological perspective.  Overall, I find the reoccurring allusions to Western culture to be the most fascinating thematic issues within the diary.  Before the bombings become unquestionably violent, al-Radi compares the sound of the falling bombs to the music of Philip Glass.  Although this phenomena diminishes as the novel progresses, tracing the connections between the forward motion of the war, the references to Western culture, and changing attitudes towards the occupation would reveal how the war does not effect people as a binary but how it inspires a series of complex, multifaceted reactions.