Divide by Zero

It's really quite interesting how people that live so close to one another could disagree so much. Jerusalem itself is within a 64.4 square km patch of land that probably does not appear any more important than the architecturally beautiful city of Rome or the Egyptian land of the Great Pyramids. Yet, while Roman architecture and tour of the seven wonders of the world are still widely open to the public, Jerusalem continues to section itself into exclusive pieces for very few. And while it is not completely true that Palestinians and Israelis are so close to one another (very few Israelis settle across the walls in Palestine and vice versa), the multitude of mental divides appear to be the real problem in this Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

Although I noticed the many differences between the two battling groups early on (ie. physical, economic, ethnic, religious), I never really stopped to think about the varying ways in which these barriers act on the opposing group. Barriers can be protective, aggressive, exclusive, or dominative (not sure if that's a word). So more important than just looking at the fact that barricades and separations were put up, one should keep an eye out for the reason behind doing so. Many citizens of the general public that are unaware of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict probably see the barriers as protective whereas those involved see the aggressive and dominative side to them.

In this situation, many of the barriers that have been built up have been initiated by the Israelis. The physical barriers are obvious in that the walls have been built around settlements. Economic barriers have also been put in place to keep Palestinians from gaining more power. Checkpoints have created a widespread embarrassment amongst Palestinians as well which creates a social separation showing that Israelis have higher status. Many Israeli schools prohibit Arabic which forms an obvious language barrier.

Yet, Palestinians (although most likely in response to the Israeli presence) have also created their own fair share of separations. For one thing, generally they definitely do not try to learn Hebrew to try to speak with the Israelis. Religiously, radical and non-radical Islamic groups have proclaimed that Israel should be for the Arab people. Recently more pronounced on the Palestinian side as well have been attacks on Israeli settlements. Politically and physically, Palestinians have also been divided amongst themselves separating them by walls and ways of thought.

One way that Palestinians have dealt with the walls is through art. They paint the walls with spray paint through pictures of revolution and words of resistance. It is quite amazing what send.a.message.project has been doing. Giving people to say what they want to say while giving back to the communities that have been affected by the wall is a creative way to help out.

Of course given my strong background in the sciences, I tend to relate my experiences to chemical and mathematical relationships. The many separations amongst Israelis and Palestinians remind me of strange mathematical situation. Dividing by zero is confusing and mysterious like Jerusalem, and does not seem to allow any more progress to be made. Yet, thinking creatively through the miracle of calculus allows mathematicians to reveal the meaning of the impossible "divide by zero" to make that progress. Mainly through these grassroots creative routes, as seen through Banksy, J.R. anonymous, or the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, will the conflict be solved.