Perspectives on Amiry and Hasan-Rokem

The Ramallah Diaries gives a great look into the personal side to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I really enjoyed the set-up in that Amiry humanizes the conflict, including names of people and the emotions that they are feeling (which may seem obvious but is something that I feel is often neglected in talking about political problems such as Israel/Palestine).

"The Promised Gas Masks" appears to draw allusions to Jerusalem as being part of "the promised land" although showing the sadly ironic Palestinian side to the story. While Israelis continue to push that they are entitled to the holy land, Palestinians have become a mere afterthought. The story describes how difficult a process it was for the Palestinians to try to get their gas masks, all of whom were risking their lives to go out during curfew. Yet, in the end even after hours of waiting, many returned home empty-handed. This proves to illustrate the inefficient system that has been built in Israel to deal with the Palestinians.

"A Dog's Life" sends a message that is just as sad. Many Israelis and Palestinians with Jerusalem ID's can take for granted how nice they have it. While Amiry has been dreaming about getting a Jerusalem ID, it is nearly impossible for her to acquire one. Yet, it took a few minutes and only 125 shekels for her dog to get a Jerusalem ID. It is sad how dehumanized the image of Palestinians has become throughout this conflict.

In contrast, Hasan-Rokem's perspective is opposite in that she encourages others to view the city as a city rather than as a woman. I doubt that most Jerusalemites seriously wish to "fondle the roundness of the bulging hills", yet she draws on a good point. The semi-irrational love that is felt by many of its inhabitants resembles that of a husband to his wife. This lust has driven everyone to want it to the extreme that they have fought over it for centuries. Instead, they should be loving real women, wives, sisters, and mothers.

Questions for HR:
1. Do you believe that empowering women in the area will provide more benefits than problems?
2. Do you think female Jerusalemites view the city as a woman or man or city? (Is the problem only with men?)
3. Do you think that Islamic societies will ever be able to integrate female empowerment into their culture?
4. If you could have one wish, what would it be?