Monday, January 14, 2013

Final Project Interests

Everything relates to politics in one way or another. This is what I have found to be true with regards to Jerusalem, Israel, Palestine, and much of the Middle East in general. Thus, for my final multi-media project I hope to focus on the politics of Jerusalem.

The political situation in Jerusalem is multi-faceted and constantly changing. I have a few ideas of how to go about this task. First, I want to learn more about the politics of the Palestinian territories, placing an emphasis on the West Bank. While I know quite a bit of Israeli politics, and understand it reasonably well, I cannot claim to know anything about Palestinian politics. The extent of my knowledge on Palestinian politics stems from what I learned from my barber in the Old City during my gap year (an experience I will discuss in depth at a later date) and from the book "Son of Hamas," which is a must read if you are interested in these kinds of things. It gives a very non-traditional view of the situation from someone who has first hand experience in both sides of the issue.

I digress. I hope to learn of the structure and daily proceedings of government officials in the West Bank (possibly focusing on East Jerusalem, Ramallah, Hebron, and Bethlehem). I am also very interested if and to what degree the Palestinian political infrastructure communicates and works with that of the Israelis.

I would also be interested in learning about the social aspect of political systems and activity in the region. How do the people project their political opinions? Do what degree are citizens engaging in the Israeli/Palestinian political situation? I would be very interested in looking at politics and the people through art, media, and the like.

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