I have decided to write about one very little thing that I noticed in Chapter 18. On pg. 405, the following map is shown:
The one element of this map that piqued my interest was surprisingly the Jerusalem airport at the northernmost point. I have lived in Jerusalem, and travelled quite a bit around it, and never have seen or even heard of this airport. So I decided to look into the matter a bit.
I found that "Atarot Airport... has been closed during the intifada; the thousands of rocks covering the now-idle runway explain why." The airport, which has been known as Kalandia Airport, Qalandia Airport, and Jerusalem Airport, was closed due to violence during the second intifada. The airport was the first airport in the British mandate for Palestine and was used for commercial and military air traffic. It's abandonment is representative of the surrounding city of Atarot, which like so many others, was deserted because of its dangerous proximity to the West Bank during the second intifada.
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| A recent photo of the overgrown and abandoned Jerusalem airport |
I'm not an airport buff to any degree, but as I was reading into the Jerusalem airport, I found another interesting story. The Yasser Arafat International Airport is another closed and abandoned airport in Gaza just north of the Egyptian border. Similarly linked to the Israeli/Paestinan struggle, this airport was closed in 2001 following significant damage by the Israeli Air Force in retaliation to the Al-Aqsa Intifada. Years later, the runway was ruined by locals hoping to sell the recycled stone and cement on the black market for construction. Here's an interesting video showing what happened.
I am unsure what relevance this all has to the greater situation, but I will mention two ideas. 1: It is sad to realize the vast amount of ruined infrastructure that has resulted from the conflict. 2: In many ways, both sides are equally hurt by the violence. This makes it much more difficult to "choose a side" in the issue. I find that it is often easier to observe and strategize for the future by optimizing what we have now rather than play the blame game.
I think it's really interesting that you zeroed in on one aspect of the reading, and I think it's good. That's what I've been doing as well, because Karen's book can be so hard to get a grasp on in a way where you can talk about the text as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI also like that you chose to focus on the airports, because if you think about it travel is really the only way this might affect people not directly involved in the conflict, like tourists and travelers. I also find it interesting the name of the airport has changed so many times over the years. Perhaps that has something to do with the conflict as well?
I think you bring up a very interesting point about the naming of the airport. It is always interesting to see how many sites, buildings, even cities in the region are being constantly renamed- as if to signify new ownership. Yet if we are really fighting based on biblical/historical narratives, then wouldn't the oldest known name for a place be most relevant? I sometimes think all the formality around this is all just ridiculous and unnecessary.
DeleteIt is great that you looked this up. It is sad that in such a small state there is land that is not deemed safe enough to live in and thus has been abandoned. That is such a waste of space, especially in a state full of conflicts over land.
ReplyDeleteWow, after extensive traveling around Jerusalem myself I never heard about the Jerusalem Airport or the Yasser Arafat Airport. It's interesting that both the Arab and Israeli airports were closed. It is something that affected people on both sides of the conflict. In a way, it limits the amount of people that are able to enter the country, which affects tourism, but it was clearly necessary during the intifada.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this book has done a lot for improving my historical knowledge, but not a lot for changing the way I feel about the conflict, or my opinions on it. I'm glad that I now have background knowledge but I'm ready to get into some more opinionated pieces and I'm looking forward to seeing different perspectives. I'm really looking forward to reading more contemporary readings about this conflict and situation.
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