Zlata Unerkova on Thu, 05/12/2011 - 11:26am
Upon our arrival in Israel, our Israeli tour guide told us to use this opportunity and live the conflict, eat ‘street' food, talk to ordinary people, immerse in the society and truly experience the conflict. That is exactly what I did! For ten full days I experienced the dual narratives of the conflict, both from the Jewish and the Palestinian perspectives.
Hassan Raza on Mon, 02/14/2011 - 6:47pm
Having lived a part of my life in the Middle East, I thought I had a fair grasp of the cultural, emotional, and governing tendencies of the region – I was wrong.
During my most recent visit to Jordan and Egypt this January, the "Arab street" presented an unfathomable sight – one that was definitely long awaited but also dangerous, scary, and yet incredibly uplifting at the same time.
Hassan Raza on Wed, 02/09/2011 - 6:25pm
The first time I really understood what Thomas Friedman meant when he said that our world is flat was at camp Seeds of Peace in Maine. I arrived at Seeds as a young thirteen-year-old with a clear agenda, but the very fact that I was sharing the same bunk with an Israeli, an Indian, an Afghan, and a Palestinian was no far from being a miracle.
George Cuchural on Wed, 01/26/2011 - 1:13pm
On the second day while on a tour with Breaking the Silence, a organization of former IDF soldiers whom have told their stories of service divulging acts against Palestinians, the reality of war and occupation became brutally apparent. As soon as we entered the town we were surrounded by police and IDF soldiers. I was sitting in the front row of the bus so I saw the situation develop. We entered the town and a Police jeep passed us going in the opposite direction. We then passed an outpost where two soldiers began chasing the bus.
Zlata Unerkova on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 7:52am
My favorite song from the trip, Avraham Tal- Orot (Lights)...Enjoy!
George Cuchural on Fri, 01/21/2011 - 7:33am
It is hard to believe that thousands have died over an area of land no larger than the Saint Lawrence campus; and that the Camp David peace talks in 2000 failed because of a dispute over the division of a wall that would come half way up to the roof of Johnson Hall; but it's true. Walking through the Old City of Jerusalem, passing through a marketplace that sold everything from shoes to TV remotes I realized that the conflict is much more complicated than I thought.
Zlata Unerkova on Mon, 01/10/2011 - 3:15am
As I am writing this blog entry I am reflecting back on the past eight months of intensive reading and writing, and I can say it has been quite a ride. The reason why I decided to conduct an Honors Thesis is because I wanted to use my senior year at SLU to do a meaningful research. Going through the process of writing an Honors Thesis also meant mastering the skills of writing in Political Science and undergoing academic rigor and writing discipline that would prepare me for graduate school, through writing and researching a topic I was really passionate about.
O'Keefe Foster on Fri, 01/07/2011 - 8:25am
If somebody had told me when I was a freshman, that as a senior, I would have the opportunity to travel to Israel and conduct primary research on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I would have thought that they were crazy. How on earth could a kid like me be lucky enough to participate in such a once in a lifetime experience?
George Cuchural on Fri, 12/17/2010 - 5:42pm
Working on my year long SYE has been a daunting task. Initially I felt that it would be an easy thing exploring a new topic of security studies and applying it to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I thought my experiences in my Gov 290 course was more or less what I would go through again. I was quickly proven wrong. Creating my literature review on the topic of the Societal Security Dilemma was overwhelming, the only real literature at the time was a available in the UK and not in the US. I had to find sources from all over.
Ronnie Olesker on Thu, 12/16/2010 - 9:18am
It’s not everyday that the chair of your department gives
you a large chunk of change to take a gifted group of students to conduct
research in the Middle East. When Hassan, Zlata, Igor, Matt, George and O’Keefe
approached me last spring with ideas about conducting SYEs I was really excited
about leading them in this academic endeavor. All of them took courses with me
on the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
