So the 20th century is where things start to get interesting for me. Up until this lecture I had never heard much about Jerusalem- I knew it existed in the Bible and I knew there were a lot of problems there now; however, I had no idea of anything in the middle. Turns out, there was A LOT of history in the middle. However, we’re done with that now and we’re moving on to more current issues. After the Ottomans, Jerusalem was taken over by Britain- finally I country I know fairly well and a country I can relate to a little better. Britain’s policy outlined in the Balfour declaration as well as Churchill’s white paper was that of attempted tolerance to everyone. This seems a slight bit naive to me; it’s idealistic and wonderful and such, but everyone coexisting at once and establishing a homeland for everyone most likely wouldn’t have worked. There is simply too much going on between different cultures and religions, there was too much history and conflict for a foreign country to simply come in and simply say, let’s work together. Ultimately, it became clear that Britain had indeed bitten off more than it could chew- the country opted to leave the city on May 14, 1948 and at the start of the Arab-Israeli War.

Another point discussed later in class today was the Oslo Accords- a face to face agreement between the PLO and Israel. Of course this was a big deal as a rare point where the two factions, Palestine and Israel actually recognized each other. The outcome of this meeting was a little odd though. Historically, these two sides have refused to even acknowledge each other let aloe meet up with each other. Now that this was happening, of course they would try and make something good come out of it. The result? Palestine would acknowledge Israel’s right to exist as a state and renounced terrorism; acknowledgment, in this context was a pretty good thing to receive. And so what did the PLO get in return? Recognition of Arafat as a legitimate leader of Palestinian people. Pretty lame. Israel got recognition as a people and Palestine got confirmation? Okay, that sounds okay for Arafat for himself but now what? What happens when he dies? Then Palestine winds up with pretty much nothing. Pretty much a failed deal on the side of Palestine in my opinion. Finally, one more note about the picture of Clinton in the slides. What did America do in this? We didn’t really discuss this and perhaps we did have a large impact on some event. However, from what we’ve studied, the US didn’t do anything and we just happen to be there when things look good and when we can build a public image of ourselves? Maybe?

Finally, on to the last lecture of the entire class! 21st century Jerusalem. Now honestly, this lecture brought me to the closest to the present I have ever studied. Previous classes have brought me up into the 80’s, occasionally, the 90’s, and once even up until September 11. However, this lecture went right up to weeks within the present. Pretty awesome but I’ll save this discussion for the second paragraph. As for this one, I’ll go briefly into pre-current Jerusalem, earlier in the 21st century. What’s going on now is the expansion of Israel into the boarders of previously established by the Green line. They’re developing the land and building it up and the people of Israel are moving in. Palestinians on the other side obviously don’t like this too much but what can they do? From what it seems, they aren’t going to act upon it any time soon. They may make an effort to make a stand and accept the complicated boarders now where they stand. Or they could try and force Israelis out and force the boarders back to the original lines. This course of action may lead to conflict as the Palestinians would have to displace people. However, as time goes on, Israel will keep expanding and this situation definitely favors Israel. Palestine needs to act soon or else Israel will end up completely enveloping the land. I guess the walls help contain Israel’s expansion but they also serve to seriously segregate people. Perhaps thats what they want.

Going back to the discussion about current events, I love it. Never before have I had a history class that really goes from the very beginning to the very current and by going as recently as possible, this class really leaves me with a continued interest in the subject. Other classes sort of just end at a point with everything pretty much wrapped up and everyone lives happily ever after. in 1980. This class leaves so much more open and also serves to describe what has been happening recently. Discussion about 9/11 was excellent in that I was made aware of the true impact of the attack. It essentially stirred the US into a war against terrorism, which I already knew but it also made the US into hypocrites. Previously the US had consistently told Israel to ignore terrorism and to not fight it- it wasn’t a big deal. Suddenly the US gets attacked and we go completely aggro. In effect, so does israel. It is these effects of our current actions that truly interest me. Being at school kind of shuts my ears to the outside world- I am aware of more dire situations outside of UCLA such as the oil spill but most of the time, I’m completely focused on studying; i don’t know what the hells going on out there. This class helped me learn but it also made me more aware of the current state of things in the near east. and that’s just wonderful!