East in the West Guest Speaker

Sarah brought in my favorite guest speaker. I really admired the choices she made and the proudness she showed about her choices. She pretty much had a choice between what religion and life style she was going to lead. Sure her father led her in the muslim direction but she could have also followed her mother and stayed away from the mosque when her sisters and brothers went with their father. She proudly chose muslim and not only carried out her religion in her own life but now teachs about the Middle East and chose to educate others about the happenings in egypt. She mentioned she had a minor in Egyptology which is solely the study of Egypt. This is very cool to me! Because she could have just said she was from Egypt but lived in the United States which is true, but she did more than most and searched to find out where she REALLY came from. Like I have said before in many of my post, I love hearing stories straight from the persons mouth that it has happened to. This makes it more beleivable. Our movie went perfect with her discussion of when her father tries to hook her up with men. It is another interesting way just like in the movie. She also made me understand why it is okay for fathers to "matchmake" their daughters. Muslims can not go out and drink and hang out in the typical party scene where majority of Americans meet their husbands and wives. It would be very hard to find different types of people when you are in the same environment with the same people. She also did not mind that her father was doing it, she thought it was almost humorous. Another thing that was interesting to me is that she puts her headscarf on in the car to the way to the mosque. She was first to let us know that people stare at her when she had the scarf on. When she is dressed with out the headscarf she said she never gets looks but all of sudden she puts it on and people are staring in her car window. This upsets me but like someone in the class said to many people it is not that we are staring to insult the person, many think it is just interesting to see. She lives a very normal life here and does not seem like the harsh things we have heard about are happening to her. I really respect her decision to embrace her religion instead of being embarrased of it.

Gauntanamo Bay

I really enjoyed this reading. Great pick group! The way he explained it really made you put yourself in his shoes. It was such a powerful reading. The most powerful part of it was in the end when he talks about that whenever he talks about with his fellow prisoners all they can do is laugh. It is hard to beleive that something America did , which is supposed to be this great country that helps everyone, can actually scar a person to the point of numbness. It is extremely disturbing. On the other hand what happened to the United States on 9/11 was the same if not more disturbing than this. Did ANY good come out of these camps? There are articles on the internet of men being found guilty of supplying material to terrorists. What if this was something that could have harmed the United States in the same way that 9/11 did. I am not saying this is right, but theres two sides to every story and in order to get the full grip on an idea you must know both sides. Wikipedia has an amazing explanation, not to mention thorough, of everything that went on at Guantanamo. The picture I have posted is of a Toronto Coalition group opposing Guantanamo (Gitmo). This does upset me a little. I understand what we were doing at times wasn't right but once again there had to be something good that came out of it or else we wouldn't have done it right?

Arranged

Arranged was an extremely good video in my view. It always helps to see an actual story line of the things we have heard about happening. Nasira was my favorite character by far. She laughed about what people said and never took it too serious. She even joked in response about it with the principal, trying to make the rude comment she said seem funny. Rochel on the other hand, took things too serious and became upset about everything way too easily. Nasira was very proud of her religion and at times she almost flaunted it. example.. in the beginning when the teachers are talking about one thing about them, Rochel wouldn't even pronounce her name completey, she tells the staff that they can just call her Rachel. On the other hand Nasira proudly tells tells the staff her name and heritage. Under the title, it reads "friendship has no religion" I really like this saying! It truely is shown throughout the book and I hope teachs many people a lesson. I know many people who have not been friends with someone for something as simple as how they talk, dress, look, preach, or even eat. Friendship is not about judging the other its about excepting them for who they are no matter what! This movie truely proved that two people can be friends from two opposite worlds. It also shows that many people may think they are so different than others but in the end we all go through pretty much the same thing as everyone else. I really enjoyed this movie because it put it in perspective for a younger audience. It is easier to relate to people when it is your own age.

DISTURBING!!!

I found an extremely disturbing video while writing my paper of a man beating a woman. The worst part about it is no one around this is helping the women.

Guest speakers

I really enjoyed the guest speakers on tuesday. It is always more interesting to hear about a culture from someone who has actually experienced it rather than a fiction book about the culture. The thing that intrigued me the most was about the head scarf. One of them was wearing one and the other was not. This interested me because it shows that they both have different ideas about the idea behind the head scarf. With the same basic meaning of the head scarf meaning modesty and respect.. they clearly both had different ideas of wether to wear it or not. This just exemplified how diverse the culture actually is and how many choices the woman actually are given. I found a website talking more about headscarfs and found this stat which shocked me.. 270,000 of 677,000 students expelled from post secondary institutions were "victims of the ban". "The ban" is that woman in secondary institutions are not allowed to wear head scarves. This AMAZED me.. intelligent woman trying to get an education being expelled because of an article of clothing that they are wearing. I just feel as though the head scarf almost is only worn because of respect and rebellion. It is very common when one is told not to do something , they turn around and do it even more. I get this image from the head scarf. The woman are told not to, so they turn around and prove that they still can. I really enjoyed that Gulnar kept repeating that her husband does not make her do anything such as work, go to school or wear the head scarf. She emphasized that it was her choice and that her husband was not one of those men whom controlled their wifes life.

Professor Mustafa Mirzeler

What an interesting man! He is very knowledgable, which surpised me because of what he told us was his home town and the little his town had. It is extremely respectable that a man from such a poor background can accomplish so much in his lifetime. He must have worked very hard to get where he is now. It was extremely interesting how much he knew about honour killings. He himself actually being chosen to kill his own sister. I cannot not imagine being as young as he was and being given the command to kill my sister. However, it seemed as if he was going to do it because of the predicament his father was in. Which constitutes the honor he has for his father and it proves many family member truely have no choice but to kill a loved one to redistinguish ones honor. This just seems crazy to me.. but its someones religion and culture. A side note on what he mentioned was he does not know his actual birthdate because they do not have birth ceritificates. Therefor this proves even more once someone is killed it is really easy for them to go forgotten because of their lack of birth certificate. There are many people that many do not even know are alive. I researched Professor Mirzeler and found that he is a very established man! His story was featured in a book written by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea called Remembering Childhood in the Middle East. While reading his story of his childhood in the Middle East, which is much more indepth than what he told us in class, he tells the readers that his father was called Blind Memed since he was cross-eyed. Which may be why he likes the book Memed my hawk so much! haha From the little reading I did through his childhood memories in the book he was featured in, he really had a large amount of respect and love for his father. His father was a very important man and was looked up to by all sorts of people.

Paradise Now: Suicide bombing

This movie was eye opening and sad at the same time. It was eye opening because it truely gave us the entire side to a suicide bombers life. This man was leading a normal life. Working to make money, taking care of his family, and meeting girls. Until one day he is "chosen" to carry out a suicide bombing mission. Are they chosen at birth? Is there a waiting list for who becomes a suicide bomber? Are they actually given a choice? This would be the last thing I wanted to do.. why would anyone else carry out something like this?? It was also a sad story because it gives memories of 9/11 which was carried out by two suicide bombers. I have read about suicide bombing and have been informed (plus the movie showed me) that suicide bombing is for ones religion and pride for themselves and their country or city. Some more information I discovered came from an article about What makes a suicide bomber tick. Which tells us that 64% are between the ages 18-23!!! Such a young group to be suicide bombing.. do they even know what they are fighting for? Majority probably don't even know the true reason behind the war. They are simply told by their fathers that suicide bombing is an honor to their country. In that same Article, a father talks about his son who was a suicide bomber at the age of 22. He tells the reporter that he is proud of his son and he hopes all the boys in his country would do the same. How can a father want their child to be a suicide bomber?! Another thing that sparked my interested/disgust was a video titled 14 year old suicide bomber. This is unbeleivable to me.. at 14 all I cared about was friends, make up and homework. I cannot imagine being asked to be a suicide bomber... these kids can't know the meaning behind why they are doing such horrible things. It must simply be because of their fathers telling them how honorable suicide bombing is. This disgusts me! In the end, a man asks the boy why he has done it and he tells him because of the people then when he is asked again he tells him because of paradise. I will never understand Suicide bombing as long as I am alive.