Week 6: Mark Braverman

1) We as humans strive for the attention and affirmation of others. A wall is the anti-thesis of that; it suggests willful separation due to my dislike or annoyance with you. However, a wall also signifies order and isolation of people that others may deem to be threats (whether real or imagined). This type of "segregation" tells us 2 things: 1) That the people instilling the wall aren't murderous monsters on an ethnic cleansing campaign (for the "short-sighted" hyperbolists out there) and 2) that there is a threat to be quelled, whether it is justified or not. The supposed "intellectuals" who continue to vilify Israel while not recognizing the threat posed by extremists (because they are real and do exist), only continues to anger the Jews who feel persecuted while pandering to the Palestinians, who for years, have been unwilling to cooperate yet arrogant enough to believe that they are entitled to a land they lost not only in Abrahamic times but just as recently as 1948.

I believe the first step is to leak out that Israel is willing to compromise (perhaps even paying reparations to the families in controlled areas) and maybe even have a news conference where the leaders agree to meet for the explicit purpose of reintegrating both peoples. Then, every week, tear down a certain section of the wall (with proper appropriate support, of course). The next step would be to have public meetings and votes (all adults, no exceptions) to show the Palestinians they are willing to reinstate what the UN proposed almost 70 years ago. However, he Palestinian must show that they are willing to support this move. All random bombings in civilians areas must stop and any public outburst of aggression on Israeli citizens must cease. It makes no sense for one side, who has been on the brink of extinction for milennia, to be the ones to give up the up the land they earned. After the previous have been done, the actual proposal is that the original UN Partition Plan be re-drafted with approximatively half the land given to the Israelis and half given to the Palestinians, with the UN having oversight over Jerusalem but delegating any possible changes to the people of both states. Have the ICJ (or other nations) keep both sides in balance and see how it goes from there.

2) A tribal mindset allows the most optimum way of surviving. It is considered "barbaric" but one needs to be ruthless (or at least, uncompromising) if self-preservation is the ultimate goal (and considering the size of Israel compared to other nations, I would say it is a legitimate form of governance). However, this tribal mindset can lead to arrogant circumventions of justice, allowing very few to be tried fairly without a preconceived bias of harm to the state. I understand that in this supposed "modern era" that people have learned to talk with one another to talk most problems, but usually the people who argue against the "tribal mindset" do not have all the information that a gov't has and as a result do not know what the choices are in a given situation. Simplifying human nature and then applying "logic" to it, especially if it is used to help a population survive, is amateurish at best. It is preposterous to assume that we unelected citizens can someone how criticize gov't for it's justified misdeeds because of some idealistic notion that people are good and therefore no one should harm anyone, despite being under constant threat of annihilation. (To be honest, I expected more from Dr. Braverman)

3) It is, at its basic roots, the most common trait among humans. Everyone suffers; the poor, the rich, the tall, short, fat, skinny, pretty, ugly, smart, dumb (these words are pretty much used to describe subjective points of view). No one can escape being hurt, not those who lock themselves away or even those who are constantly in the spotlight. Human suffering is what binds one of us to the other and allows for an instant emotional or spiritual connection to people who we would probably never would have considered friends.

4)

1. I am Gabriel Gonzalez. I am 21 years old have interests in music, computing, history, and social sciences.

2. Simply put, to earn a degree in order to obtain employment in "a fast-paced business environment".

3. I need food, water, shelter, clothing, like everyone else. Some personal quiet time for my interests.

4. Social injustices really stir me up. Finding the "truth" (whatever that entails) also drives me.

10. Pay attention, delegate more time to studying my lessons, and researching material outside of what is given in class in order to gain a broader perspective.

11. I think I have been successful in understanding and applying the material I've learned from class to short-term goals such as tests and labs.

12. I need assistance on concentrating and using information that I have learned to form ideas which help others.