Question from last week:
Find another international peace-making operation that has worked in the past or is working in the present.  What is it about?


An organization I found is called the "International Peace Research Association."  IPRA has been working and researching issues in the world and how to create sustainable world peace since 1964.  Through the collaboration professors, political leaders and other world leaders they create publications, conferences and peace eduation to bring throghout the world in over 200 countries. 

Based out of Belgium, it has a much stronger influence in Europe, however, I found access to one of their journals through George Mason Univeristy.  The current Secretary Journal, Keven Clements, was appointed in 2010 and has begun to branch the organization out more.  There are several committees and working groups that have different professional minds working toward the common goal of peace.  A few of these committes include:

Art and Peace Commission Conflict Resolution and Peace-Building Commission Eastern Europe Commission Earth Charter Commission Forced Migration Commission Gender and Peace Commission Global Political Economy Commission Indigenous Peoples' Rights Commission Internal Conflicts Commission International Human Rights Commission Nonviolence Commission Peace Culture and Communications Commission Peace Education Commission Peace History Commission Peace Journalism Commission Peace Movements Commission Peace Theories Commission Reconciliation Commission Religion and Peace Commission Security and Disarmament Commission Youth and Peace Commission

This week in class:

This week in class we finished the documentary "Promises."  It was interesting to see the ending and what came of the children after the intial interviews.  They all changed signicantly in the interviews after the film.  When the children, two Israeli and several Palestinain, met in the film, they realized that the two races can coincide and live together.  That no matter their differences, many of them wanted to be friends.  They were all children, with the common pure purpose of finding cooperation and peace.  I found it interesting that only two Israeli children, who were twins, wanted to meet the Palestinian children and yet there were at least four or five palestians ready to meet and converse with the Israelis.  It is evident who wants change and who wants to ignore the conflict.  One Israeli boy, when asked if he wanted to converse with the Israelis, told the camera he had no interest.  Either way, the meeting was successful in the film.  However, it was identified that after the meeting the children would go their separate ways and their stride to peace would be forgotten.  That is exactly what happened, and several years later, the Israelis are serving in the army and the Palestinians and seperated and still supressed.  It is a realistic, meaningful ending.  Something must be done to stop the circle of the Palestinian conflict.  Parents teach their children to hate the other race, and by the time they are grown, they do.

This is why I think that the filmmakers kept showing a shot of a tire rolling through the dirt, never stopping, caught on fire.  The Iranian-Palestinian conflict is a reocurring cycle of hatred.  The only thing that can break it is a new generation who is able to cooperate and learn from each other.  Palestinians and Israelis should be able to share the land and their holylands in peace.  Much of the land that the Israelis took from the Palestinians is not even being used!  Why should it matter if the land was returned to those who owned it before? 

In a completely different discussion, I vacationed in St. Augustine, Florida over springbreak this year.  While there, I realized that they was a strong deaf community in the town.  There is a prestigious deaf school there and due to our viewing of the documentary about the Cochlear Implant, I was immediately interested about these people.  I ended up seeing a group of twenty deaf students on the beach for three days in a row.  I played soccer with one who had a cochlear implant and could understand me perfectly.  It was interesting to see something we learned in class so very real.

Question for next week:
What is the current situation in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict?

Sources:

The Promises Film Project. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. http://www.promisesproject.org/.

International Peace Research Association." Redirect. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. http://soc.kuleuven.be/iieb/ipraweb/index.php?action=page.

CNN.com - Breaking News, U.S., World, Weather, Entertainment & Video News. Web. 27 Apr. 2011. http://www.cnn.com/.]