South Korean ship sunk

On March 26 a South Korean ship sunk. The ship was in tense waters that was near a North Korean island. The South Koreans believe that North Korea might have shot down the navy ship with an explosive. Some believe that it might have been an old North Korean mine from many years ago. Many died from the the accident and around 40 are still missing and might be dead as well.

This is globally important because this is the longest on going war. There has never been a peace treaty signed between North and South Korea ever since they split so they have constantly been at war. It is very tense between them and the smallest mess up could cause an all out war. If South Korea finds out that North Korea intentionally sank their ship this could cause a huge war. Possibly a nuclear war.

Sanctions in Iran

Obama has been pushing the UN for tougher sanctions in Iran. They want to stop them from creating nuclear weapons. Obama knows that the outcome of Iran having nuclear power is not good and could hurt many nations. Obama had negotiations with France, Germany, Russia, Britain, and China. He wants to get moving with the sanctions and stop Iran from getting nuclear weapons.

This is globally important because Iran getting nuclear weapons effects everyone. They will want to attack America for helping Israel in the Middle East and for being secular. They will want to attack Israel for just being in the Middle East. They could give weapons to Lebanon or Afghanistan and that would hurt India. If the world allows them to get nuclear weapons, it could possibly start a World War three. So everyone needs to come together and stop Iran from having Nuclear Weapons.

Gaza Strip 'Land Day'

Hundred of Palestinians marched to the border of the Gaza Strip and Israel. They marched to honor Land Day. This was in 1976 when 6 Palestinian protesters were killed. When the Palestinians went to the border they threw stones and in retaliation the Israeli soldiers opened fire on the crowd. They say that twelve people were wounded and one teenager was killed in the fire.

This shows the constant conflict that is going on in the Middle East. Palestinians are still fighting for Israel or Palestine to them. This has global importance because this conflict is the root of many different conflicts around the world and something needs to be done about it. If we leave things the way they are right now then this conflict will remain to go on. Something needs to be done but it will be very difficult to find peace between the two groups.

Westernization, Nationalism, Imperialism, Zionism in Middle East

1. I believe that the Arabs have such hatred towards the west because of imperialism and westernization. Many European countries came into the Middle East after the Ottoman Empire fell and took over land. This is imperialism. Then they spread their ideas through out the land they controlled and even to the land they didn't control in the Middle East. This was westernization. I believe that this brought about feelings of nationalism because people in the Middle East didn't want to lose their culture. The Middle Eastern people have strong feelings toward west because they don't want to lose their culture and don't want us spreading our ideas into their land.

2. I believe that Zionism is what has caused the hatred toward the Jews. After WWII the west gave the Jews what was Palestine. This created very strong hatred toward the Jews because the Arabian people want their land. They already had past conflict with the Jews and now Zionism caused the Jews to go into their land again and kick the Palestinians out. This is why they hate the Jews.

Veil right or wrong?

After reading the articles given in class I have gotten a whole new perspective on the veil. I never really knew why Islamic women wore a veil and truthfully I thought it was sexist toward them. But after reading the article about the western women who changed to Islam I understand how they feel. The women chose to wear a veil and it is not sexist at all. It actually is the complete opposite. Women basically say rather than liking me for my body, like me for my personality and brains. So I do believe that there is nothing wrong with women wearing a veil. It is their culture, their belief, and their way of life. The only problem I have with it is that it causes conflict with American rules and laws. This veil basically allows them to hide their identity. My problem is that they can't complain if they can't do many things because of their veil. It is not the westerners being ethnocentric when we don't allow Islamic women to do certain things because of their veil. We aren't going to change our culture so that they can live their culture. They are in the U.S so they will have to change their culture if they want to truthfully fit into society.

Muslim women veil

When I first see the pictures of women wearing veils I automatically think of the Middle East. I never really learned why or what they meant I just knew that some females from the Middle East wear a veil. I also remember a famous picture of a women who took off her veil and had amazing green eyes. Now whenever I see a veil I think of this picture. It makes me think of women being degraded because they are not allowed to show their face and that must be very unpleasant. When I see someone lighting candles with a veil I think of religious practices and the Islam religion. However, when I see just someone wearing a veil I think of 9/11 and terrorists sometimes. This is a stereotype though and is wrong.

Its not Christianity Bin Laden hates article

Reading this article has definitely changed my views on things a little bit. I never thought about or knew that some Islams hated us for being secular. I believe that they are right. We are secular and we are in their business by going over into the Middle East. It is true that we aren't as holy as them. But this does still not justify their acts.

Even though all of this is true I still don't think this is justified. We don't have the same beliefs as them and we chose to have an asset based lifestyle. That is not up to them wether we do this or not. However I can see how they are mad when we go over there. But we go over to the Middle East not to change their lifestyle but to help. They get mad at us when we go over to Israel and that is justifiable because we are the Jews only support. They get mad at us when we go into the Middle East after 9/11 but if you attack us we aren't just going to sit around and do nothing. So no, Bin Laden is not justified. Even though he has a reason to be a little mad, there is no reason or right to just hate Americans and want us to be killed/wiped off face of the earth.

Who deserves the Holy Land?

After my researching the topic and learning about the different religions in class I believe that only one religion truly deserves the Holy Land. The Jews. I believe that the Jews should get the Holy Land meaning Israel over Christians and Islamic people. They too find the land holy and important, but not as important as the land is to the Jews. The Jews deserve the Holy Land because the land is holiest to them, they were there first, and it is there only home.

Israel is extremely holy to the Jews. After they left Egypt and came back to Israel they made the land very beautiful and rich. They made temples and used gold to cover the inside of walls. This made Jerusalem a very important and wealthy capital. This land is very holy to the Jews and they made it what it is today. This land is only considered the 3rd holiest land to Islams and Christians haven't returned to the land since they were kicked out by Saladin so that shows how important it is to them.

On top of the land meaning the most to the Jews, they were there before Christians and Islam. The Jews lived in Israel or Palestine with the Palestinians. They lived happily together and never opposed each other. The Islamic religion only came to Israel when Muhammad died. So Jewish people were there before Islamic people. The Christians only came to Israel because Jesus was born there. Jewish people were there before both religions so they get to claim the land.

My last reason is they have no other place to go. Throughout history the Jews have been treated as lesser people. They were killed in Europe in the Holocaust during WWII and treated like slaves in Egypt. They were also kicked off their land by foreign invaders many times while Palestinians got to stay on the land. This is because everyone has hatred towards the Jews. So the Jews only have this land to live and call home. Islamic people however have the rest of the middle east which is a 650 fold greater in size than Israel. The Christians have a lot of land too such as Europe and The United States of America.