Family%20Excercises.ppt

Now might be a very formative time for the future of the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. According to the L.A. Times, Israel is under increased pressure to resume peace talks and subsequently come up with a plan for peace. If they fail to do so, the "Middle East Quartet" (the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations) has warned that it will attempt to "jump-start the process by formally endorsing, for the first time, the creation of a Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital."

This, of course, is a controversial and divisive topic both in Israel and internationally. Even the prime minister's cabinet, according to the article, is divided. Most of my family seems to just want the conflict to be resolved, and if that involves a Palestinian state then that is an idea they could handle. My opinion on the subject is conflicted, however I imagine that a Palestinian state is a necessary outcome of a successful solution to the conflict. I also feel that the sovereignty of a Palestinian state is going to be a complex debate, because Israel and the international community will want to keep a close eye on its formation, which means ceding some control. Also, Israel is going to be against the militarization of a Palestinian state which is contradictory to a modern definition of state sovereignty.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-israel-peace-plan-20110419,0,2928506.story

When I was learning a list a of sayings and Israeli/Hebrew expressions I was somewhat surprised to find an overlap with American expressions (not cognates or borrowed words, but rather meaning).

For example Israelis use the word Achi (n. brother/bro) in the same way an American might use "bro" or "dude" especially when one cannot remember someone's name. Another similarity I found was "petzatza" (n. explosion) which is used to describe a pretty girl or something great, much like "bombshell" or "the bomb" in English. Additionally a hand signal that is cross-cultural is the signal used to say "wait" or "hold on" (which is "Rak Regah"): fingers together, facing upwards. 

Other slang/sayings I learned were:

Achla (n. the real thing)

Ahalan (hello) ex: Ahalan, achi ma koreh? Hi brother, what's happening?

Ma Pitom (excl. no way!)

Fadeecha (n. An embarassing situation)

Balagan (n. a big mess)

Ya-lah (v. move on)

Ma koreh (excl. what's happening?)

Jerusalem, the capital of Israel and a holy city for Jews, Muslims, and Christians, has a long and complex history. The Old City in Jerusalem is thought to have been inhabited, consistently, for 5000 years! Its history is marred with painful conflict and tensions. The Old City is sectioned into various segregated quarters: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, and Armenian. The sovereignty of Jerusulem, that is, under which country it belongs, has long been a controversial debate. Israel claims it as its capital, and it is recognized as such now, but it was not always this way. East Jerusalem and the Old City used to be part of Jordan, until the 6 day war in 1967. As a result of that war, Israel gained territory from Jordan, among other countries, and this territory (the West Bank) included East Jerusalem and the Old City. Israel treated the West Bank as an occupied territory, but treated East Jerusalem and the Old City as an extension of Israel's border. This was condemned by the UN. The UN had originally proposed that Jerusalem be an "international city" split between Israel and a Palestinian state. Of course, this was not implemented. Supporters of a Palestinian state, however, maintain their desire for Jerusalem to be their capital.

The city has a very unique character, being both ancient, with ancient structures, and metropolitan/urban. It is multi-linguistic with Hebrew, Arabic, English and various other languages spoken.

Israel is a democratic republic with a parliamentary system modeled after the UK. The "Basic Laws of Israel" serve as a constitution, although uncodified. Because it is uncodified the relationship between the Basic Laws and other legislation is not concrete, and the judicial system makes those decisions which then may become precedents. The judicial system is three-tiered (magistrate, district, and Supreme court respectively and in that order lowest to highest). Israeli law comes from English common law, civil law, and Jewish law traditions.

I would need to do more research to know for sure, but I suspect, based on observations and study of the UK legal system, states with uncodified constitutions tend to create different legal cultures. The "spirit of the law" is put above the letter of the law, where as in the U.S. the "letter of the law" is usually held higher.

Although it is very hard and confusing, I am starting to have a sense for word order in Hebrew. For example when talking about possession "to have" is added after the object. So "my house" is "bait sheli". Also, the lack of "to be" connecting verbs such as "This is my house" "Ze bait sheli".

It takes a while to internalize hebrew syntax and even basic pronouns. In fact, in Hebrew, "she" is he, "he" is who, "who" is me (מי), and "me" is li (לי). So switching from English to Hebrew can be a little rough.

In researching the history of Hebrew I came upon a language known as Judaeo-Spanish (Djudeo Espanyol) or Spanyolit (in Hebrew). 

Spanyolit is a Romance language and is derived from Old Spanish. Its other major influences are Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic and Turkish. It has kept fossils, as is common with dialects because they are more conservative, from Old Castillian such as the /ʃ/ and /ʒ/ alveolar sounds (which moved backwards to velar in modern Spanish). Hebrew gave it the /x/ sound. It is written traditionally with Hebrew characters although in cursive it uses Solitreo which differs from the Ashkenazi cursive.

Its origins can be traced back to the Middle Ages when Castilian was developing into a "prestige" language. Spanyolit was spoken throughout the Middle East and the Balkans after 1492 when Jewish refugees were expelled from what is now modern day Spain.

Spanyolit is in danger of extinction, which means that the last native speakers are elderly, many not transmitting the language to their children. 

I am taking Intro to Linguistics and I thought it would be appropriate to research the history and influences of Hebrew. Hebrew is a Afro-Asiatic, Central-Northwest Semitic, Canaanite language. It is the only Canaanite language still spoken. Hebrew and Aramaic coexisted within Israel in ancient times.

Hebrew is said to have died out as a spoken language in the 6th century, the end of the Roman Period. Hebrew began to be revived in the mid 19th century in Germany, but its revival was not fully set in motion until Jewish activist Eliezer Ben-Yehuda began trying to bring spoken Hebrew back. It is surprising that the revival of the language is owed primarily to one man! In the Second Aliyah, Hebrew started replacing various Jewish dialects such as Spanyolit, Yiddish and Judeo-Arabic.

Hebrew vowels in IPA:

During the conquest of Palestine following the Balfour Declaration, the Jewish Legion, mostly volunteers, assisted the British. The subsequent Palestine riots (1920) led to the formation of Haganah (The Defense). Haganah was preceded by Hashomer (The Watchmen) which was a Jewish defense organization of the Second Aliyah.

There were protests, riots, and paramilitary opposition to the British conquest of Palestine by its Palestinian Arab inhabitants. At the time Jews accounted for only 11% of Palestine. The Palestinian Arab riots (1920) included attacks on Jewish communities, and so Jewish leadership, believing that the British would not defend them, formed Haganah (The Defense), a Jewish paramilitary organization charged with defending Jewish communities. Up until the 1929 Palestine riots, Haganah was segmented and poorly armed. After 1929 Haganah grew drastically and became an underground army, with extremely high membership in Jewish settlements. Haganah, influenced by its predecessor Hashomer, had a policy of "havlagah" (restraint). This restraint meant the preclusion of revenge-taking or counter-attacks. A sect of Haganah known as Irgun Tsva'i-Leumi (National Military Organization better known as simply Irgun) split off from Haganah and became its own separate entity.

 In 1939 the British imposed the White Paper, a limiting quota for Jewish immigration to Palestine. This angered the Zionists and the Haganah. Haganah protested the immigration quotas and facilitated Jewish immigration illegally. During WWII the Haganah created Palmach, an elite commando military group, which received highly specialized training. The Jewish Resistance Movement was later formed (1945) the goal of which was to force the British out of Palestine and create a Jewish state. After the realization of Israeli statehood and independence, the Haganah was succeeded by the Israeli Defense Forces.

The Formation of Israel

In 1948 Israel (known formally as Medinat Yisrael "The State of Israel") became a state. The name "Israel" originated in biblical times; in the Torah, God promises the "Land of Israel" to the Jewish people. After being ruled by many different groups, Modern day Israel was conquered by the Ottoman Empire which maintained its rule until its fall in the 20th century. The First Aliyah (immigration of Jews from the diaspora to Israel) came to escape the pograms in Eastern Europe in the late 1800's, although there was immigration of Jews before this, notably after the Spanish inquisition. The Second Aliyah (1904-1914) came from the pograms in the Russian empire (it was in this movement that kibbutzim were established). During WWI the British issued the Balfour Declaration (1917) which stated:

"His Majesty's government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/the-birth-of-modern-israel-a-scrap-of-paper-that-changed-history-492084.html

In 1922 the UK was granted a mandate over Palestine. The Third and Fourth Aliyahs (1919-1923 and 1924-1929 respectively) brought 100,000 Jews to Palestine. The Fifth Aliyah, caused by Nazism and the Holocaust which brought 250,000 more Jews to Palestine. The Arab revolt of 1936-1939 followed which caused the British to instate the White Paper of 1939 which capped immigration. Aliya Bet (an underground organization to bring Jews fleeing the Holocaust to Palestine) was formed as a response to this law and many countries' refusal to accept Jewish refugees. In 1947, unable to solve the Arab-Jewish conflict, the British ended their Mandate of Palestine. The UN put forth a plan called "Partition Plan for Palestine, in which Palestine would divide into two countries (one Arab and one Jewish). This plan was not accepted. Civil war broke out after Palestinian Arabs began attacking Palestinian Jews in protest of the occupation. However, their economy collapsed and many fled or were forced out. May 14th,1948 the Jewish Agency declared Israeli independence. 

Elliott Hammer

MLC 105

When I started my autonomous/self-directed language learning journey I was unorganized and was set in my old habits of language learning. Although some of my habits were beneficial, I needed to, and did adapt to learning a foreign language autonomously and not in the country in which it is spoken. This adaptation consisted of more studying and organized activities.

Through the topics discussed in the classroom and through the articles that we, the students, read in MLC 105, I feel that we developed our skills as observers of other cultures. For example, the activity about Collectivism v Individualism helped me to broaden my understanding of Israel as well as of Iran and Turkey. Our cultural discussions in class helped to augment my skills as an observer of culture.

I found the language learning partner to be the most helpful resource. Haya was always approachable and helpful when I had questions. I tried out the Rosetta Stone once but I don't think I gave it enough of a chance. Next semester I'm going to try and use it more. I think it will be good for practicing. To learn new words and phrases I recited and wrote them down (in transliteration) many times. I also had to use them in sentences and conversation with Haya to put them in my long term memory. To learn grammatical structures I would take a sentence I knew how to say and practice changing it from masculine to feminine and vis versa, from singular to plural and vis versa, and from "you" to "me" to "we" etc.

I was very comfortable with the "self-directed" study. I enjoyed being given the freedom to choose how I organize my studying and to cater to my own learning styles. I sometimes wish that my other classes incorporated some more independent learning. I feel that being "self-directed" made me feel in charge of my goals and priorities which made me more motivated to learn because I had a goal that was pertinent to my personal goals. The fact that my studies had immediate practical uses for me was also a great motivator. My reason for learning Hebrew comes from my desire to communicate with my family members in Israel, which was a goal towards which I could immediately see progress.

I discovered several things about myself as a language learner. I discovered that I have a knack for pronunciation. I also discovered that I have a hard time memorizing individual words, but remember phrases quite well. There were also a few things that I already knew about myself as a language learner that were apparent to me in this experience. I am naturally unorganized so there is a need to organize myself and set goals.

I will definitely continue to use the strategies, activities, and approaches I have learned this semester. I will continue to use my vocabulary list as a motivational tool. I will, of course, use my language partner as a resource next semester. I will try and find more YouTube videos to use in order to practice my listening skills. I think that next semester I will try to incorporate the tools in the global studio more often. I will start using the Rosetta Stone regularly.

I think that the most crucial factor in becoming a truly "self-directed" language learner is organization and motivation. Setting specific goals is important. All activities and studying should be tailored to achieve those goals. Learning techniques should be flexible as goals change and become more realistic. There is usually a tendency to set lofty goals at the beginning. Another factor is to engage the language in some way, however small, every day. Even if this means, on an off day, counting to x number in your head and reciting the alphabet or some simple sentences, or watching a short 5 minute video. I think it is important, especially when you are not in the country in which the language is spoken, to artificially surround yourself with the language as much as is realistically possible. Tracking progress in some sort of tangible way is also important. That is the reason that I used a vocabulary list. Also, it is important to understand that when learning a language there are times when parts of the learning process will plateau for a while and not to become discouraged.

My cultural project helped me to understand collectivist attitudes and perspectives in Israel. I was able to relate to my research of Kibbutzim because I have direct experience in a Kibbutz and relatives from a Kibbutz. The cultural projects of other students also helped me to relate to the products and practices of other cultures. The presentation on traditional clothing in the Middle East helped me to understand how what you wear can be political, and is political in the Middle Eastern cultures. The presentation on soccer in Turkey helped me to understand the significance of the sport in Turkey, as well as in the rest of the world. The presentations on Jewish women helped me to better comprehend gender roles in Judaism and in Israel.