Social Awareness Project By: Jacob Cedar

Overview

I chose to do the news immersion, create a poem and write a reading response for this project. In the project, my focus was Israel and the Ferguson case. My poem was a collaboration of the two. The news immersion was based mainly on the Ferguson case. Then the reading response was based on Israel. I felt that these subjects were suitable for the social awareness project because they both brought up very important matters recently.

Poem

The people they fight for ethnic rights

But the government doesn’t indict

The trials they don’t even happen

When the people want justice to be done

To lock up those doing wrong

The people of the world are at war

And we fight for a cure

For the diseases that procure

Sadness and distress

Although these diseases are regressing

And the world is almost at peace

We fight for the feat of defeating

All those who wish to hurt our neighbors

And wish for peace at last

            My process for writing this poem was very basic. I took problems around me and then I put them on paper. I then took these problems and tried to put them into a poetic form. Mainly I based the poem on the Ferguson trial as well as problems in Israel. I tried to use some figurative language because some of my words I wanted to mean multiple different things depending on the reader. The process was interesting although the poem itself was grim.

News Immersion

November 22

The article “In Ferguson, Preparation and Anticipation as Grand Jury Decision Nears” by: Julie Bossman and Monica Davey is about the case in Ferguson where an 18 year old unarmed black teenager (Michael Brown) was shot by a white police officer (Darren Wilson) on August 9th. This article shed some light on the case as well as what has happened in Ferguson since the killing. The article stated that there had been protesting ever since the teenager Michael Brown was shot and that schools were being shut down early as anticipation of the protests that might ensue. The article spoke about how the police are preparing for the decision, changing traffic patterns and erecting barriers around the police headquarters. Julie Bossman and Monica Davey also spoke on the case, saying that the fact that there has been no court decision yet is not abnormal and backed this up after talking with Mark O’Mara who was the criminal defense lawyer who represented George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin.

This article makes me think about the Ferguson case in a very different light. I’m shocked that the police went to the extreme of changing traffic patterns and putting up barriers. I’m shocked because this means that the police believe that Darren Wilson probably wont be indicted. Considering he killed a man this surprises me. Now I know why the Ferguson case could be taking so long after reading this article. This article helped me understand the Ferguson case much better, which is important considering this is a very controversial topic.

November 23

            The article “Israeli Cabinet backs Nationality Bill That Risks Wider Rift With Arab Minority” by: Isabel Kershner is an article about the Israeli cabinet proposing a bill that, “emphasized Israel’s Jewish character above its democratic nature.” The article speaks on how this bill could possibly make an international rift between Israel and it’s allies, considering that more then 20% of Israel is Arabic. The article does state that the Prime Minister is expected to amend the bill before the final reading in parliament to give equal rights to all citizens. The author then talks to Ahmed Tibi a veteran Arab member of the Israeli parliament, he confirmed that the Jewish Democratic state is fake and that the government would never recognize the rights of a minority. One of the main points of the draft was that it changed Arabic from an official language to a language with special status. The president of the Jewish Democracy Institute said even that there is no need for the bill and that it merely addresses political need. The article explains Israel’s constitution saying that it’s made up of basic laws and judgements as well as their Declaration of Independence of 1948. The author goes forward and uses quotes from multiple high ranking people in the government, some agree with the bill and others disagree. The bill went further to then deny people any rights if they were to participate in terrorism. The article goes further after talking about the bill and speaks about the recent happenings in Israel.

            This article made me think about the conflicts between the Jews and the Palestinians. The article shocked me because I can’t believe that the Jewish Prime Minister would make a bill that attacked the Arabs. The reason it shocks me is that there are so many Arabic people I the nation that it would be ridiculous to even think about attacking them as a whole. This attacks the Arabs, because it makes it so that their language wont even be considered a main language, assuming it’s passed. Now that I have read this article, I know a lot more about the problems between the Palestinians and Jews and why there is conflict between them.

November 24^th

            The article, “Rocked by Rape Report, University of Virginia to Hold Special Meeting” by: Jennifer Steinhauer and Richard Pénez-Peña is about how at the University of Virginia there have been multiple sexual assaults that have been concealed and mishandled for years. The article goes into how children who had admitted to sexual assault had even escaped expulsion and that no one had been expelled for sexual assault in 7 years. Professors changed their lesson plans to dissecting the problem at hand. The article goes on to then talk about how the situation of the university had symbolized many universities in the country. The authors quoted a first year student from Texas who said that, “The fraternity culture has to change, but I don’t know how it would, because fraternity culture is such a big part of life here,” this is very indicative of the culture of the university. The article then goes on to say that to address this problem The Board of Visitors which governs the university will meet in an auditorium instead of its usual board-room to discuss the matters at hand.

            This makes me feel like the University of Virginia was paid to keep quiet about these sexual assaults. Anyone with a conscience would expel someone who sexually assaulted someone else, and that didn’t happen. So I feel like the university was either trying to protect members of the university or it was paid off by someone who wanted them to keep quiet.  Now I know however that there is a problem with the universities fraternity system, and I’m interested in seeing how it is fixed. After they fix this, I hope there aren’t any more sexual assault problems.

November 25^th

            The article, “A thousand Fergusons across America” by: Moni Basu and Ann O’Neill is about the case concerning the killing of Michael Brown and the aftermath of Darren Wilson not being indicted. People stood outside (both black and white) of the Ferguson police station waiting for the grand juries decision to indict Darren Wilson or not. When he wasn’t indicted, the author wrote that the people outside of the police station surged towards the metal gates in front of the station and were extremely angry. The crowd was met by a phalanx of policemen in riot gear. CNN said that they had been tear gassed, but the police denied using tear gas. The author quoted many people and the general consensus was that the people were scared because if a cop could get away with killing a teenager, their teenager could be killed to. The author spoke about how even in Atlanta and St. Louis there was protesting.

            This article makes me think that maybe the right thing in this situation was to protest, considering that a teenager was shot dead, and the killer wasn’t even indicted. After reading this, I feel like protesting was called for and that Darren Wilson should have been indicted. Because Darren Wilson wasn’t indicted, I’m worried for my friends sake that they wont get killed in a similar incident because a cop is protected and feels like he can shoot whoever he wants to. Now I know how bad our judicial system can be.

November 26^th

            The article, “Protesters torch police car in another tense night in Ferguson” by: Moni Basu and Faith Karimi is about how protesters after Darren Wilson wasn’t indicted did many harsh things in Ferguson. To start off, the article stated that protesters set a police cruiser on its side then set it of fire. The protesters were both black and white, and they were chanting things like, “We just want justice.” The article talked about how volunteers helped clean up vandalized stores and that there were armed guards protecting a damaged store called “Beauty World.” The article also says that authorities are trying to avoid a repeat of the night before when it came out that Darren Wilson wasn’t going to be indicted and boosted the amount of national guardsmen from 700 to 2200. The article then talks about how in Ferguson, buildings were burned, stores were looted and shots were fired.

            This article makes me think that the protesting may have been taken too far. Non-violent protests are good, but looting and setting things on fire is too much. This article made me feel like a revolution might happen soon. The response to Darren Wilson not getting indicted was worse then I thought it could be. After this I feel a bit worried for the stability of the country. Now I know more of what happened in Ferguson. Previously I only heard that there was rioting, now I know it was much worse.

Reflection

            After this immersion, I‘ve realized that there are many problems in the world, happening all the time. During the immersion I’ve learned a lot about our countries current problems. I’ve learned from this experience that people do many things that can often be very unexpected. For example, in Ferguson who would have expected Darren Wilson not to be indicted? And then who would have expected the aftermath where a police car was set on fire? I’ve learned that our justice system isn’t always the best. For example, college kids got away with rape, facing no consequences. It’s not just our country, through this immersion I’ve even seen in Israel there are problems between Palestinians and Jews.

Through this immersion I’ve realized that not everything in our country is all peaches and cream. The reason I say this is that people who have done wrong things are not facing retribution. For example, Darren Wilson didn’t get indicted and he killed a teenager. Even though this may have been in self defense, he killed a teenager. Then in Virginia University, there have been multiple sexual assaults and they have done nothing. Even after a student admitted to sexually assaulting someone else, the student wasn’t expelled and didn’t face any consequences. Through this immersion I’ve realized a lot about problems in our country and the rest of the world.

Reading Response

Is it really possible for 4 teens to start a war? In the article “How the MURDER of Four Teens Started a WAR,” author Patricia Smith writes about the four boys who were killed, how Hamas and Israel fought, and how the tension between Israeli’s and Palestinians came to be. The author describes how problems between the Palestinians and Israeli’s started because the U. N. gave Jewish people land in Jerusalem, with a plan to split the Palestinians and Jews into two states, which the Palestinians rejected. The Palestinians and Israeli’s have had run-ins since 1947 but the most recent one was after 3 Israeli boys were found dead, (June 12 they were captured) and a Palestinian boy was murdered (killed on July second). This prompted Hamas to launch air strikes at Israel. Then Israel did the same to Gaza. These murders were tragic but the outcome shouldn’t have been war.

            Patricia Smith tells the story from each side, making it difficult to pick a side to defend. One example that shows this is after a Palestinian boy is killed, his brother says, “His life was still ahead of him, and here in one minute, extremists who hate Arabs, who hate peace, came in and cut short his whole life.” This quote shows the grief of a brother who’s feeling the strife of his country in his home and the hatred and disharmony that exists in Israel. This boy and his family don’t deserve to suffer because someone supposedly from Palestine killed three Israeli’s. Furthermore, the author quoted the Israeli Prime Minister in response to the three Israeli boys being abducted and killed, “They were kidnapped and murdered in cold blood by beasts, Hamas is responsible and Hamas will pay.” It’s difficult to defend either group, because Hamas or some un-connected Palestinian could have killed these three Israeli kids but at the same time they may not have. There was no clear evidence shown in this article. Furthermore, this by no means should have started air strikes and bombings. This was simply tragic.

            The author makes a big point to talk about the “birth of Israel,” and how it came to be, and more importantly why there is a problem in Israel. Patricia Smith taught me that the U.N. voted to split Palestine apart writing, “According to the U.N. plan, the territory, then known as Palestine and governed by Great Britain, would be divided into two states, one Arab and one Jewish. But the Arabs rejected this plan.” This shows the main reason why the Arabs and Jews have been fighting. This makes me think that the Arabs attacking the Jews was not totally uncalled for, because their land was split in half against their will. Additionally, the U.N. probably shouldn’t have given away land that wasn’t theirs to give, although Great Britain did control Palestine at the time. This shows a very large reason for why there is still a problem in Palestine.

            After reading this article I have begun to understand that sometimes neither group of people who are fighting are wrong. This article also makes me want to look more deeply into problems surrounding Palestine and the Israeli’s. I’m intrigued by why the U.N. just gave away half of Palestine to the Jews and I want to find out why Hamas was blamed for killing the 3 Israeli boys. I would like to know more about this because at the moment what it looks like to me is that, three boys were killed by someone or a group, the reason is fairly unknown and then some Israeli radicals went out and killed a Palestinian boy for “revenge.” These are terrible, unreasonable actions that should never have happened.

Works Cited

News Immersion

The New York Times, articles from the 22^nd to the 24^th

CNN, articles from the 25^th and 26^th

Reading Response

Upfront Magazine October 27 2014 issue