Should Israel be viewed as a state for Jews or a Jewish State Essay Example for Free

Should Israel be viewed as a state for Jews or a Jewish State Essay What do you think are the key issues at stake in the discussion within the Jewish world over whether the modern State of Israel should be understood as a state for Jews or a Jewish state? Is it posbbile for it both to be a ‘Jewish and Democratic state’. The two main viewpoints are split between those of the secular Zionists that believe the Jews have a right to self determination, and therefore need a safe haven to be protected from damaging anti semitic attacks that can cause many attrocities, such as the holocaust. The religious zionists agree with the secular zionists, but go further and believe that religious be-liefs should be encorporated in the state. They do not believe Israel should simply be a state for jews, but should have a mandate to promote Judaism to their jews. opinions on the issue: Professor Ariel Rosen Zvi, an observant jews, believes that reli- gion should not be imposed by force as the whole beauty of religion is that it is one that people choose out of their own intellect. He does however believe that both sides should compromise to find a common solution. Aviezer Ravitsky is a liberal minded professor and believes that the sexcular jew re- quires the country to be free and that the religious jew must go along with that, but the secular jew must cooperate in keeping the nation jewish. He believes the govern- ment should sway more to the side of Jewish law. Rabbi Zvi Weinman â€Å"if we dont believe in religion, what are we doing in this land? Hashem promised it to our ancestors on condition that we observe the Torah. If we do not, then we are here as conquerors. We were united over the ages not by common ethnic descent nor by a common history but by a common faith† Contriversial topics: Contriversy lies in specific topics such as busses on the Jewish day of rest (Shabbat). Many religious people do not want to pay for ireleigous people to break the special commandment of the Sabbath, through taxes. it’s not necesarily the money aspect, but more the fact that they are invariably causing another fellow jew to disobey a commandment. However, ithis method may cause many ireleghious jews to resent the torah. another contribersial topic is the Kosher commandment. whether or not israel should promote the sale of non kosher food within its borders, for example pork. there are over a million non jews in israel, it seems almost discriminatory to disallow these peo- ple the leisure of favourite foods. there is a major rift over the secular and hareidim arguments. Reasons for this is due to the fact that many hareidis want to eradicate women in public billboards due to the immodest representation that influences many religious men. they want to detatch is- rael from typical western civilization that has made many people very vulnerable to the unconcious influences that advertisement induces on the physical attitudes of the population. Benjamin Netanyahu wants the arabs to recognize Israel as a Jewish state. A Jewish state sounds like a theocracy, and theocracys are conviversial in respects to democratic states run by accountable people. it seems discrimonatory and racist the idea of having a state with one religion. it is governmed by a democraticalted parliament, yet still holds jewish values and religous customs. but this is just like the ones made in the UK with the recognition of Christmas and Easter as holidayhs. i believe that it is just attacked for its jewish character which emblems zionism. Is Israel a state of the Jews, united by shared histrocial traditions and experience , or is it a Jewish state, whose essence is integrally related to religious faith? We can stem this right from the root of Israel, the declaration of independence does not mention god. Troen believes that if ISrael is a jew- ish state, then democracy cannot exist; but israel does have Jewish elements, and still resides to be the only democratic country in the middle east. Israel’s essentially can be originated back to many sources of importance. The very fact that it can be originated all the way back to the foundation of Judaism is signifi- cant: the first words uttered by G-d to the first jew, Abraham was to leave his home- land and go to Israel. G-d then promised Abraham that he would have a multitude of nations and many descendants of whom would make a nation and a ‘Eretz Yisrael’ which translates as Israel- to be a land to live in. Abrahams response was to keep the land forever. This laid the basis for zionism in the Jewish religion. The importance of Israel even remains the focus of every day life. Each day, the focus of prayer is the land of Israel. It is the conscious direction of Israel that a jew faces whilst praying, regardless of where the Jew is in the world. The land of Israeel is clearly the focus of Judaism and without a belief in Judaism as a religion, all validity of Israel as a land for the people is gone.. The holiness of the land is at such an extent due to the biblical events that happened there. Jewish history is based on Israel. The hard- ships experiences by pharoh and other perseuctions were all legistimised by the even- tual redemption of gaining the land of Israel. The Shema which is a prayer recited twice a day states that if the jewish people observe the commandments and behave morally, the land will respond by having enough rain and produce enough crops in Is- rael. However, if the jews stray from the land, they will loose it . thus , the quality and quantity of crops in Israel depends on the behavior of its inhabitants. Every jew agrees that the land is holy and it is promised. However, the concept of the state and modern day zionism is argued.the stories of the patriachs (Gen. , chs. 12 to 50) form the first chapter in that great theological history of Is- rael’s origins which we find in the first six books of the Bible. Religious Zionists believe that the establishment of national sovereignty in Israel will hasten the messiah. They believe that if settling in the land of Israel hastens the mes- siah, how much more so would enticing all jews to settle in Israel. Thus they focus on the similarities between secular Zionists to try minimise the differences. Just like ignaz maybaum, they focus on the correlation between the Nazi holocaust and the establish-ment of Israel. They believe that the principle message of the holocaust to be there is now a clear signal from g-d that it s time for the exile to end. They believe that the STATE IS AN OPPORTUNITY BY G-D TO STATE THAT THE MESSIAH IS CLOSER. CLASSICAL RAB- BINICAL LITERATURE TEACHES THAT BEFORE SOMETHING MAGNIFICENT OR GREAT OCCURS, THERE MUST BE A GREAT TRAGEDY. IN THIS CASE, THE HOLO- CAUST HAD TO OCCUR IN ORDER FOR THE STATE OF ISRAEL TO BE FOUNDED. THIS THEORY SUPPORTS THE ACTUAL EVENTS, AS MANY HISTORIANS BELIEVE THAT WITHOUT THE HOLOCAUST, ISRAEL WOULD NEVER HAVE COME INTO EXIS- TENCE. (NETEUREI KARTA WONT LIVE IN ISRAEL BECAUSE THEY DO NOT BELIEVE A JEWISH STATE SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED WITHOUT MESSIAH) The rebirth of the state of Israel is contemporary revelation; I is the voice of g-d speaking forth from history, and for some evokes the essence of G-d even stronger in relation to the holococaust. The return to zion is the ultimate vindication of G-ds presence in history and his providential gov- ernance of man and the world. The Jew witnessed Auschwitz as ‘the hiding of the face of g-d’, yet the rebirth of the state of Israel allows the same jew to witness the smile on the face of G-d which is proof of his quintessence. Eliezer Berkowitz. statehood is the repudiation of powerlessness in exile,†1 The history of Israel would continue in the history of the Jewish people, a people claimed by the God of Israel to live under his law to the last generation of mankind. 2 When the second world war ended, contact between the Yishuv in Palestine and the remnants of European Jewry, which imme- diately created a fateful mutual relationship. The institutions of the Zionist movement and the Yishuv made every effort to bring the survivors of the death camps back to life and hope, while the latter became an active factor in the determination of Jewish policy, with the unequivocal objective for the entire Jew- ish people of establishing a Jewish state in Palestine. After the capitulation of the Nazi’s, thousands of Jews assembled in the Displaced Persons camps of Germany. But the borders were not yet closed, and a movement westwards began from Eatern Eu- ope. Survivors returned to their home in the hope of findings those members of their families from whom they had been seperated during the Holocaust. The non Jewish population generally did not welcome the Jews. and the problem of restor- ing houses, apartments or property that had been confiscated arose. Some 150,000 Jews returned to Poland in 1946 from Rus- sia alone. And swiftly consequences followed as in June 1946, a terrible pogrom broke out in Kielce in which docens of Jews were murdered. It had become apparent that the Holocast had not only failed to soften the traditional anti-semitism of the pol- ish people, but had even intensified it. Even in Kiev, riots broke out over the question of restoring apartments to their rightful owners. In Bratislava there were actual pogroms. As a result, Jews began to flee Westords. Some 200,000 Jewish refugees were assembled in the DP camps in Germany by the end of 1946, most of them looking forward to the one thing- peace and security among their bretheren, that could be only attained through emigration to Palestine. But the gates were closed. 1 Berkovits, Faith After the Holocaust, 4-5. 2 Old Testament Library. John Bright. A history of Israel. Second Edition. SCM Press LTD Bloomsbury St Loindon. Hugh Dalton 1945 announced at the LAbour partt conference ‘it was morally wrong to restrict entry of Palestine of Jews. it was indispensble tht steps be taken to get common support for the policy of giving facilities for the crreation of a free, happy and prosperous Jewish State of Palestine. Truman of the US declared in mid august 1945 of his support for the right to free Jewish immigration and on 2 september he sent a missive to Clement Attlee demanding 100,000 Jewish refugees be granted immediate entry. The labour government ignoredthese demands. AS a result, ha’apalah (illegal immigration) was beginning to be carried out. As early as August and September 1945, small boats from Italian ports began to arrive to Palestine with sur- vivors. On the night of 2 November 1945 an attack on railway lines was launched to demonstrate to the British that they could not rule the country against the wishes of the Jewish. Yishuve. In the meantime, illegal immigration was increasing. The british began to apprehend immigration ships at Sea. The Hagana reacredby blowing up radar installations and policy cars. Two basic facts have determined the development of the young State of Israel: mass immi- gration, which flooded the country immediately after its establishment and brought hun- dreds of thousands of Jews from different countries, united in religion, historical origin and emotional identity, but seperated in language and social values. immigration served as a diversifying factor, creating tensions and undermining the stability of israel society. The mass immigation in the first years of statehood was the result of pressure exerted by Jews waiting in DP camps in Germany and Cyprus and of refugees from Eastern Europe. It was aimed at fulfilling the Basle Programme, the central aim of Zionism. The very establish- ment of the State of Israel and international support for this act came from the recognition that there was no other place for Jewish Refugees, and the disturbing realization that had such a refuge existed in the 1930s at least part of European Jewry might have been saved. By the end of 1950, some 45,000 Yemenite Jews had arrived- gathered from their places of residence to Aden whence they were flown to Israel in ‘Operation Magic Carpet’. In 1950 some 122,000 Iraqi Jews immigrated. 30,000 from Libya, 37,000 from Bulgaria. By the end of 1951, 104,000 from Poland and 119,000 from Romania. All in all immigrants in the first three and a half years of statehood totalled 685,000 of whom 304,000 from East- ern Europe. The new arribals were greeted as part of the biblical narrative of ‘Ingathering of the Exiles’ . 3 3 a hist of j p sasson Zionism is distinct from Biblical return to Israel. It represented a transfoermation of this tra-ditional form of self understanding. it fundamental message was: if you wish to change your exilic condition, you must learn how nations emerge and survive. Don’t wait for the miracle but act on instinct. Secular Zionism demythologized the Jewish people’s sense of who they were. It contradicted accepted patterns of thought by asserting that exile was not necessarily gorounded in sin or Torah commandments , but the result of a failure to explpi- ot the political, social and eocnomic conditions required for nation building. In the period following the establishment of Israel, the Bible served as a foundaitonal text for Israeli society. Although religious and secular Zionists had different attitudes toward it, they shared a common passion for it. The bible opened the seculsar Zionists to a broader vision of community efined by social justice and ethics. It anchored them to the land and energied them to discover the beauty of the Hebrew language. The bible was a light that illuminated new ways of living in the world as Jews. For secular zionists, the Bible was the basis for new anthropology, how to live ones life in the prescence of G-d. For religious Zionists, the bible supported their con-viction that there was religious significance to their return to the promised land. Just as the bible had provided observant Jews iwht a frame of reference to make sense of exile, it now gave meaning to their return. After the 6 Day war, the feeling of the religious Zionists towards the Bible depened when the land of the bible, the promised Land, suddenly opened up before them. the Greater Land of Israel movement which opposes yielfindg soverignty over the entire Land of IS- rael, began in response to the feeling that Jewish peoples long history of wairing was now being vindicated by God through an open miracle. The footsteps towards the Messiah were approaching and God had retuened the land through SIraels democratic vistory through the asserted theme that god was returning his kingdom in victory. The older generations of Israelis loved the Bible. Today, that generation is dying, and what had once been the national literature of the country is slowly being discarded as irrelevant. For the religious Zionist community, the current peace process has destroyed a fundamen- tal part of their religious appreciation of the state of ISrael. Giving up the Promised land that the government are willing to do means that you are turning back on what was sup-posed to be a redemptive biblical drama. For the Ultra Orthodox Jewish continuiity entails the repudiation of modernity. Our survival in the apst was due to seperation and insulation from the world. ‘The weakeneing of Jewish histrocial solidarity among Israeli youth is due to the loss of the bible as the foundational text of Israeli society. Israelis concerned about the assimilation facing diaspora Jewry are losing their faith that the state of Israel willl provide a viable sec- ular alternative to the traditional religious forms of Jewish identity the 1950 law of return codified this mission to gather Jews from around the world by grant-ing them the right to settle in Israel, gain automatic citizenship. Official israeli policy re- garding the law of return is explicit: no commitments of faith as long as no alternative faith is adopted. A Jew is adopted whether he or she is athiest, secularist, or unitnterested in Judaism. (shows that it’s a state for Jews) popwer point: Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni 2008 reaffirmed the fact that ‘a jewish state is not a mo- nopoly of Rabbis, it is about the nature of the state of Israel. it is about Jewish tradition and history, regardless of religion. ‘ Avigdor Liberman feb 2014.the term Jewish State refers primiarily to nationality. isnce their emergence in antiquity, the jewish people have constituted a nation, a people and a civilization, anchored in basic aspcts of their identity, such as Judaism and the hebrew lan- guage. israel is to the jewish people what france is to the french. israel defines itself as the Jewish state. the jewish affinity for the land of israel has its roots in continuous jewish presence over the past 3500 years. while the desire to re establish a jewish state in the land of israel was intensified by harsh persecution and repeated massacres, it mostly de-rived from the belief that only in a soveingty jewish state could the jewish poeple epress it- self commpletely. Even in the declaration of Israel’s indepedence 1948, it begins with the claim that ISrael is the birthplace of the Jewish people. ‘Here their spiritual, relgiious and national identity was formed; here they wrote and gave the bible to the world’ persecering until the restoration of their national freedom. The ‘Jewish’ nature is first defined within the Declaration of indepe- dence and influenced by its affinity towards Jewish heritage and tradition (as cosidied in the Emblem of Israel, the flag and certain official instrirtutions) The deomcratic character was only added in 1985 ecause of the need to legallly define the Jewish nature and demo- cratic character of the State of Israel arose because of attempts to cancel the democratic nature o Israel. 1994 question whether the israel government is permitted to limit hte import of non kosher meat, despite the basic law: freedom of occupation, arose. initially, the high court of justice ruled that the government cannot limit such imports; however after the knesset past some amendments to the basic laws, the limit was incldued. Similarly, ultra orthodox are exempted from taking part in the military on grounds of reli- gious admission to yeshivot. It is thought that just as the military provides the physical strength of ISrael, the ones in yeshiva provide the spiritual guarding of G-d. The State for Jews was acknowledge by the Balfour Declaration of November 1917 and reaffirmed by the mandate of the LON, giving explicit international recognition to the his- toric connection of the Jewish people with Palestine, and their right to reconsitute their Na- tional Home. The nai holocaust proved the urgency for a soloution to Jewish homeless- ness. Hertlzs speach from Der Judenstaat 1896 asserted that the JEwish question is ‘neither a social, nor a religious one’ but instead a ‘national question’ in response to mass anti semitism. ‘we are still decried as aliens. oppression and persecution cannot exterminate us. no nation has endured such struggles. ‘ but he claims that Palestine is our unforget- table historic homeland. however during operation margic carpet in 1948, a jew in yemen Sliman Jaradi stated that ‘we hate israel because it is a ionist state, not a jewish state. Jaradi claimed to have refused to immigrate to Israel because he believed the state had lost its jewish character. ISrael has no religion, Torah or morals. Modernity granted them citizenship from the ghetto but also led to the holo- caust. For many Jews. For the first time, your position in life wasn’t fate- decided by G-d, but decided by yourself. Jewish population thought how quickly can we assimilate and cast off these tired Jewish rituals- many thought that modernity would promise that much lib- eration and that if you were a Jewish German, you could be German before Jew- ish. The rise of socialism emerged; Jews thought that the suffering they are current- ly enduring can ultimately be drawn back to class warfare. Their peoples suffer-ing was just an issue of class warfare. People had the freedom to decide who to rule them. Moses Hess wrote the first book on Zionism in 1962. He would differ from the socialist camp by saying history is a racial struggle. They belong in a homeland of their own. Assimilation was a false sense of security that would lead to dead Jews. He rejected the idea that Judaism could be a cultural tradition Those things can be bent and moulded. They were ethnically distinct. Any idea that you could convert away was just illusionary. This was no longer adequate be- cause Germany stuck by the mantra that you cannot change your blood. Hertzl. Even during Hertzl’s life- the idea of a Jewish state was a fantasy. He thought the idea of assimilation was great, then the Dreyfus Affair happened. The Dreyfus affair set him straight. Anti Semitism was eternal, it was a joke to act like the Jews could pledge allegiance to their nation. He was in favor of a secular Jewish state, not religious. In terms of potential places to go, Argentina was still high on the list. So long as the Jewish question is not solved on the po- litical level. He’s saying because racial struggle is eternal, the natural and justi- fied logical response of those people is hostility. So, when the Jews go to Eng-land, it’s logical that they would encounter Anti Sem. To consolidate Ottoman debt if they were offered ottoman support. While the Pope met him respectful- ly, he told Hertzl that ‘he couldn’t support the people that killed Jesus. ’ Hertzl was charismatic but he wasn’t that fanatical compared with the other nationalists of that era. His rhetoric was flaming but it was exactly what you needed to start a worldwide movement. Unfortunately, the first generation of Zionist farmers were unprepared and unskilled but more came, learnt and were traded up. Hertzl made a public journey to TLV to meet Kaiser Wilhem of Ger- many 1870. Another reason why Jews supported Israel was due to pogroms- This stiumlated the first round of immigration to Palestine between 1881-85. Most of them were litterally fleeing hteir home as opposed to due to a zionist mantra. 1897 First great Zionist congress. He preached the doctrine of racial distinc- tion and the need for Jews to have their own distinctiveness, he insisted that everyone wore their finest Top and Tails that set the standard very high for the zionist world. The Uganda Offer 1903 The zionist sent a research team in Uganda, the locals were not willing to accept europeans moving it, but also the animals were scary. Uganda still has a Jewish population. Tel Aviv founded in 1909. Jewish settlers buy plots of land from local bedouins. Balfour declaration 1917; James Robert Balfour was influenced by Christian Zionism, compelled by his ideology to support the Zionists. He had been lobbeyd into this position for at least a decade. A national home, as distinct from a Jewish state. Interested in a national home, not a Jewish state necessari- ly. The Ottoman position on Israel was good compared to the British people. Chaim Weizmann talking Christian Zionism= The zionism by Christians. Essential for Jews to have a state so as for the apoc-oplyse to come about. New reading of the bible saw the apololypse as immi- nent and the Jews seeking a homeland as a sign that a new world was coming. Many of the most powerful people, like Lloyd George. Vast majority of Zionist entrance into Palestine was financial, they would buy their way into owning the land. Much of that land while it was ‘palestinian land’, it was not really being used. To this day, The vast majority of Israel purchases is because no one else will buy it. For the Zionist back home, it was only a tiny portion of them that would maybe have a problem. Palestinian society was not united and it would take them up until maybe the 60s for them to be fully unit- ed and it meant that it took the Palestinians a long time to mobilize and ocme to terms with there being this massive population moving in. Major arab protests and strikes which were too late. The White Paper, 1922. Churchill issued a torn resonponsibility between Arab and Jewish sides. The British government taking their Balfour declaration back. On the one hand you had the genuine British desire for a homeland, yet there was also a desire to unite the arabs. The white paper did not satisfy anyone, the arabs still end up siding up with Hitler. In 1922, Britain took over. 1929- Massacre in Hebron, both the Sephardic Jewish population had generally lived in peace with Arab nations, but with the ever growing prescience of Zion- ist immigrants, things finally peaked and led to bloody murder. Hagannah, zionist military force. They claimed to help the Zionist movement, didn’t engage in warfare. The Irgun led by Zev Jabotinsky he was in favour of the annihilation of Palestines Arab population and would carry on until the formation of the state. His group was responsible for the KD hotel bombings killing a significant amount of British forces. 36-39 the Arab revolt. Took a v long time to mobilize the group. 21st Zionist Congress 1939 in Geneva.. Following the Second WHITE Paper ab- solved Britain of responsibility to the jewish people. all forthe purposees of a vain attempt to regain arab loyalty so that they didnt side with hitler. Chaim Weizzman was Hertzls right hand man. At this point the world didnt real- ize that the holocaust was going on, and saw the eradication of european Ger- many as a goal because in 1939 Macdonald white paper was published. In it it said that the Balfour declaration has been fulfilled. It is now obselete. Even at this point when Jews were being killed, the British made it clear that immigra- tion to Palestine was limited. The most effective way of gaining land for the Zionists was to buy it- they were not permitted to do so either. This provoked many of the zionist leaders to establish a legal immigration, to hide the immi- grants in boats and smuggle. Zev Jabotinsky was involved. Churchill was outraged. The new white paper was a step too far. he voted against his own party. They thought if they supported Hitler, that this region could be theirs. Haj Amin Al Husseini, responsible for Hitler to go through with the final solution. Roosevelt during WW2 he fought anti semitism by conflating anti semitism with nazism, as an american, u do not want to do what nazis do. this campaign was successful. amogn much of american soiety, non jews started supporting the jewish state en masse. powerpoint: reasons why israel must be recognized as a jewish state former mossad chief meir dagan thinks the demand to recognize isrtael as a jewish state is nonsnse. but it is not nonsense- itis the most natural and justi- fied demand imaginable. 1) for decades Zionism refused to see the palestinian people, and the palestini-an national movement refuses to see the jewish people and recognize in this way its right to a jewish state. the souble and continuing lindness is what ig- nites the ongoing tension. peace will be possible when both realize the need for recognition for eachother 2) the camp david epace summit and oslo ocurds saw a new vision in israel, with many israelis opening up new modern acceptance to the other people in the land. 3) palestinians will not give up on the demand for the right of return. the trau- ma of the nakba is their foundational trauma the jewish people is a poeople of this land and it did not arrive from mars. It is neesary to demand of them to admit that the jewish people has a history of its own and a tragedy of its own and its own justification. the jews are not colonialists but legal neough- bours. there will not be eace until thechildren growing in deheisheh refusee camp will knwo that the country accross the borderis a legitimate jewish state of a jewish people whom they are to live side by side. 4) an israeli palestinain pece agreement is to an extent a one sided agreement in which israel gives and palestinainsrecieve. only te recognition of israel as a jewish state would turn the longed for agreement into a two sidedone.while israel will transfer concrete assets to its neighbours, the palestinians will give the only give they can: legitimacy. Toren pointed out that most Zionists in the generation that prceded Herzl were Rabbis, but many founders of the state of Israel were in rebellion against the religious tradition because, they felt, if G-d was omnipresent in the lives of Jews, how was Jewish suffering accounted for. The founders were people who said we cant wait for G-d for salvation, we can’t wait for the end of history, we must take our fate in our own hands. it was a secular humanist revoloution that understood that this would be a state for the jews, a refuge. But it also under- stood that this would be a Jewish state, a state where the language would be Hebrew, a state that would draw on the traditions that had been formed over the centuries. Asher Susser, a senior fellow at Brandeis Crown Centre for Strategic Studies said he sees Israel as the state of Jews rather than a Jewish state. However, he claims that in terms of Arab affairs, it doesn’t really matter whether Israel is considered the state of the Jews or a Jewish state. The religious thesis for Arabs is considered to be irelevant, it is the Zionist elements that causes the rift. However, this contradicts with Meir Kahunas point that ISrael cannot be a democratic state and Jewish state at the same time as Jewish state conflicts with the Arabs and other religions that reside in ISrael while democratic con- flicts with the whole point of the need for Israel, if it became focused on a democratic state for Jews, then the Law of Return should have to include Arabs too, and the whole point of having a safety haven for Jews would be dimin- ished. Susser however agrees with this by ctizieing Arabs who are calling for Is- rael to change in fundamental ways so that they can feel it is a state for all citi-zens. This is a euphemism for the destruction of Israel as the sate of the Jewish people. ‘one of these Arab intellectuals said ISrael should be as Jewish as Swe- den is Christian. that is a complete rejection of my national identity israel is as jewish as sweden is swidish. our jewishness is parallel to swdenishness, not to swedens christianity’. Salman Masalha there is a fundamental misunderstanding that underlies his concluding declaration: ‘There is no such thing as a Jewish democratic state, just as there is no Muslim democratic state’ At the root of this sentence lies a deep, tragic misunderstanding that characterizes many Arab positions on Is- raels identity. in the standard arab view, ‘Jews’ are comparable to ‘Christians’ or ‘Muslims’ in other words, they are a religous group, not a nation. And it is not only arabs who thinks that way. there is no dobut that for hundreds of years, Jewish identity was percieved by Jews and non jews alike primarily as a reli- gious identity. This is where they contradict with the Zionist revoloution that the Jews are a nation, and as such, they have the right to national self determination in a po-litical framework as accepted by the UN on Nov 29 1947, in its decision to parti- tution British Mandatory Palestine into two states- Jewish and Arab. Israel views itself as a Jewish nation state; jewish identity has a religious component, histor- ically. AND THIS IS THE PROBLEM THAT COMPLICATES ATTEMPTS TO RESOLVE THE ISRAELI PALESTINIAN CONFLICT the fact that the arab side has difficulty in recognizing that Jews view themselves as a nation. identtity is a matter of self definition, not external definition. Just as jews are not the ones who will de- termine whether the palestinians are a people or not, Masalha cannot deter- mine whether the jews are a people or not. It is a question of self determina- tion. Arabs refusal to accept Israel as a jewish state attests to an unwillingness to accept the jewish people right to self determination. because what is at is- sue is national identtity, not religious identity, there can indeed by a jewish democratic state, just as there can be an arab democratic state, just like Lebanon and Egypt, an arab stte that maintains a political system with demo- cratic principals. Yair Lapid claims that ‘the problem is that israel is defined. both by law and by a decisive major.

The Magnetism of the Good and Ethical Realism Essay -- Philosophy Good

The Magnetism of the Good and Ethical Realism ABSTRACT: Ethical antirealists believe the words ‘good’ and ‘bad’, and ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, do not signify properties that objects and actions have or might have. They believe that when a person calls pain or any other event ‘bad’ and adultery or any other action ‘wrong’, he does not report some fact about that object or action. J. L. Mackie defends ethical anti-realism in part by appealing to an ontological queerness he believes value properties would have if they existed. "If there were objective values," Mackie writes, "they would be entities or qualities or relations of a very strange sort, utterly different from anything else in the universe." (1) Goodness would have a queer magnetic power. "Something's being good both tells the person who knows this to pursue it and makes him pursue it. An objective good would be sought by anyone who was acquainted with it, not because of any contingent fact that this person, or every person, is so constituted that he desires this end, but just because the end has to-be-pursuedness somehow built into it," Mackie says. If there were a property of the sort we conceive of good as being, it would be a queer property—one we cannot reasonably believe exists, Mackie argues. "Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and pursuit, is thought to aim at some good; and for this reason the good has rightly been declared to be that at which all things aim." Aristotle "To the rational animal the same act is according to nature and according to reason." Marcus Aurelius In this paper I address and overturn the above argument from ontological queerness against value-realism that Mackie uses in the quoted passage. I argue as follows: thou... ...inted with good properties of those objects is contingent on some fact about the nature of people. Thus there are two parts to the explanation of why people want and seek pleasure and other goods. First, it is the nature of an object’s being good that the object has a property which, when people are aware of it, provides them, in certain circumstances, reason to desire, seek and choose that object. Second, members of intelligent species are disposed by nature to form desires in response to reason and to act for reasons. A person’s intelligence consists in part in a disposition to form desires for, and to seek, objects that have properties that provide him with reason to desire and seek that object. A person’s intelligence directs him toward what there is reason to desire. Notes (1) Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong (Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1977) p. 38.

Analyse the opening scenes of the film “Meet Joe Black” and discuss how death has been presented in the film

Imagine if the harsh harvester appeared personally to help dying people settle the little details of life that need to be handled before dying. In Meet Joe Black, a single man, who can take any bodily form, represents death. Rather than take life away for sport, he delights in the experiences that can be shared by those short on time but long on experience. Played by Brad Pitt, Joe Black. He enters into the lives of one family in a way that will change them forever. Anthony Hopkins plays a wealthy dying man of whom Joe Black wishes to understand and learn from. Black takes the body of a man who moments earlier had met, the daughter of blacks next victim. Black grows closer to her and subsequently learns about the little things in life that being an archetypical grim reaper would not normally be associated with Black. A compassionate grim reaper is the essence of the film †Meet Joe Black†, the personification of death wishing to learn from life! Analysis: Death has been presented in the form of a person. When we see Joe at the cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½ and then afterwards as death, they are two different souls. When we see Joe at the cafà ¯Ã‚ ¿Ã‚ ½, he is talking, and doing the right things. He is talking about life and he knows what to do, as well as knowing what to say. Where as Joe, (Spirit), walks incredibly strangely and at first he really doesn't know what to do and say, after a while he gets used to things. He eats peanut butter as if he hasn't eaten it before (which he hasn't.) American's love peanut butter, and it is quite strange to other people that he hasn't tried it before. The title of the film Meet Joe Black introduces us to someone. It seems welcoming. Joe is such a standard name, Allison said, ‘Joe was a nice name, and that it is strong and sturdy.' ‘Black' as in ‘Joe Black' seems very deep. The colour it self is likes something hidden. It symbolises something unpleasant. When I think of ‘death,' black normally comes to mind. Even to funerals black clothes are donned. It isn't a happy colour, so to funerals, people wear black to symbolise grief and sorrow. It's a painful colour, and to me, I think that is what black symbolises. It has hidden depths, and is very deep. There is a mixture of genres in this film. The different types of genres are romance and suspense. The romance scene's are between Joe and Susan. They fall in love. When Joe and Susan are talking, or whenever they are together, we can see that the camera angles are mid-shot so we can see there shoulders and above. Suspense is created when Joe dies in the car accident. Joe acts strangely and differently. It may seem strange to Susan who doesn't know that Black Is death. The genre of this film in my opinion is very mixed. It has romance, and it also has suspense. Once you figure out the film, and begin to realise what its all about you will definitely enjoy watching it. At the beginning of the film, when Bill Is having a heart attack, the scene seems scary, and for a moment, I thought Meet Joe Black was a horror film. Susan senses that there is something different with the Joe's that she meets. She obviously ignores it, and thinks that it's nothing. The reason why I think this is because at the very end of the film, when Joe comes back to life she senses that there is something different because she looks at him in a strange way, she seemed quite confused. It is almost as if she was staring at him. When Black (death) comes for supper at Bills house and meets Bill for the first time, Black then meets Susan. But it's the second time that Susan meets Black. Susan doesn't know that the two Joe's that she has met, are both totally different people. Black talks differently. This has a slight impact on Susan. I know this because when Susan confronted Black after the meal she said something along the lines of, â€Å"Why are you acting differently now?† At this moment .I got the idea that Susan may suspect something of Black, and knows that there is something different in him from the first time she had met him. People go to the cinema to relax, to get away from the house, to have some fun, and to be entertained. The sound, the big screen and the environment is much more pleasant than watching it at home. An excellent way of advertisement is a trailer of the film on the telly. The media also helps by publicising about the film on the television. Like premieres and reviews of the film. Death is symbolised as a person in this film. It begins from the point when Joe gets knocked over by two cars. The film continues and shows how Joe adapts to life, especially the different expressions in words, which he uses after a while. It's like being born again, because at first he doesn't know many words. But in Blacks case he wasn't really born, well not on this planet. In the beginning Black also walks strangely, soon he gets into the swing of things. His vocabulary also changes, when at the beginning he always used to say, †yes† frequently, but soon uses full sentences. Black also gets used to the surroundings for the short while he is with Bill, and day-by-day he learns and experiences new issues. During the course of the film Black falls in love with Susan, and so does Susan, who also feels the same way for Black. Susan and Joe kiss and also have sex in this film. It is very intimate and after sleeping together I feel that that they are inseparable, they are like one person, they really love each other a lot. At the end of the film, Black and Susan have a very heartbreaking and heartfelt goodbye. Events start occurring after Joe dies in the beginning of the movie. So Black then comes along in the film in the form of Joe. Death tells Bill that he is going to die. Bill makes a compromise with death. The compromise is that, death allows Bill to remain alive for a few days in order that Bill gives Black a taster of life on earth for a few days. Now Bill is on borrowed time to put his business in order. The characters in the film have all got something In common. In a way, all the characters have no sense of direction. The reason for this is because, at times, the characters do not know where they are going or even what they are going to do. Black is new to the craze of life on earth, and he doesn't know where things are going and leading too. This is the point for almost all of the characters in the film. They don't know what's going to happen next, and what lies ahead. It is a little like real life, you never know what is going to happen. The music used in the film is similar all the way through. Instruments used are, violins and mainly piano. There is a scary feel to the music. When Bill is having a heart attack at the beginning of the film that's when the scary feel to the music is at an extreme, and sudden point with the music being very tense. At times there was silences, during the film. The cover of Meet Joe Black has many things to consider. The lighting is on Joe. The colours used on the cover are blue and blacks. The lighting hits on the three key characters on the cover. The beaming light decreases slightly as you move on further from Joe (Black) who is played by Brad Pitt. Next are Bill and Susan. That's the lighting and it decreases in time as you go over in the row, the lighting shows that Joe/Black is the main character. The positions of the characters, on the front cover are that Joe (Black) is in the front which makes us believe he is the main character and has the lead role, which should really mean that the play i.e. film is based around him. William parish is behind Joe, in formatting (Position) of the characters on the front cover. Bill is looking at Joe, while Joe is looking straight ahead into the distance. As Bill is behind Joe it shows that Bill is lower than Joe in status, behind Bill is Susan. Susan is Bill's daughter. Susan is also looking at Joe, which leads us to think that everything revolves around Joe, which it does. The arrangements of the characters are in a zigzag form. The blurb on the cover is definitely useful. The title tries to welcome viewers to read it as well as watch the film. It is similar to a piece of persuasive writing. The title gives the viewer a clue about what the film may be about. But obviously every viewer will think differently, so perhaps this will carry temptation for what the film may be about and perhaps that's how you get high ratings in cinemas as well as the actors and actresses. Various things appeal to different people. The pictures also give of a certain vibe. In a way that the viewer will think ‘what's going on here, in this part'? The words have also been used in a spectacular way, the blurb and also newspapers comments on the film saying something along the lies of ‘This is a great film, it is a must see movie'. It tries to persuade people to watch it. If I was in a video store looking for a video to pick out and watch, and if I had read the blurb on the cover, and had also looked at the pictures, I'd definitely want to watch this film. I believe that there is life and death, and the last sentence on the blurb, â€Å"Bitter sweet tale of life and death.† Is very touching to me. It's also very catchy and means a lot in many different ways. I think that this film appeals to young people. The film is very romantic, I find the scene when Joe and Susan were departing from the coffee shop very overwhelming. It was a time of sorrow and shock, and not knowing whether they would get back together. First the two hearts meet and then depart, it was very sad. The reason why I thought it was shocking is because when Joe gets knocked over by the cars. I know that the both hearts are clenching to speak to each other and there was a sign of love as both Joe and Susan were continuously looking back at each other. Joe and Susan turned around a lot, as they departed, it showed they both liked each other very much. When Bill went into the library in his house and was going to meet Joe for the first time, I didn't understand because at first Bill was hearing voices and didn't know who it was until Joe came out of the curtains and saw Bill also for the first time, and for an instance I was really confused because Joe had said, ‘Bill would have to give Joe a taster of life' And then Bill would be able to leave his company in a reasonable position. In addition to Bill's business, drew is trying his best to take over the company. The company, that of which, Bill has tried to built from scratch. Death helps Bill near the end by regaining the company instead of losing it. During the course of the film Bill is going to celebrate his 65th birthday. His daughter Allison is preparing for it by organising a birthday bash. And on Bills birthday that is the day he is going to die. Marriage and relationships in the film have been symbolised very strangely. It's not like the normal relationships you may know. Susan and Drew are purposively supposed to be engaged and yet they don't show any affection, or some kind of love towards each other, like most couples. You can't tell that they are engaged. In fact I didn't even knew that they were engaged, until my teacher actually told me, it took me by surprise. I really couldn't believe it. The fact that these two people who are supposed to spend the rest of their lives together, aren't even in love. It is supposed to be special. You really should get married once in you're in life. It's supposed to be special. (Like a once in a lifetime opportunity). Which it isn't for them! It seems as though there is no love. For example, †Drew comes in from the helicopter and gives Susan a peck on the cheek.† Neither did he ask if she was ok, but just carried on with things. I have compiled some information from the Brittanica cd 2000, The motion picture has been defined as a series of images of space that are arranged in time of film language is quite different from that of reality and that conveyed by other arts, such as drama and literature. Showing the spectacular 24 frames, or still photographs, with dark intervals between them, energy second produces movement on the screen. Having created large new markets for its industry they decided to do the same abroad. Their objective coincided with the desire of the major American studios to extend their control of the international nation picture industry. Conclusion: Death symbolises something very deep. Its deep emotions, as it unfolds on us in a very different way. Death comes into the characters lives, and changes everything for them (life). This play really relates to the criteria of the 21st Century. Death plays a very important part as well as death having two different parts. Death touches many lives, as he falls in love with Susan, and has a slight bond with Bill. Meet Joe Black explores the honourable and material values surrounding and start from the powerful William Parrish (Anthony Hopkins) Parrish succeeds in seducing more than the viewer. He attracts the personification of his own fate, which quite literally knocks on his door. Arriving in the Parrish home after securing a body to materialize its presence, this â€Å"otherworldly† force, Death (personified as the handsome Joe Black, played by Brad Pitt), confronts his â€Å"host† with demands of learning from him those universal qualities the great man projects. Ultimately, Joe meets Susan, an encounter which tempts him to deviate from his mission, and which, ironically, proves to be a much higher lesson than he had bargained for. Meet Joe Black, is a film that dwells in its own energy, the rare luxury of its sets, and the irresistible charm of its people, all which portray a degree of elegance that pulls the viewer into a simply fantastic world.

An Introduction to the Interquartile Range

The interquartile range (IQR) is the difference between the first quartile and third quartile. The formula for this is: IQR Q3 - Q1 There are many measurements of the variability of a set of data. Both the range and standard deviation tell us how spread out our data is. The problem with these descriptive statistics is that they are quite sensitive to outliers. A measurement of the spread of a dataset that is more resistant to the presence of outliers is the interquartile range. Definition of Interquartile Range As seen above, the interquartile range is built upon the calculation of other statistics. Before determining the interquartile range, we first need to know the values of the first quartile and third quartile. (Of course, the first and third quartiles depend upon the value of the median). Once we have determined the values of the first and third quartiles, the interquartile range is very easy to calculate. All that we have to do is to subtract the first quartile from the third quartile. This explains the use of the term interquartile range for this statistic. Example To see an example of the calculation of an interquartile range, we will consider the set of data: 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 7, 8, 8, 8, 9. The five number summary for this set of data is: Minimum of 2First quartile of 3.5Median of 6Third quartile of 8Maximum of 9 Thus we see that the interquartile range is 8 – 3.5 4.5. The Significance of the Interquartile Range The range gives us a measurement of how spread out the entirety of our data set is. The interquartile range, which tells us how far apart the first and third quartile are, indicates how spread out the middle 50% of our set of data is. Resistance to Outliers The primary advantage of using the interquartile range rather than the range for the measurement of the spread of a data set is that the interquartile range is not sensitive to outliers. To see this, we will look at an example. From the set of data above we have an interquartile range of 3.5, a range of 9 – 2 7 and a standard deviation of 2.34. If we replace the highest value of 9 with an extreme outlier of 100, then the standard deviation becomes 27.37 and the range is 98. Even though we have quite drastic shifts of these values, the first and third quartiles are unaffected and thus the interquartile range does not change. Use of the Interquartile Range Besides being a less sensitive measure of the spread of a data set, the interquartile range has another important use. Due to its resistance to outliers, the interquartile range is useful in identifying when a value is an outlier. The interquartile range rule is what informs us whether we have a mild or strong outlier.  To look for an outlier, we must look below the first quartile or above the third quartile.  How far we should go depends upon the value of the interquartile range.