8/30 Thoughts on First Class

After our first meeting Monday, I left class feeling excited but definitely nervous. I was originally planning to drop this class and take another requirement, but I think that this class will be helpful in understanding all perspectives of the Arab-Israeli conflict as well as religious controversies. I am half Egyptian and my father's side of the family is Muslim, so this conflict is discussed quite often at home. Actually, my grandfather was originally Palestinian before he moved to Egypt, so this issue is very personal to my family. As you can imagine, this topic is not something I can bring up at home without there being a heated lecture from my father. I would like to hear another point of view, mainly the Israeli opinion through this class; therefore I can form my own opinions on the issues. I am also anxious to hear the history of Jerusalem and how the Arab-Israeli conflict developed and has evolved throughout history. I am also very interested in world religions, so this class will also inform me on how and where the three major world religions started. This is such a complicated region of the world, which is why it is so interesting. But I think that before I can understand the rest of the Middle East, I should probably have a tight grasp on Jerusalem first. I am excited to discuss and debate in class. It seems that since this class is so small, we all have a lot in common. Hopefully we will have many experiences and thoughts to share with each other.