Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community - View Single Post - Bringing Moderation Back

jorgelito · 09-03-2006, 12:30 PM

I gotta tell you: I really like the juxtaposition of the two views - One from the Ministry of Tourism of all things. The graffiti is most interesting. Yes alotof it is in English with some in Arabic and German too. I have more pics of the wall graffiti I will try to post later.

My immediate reaction was one a reminder of the Berlin Wall. My hypothesis is that the Palestinian graffiti was influenced by the Berlin Wall. YOu see a lot ff Ghandi quotes (I think Host had it in his sg before), some Pink Floyd lyrics, stuff like that. So perhaps, the English stems from the fact that alot o these catch phrases are indeed from English sources. Secondly, I believe that perhaps, the English is "media" friendly, to perhaps tie it in with the other thread. EX: If a journalist is filming in the area, then Enlish graffiti is a much more intersting clip or story and more to the point, readily accessible to the viewership.

Good question with the American bit. It was one of the most fascinating aspects of my trip overall. As an "ethnic" American, I had difficulty convinving anyone that I actually was American even when I showed them my passport. It got kind of irritating after a while. But because I tend to have somewhat of an American mindset, at first I was like, "no fear, we can't give into fear" but then when I was actually in those places, I felt weird. It was double strange because while I don't "look American", my feelings were American - I felt tense atmosphere and mistrust (sort of).

In general, I found the Europeans and the general populace of Egypt (from a tourist perspective) to be rather docile and congenial. Isrealis are bit more "reserved"? or tentative in general - eventually they open up a bit. The Palestinians were, in general, friendly too, to my surprise, with few exceptions. It was....refreshing. EX: Most people like to ask where are you from? When I say, America, for the most part (after disbelief), they say, great, America is good, welcome to _______ . In Egypt and the West Bank, I thought the welcome was for my tourist dollars but I did meet many genuine people. In Israel, they were still very suspicious and I'm an ally!! Ultimately, it's all about moderation - people are the same everywhere - there are some nice people, there are some jerks, but in general, people are ok.

At the end of the day, of all ironies, I felt the least safe back home in Los Angeles. My mind boggles over this one.

09-03-2006, 12:30 PM	#3 (permalink)
jorgelito All important elusive independent swing voter... Location: People's Republic of KKKalifornia	I gotta tell you: I really like the juxtaposition of the two views - One from the Ministry of Tourism of all things. The graffiti is most interesting. Yes alotof it is in English with some in Arabic and German too. I have more pics of the wall graffiti I will try to post later. My immediate reaction was one a reminder of the Berlin Wall. My hypothesis is that the Palestinian graffiti was influenced by the Berlin Wall. YOu see a lot ff Ghandi quotes (I think Host had it in his sg before), some Pink Floyd lyrics, stuff like that. So perhaps, the English stems from the fact that alot o these catch phrases are indeed from English sources. Secondly, I believe that perhaps, the English is "media" friendly, to perhaps tie it in with the other thread. EX: If a journalist is filming in the area, then Enlish graffiti is a much more intersting clip or story and more to the point, readily accessible to the viewership. Good question with the American bit. It was one of the most fascinating aspects of my trip overall. As an "ethnic" American, I had difficulty convinving anyone that I actually was American even when I showed them my passport. It got kind of irritating after a while. But because I tend to have somewhat of an American mindset, at first I was like, "no fear, we can't give into fear" but then when I was actually in those places, I felt weird. It was double strange because while I don't "look American", my feelings were American - I felt tense atmosphere and mistrust (sort of). In general, I found the Europeans and the general populace of Egypt (from a tourist perspective) to be rather docile and congenial. Isrealis are bit more "reserved"? or tentative in general - eventually they open up a bit. The Palestinians were, in general, friendly too, to my surprise, with few exceptions. It was....refreshing. EX: Most people like to ask where are you from? When I say, America, for the most part (after disbelief), they say, great, America is good, welcome to _______ . In Egypt and the West Bank, I thought the welcome was for my tourist dollars but I did meet many genuine people. In Israel, they were still very suspicious and I'm an ally!! Ultimately, it's all about moderation - people are the same everywhere - there are some nice people, there are some jerks, but in general, people are ok. At the end of the day, of all ironies, I felt the least safe back home in Los Angeles. My mind boggles over this one.