Does this blog make me sound too whiny? I feel as though all I do is use this thing to whine about things that make me mad. Nonetheless, I have something else bothering me that I know I alone can never solve. In Area Studies this week we watched a video on James Miller and his experience in Palestine. As you probably know, Palestine and Israel have been at war for quite some time. The video showed what Miller saw through his own eyes since he was the only cameraman. In the very beginning he films a suicide bomber blown to bits and young children picking up the flesh torn from the bomber's remains. Blood was everywhere. And these kids took it as an everyday thing. No big deal. Then we met Ahmed. He is a 12 year old boy living in Palestine just seconds away from the war sites. There's something different about Ahmed. We all know children as those with big bold curious eyes just waiting to learn and explore. Ahmed didn't want to learn. Or explore. He knew what he wanted to do. He wanted to be a martyr for Palestine and die young for the war. In their culture, dying is glorified as long as it's for your country. Ahmed's eyes were blank. Brainwashed, if you will. He hung out with 20 year old freedom fighters who used him as a look out before they attacked any sort of Israeli they could. The whole time I watched this movie I thought "Life doesn't have to be like this. These kids just don't know any better. They're not looking for peace. They're looking for destruction." I just wanted to go and yell that in Ahmed's face. You don't have to die for something just to prove a point. The first person who speaks out is the one who is brave; the one who dies for a non worthy cause is not the brave one. I see that as cowardly.
Finally, in the end as the tv crew and James Miller set off in the darkness to go back to a safe zone in Palestine, Israelis opened fire, hitting James in the neck and killing him instantly. The crew asked the people of Palestine to not make James into a martyr and put his name on their wall of martyrs. They didn't listen. The next day James' picture was on the wall. There was a celebration that another man has died for their cause. It made me crazy. It made me sick.
There was, however, a semi-happy ending. Ahmed made a video diary for the tv crew after James Miller's death. He said that there wasn't a day he didn't think about James and he was sad about his death. Ahmed decided that being a martyr wasn't for him. He wanted to be a cameraman, just like James. That video took a lot out of me. LIFE DOESN'T HAVE TO BE THAT WAY. There is always room for peace. Stubborn people just need to realize that money and power is not everything. It only causes death and destruction. It makes me think how lucky we all are to live in such a beautiful country where, I would think, war is always preventable. Though for the past 7 years it hasn't been. But I hate politics and I won't go off on a tangent about it.
On a lighter note, I have a new obsession. The O.C. I love you, Adam Brody aka Seth Cohen. I've borrowed all the seasons on dvd from Sam and I can't stop watching. I am currently on the 3rd season. I remember when it first came out on Fox and I thought "What the hell is this crap? Another copy off of Laguna Beach? Bitch please." It's actually a wonderful show! Seth is just so hilarious, Ryan is wonderfully badass, and Sandy just adds to the awesomeness. I love it so much, I even got over the fact that Mischa Barton has the most annoying voice ever. I haven't even been online at all lately because all I have been doing is watching the O.C. Just another thing to add to my amazingly dull life. I'm pretty late in the whole craze over it, but whatev. At least I'm into it now. Ugh well I'm bored so I'll throw on an O.C. episode. I can't wait to see what happens next!
Laterzzzz!!
xox. Tracy
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