The funerals: they destroy entire families and their homes, where do they go, what do they do?

I. Citation

The funerals: they destroy entire families and their homes, where do they go, what do they do?
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2519&Itemid=
March 13th

II. Summary

A three day mourning period for the deaths of four well-respected men was underway today. Twenty thousand people prayed in Bethlehem during one of the “saddest days the city has felt in years”, according to the author of the article. After the morning precession ended, the bodies were carried amidst the thousands of Palestinians waving their flags, and shouting the names of the victims as well as screaming “god is great”. From this chaos, the reader sees a sense of unity as the Palestinian people joined together through very hard time. Unfortunately, the killings of Emad Kamal Hassan, Ahmed Balboul, Issa Mazouq, and Mohammad Shehada are only a glimpse of the violence taking place in Israel.

III Response

A) This article relates to the AP World History theme, “Impact of Interaction among and within major societies” because the deaths of these men are the result of the war going on between Israel and Palestine.
B) The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been going on for quite some time. This conflict is due to the fact that both national identities claim the same area of land. Unfortunately, this ongoing feud has resulted in numerous acts of violence, leaving many casualties for both the groups. The constant fighting between Israelis and Palestinian has lead to many peace proposals attempting to resolve the issue. The most recent round of peace negotiations, in November, are hoped to bring a final resolution once and for all by the end of 2008.
C) The author of this article is a female from New York City. However she currently lives with Palestinian families under siege in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, making her an insider for this issue.
D) Although this is a sorrowful occurrence that most would possess sympathy for, Kristen Ess’s account reveals bias in favor of the Palestinians. It must be noted that because she lives with Palestinian families, she probably expressed deep sadness and anger in this article due to this fact. Her heart-felt tone shown in the phrases such as “faces still stained from the wounds that could not be entirely cleaned showing bits of blood and bruising” reached me to this conclusion.
E) I would like to hear from the people of the other side of this conflict, the Israelis. Whether or not they would feel the pain of the sickened Palestinians is extremely important. My guess would be that the majority of Israelis would accept their fellow people’s acts as appalling but would be mainly focused on the fact that their people are suffering the same thing as Palestinians continue to kill Israelis as well.
F) In my opinion, this war has gone on for too long. Many innocent people are being killed because of the country they live and it isn’t fair. I wish this war would end so that the family and friends of innocent men, women, and children wouldn’t have to suffer.