BBC news reporter, Tamasin Ford reports on the conflict in Gaza in the article below through a series of brief opinion interviews.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
What struck me as significant in this article is the age group that Ford targeted in his interviews. Almost all of these individuals are between the ages nineteen and twenty-one, with only one woman older than this at the still young age of thirty-one. The face that the opinions of the young adult population are being expressed certainly gives a very specific perspective on this type of news briefing.
For most of those interviewed, it seems that they are largely speaking from their own individual experiences as opposed to identifying mostly with they histories of their heritages. This in itself is quite noteworthy, as so much of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is grounded in a past that spans huge scales of time and space. Instead, many of these individuals are responding to their immediate situations, and they further the discussion by identifying with their position as British Jews and Muslims. As a result, another perception of national identity is added to the discourse.
For example, before World War II, Jews were very much a diasporic people, and did not necessarily identify with the country they lived in but rather with their religious identity. When Herzl articulated the concept of Zionism, this identity was manifested into the land of Israel as a Jewish homeland, and Jews finally found a sense of self in nationality. In the interviews, however, it is clear that these individuals find validity and significance through both their religious affiliations and the lives they have lived as members of British society.
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ReplyDeleteI think that the distinction you pointed out, youth identifying with their own individual experiences as opposed to identifying with their heritages, is really interesting. This seems to be a new way of viewing the perspective.... how do you think this will change the nature of the conflict?
ReplyDeleteIt seems like it could make peace a more desireable prospect for both groups, if people are viewing it in terms of the gains from peace as opposed to the concessions they will have to make it terms of their heritages history.