Podcasts about separation wall

Today's poem is Separation Wall by Naomi Shihab Nye.This spring, we asked our community to submit poems that have helped you slow down in your lives. Thank you to the nearly 300 of you who sent us poems to read and enjoy. This week we're featuring the team's selections. Today's selection was submitted by Meital from Washington, D.C. In this episode, Major writes… “Coexistence on the planet demands that we transcend reactionary treatment of each other. For this reason, we need poems to tease out our innocence, that part of us untouched by the callousness of the world, to bring us to a sanity beyond inherited hurts and old fears, away from the logic of ‘an eye for an eye.' Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said that this kind of violence ‘destroys communities and makes humanity impossible. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.'” Celebrate the power of poems with a gift to The Slowdown today. Every donation makes a difference: https://tinyurl.com/rjm4synp

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Ed Fronapfel is a forensic engineer who I first met when he taught a thermography class I attended.  Later he became the student when he participated in an Energy Rater class I taught. Ed has built and sold several successful engineering companies on the back of his ability to distill information and present it in understandable ways. Over the years we have been discussing the disconnect between energy and fire codes in relation to shaft liner area separation wall design and function. I was starting to get involved with work being done to understand how to air seal the assembly to successfully pass blower door testing requirements of the IECC. Ed, in the meantime, had been working to be qualified as an expert witness in construction defect litigation. He now has been involved in over 80 trials in District and Federal Courts and provided over 800 depositions and hundreds of arbitrations.   Our paths crossed again at the Colorado Chapter of the ICC Education Institute, where we were both teaching, right before the Covid shutdown. I learned that Ed had an opportunity to fund some ASTM E119 burn testing on Shaft Liner wall assemblies and became the facilitator to organize and get the testing completed. As you can imagine we both have been frustrated not being able to speak to the results of the testing that was performed, and now that we can, I am very grateful to Ed for the opportunity I was given to be involved in this work, and the story you are about to listen to. Ed on LinkedIn Acquisition of SBSA, Inc. expands Charles Taylor's U.S. Engineering and Technical Services Practice Speak Expert Witness Directory University of Denver Adjunct Faculty Burns School of Real Estate and Construction Management

Ever clicked a link and hit a 404 "not found" error page? Happens a lot. It's also very frustrating. You think you've finally found that elusive content but it's a false dawn and you'll have to go back and search again. The image for this 'Middle East Analysis' podcast was taken on the West Bank side of the Separation Wall earlier this year. It seems rather appropriate for today's episode. Dr Harry Hagopian, our resident international lawyer and regional analyst, takes on a quick-fire five to being our podcast looking at a variety of regional elections, off-shore gas deals and - stand by your bunks - sportswashing in the context of the Qatar-hosted football World Cup. The meat in the sandwich is the ongoing turmoil and violence in northern Palestine. Harry gives his take on the situation in Jenin and Nablus. The prevailing writing on the wall? It's a 404 - Solution Not Found. All this and a few off-the-cuff afterthoughts from the good doctor.

This episode was recorded in Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem, during our visit to Aida Youth Center where the director, Anas, spoke to us about the history of the refugee problem and life in the refugee camp.There are 19 refugee camps in the Westbank, three of them are located in Bethlehem. Aida refugee camp is the most teargassed place in the world. There is an Israeli army base right next to the camp and the Israeli separation wall has been built just on the edge of the camp. There is literally no space for the Palestinians who live in Aida camp.The camp was established by UNRWA in 1950 and families were given a tent to stay in. In 1956 they replaced the tents with rooms. One room for each six family members. There were no bathrooms and kitchens, only shared ones. These rooms have been replaced over time by houses built by the residents of Aida camp. And as there is no space to built outside of the camp area, they are building up, several floors. The camp has very narrow streets. Aida camp is named after a Palestinian woman who had a coffee shop in this area and who was a support for the first refugees that came to Bethlehem. The inhabitants of the camp come from different towns and villages that used to be situated between Hebron and Jerusalem. They locked their homes and took their keys hoping that they would return after the attacks were over. But they were never allowed, despite the UN resolution 194 that states that all Palestinians have the right to return to their homes.If you want to follow Aid Youth Center on social media, here are some links:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZl2BVF0J8O_k4zcWL4AwHQhttps://www.aidacenter.org/https://www.facebook.com/aidacenter.orghttps://www.instagram.com/aida_youth_centerConnect to Stories from Palestine on social media, sign up for the newsletter, check out the YouTube channel and if you want to do a donation to the podcast, use this linktree:https://linktr.ee/StoriesfrompalestineIf you are interested in the October program in Palestine (3 - 14 October 2022) then you can find more information on https://storiesfrompalestine.info/travel-to-palestine/ If you enjoy listening to Stories from Palestine then you should also check out the podcast Jerusalem Unplugged. You can find it on most podcast players and on social media.

Creating an Airtight Shaft Liner Area Separation Wall The IECC requires that town homes and duplexes achieve 3 or 5 ACH50 depending on the climate zone the dwelling is built in. My experience is that attached housing is 2-3 time leakier than detached even though detached is generally twice as large. In the past creating airtight attached dwellings has been quite difficult and costly do to the 1” to ¾” gap between the area separation and structural components of the assembly. Two recently completed UL and ICC/NAT tests are changing how we should think about construction and air sealing this assembly. This BUILDCast, explores what fire separation means and how air leakage can now be addressed. Energy & Environmental Building Alliance EEBA 2021 Summit Reach out to me directly if you would like a copy of the slides for this presentation robby@btankinc.com

Objections to One-Time ConfessionSome might say, “But what about what Isaiah said in chapter 59 verse 2 that our sins put a separation wall between us and God, that they hide His face from us and that He will not hear us? Doesn't that mean that we come out of fellowship with God and that we need to confess our sins to Him in order for Him to hear us again?” No, it doesn't. Isaiah lived before the cross, Jesus had not paid for his sins yet, and Isaiah was not a new creation in Christ. Indeed, during his time and during the Old Covenant period, people's sins created a separation wall between them and God, and God didn't hear them until they humbled themselves before God, and brought the animal sacrifices for atonement. However, Christ is our eternal sacrifice that has cleansed us from all sin once and for all. So, in the New Testament, our sinful deeds don't put a separation wall between us and God anymore. God doesn't hide His face from us, and He always hears us, no matter what we did wrong.  ”But what about Proverbs 28:13, where King Solomon says: Proverbs 28:13 (NKJV) 13 He who covers his sins will not prosper, but whoever confesses and forsakes them will have mercy.”? The same explanation given for Isaiah's case is relevant here as well. King Solomon needed the mercy of God and his prosperity depended on his obedience to the Law, because he was walking in darkness. His sins had not been removed yet. All the people of the Old Testament relied on the mercy of God for their blessing and prosperity. Until Christ would come, God overlooked temporarily their sins when they obeyed the Law or brought the animal sacrifices. However, in the New Testament, the new creation has become prosperity (2 Corinthians 8:9) without any qualification, because of Christ's righteousness, and believers have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places (Ephesians 1:3). Believers in Christ don't have sins to cover or confess anymore, because they were all taken away at the cross.  “But what about King David when he lamented in Psalm 32:1-5 and Psalm 38:18 about his sins and confessed them? Shouldn't we follow his example?” Let's read those passages.  Psalm 32:1–5 (NKJV) 1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. 2 Blessed is the man to whom the Lord doesn't impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit. 3 When I kept silent, my bones grew old through my groaning all the day long. 4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; My vitality was turned into the drought of summer. 5 I acknowledged my sin to You, and my iniquity I haven't hidden. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,” and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.  Psalm 38:18 (NASB95) 18 For I confess my iniquity; I am full of anxiety because of my sin.  If we look carefully at the first two verses of Psalm 32, we will notice that King David prophesied by the Spirit about the time when people's transgressions will be forgiven and the Lord will not impute iniquity to them anymore. He rejoiced looking ahead at the days we are living now. However, in his time, he had to confess his sins to the Lord to receive mercy and he probably confessed more in the hope of saving his son from the death punishment. And even though King David confessed his sins many times and asked for forgiveness from God, his confession and tears were not the ones which atoned for his sin. David still had to bring sacrifices to atone for his sins according to the Law.  Finally, “what about the Lord's prayer from Luke 11:2-4 or Matthew 6:9-13, where Jesus tells us to ask the Father to forgive our sins? Isn't He telling us to confess our sins to God?” Let's read the Lord's prayer passage in Luke: Luke 11:2–4 (NKJV) 2 So He said to them, “When you pray, say: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. 3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 4 And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.”  If we take a close look at the Lord's prayer in the light of the Gospel, we will quickly notice that the Lord's prayer is an Old Testament prayer and not a New Testament one. First, we need to realize that the disciples who asked Jesus to teach them how to pray were Jews, accustomed with the Law and the Torah. Second, Jesus hadn't died yet on the cross in order to establish a prayer model according to the new creation era and He couldn't disclose yet the plan God had through the cross, otherwise the devil would have never crucified Him. At that moment in time, Jesus was still in the Old Testament period. The transition from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant had not been made yet. For example, He said in verse 2 to pray that God's Kingdom would come on earth. That was the longing and the prayer of all Old Testament prophets, that the Kingdom of God would come. This was supposed to happen when Messiah would come. At that point in time, this kind of prayer made sense because the Kingdom had not come yet. However, we see later in Romans 14:17, as well as in other places, that Jesus brought the Kingdom on earth, especially after the cross, although not in its full visible manifestation yet:  Mark 1:14–15 (NKJV) 14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, 15 and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”  Luke 17:20–21 (NKJV) 20 Now when He was asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, He answered them and said, “The kingdom of God does not come with observation; 21 nor will they say, ‘See here!' or ‘See there!' For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you.”  Romans 14:17 (NKJV) 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.  Then in Luke 11:3, Jesus told His disciples to ask the Father for the daily bread. However, we see later in Ephesians 1:3 and 2 Peter 1:3 that God has already blessed believers with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places and everything pertaining to life and godliness. At the end of the prayer, Jesus instructs the disciples to ask the Father to deliver them from the evil one. That made sense before the cross, because all people were in the domain of darkness and under the authority of the devil and they needed God to intervene and help them. However, later, Colossians 1:13 says that believers have been transferred from the domain of darkness into the Kingdom of His beloved Son. Moreover, Ephesians 2:6 and 1:20-23 shows that believers have the same rank and authority of the right hand of the Father as Jesus Christ, and their authority in Christ is far above all rule, authority, power and lordship. The new creations don't need to pray for deliverance from the evil one, because they have already been delivered from him. Similarly, the prayer for forgiveness of sins, conditioned by their forgiveness of others was an Old Testament prayer. In the Old Testament, the people of God had to repeatedly bring sacrifices and ask for forgiveness of their sins. However, even this Old Testament prayer of asking for forgiveness of sins was not a confession of individual specific sins, but a general one of all sins. The Greek word used here is again Hamartia, in plural form, depicting the totality of all sin in the life of that person as nature or deeds, and not as specific known sinful actions.  After all this teaching about confession of sins, you might be wondering yourself: “So what am I supposed to do then when I sin? Should I confess my sin to God or not? How do I continue to relate to Him?”  What to Do When We SinnedIf we are honest with ourselves, most of the times, we don't feel condemned about every little sin that we did or about sins that we are not aware of, like Martin Luther. Usually, there are specific sins that the devil or our conscience bring to our minds and condemn us with, sinful behaviors and attitudes that we've probably repeated many times and were unable yet to overcome. Those are the times when we feel the need to say something to God about our sins before we can move on. On one hand, we feel condemned about those sins and unworthy to approach God. On the other hand, we know that all our sins have been removed forever, and this creates a real conflict inside of us. This inner conflict is also fueled by the fact that we still live in a fallen world, where forgiveness of someone depends on the other person apologizing first and making the first step towards reconciliation. Our minds are programmed to think that way and to transfer by analogy the same kind of interaction to the relationship between God and us. Before I provide a practical solution to this inner conflict and to the question about what to do when we sin, we need to be aware of one thing. Any form of confession of sins and any type of forgiveness plea to God for our sins will not forgive those sins in that moment in time, neither will they justify us or maintain us justified. They will not make us more worthy to receive blessings from God or minister to others, nor will it maintain our salvation intact, as if our salvation was in jeopardy before. Yes, the salvation of our soul and body are progressive, but the salvation of our spirit is a one-time deal that lasts for eternity. We don't confess a sin to God to be forgiven. God has already forgiven all our sins, and they were removed forever. Acknowledging before God the known wrong that we did, with which our conscience condemns us, will only cleanse our conscience and help our mind get over it. It will help us relate to God again in sincerity with all our heart. In other words, it will help us to forgive ourselves in our mind, it will appease our conscience, and it will enable us to relate to God openly and fearless again. We should absolutely do that if our mind and conscience bother us and we cannot get over it just through the Word of God. We should say “I am sorry” to God if there is something specific that we feel condemned about, for the sake of our conscience, so that our conscience would not become dull, hardened, and insensitive. However, we should not stay there and focus on our sin for too long. We need to immediately focus our attention to the truth of the Word of God about our sins and start thanking Him and praising Him for what He has done. We should begin declaring what the Word of God says about our new identity in Christ, and not lounge any longer in the accuser's condemnation. This is part of cleansing our conscience of sins with the water of the Word.  Therefore, when there is a sin that bothers us when we try to fellowship with God, the right way to deal with it or to confess it should be something of the following: “Father, I am so sorry for the wrong thing that  I did. I acknowledge it's a sin and that, as a new creation in Christ, I should not have done it. I admit that I played with death and I did harm to myself, that I grieved Your Holy Spirit and frustrated Your grace. But I thank You that my sin has already been removed from me and washed away by the blood of Jesus. Thank you that I am still a new creation in Christ, that Your love is unconditional, and that I am free of condemnation forever (Romans 8:1). I am dead to sin and alive to righteousness (Romans 6:11). Sin doesn't have dominion over me anymore, because I am under grace (Romans 6:14). Jesus Christ is my righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). I am born of God and I overcome the world (1 John 5:4). I am the light of the world and the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:14). I walk in the light and I will never walk in darkness (1 John 1:5-7). I have been transferred from the domain of darkness into the kingdom of Your beloved Son (Colossians 1:13). Thank you Father that I am accepted in the Beloved and highly favored in Your sight (Ephesians 1:5-7).” Now, you may ask: “Will not this way of confessing sins soften me towards sin? Will not this give me more license to sin?” No, it will certainly not. It's exactly the opposite: it will give you more freedom from sin. Have you noticed that you still sin without a license if you want to? Paul says in Romans 6:2, “How can we who died to sin continue to live in?” If you were genuinely born again, can you do whatever you want and still remain saved? Yes, of course. But why would you think of doing evil since you repented and came on God's side?  Why would you want to sin since you don't have a sinful nature anymore? Actually, a better question is this: If you were genuinely born again and you have the right teaching about who you are in Christ, do you think you will be able to continue to want to sin indefinitely? I don't think so. Can God do whatever He wants? Yes of course. But does that freedom give Him license to sin? Never. His freedom of doing whatever He wants has some boundaries. Could Jesus have done whatever He wanted on earth? Yes, of course. But Has He ever sinned? No. Perhaps, when you hear this message for the first time, you might have the tendency to indulge in your sinful habits at first, especially if you have been for a long time under many religious rules and under the fear of hell or of losing your salvation. You might still feel like you enjoy certain sins and pleasures, although your spirit has been completely recreated. That happens because your feelings and behaviors are skewed and not fully aligned yet with the desires of your new spirit due to an unrenewed mind. In fact, freedom to live for God without any conditions and threats can be a real challenge for many. However, this does not mean that this perspective on confession of sins gives you license to sin more. Your sinful actions or habitual sins only reflect what was already in your heart and what needs to be corrected and changed through the renewal of your mind. Your spirit is perfectly holy; it doesn't like to sin. The more you renew your mind to your new identity in Christ, your desires, likes, and feelings will change accordingly, and align themselves to your new identity. Slowly, the love of God will compel you and bring you back from your indulgences and sinful behaviors. But this time you will be a real free person, and you will walk in holiness because you want to and because you truly love God, and not because of constraints and threats of hell.  Going a step further, the Bible's solution to overcoming sinful behaviors is to always remind ourselves about our righteous identity in Christ. This is not to encourage us to sin more or soften us towards the gravity of sin and of its consequences. Rather this reminding is intended to focus our attention on our Savior, Who paid in full at the cross for our sins, and to encourage us to live according to the new creation's identity that Jesus established at the cross. This is what true repentance is all about—turning to the cross and returning to His grace! When you fail, know that you can always talk to God openly about your failure, but do it with a revelation of the weight of the cross and of its victory. See your sins already punished in His body and receive afresh His forgiveness and unmerited favor, so that you can conquer your sins.

Separation Wall, Kando Store #7, Israel, 2011 This offer and promise of Christ’s peace is here for the having. Receive it. Take it in as regularly and necessarily as you breathe. Breathe out fear; breathe in peace. Breathe out anger; breathe in peace. Breathe out sadness; breathe in peace.To listen to the podcast (12:44) from the Brothers of The Society of St. John the Evangelist (SSJE) Monastery in Cambridge, MA: https://www.ssje.org/4.audio/12days/day11.mp3 Blessings, my friendAgatha

Inspired by the usage of the term ‘enclosure’ to describe the Separation Wall in Israel-Palestine on a visit he made to the West Bank, Gary Fields in Enclosure: Palestinian Landscapes in a Historical Mirror (University of California Press, 2017) draws upon the past to speak to the Palestinian present and explain Palestinian dispossession. We talk through why Fields thinks it is necessary to use a long lens to think about the discourses framing the conflict in Israel/Palestine, specifically the English enclosures, which changed the nature of access to common land across the English countryside and Amerindian dispossession in colonial America. As land, discourse, and people themselves shape the practice of enclosure, we hone in on the politics of writing about Palestine and Palestinians, as well as how Fields’ other work fits into his academic work. Enclosure is on the short-list for the Palestine Book Award for the 2018 year. Gary Fields is professor of communication at UC San Diego. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in City and Regional Planning.  He often uses photo and film to explore his research interests and writes widely beyond the academy. Nadirah Mansour is a graduate student at Princeton University’s Department of Near Eastern Studies working on the global intellectual history of the Arabic-language press. She tweets @NAMansour26 and produces another Middle-East and North Africa-related podcast: Reintroducing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inspired by the usage of the term ‘enclosure’ to describe the Separation Wall in Israel-Palestine on a visit he made to the West Bank, Gary Fields in Enclosure: Palestinian Landscapes in a Historical Mirror (University of California Press, 2017) draws upon the past to speak to the Palestinian present and explain Palestinian dispossession. We talk through why Fields thinks it is necessary to use a long lens to think about the discourses framing the conflict in Israel/Palestine, specifically the English enclosures, which changed the nature of access to common land across the English countryside and Amerindian dispossession in colonial America. As land, discourse, and people themselves shape the practice of enclosure, we hone in on the politics of writing about Palestine and Palestinians, as well as how Fields’ other work fits into his academic work. Enclosure is on the short-list for the Palestine Book Award for the 2018 year. Gary Fields is professor of communication at UC San Diego. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in City and Regional Planning.  He often uses photo and film to explore his research interests and writes widely beyond the academy. Nadirah Mansour is a graduate student at Princeton University’s Department of Near Eastern Studies working on the global intellectual history of the Arabic-language press. She tweets @NAMansour26 and produces another Middle-East and North Africa-related podcast: Reintroducing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inspired by the usage of the term ‘enclosure’ to describe the Separation Wall in Israel-Palestine on a visit he made to the West Bank, Gary Fields in Enclosure: Palestinian Landscapes in a Historical Mirror (University of California Press, 2017) draws upon the past to speak to the Palestinian present and explain Palestinian dispossession. We talk through why Fields thinks it is necessary to use a long lens to think about the discourses framing the conflict in Israel/Palestine, specifically the English enclosures, which changed the nature of access to common land across the English countryside and Amerindian dispossession in colonial America. As land, discourse, and people themselves shape the practice of enclosure, we hone in on the politics of writing about Palestine and Palestinians, as well as how Fields’ other work fits into his academic work. Enclosure is on the short-list for the Palestine Book Award for the 2018 year. Gary Fields is professor of communication at UC San Diego. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in City and Regional Planning.  He often uses photo and film to explore his research interests and writes widely beyond the academy. Nadirah Mansour is a graduate student at Princeton University’s Department of Near Eastern Studies working on the global intellectual history of the Arabic-language press. She tweets @NAMansour26 and produces another Middle-East and North Africa-related podcast: Reintroducing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inspired by the usage of the term ‘enclosure’ to describe the Separation Wall in Israel-Palestine on a visit he made to the West Bank, Gary Fields in Enclosure: Palestinian Landscapes in a Historical Mirror (University of California Press, 2017) draws upon the past to speak to the Palestinian present and explain Palestinian dispossession. We talk through why Fields thinks it is necessary to use a long lens to think about the discourses framing the conflict in Israel/Palestine, specifically the English enclosures, which changed the nature of access to common land across the English countryside and Amerindian dispossession in colonial America. As land, discourse, and people themselves shape the practice of enclosure, we hone in on the politics of writing about Palestine and Palestinians, as well as how Fields’ other work fits into his academic work. Enclosure is on the short-list for the Palestine Book Award for the 2018 year. Gary Fields is professor of communication at UC San Diego. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in City and Regional Planning.  He often uses photo and film to explore his research interests and writes widely beyond the academy. Nadirah Mansour is a graduate student at Princeton University’s Department of Near Eastern Studies working on the global intellectual history of the Arabic-language press. She tweets @NAMansour26 and produces another Middle-East and North Africa-related podcast: Reintroducing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inspired by the usage of the term ‘enclosure’ to describe the Separation Wall in Israel-Palestine on a visit he made to the West Bank, Gary Fields in Enclosure: Palestinian Landscapes in a Historical Mirror (University of California Press, 2017) draws upon the past to speak to the Palestinian present and explain Palestinian dispossession. We talk through why Fields thinks it is necessary to use a long lens to think about the discourses framing the conflict in Israel/Palestine, specifically the English enclosures, which changed the nature of access to common land across the English countryside and Amerindian dispossession in colonial America. As land, discourse, and people themselves shape the practice of enclosure, we hone in on the politics of writing about Palestine and Palestinians, as well as how Fields’ other work fits into his academic work. Enclosure is on the short-list for the Palestine Book Award for the 2018 year. Gary Fields is professor of communication at UC San Diego. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in City and Regional Planning.  He often uses photo and film to explore his research interests and writes widely beyond the academy. Nadirah Mansour is a graduate student at Princeton University’s Department of Near Eastern Studies working on the global intellectual history of the Arabic-language press. She tweets @NAMansour26 and produces another Middle-East and North Africa-related podcast: Reintroducing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Inspired by the usage of the term ‘enclosure’ to describe the Separation Wall in Israel-Palestine on a visit he made to the West Bank, Gary Fields in Enclosure: Palestinian Landscapes in a Historical Mirror (University of California Press, 2017) draws upon the past to speak to the Palestinian present and explain Palestinian dispossession. We talk through why Fields thinks it is necessary to use a long lens to think about the discourses framing the conflict in Israel/Palestine, specifically the English enclosures, which changed the nature of access to common land across the English countryside and Amerindian dispossession in colonial America. As land, discourse, and people themselves shape the practice of enclosure, we hone in on the politics of writing about Palestine and Palestinians, as well as how Fields’ other work fits into his academic work. Enclosure is on the short-list for the Palestine Book Award for the 2018 year. Gary Fields is professor of communication at UC San Diego. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley in City and Regional Planning.  He often uses photo and film to explore his research interests and writes widely beyond the academy. Nadirah Mansour is a graduate student at Princeton University’s Department of Near Eastern Studies working on the global intellectual history of the Arabic-language press. She tweets @NAMansour26 and produces another Middle-East and North Africa-related podcast: Reintroducing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The West Bank Separation Wall has not been as famously identified to those who live in other parts of the world as the Berlin Wall was, but it's just as obvious a reminder of the history of hostility and tension that exist in the West Bank. It's a dividing wall that cuts through the landscape, separating Palestine from Israel and has a very long and complicated history. In this episode I chat with Tamer Halaseh of Tamer Tours about the West Bank Separation Wall, why he includes it and related sites on his tours of the area, and about tourism in the West Bank in general. It's a fascinating conversation that dispels many of the myths about the area. Can you imagine living with an enormous, unsightly wall running through your neighborhood? Palestinian and Israeli people who live in or near the West Bank are continually reminded of the history of conflict that has divided the two people groups by the presence of The West Bank Dividing Wall. You don't get the full impact the wall has on the area until you are there to see it for yourself. When I visited the area I was told about the history and situation in the West Bank by my tour guide, Tamer Halaseh and felt that his knowledge and understanding of the situation merited me inviting him to share with you on the podcast. This episode is a small taste of what I experienced through my visit and my time learning from Tamer. It should provide you with insight into the situation there that you won't hear otherwise. It's easy to take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict without knowing the facts. When I visited Israel and the West Bank I was able to get to know the feeling of the land and the culture on both sides of the divide. My tour guide, Tamer Halaseh was instrumental in me gaining an understanding of the grievances each side in the conflict has had with the other, from a historical perspective. It's not as easy as making a snap judgment based on initial perceptions and with the continued actions taken in the situation, it gets more complicated all the time. You can hear some of the things I learned from Tamer on this episode and begin your own journey toward understanding. The West Bank Separation Wall is a thorn in the midst of a beautiful land. It's painful for me to remember the ominous feeling of the massive wall that winds its way through an otherwise beautiful landscape. It's a constant reminder of tension - but Tamer tells me it also serves to remind the people of the West Bank that they must learn to move on, to live in happiness and strength in spite of the presence of the wall and all that it represents. His attitude is an example of the resilient and resourceful people of the area and shows how they endure in spite of a history of conflict. You'll enjoy getting to know Tamer on this episode. What is it like for Westerners to visit the West Bank? There are many things you hear about the West Bank when preparing to visit that are either misinformed or no longer relevant. You do need to have your passport with you at all times but it's not an oppressive experience at all. There are a rich culture and historical experience awaiting anyone who wants to visit and it is not dangerous as you may be led to believe. In this conversation, you'll learn how tourism is thriving in the area and how people like Tamer, my guest on this episode, are making the industry both safe and enriching for those who visit. I hope you'll listen and learn along with me. Outline of This Episode [1:23] Tamer's background and why he decided to provide tours in the West Bank. [8:30] What IS the Bethlehem wall and how and when was it built? [18:30] How the wall impacts the lives of those in the West Bank. [22:25] What is Hamas? [25:20] Is the Israeli government allowing tourism in the West Bank? [32:20] How the wall serves as both a thorn in the midst of beauty and a reminder of how the people of the area need to live happy lives regardless. [38:30] Refugee camps in the area and how generations are being raised in them. [41:20] The history of “The Walled Off Hotel” and museum, and why Tamer includes it on his tours. [46:37] What it's truly like for Westerners to visit the West Bank. Resources & People Mentioned http://tamertours.wordpress.com Banksy's The Walled Off Hotel Bethlehem Hotel Ramallah Hotels BOOK: The Way to the Spring: Life and Death in Palestine BOOK: Wall and Piece   Sponsor for this Episode: Don't forget to click on the ad to the right to get the offer from this week's sponsor: Audible. Connect With Stephanie stephanie@historyfangirl.com https://historyfangirl.com  

Assaf Gavron's novel The Hilltop follows the lifespan of an illegal Israeli settlement in the West Bank which, as in a fairytale, comes into being ostensibly to satisfy a woman and child's innocent longing for salad greens. The narrative follows two orphaned brothers who find themselves on the settlement for different reasons, and geographically we're taken from Ma’aleh Hermesch C to Tel Aviv, New York City, and Miami. We move in and out of government agencies and meetings, and at protests we find ourselves on both sides of the proposed separation wall. Ironically, the only thing both sides can agree upon is that the fence should not go up. Assaf displays a deep understanding of what motivates peoples and societies. “Longing is the engine of the world,” one character says, and the book portrays the varieties of human longing with dexterity and humor. Texts: The Hilltop, by Assaf Gavron. Translated by Steven Cohen. Scribner (Nov. 2014). Further reading: Almost Dead, by Assaf Gavron. Translated by Assaf Gavron & James Lever. Harper (2006). Tel Aviv Noir, edited by Assaf Gavron & Etgar Keret. Akashic (Oct. 2014) Music: Leonard Cohen - Everybody Knows The Mouth and Foot - Shluck Beton; Candy Store

This week, Israeli soldiers speak out to advocate for Palestinian rights. Breaking the Silence by Cathy Peters (producer) & Dr Peter Slezak (presenter) (360documentaries [ABC RN], 2012) In 2012, writer Peter Slezak took a tour of the Palestinian Occupied Territories where he met with Palestinians and Israelis — including members of an Israeli NGO called Breaking the Silence, which gives tours around hotspots in the West Bank and Gaza. Slezak witnessed what Occupation means in terms of the human rights abuses that occur routinely, and the annexation of Palestinian lands to large Israeli settlements and to the 700 km long Separation Wall. Interview with Rabbi Brant Rosen Brant Rosen was rabbi at the Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation in Evanston, Illinois until his resignation in September 2014. He left the position because he felt his advocacy for Palestinian rights, and criticism of the Israeli government was creating divisions among his own congregation.