Picking lenses ...
I sat in on a short lecture on the Law of War and Rules of Occupation by WCL's inhouse expert, Prof. Bob Goldman. It was an interesting lecture, and while I didn't think I actually knew much about humanitarian law - I think I know a little more than I thought I did. I was prompted to post not because of the substance of his lecture, but to some extent his perspective. Of course, he was of the mainstream view amongst academics that US presence in Iraq and Afghanistan are problematic - going as far as to say that US occupation of post-war Japan and Germany will be studied by future generations as two successful occupations, and the Iraq/Afghanistan occupations will be considered the greatest failures. Again - not the reason that I'm posting.
Towards the end of the lecture, Prof. Goldman said something very interesting. He was talking about how the international community, particularly the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and other U.N. agencies have addressed long-term occupiers and said something to the effect of, "of course, the U.N. keeps beating up on Israel - and they will continue to do so." That statement caught my attention immediately - and my immediate thought was, hm, what's his point. He then went on to say that yes, Israel has done it's share of bad stuff - but it undermines the credibility of the HRC to ignore other atrocities by other occupiers around the world - and mentioned the situation in Africa.
I have to admit, he has a point - it does undermine the credibility of human rights bodies to focus on one nation, and it definitely needs to start challenging the practices of other nations; however, this does seem like a little bit of spin - and I could go into distinguishing Israel from other nations in the world. The point is that our views are so dependent on which lens we choose to look at the world through.
I wonder - is our perspective wide enough, are we choosing our lenses well? I personally haven't taken enough classes with conservative Professors that have views that are not on par with mine, and I think that I should. I'm concerned that this limits my ability to relate to people on the other side, or even people on the same side - if there is a bright line that divides us. Maybe there is no clear line ... now this probably isn't the most profound realization but even if we're fighting for the same side - there are sometimes starkly differing views on the same subject. Sometimes it bothers me - because I can't nail down the view that I adhere to. On the other hand, I'm sometimes afraid to create my own view because I'm concerned that it won't fit - with what I'm not sure.
My focus has slowly narrowed - it started out with me examining Islam, and the beliefs that I realized were a part of me from the outside; next I began to look at the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims, followed by the most recent somewhat introspective intra-Islamic assessment (SuShi relations). In a sense its coming full circle - it's back to me, and how I form my views ... how I pick my lens, whether I'm capable of doing so ... and whether that lens'll fit.
Whether that lens will allow me to form opinions of my own, that are not either regenerated from other people's thoughts or neccessarily on par with a group - unless, of course I really do agree with that view - who knows. Regardless, its time to challenge the status quo.
Towards the end of the lecture, Prof. Goldman said something very interesting. He was talking about how the international community, particularly the Human Rights Commission (HRC) and other U.N. agencies have addressed long-term occupiers and said something to the effect of, "of course, the U.N. keeps beating up on Israel - and they will continue to do so." That statement caught my attention immediately - and my immediate thought was, hm, what's his point. He then went on to say that yes, Israel has done it's share of bad stuff - but it undermines the credibility of the HRC to ignore other atrocities by other occupiers around the world - and mentioned the situation in Africa.
I have to admit, he has a point - it does undermine the credibility of human rights bodies to focus on one nation, and it definitely needs to start challenging the practices of other nations; however, this does seem like a little bit of spin - and I could go into distinguishing Israel from other nations in the world. The point is that our views are so dependent on which lens we choose to look at the world through.
Just listen to the noises
Before you tell yourself
It's just a different scene
Remember it's just different from what you've seen
--- Stone Sour, Through Glass
I wonder - is our perspective wide enough, are we choosing our lenses well? I personally haven't taken enough classes with conservative Professors that have views that are not on par with mine, and I think that I should. I'm concerned that this limits my ability to relate to people on the other side, or even people on the same side - if there is a bright line that divides us. Maybe there is no clear line ... now this probably isn't the most profound realization but even if we're fighting for the same side - there are sometimes starkly differing views on the same subject. Sometimes it bothers me - because I can't nail down the view that I adhere to. On the other hand, I'm sometimes afraid to create my own view because I'm concerned that it won't fit - with what I'm not sure.
My focus has slowly narrowed - it started out with me examining Islam, and the beliefs that I realized were a part of me from the outside; next I began to look at the relationship between Muslims and non-Muslims, followed by the most recent somewhat introspective intra-Islamic assessment (SuShi relations). In a sense its coming full circle - it's back to me, and how I form my views ... how I pick my lens, whether I'm capable of doing so ... and whether that lens'll fit.
Whether that lens will allow me to form opinions of my own, that are not either regenerated from other people's thoughts or neccessarily on par with a group - unless, of course I really do agree with that view - who knows. Regardless, its time to challenge the status quo.
Labels: law school, Politics, reflections
posted by zai5h at Friday, March 02, 2007
1 comments
