- A sparrow that can’t walk
- A pigeon with it’s feet caught together by string.
- Republicans
- An ownerless cat mewls in my backyard and eats the neighbor’s leftover chocolate cake on the back porch.
- Black smog gushing out of a New Jersey power plant.
- Gaza attacks Israel again and again
- A man smacks his dog for sniffing at the fence keeping him in the house.
- A homeless man comes up to my car and begs for money
- Protesting gets violent and police resort to pepper spraying the crowd
- Long range missiles are developed and shipped to Gaza
- My aunt has to go into a bomb shelter in Tel Aviv
- Egypt is having problems
Gaza repetitively attacks Israel because they have one thing in mind- destroy Israel. Years ago, the Jewish homeland of Judah was conquered by Romans. To completely rid the area of any Jewish traces, the Romans renamed it Palestine. For a long time Jews, Arabs, and other groups lived peacefully together under rule from far away. After two thousand years, the Romans lost control and the League of Nations appointed Britain to look after Palestine. Under British control, the Zionist movement of Jews flooding into Israel grew and Britain finally shut Palestine’s doors to the Jews. Jews fleeing from Hitler during the Holocaust had nowhere to go. To give the Jews a homeland, the UN suggested to split Palestine between the Jews and the Arabs in 1974. The Jews accepted the offer and created Israel while the Arabs declined. They despised Israel and that’s why they are still attacking Israel.
Sirens in Israel wail signaling another rocket strike. Because of Israel's’ top security precautions, people made their way to the nearest bomb shelter and came out with very few deaths and wounds. The Iron Dome, a military defence program, unleashes rockets to meet and detonate the ones sent by Gaza in mid air so no one is hurt. Not all rockets are destroyed though so people still need to go into bomb shelters. Israel couldn’t sit and watch itself get pelted by missiles. For Gaza, peace talks were out of the question so Israel launched an airstrike on Gaza. Before the strike, they dropped pamphlets on the city telling everybody to hide in bomb shelters so nobody got hurt. Many people in Gaza ignored the notices and continued on with their daily activities. A while later, bombs fell on Gaza and many died. The Hamas exaggerated the news on tv and made it seem that the Israelis wanted to kill. Do you think that Israel actually wants to fight? Israel really just wants to be left alone so it can exist in peace but the Hamas terrorists won’t put up with that.
People have tried peace talks but the Hamas just want to destroy Israel. So do many of the surrounding countries like Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, and many other countries. You can’t reason with terrorists like the Hamas. But you can stay strong and Protect yourself. That’s what Israel is doing.
Source: http://israelunlocked.wordpress.com/the-basics/the-israeli-palestinian-conflict-in-a-nutshell/
Literary Piece Description
Many
cliques aren’t evil. They are more like a dysfunctional, awkward,
hormonal band of teenagers who cling to each other. Sometimes cliques
become so big that being “best friends” loses it’s meaning. At least
one person isn't thrilled when someone joins the group. Drama begins
and everyone is struggling to maintain their friendships by losing their
individual opinions. That's when kids get excluded when one person says
something unflattering about a kid and everyone else agrees even though
inside that's not how all of them feel. I decided to break down the
slow steps in which many cliques use to get rid of an unwanted kid.
Literary Piece on excluding
Sleep away camp was great for a group of six teenage girls standing in a misshapen
oval laughing and giggling. You can plainly see the one who wants to
be a part of the group; curls bouncing as she tries to squeeze her way
in. Her name is Liz. No one speaks of the slight shift in the crowd
that prevents her from joining. That’s stage 1 in a series of tactics
cliques used to signal to a girl that she is unwanted there. They
giggle and laugh while the Liz cranes her neck to hear what’s so funny.
“What?
Guys!” The Liz whines imitating the other girls. One girl with a
ponytail whips her head around and looks at her with disgust. “Come on
tell me!” Stage 2: the other girls ignore her and the ponytail girl
turns back to her conversation.
When
they laugh at some girl who had an “obnoxious face”, Liz laughs. One
girl makes a rude remark and everyone snickers. Liz does the same, the
girls murmur about how mean she is. She copies them trying to walk in
step with them and move as one like the others do. She stops to tie her
shoe and the group keeps walking. One girl sees her and tries to say
something but she is interrupted by her friend whining “Did you notice
that...?” in her ear. Stage 3A: it’s easy to tell that they are talking
about Liz. Stage 3b:Everyone turns their head to sneak obvious glances
at her that mean more than just a look. It’s a way of hinting that
they don’t really want her there without being mean. Liz gets the hint
but she still plays the part of the friendly girl who doesn't notice it.
The girls don’t know how to get rid of her. They discuss plans
quietly so Liz can’t hear. Stage 4: Make it obvious. Say something
that excludes the outsider. Let her know that just because she hung
around with them doesn’t mean she is included in “us”.
“You
know what? We should have a group name. Let’s see, there’s me,
Stacey, Samantha, Jessica, Leah, and Mary. Let’s call ourselves the
Super Six!” Liz doesn't say anything because she doesn’t want them to
notice it hurt her. They mutter amongst themselves. Why is she still here? What should we do?
Stage
5: Interact with her is if she’s some random person who decided to hang
out with them that day not someone who has followed them forever.
Everyone trades glances that seem to communicate: “Where did SHE come
from?” Stage 6:Last resort. Finally, the ponytail girl removes herself
from the group and comes up to Liz.
“You’re
really nice and it’s fun to have you around,” Liz knows what’s coming.
Stage 5: “but we really want to hang out by ourselves today. We don’t
really know you very much and sometimes we just want to be with our
friends. We don’t want your feelings to be hurt but... Is that OK?”
Liz isn’t surprised but it still hurts her. She can’t let them see
that.
“Yeah! I get it!” She chirped.
“We really think you are cool but sometimes...”<--Lies Lies Lies
“It’s cool.”
“Great!”
The girl runs back to her friends and immerses herself in the group.
Stage 6B: Overreact and rejoice when they hear she isn’t coming with
them. The girl’s ponytail bounces up and down as she whispers something
to them. Everyone brightens up and cracks jokes as if Liz was a hindrance to their happiness.
A girl with a nasally voice clears her throat as they walk on the footpath.
“OK girls I have some juicy secrets and I trust you guys because you’re my BFFLs! Can I trust you guys to never say a word?”
“Aww
sweetheart my lips are sealed!” one girl comforts. The nasally whine
continues on to gossip and spill the secrets of many other “best
friends”.
Over
my book I watch them making a fuss over who did what, when, why, how,
and oh look at that adorable bikini! It’s strange that this happened
right after a bunk bonding meeting themed: “We’re a big non-excluding
and bullying family at camp happy!”.
Reading response
The gay pride parade is a great way to show off and be proud of who you are. It also inspires gay youths and boosts their confidence. Some people look forward to the parade and some dislike it. "Helping a Gay Child to Come Out" by John Schwartz, talks of a third group of people. They are the parents of gay kids who aren't ready yet to be openly gay. His article make me think of the conditions at home. For some kids they live in fear that their parents will find out that they’re gay. If home isn’t secure and accepting, the neighborhood school probably isn't a safe refuge either. Bullying is a problem. But when it comes to bullying gay kids, it has an even more harmful effect. The constant threat of being victimized by ignorant bullies makes it harder for them to open up about who they are.
I have been insulted because I'm Chinese before but nothing compared to what some of these kids have to deal with every day. I was insulted by a kid in first grade who had no idea what being chinese was. He was always calling me "Chinese Person" so I picked out a cool picture book on China and showed it him and he was nice to me after that. He probably bullied me because he didn't know anything about China and it confused him. Because it confused him he didn't like it. I think the main reason that bullies bully gay people is because they are different. They don't know anything about what being gay is like and it scares them. They try to get rid of it by harassing the gay kids but it doesn't seem to be working. That's what prevents some young gays from coming out. Many parents already know if their kids are gay or lesbian, they were just waiting for their kid to say, "Hey ma, I have something to tell you...". The article says that signs of being gay or lesbian start becoming noticeable at age 3. Some supportive parents try to get their kids to relax by showing them strength through the gay pride parade.
Another big issue that scares many gay youths is the fear of what their parents might say. Some kids aren't born into accepting families and when they figure out that they are gay it's risky to tell their parents. According to the article one girl told her mother that she was bisexual because she thought “it wasn’t going to crush her as much.” These kids need a supportive family. It's horrible that many don't have one.
It's important that they have a safe environment where they can be who they are. From home, to school they should be comfortable about who they are. Bullies bully them because they are afraid. People need to educate them on the essence of being gay. The gay pride parade is a great way to lift spirits and boost confidence in these kids. Maybe if enough people show their support more gay children would open up and be who they are.
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