Abstract
This paper situates an analysis on the commonalities and ordinariness of Jewish and Muslim experiences vis-à-vis a critique on nationalism and belonging in the literature of Edeet Ravel and Mohsin Hamid, in addition to other writers. These literary writers are highlighted by an exploration of Eran Riklis’ film A Borrowed Identity amidst the critical perspectives of Ari Shavit, Leila Ahmed, Edward W. Said, and Justin Trudeau. The focus on Israel/Palestine is complemented by addressing sustained issues of nationalism and belonging in America that reverberate on global degrees of awareness as to how religious degrees of belonging can be reconsidered in light of understanding instantiations of cultural mise-en-scène from nuanced degrees of awareness. In turn, a multifaceted unsettling of identity, religion, and culture is posited that vividly collapses distinctions between East/West in revealing highly different ways of contemplating perceptions of Jews and Muslims in the world today.
Highlights
Introduction“Nationalist agendas, tend to resemble each other, especially when different sides in a territorial contest look for legitimacy in such malleable activities as reconstructing the past and inventing tradition.”
There are other literary and cinematic examples that explore similar issues in Israel/Palestine and America, and films and novels that might counter these perspectives, but the point in thinking about these particular cultural products is to enter into different ways of thinking that disrupt how Jewish and Muslim identities are often considered and represented in the Western media through a preconceived lens
Concluding Global Repercussions: Unresolved Identities and Living Commonalities. Amidst these struggles and problems of perception, inspiring voices of resistance and change are emerging in America, such as with Rashida Tlaib being the first Muslim American congresswoman to be elected in August 2018
Summary
“Nationalist agendas, tend to resemble each other, especially when different sides in a territorial contest look for legitimacy in such malleable activities as reconstructing the past and inventing tradition.”. There are other literary and cinematic examples that explore similar issues in Israel/Palestine and America, and films and novels that might counter these perspectives, but the point in thinking about these particular cultural products is to enter into different ways of thinking that disrupt how Jewish and Muslim identities are often considered and represented in the Western media through a preconceived lens. This lens is most often one that is rife with violence, death, extremism, piety, and fundamentalism. How might more incisive degrees of communication in personal and intimate relationships foster greater degrees of acceptance and awareness of unknown others on a global scale?
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