I was very fascinated by the idea on the topic of Zionism. I found it hard to believe that such label or category is given. But looking into some further research about it, i realized it has had a great impact on the Arabs of Palestine. Yet, as i was googling about this word i came to find that there is a group of Jews that believe "this idea and concept of 'Zionism' is an ideology in total opposition to the teachings of traditional Judaism". It is interesting to see this in their website at http://www.jewsagainstzionism.com/about/mission.cfm . Their mission is to tell the American public and politicians that not all Jews support this concept, as well as inform Jews of the historical background of Zionism and fight the media which does not let them express their views and makes the concept of Zionism a negative one. They states that "The Jewish people became a people before they had their own land, and continued to exist as a people also after they went Into exile, because our very people hood is based exclusively on the Torah." not because of some land that can be stated as the holy land. In my opinion i found that very interesting and controversial.

The Janissaries

Hello Everyone,
Mondays class was an interesting one. We went further to talk about the Janissaries and there role in history. It was interesting to see that many historians can consider this "Slavery" while comparing to the slavery in the U.S or even part of Latin America. The restriction theses "soldiers" had were nothing compared to that of the Wester Hemisphere. Basically, theses individuals were given training in all aspect (reading, writing, combat, etc.) The one thing that really stands out as a difference from that of Wester Slavery is the Devshirme; only the 1st born sonhad to be given to the Turks from the conquered village, they were also taken from a non-muslim areas. The most amazing part is that even though slaves, they were given jons according to their interest and ability, which for one is not seen in normal "slave" history. The most important part is that givernement positions were based on merit, not by birth, so competition was high . Also, slaves were very loyal to the sultan/ I found this video very intersting. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jgPvU9e6oM There are 3 parts to this. You can learn much more about them here.