Our+Final+Product+-+The+Journal

Thank you everyone for your hard work - I send the email to the TA at 11:50 pm. Hopefully she likes our work!

PLEASE CONTINUE TO WORK ON THIS - I WILL BE SENDING IT IN AT 11:30 PM TONIGHT (Oct 25, 09) JUST SO EVERYONE KNOWS ITS SENT! click to view the document sent to our TA i sent both .docx and .doc

READ THROUGH IT - __**deleted duplications of points and separate paragraphs as needed**__. - Samar (I have to work on a proposal that is due tomorrow, i'll check back at around 10, i hope its done- otherwise corporal punishment to all who did nothing)


 * Politics of Separation**

__Why this concept:__

The politics of separation is a concept that deals with the effects when different groups, countries, political organizations, societies, etc., physically separate from one another. A physical and psychological barrier was erected between the Palestinians and the Israelis with two principles in mind: elasticity and the media economy. The elastic nature of the barrier means that it is constantly changing depending on the agenda of the Prime Minister (upon its creation: Sharon) and various interest groups. Under the guise of "security", decisions were made to move sections of the wall to address issues of "territory, demography, water, and archaeology ", (Weizman, 162). This concept explains the “embodiment of the state ideology” and that the wall is not only a physical barrier created to provide security, but also one designed for political and economic gain, (Weizman,162). Sharon studied "Bantustan”, the segregation of people based on race, from the Apartheid model exhibited in South Africa. Weizman believes that the separation of Palestinians from Israelis is, in fact, a worse form of Apartheid than existed in South Africa as there had never been a walled state there (Weizman, 171). Weizman also discusses the "diffused authorship of the project" which makes the Wall's elasticity possible (Weizman, 163). This suggests that Sharon was not the lone decision-maker in terms of the fluxuations in the barrier. The media economy was perpetuated by both Palestinians and Israelis to draw the world stage to their causes. Images such as fencing dividing farmer's fields were released to the media to maximize the response. However, it was the obvious unattractiveness of the wall that became the main reason for international opposition to its construction (Weizman, 161). Images of the cold war came to mind in comparison (Weizman, 171). 'The Battle of Algiers' shows how implemented curfews and the difference in treatment of different races at checkpoints becomes a form of psychological separation.

__Where is it found:__

This psychological separation is a form of power, which according to Foucault, can be everywhere, anywhere and at anytime and it is only felt when executed by a subject. This power relation is often subtle, and is not recognized at first (Foucault, 337). This form of separation is seen across time in sovereign, disciplinary and control societies and is achieved through the use of surveillance, the spectacle and the fabrication of semantics. Surveillance is an essential factor when discussing psychological separation. The Wall is an example of control society; the Wall is used much like the Panopticon. Guards protect the Wall which is situated on top of a mountain where they cannot be seen by people. They are omnipresent, omniscient, and permanently visible but at the same time unverifiable. The individual, as a result, self-regulates because he constantly feels like he is being monitored. The spectacle often imposes power on others through the use of violence. Subjects, who watch or hear the spectacle, often self-regulate as they fear that this may happen to them if they do not follow the rules. The separation is, therefore, imposed by fear and anxiety.

Semantics also has the ability to impose control much like the spectacle, however, the subject becomes the agent. In other words, the people are the ones who impose these rules on themselves without realizing that they are being controlled. Continuing with the example of the Wall, it is divided into separate parts and allocated to different groups of people. As a result, these groups are under the impression that it is their own personal wall that is being used to keep people out. They fail to realize that this wall is there to keep them in (Weizman, 162). This is another example of how elite groups are able to regulate people through the use of semiotics and by altering the meaning of the Wall. Another excellent example of how semantics can seem to offer people power and a voice that is merely simulated is the fact that during the construction of the Wall a “High Court of Justice” was created for people to voice their concerns. This gave them the sense that they had power. This court was, however, only organized to avoid rebellion and violence, and never intended to truly consider people’s worries or suggestions. This artificial institution was only built to protect the government. This mock institution gave people a false sense of having power over their government while the government essentially used semantics to prevent conflict and maintain control.

The use of surveillance, spectacle and semantics are three methods that have psychological implications and do not resort to physically restraining or controlling the individual. This, in other words, is all in their head. The Israeli Ministry of Defense still states that the wall is a temporary solution which is urgently necessary to prevent urgent security threats (Weizman, 172). Thus, by stating that this prevention of movement across boundaries is only a temporary fix, these extreme measures are legally tolerated (Weizman, 172).

__How is it articulated__

The concept is articulated through physical examples worldwide, including: the Wall in Israel and the resistance to French colonization in Algeria. Examples that tie the article in with current Palestinian and Israeli relations used in lecture include a trailer for 'Slingshot Hip-Hop' and clips from the film ' The Battle of Algiers//'.// 'Slingshot Hip-Hop' demonstrates the struggle of three hip-hop groups that must cross through several check points of divided Palestinian territories before they are able to perform together. 'The Battle of Algiers' shows how physical appearance changes the way individuals are treated at checkpoints. When the Arab women in the film 'westernize' their appearance, they are able to pass through checkpoints easily. In addition, the checkpoints prove that "political separation" does not have to be applied only by architectural means (AKA, the Wall in Palestine), but small minute details can have a huge impact on the way people move around a city. The Algerians are only allowed across the checkpoints if they have approval to do so, this manipulates the flow of people within the city. The Algerians reside in the Kasbah and the French have their own "mini-Paris" (The European Quarter) on the other side. This separation triggers violence which results in the bombings of three French sites in the city. This idea relates to the Israeli/Palestinian Wall. The Israeli's claim that the Wall was made for "security" reasons. The Wall does nothing but increase hate and triggers more anger between the two sides. This big architectural "Wall" not only separates the Palestinian villages from each other, but also makes it difficult for students and employees to reach their schools and places of word, respectively.

An example of physical separation comes from the article by Eyal Weizman which refers to Israel and Palestine. Weizman discusses how both nations are separated by a physical barrier that is placed on their land. This Wall was implemented by the Israeli government in an attempt to separate Israeli land from Palestinian land. The Wall was first designed to create an area of security, (Weizman, 163), but instead Israel went beyond their original plans and built a giant wall that completely separated the two areas. This wall can be credited as the worst form of separation, or as Weizman suggests worse than Apartheid in South Africa, (Weizman, 171). Concrete slabs, electronic fences, barbed wire and trenches comprise the wall to create a physical separation from Israelis and Palestinians, (Weizman, 161). Cameras, radar, observation posts and patrol roads have been implemented to use surveillance as a form of regulating behaviour, (Weizman, 161). Land, air and sub-terrain space is utilized to implement surveillance techniques on Palestinian communities.

__What does it enable us to do:__ This reading enables us to realize that power can be implemented both physically and psychologically. It also allows us to understand how people can be controlled without even realizing it through the use of semantics. The politics of separation allows us to see how a physical barrier can result in a psychological one by convincing each side that those on the other side of the Wall are to blame. The use of the wall causes individuals to believe that those on the other side should remain on the outside and are seen as a threat.

This reading also enables to show how society's power is affected by numbers. Where the Wall can be seen as a way of dividing and oppressing, it also shows that groups can be formed to influence those in charge through the examples of the Wall's constant rerouting. There were many influences for the Wall's "elasticity" such as those fighting to preserve archaeological sites, forests, the university boundaries, clinics etc (Weizman, 171). This lets us realize that power relations are dynamic and both sides can influence the other. Learning about the physical and psychological effects as well as the minority group influences can be compared to similar situations in modern society when dealing with government. Therefore, by studying Weizman writing of the Wall, a concrete example of a barrier, it enables us to understand the physical and psychological effects of modern "barriers" and their effects from strikes (garbage, transportation), protests, border partrol to security guards and steel fences. They all have a psychological effect to go along with their physical effect.

__What is its relation to visual culture:__

This reading enables us to understand how sites are shaped through architecture, people and power relations between citizens and governments. It exemplifies how people understand the city according to lived, perceived and conceived space and how these three elements come into play during times of turmoil. Moreover, it allows us to understand how the visible (i.e. visible wall) organizes the city. The physical is often considered more important that the psychological because everyone can see the visible, but only by living through the events can they truly understand the psychological implications. This, as a result, undermines the psychological which can be often more traumatizing than the physical.


 * Works Cited **

Eyal Weizman, “The Wall: Barrier Archipelagos and the Impossible Politics of Separation,” //Hollow Land//, London: Verso, 2007, pp. 161-182.

Michel Foucault, “The Subject and Power,” in Foucault, Power: Essential Works of Foucault, 1954-1984, volume 3, edited by James D. Faubion, The New Press, 2000: 326-348. Turpin, Etienne. "The Politics of Separation." VCC207 Lecture. University of Toronto, Mississauga. 23 Oct. 2009. Lecture.