Understanding begins with a robust pedagogy

    How and what I learn shapes my orientation towards you as well as your orientation towards me. The components of pedagogy that are expressed in our education define how the image of the "other" looks when we look in the mirror.

As such, building a sound pedagogy is an important issue given to its sensitivity as the first stage that shapes a healthy mentality for our generation since childhood. 

By Henry A. Giroux. www.worldpress.com 

In fact, the concept "Pedagogy" that included in the title sounds familiar when coming across stuff shows it. We, however, disregard the magic, the influence, and the logic it contains when passing by. It refers to a very obstructive matter even highly sensitive when we talk about what forms the orientations of our generation from scratch towards many various issues. Therefore, the more well-braided pedagogy those who in charge of shape, the well-oriented generation is. The topic is an interesting interview is written in Arabic conducted with a German expert in multicultural education, titled "Islam and immigration in the school books: Diversity as part and parcel of daily events."In her answer to the question "why don't school books deal much with the issues of Islam and immigration in Germany?" Viola B. Giorgi states that "there are currently three focal points are deliberated in research of the school books. Firstly, Islam is presented as an old and not contemporary. So, they usually focus on the dogmatic side until the medieval, while the development of Islam afterward isn't mentioned. Under these circumstances, pupils don't learn the comparison between religious rules and texts from one hand and cultural history on the other hand," and she continues,"Thus, there is a missing ring and there is a vacuum being shaped in the information between the medieval and modern age, between crusader wars and terrorist onslaughts on 11th Sep, which could be rapidly obtained by multimedia in schools. Because of this vacuum, there is a belief created indicates that the European modernity was set up (on the contrary of the fact) far away from the Islamic communities. In result, these communities stayed undeveloped. Secondly, the inclination towards portraying Islam and culture affected civilization as something unchanged, even the sub-differences within Islam aren't highlighted. Thirdly, Islam is often conceived as kind of rigid rules related to violence and oppression against the woman."
Indeed, and undoubtedly, such perception gives me today the complete answer of why some of my German friends or close colleagues whom I ran into in Germany last year kept asking me investigative questions about Islam and the horrors they had been watching and hearing about before bringing up this topic.
I, simply comment on, they know nothing since childhood because they didn't learn the correct and logic Islamic narrative, it's negligible in their pedagogy. Thus, they are blameless when relying on the novel of contemporary media outlets to learn about this topic which draws attention out to mostly negativity because I'm -as a daily media observer- totally aware of how do media instrumentally shape the perception not the people in this modern technological era where everything goes viral in the blink of an eye.
For me as a moderate Muslim, I do admit that my religious background has been drastically relapsed into the danger of rejectionism and insularity in many countries, this is incrementally taking place as long as there are heinous deeds are committed by irresponsible groups who attribute themselves to Islam.
As for those who oversee the German pedagogy, should be aware that Islam represents approximately 2.18 billion in the world over, it's not only related to the MENA region where insufferable crimes being committed in some war-torn areas which the influential media are breathlessly waiting for documenting them, to be portrayed as "this is the face of Islam" or an outmoded phenomenon. It's worth to be learned to build up an understanding with. Otherwise, how can those pupils encounter the existing fact around when they grow up.
Moreover, diversity within German society erects the demand for creating a role model of tolerance and serenity, like the head of the German Protestant Church bishop Heinrich Bedford-Strohm called last year for Islam to be taught at schools claiming that it provides Muslims with a chance to adopt a critical approach to their own religion, and the chance to introduce it for Germans themselves.
It's preferable to promulgate the fact that setting up a successful model of diversity in Germany is inevitably stirring up the need for facilitating channels for all faiths to be included in the pedagogy.
Professor Viola answered the question "how to do these impressions impact on pupils?" saying that "I here talk about conceptions that are difficult to compare between them and the existing stereotypes more than the situation between them and the previous misconception over things. They conceive migrants as lazy, unable, and needy people victims of the conditions of their societies. Therefore, the functions are often shaped in the school books from the perspective of dominant society."
As these books are dominated by this perspective, German pupils won't be able to pave their path to taste multiculturalism that their society is characterized by. I can't be judgmental to say that the confinement to this restrained perspective contributes to clamping down on critical thinking and understanding the other until is proven by Germans themselves. Probably, multicultural education which is one the most important issues that Germany should put into consideration is useless at this phase though I firmly assert its significance due to the critical junctures it passes through at this time.
Viola refers to how the exercises are applied in the curriculum determine pupil's certain resources like, "Ask one of the pupils from immigrant origins in your classroom about how did his/her family come to Germany?"
I think such exercise creates a status of alienation inside the educational periphery which transfers its impact to the surrounding communities as well, it keeps reminding the refugees or immigrants of the fact that they haven't German origins which "impedes developing the feeling of belonging," as she addresses.
Basically, the writers of pedagogy don't aimlessly put the teaching material without standardized educational regulations. For instance, considering the prevailing culture that distinguishes the cherished national identity, which is naturally every country has its rules of keeping this identity vivid. It, presumably, ought not to lead to obliterating the allocated place for other cultures as well. Therefore, those writers have the mechanisms to tackle the problem of pedagogy unbiasedly by considering the fact that German society is diverse and multiethnic necessitates strenuous efforts for building up peaceful cohabitation.
By this way, those writers contribute to putting up the hurdles in the way of enhancing mutual respect and understanding, because it's not always the social perspective that represents the entire society is correct. So that, I don't think that social perspective toward Blacks in the U.S.A. is an ideal treatment that the curriculum designers must include it.
Viola concludes by answering the question if there is an opportunity for reformation, "I hope that there would a transformation in the intellectual model," and continued "at least we hear that in the latest recommendations of the ministry of culture about the global diverse cultural education and school as of 2013."
I find Viola's orientation towards potential pedagogical reformations is valuable in the time Germany is in dire need for a holistic approach to redefining pedagogy for the growing generation. Germany with the refugee crisis is facing up the obstacle of ethnic integration not just with the new community that has just arrived from Syria but with other minorities at their differentiation. So, meeting the needs of coexistence based on the principles tolerance won't come about without considering the other as equally as the aborigines, which set off on the platform of pedagogy. 
Of course, it doesn't mean that sweeping the privacy of German culture, I don't endorse such hegemonical attempts whatever the reason is. 
I, finally, recommend supporting groundbreaking educational institutions under the auspices of religious or irreligious leaders to open up channels to be dedicated to dialogue among all diverse groups in Germany. By this stride, Germany can be a role model of peaceful coexistence. 

     


  

  
    

      

U.S. Tomahawk bombardment at Syrian military airbase is all about, "Take heed Mr. Putin we are here!"

  Does history repeat itself? This proverb has a funny story in my archive, it's related to my formal professor's antagonistic attitude towards it, he's a knowledgeable sociologist who lost his temper once when a student at the lecture argued the reason behind a historical phenomenon that he was asked about, "Well, my professor, it's simply attributed to the proverb, "history repeats itself." Then, happened what's unexpected when my professor reluctantly and deniably replied to this apparently unsubstantiated theory without bringing up the real postulates that prove it. Since then, this theory or proverb has been a title of a funny story. 

Getty/Reuters

Today in the morning, I woke up to find that my friend had posted on his FB wall;

"Is it a coincidence or well-concerted has something aftermath?! 

On April 6th, 1917, the U.S.A. declared war on Germany, and president Wilson justified it with moral motives accusing Germany of using chemical weapons. Therefore, it will be the war that will end all wars, because of breaking out wars in Europe.

On April 6th, 2017, the U.S.A. bombarded Syria, and president Trump justified it with moral motives as a reaction to using chemical weapons by the regime." 

This synchronization is thinkable sets a big question mark after the probing question, "is this synch well-orchestrated?" It may be ascribed to what my colleague once argued, "history repeats itself," and then full-stop to become a comic story.

In fact, and although the U.S. bombardment operations including airstrikes have been operative since December 2014 when the U.S. administration unanimously declared war on ISIL -has been extensively expanding in the Syrian territories- by allying with other countries to form Multinational Air War in Syria, and the latest U.S. Tomahawk missiles bombardment at Syrian airbase proved to have been a new phase of military confrontation between the international fighting forces in Syria.

Emotionally, President Trump stated, "Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad launched a horrible chemical weapons attack on innocent civilians. Assad choked out the lives of helpless men, women, and children. It was a slow and brutal death for so many. Even beautiful babies were cruelly murdered in this very barbaric attack."

In reaction to this uncoordinated stride, president Putin said, "the strike had seriously damaged ties between Moscow and Wahington," and regarded it, "an aggression against a sovereign nation." Thus, he declared the suspension of the agreement that prevents direct conflict with American forces in Syria.

In the light of this new transformation, I can argue that the U.S. military escalation won't be a reliable to step forward which carries a promise over into new cooperative relations among fighting factions that Russia and the U.S.A lead, to sit down on one table for negotiating this crisis. On the contrary, as had been proven regarding the history of a long series of the U.S.- led military interventions without excluding Russia from this cycle as well, that these overseas military operations mostly have been implemented away from the approval of supranational bodies, and have never brought about peace except if it was brought about through an understanding made by conflicting sides. 
However, I can't deny when NATO military interventions in Bosnia-Herzegovina contributed to trickling down the Serbian military power in favor of stricken Bosnian Muslim minority in 1995 and 1999 consecutively, which ended the bloodshed. 

The U.S. recent attack in Syria came to fulfill mainly the purpose of showing that the military balance is not overburdened in favor of Russia, we shall not forget that the U.S.A represents NATO in this region, and needless to explain the far-sighted goals of this military coalition. Consequently, the U.S. sixth fleet shouldn't miss out on the chance of showing off its muscles in the Mediterranean Sea.  

I, also, think that with this direct military confrontation with Russia doubles the intensity of military competition. For instance, Moscow straight away ordered more reinforcements for Syrian arsenal, on the other hand, U.S. Congress will keep organizing the same activities on the ground by pumping more weaponry into the cells of U.S.-led insurrectionist groups if there wouldn't be another direct well-backed military bombardment from the Meditteranean Sea again.
The scene of the Cold War is quite ostensible, who says that prolonged war ended long years ago with the collapse of former USSR?! It's baseless!
The question is, why doesn't the U.S.A. mobilize an international campaign for drumming up influential voices at U.N. or ICC ... etc, to finally decide on "No more Blood-socked war machines in Syria!" Didn't it peacefully intervene in Northern Ireland communal conflict when former president Clinton sent the United States Special Envoy for Northern Ireland in 1990s? Or this matter confined to the doctrine of conflict between interests and values in which the military choice always tops the list? Why peaceful choice is unlucky in managing the international crises? Or, rather than, when has peaceful choice been remarkable in the archives of history? maybe for very few times. 
The U.S. administration is carefully watching out how the phenomenon of Tomahawk will end up, the assumption is either the closest allies of Assad's regime back it up with high-range weaponry especially Moscow which will drift the situation out of well-meaning diplomatic control where a fierce fatal military confrontation will break out to include Moscow and Washington directly, or a rational solution will suddenly come about to end the crisis which I pretend the Sudanese the Sudanese Paradigm in 2011 would be reiterated in Syria. 
Taking a look at the military situation today, we stick up with the question, how will the crisis be resolved with the status quo? Who controls Syria today? it's incredible how has the terrorist Islamic State seized these formidable acres? Maybe Tomahawk arsenal would flip the situation over sooner or later to defeat ISIL? Then, what's the proposal to close down this bloody civil war?
Really, it's mind-boggling and I don't know how catastrophic the division would be if the grand sponsors of this war planning it where one of radical opposing factions will be a ruler side-by-side Assad who I think won't be ousted because he has been that role model ruler in the Middle East for many international aspects in terms of maintaining on security equation in this region since 1967. Therefore, it's uneasy to leave him. 

Source: Syria-war-map 2017

This is my analysis at the moment, hopefully, none of these imaginative potentials above will take place as analysists pretend. Otherwise, the inflammable situation is conducive to such tragic end.

  

 It was an interesting course though the dissatisfying note!

   How impressive when you find yourself owning the keys of other cultures! How amazing when you have that capacity to go smoothly into the minds of those from the other cultures! How incredible the feeling of tasting multiculturalism! 

This scene was the last moment in the class. It shows me (the gentleman who wears the tie) including our teacher in between us (two guys on her right hand and vice versa) and also my colleagues. Taken at Goethe Institute- Ramallah

Indeed, these expressions are faithfully coming out of my heart, make me energetic and very zealous to explore more of what's unexplored through this linguistic bridge. Because, I totally believe in what the Japanese writer Haruki Murakami said, "Learning another language is like becoming another person."

Yet, nothing remarkable has been accomplished with the end of the first part of the second intermediate phase that classified (B1) of this majestic German language. The only thing I could say is that am glad whatever was the outcome. I, however, inwardly not that much satisfied if comes to show the real mathematical estimation which reminds me of many previous disappointing linguistic experiences. 

It's naturally to pass through this disappointment in our tireless attempts to get to the summit. Otherwise, success won't come out without failed rounds might be sometimes intractable to overcome. This is the nature of life, it's a matter of luck. This luck, however, contingent on an assiduously arranged work to get the intended success. 

Eventually, tasting a new culture is enjoyable despite being complex at some point, but it doesn't freak you out as long as you have a noble goal looking forward to achieving which the language is your ship to embark on. But, if that goal is waiting for you in the realm of other culture where language is the only weapon to count on in the mid of battle for breaking down the barriers, then, it requires you not giving in to the impediments, just go after it.
What's the mystery behind this language?
At first, this fact makes the theme thinkable when we find out that German (Deutsch) is a widely spoken language in central Europe by approximately 118 million, including native and second language speakers. It dates back to at least the 6th century AD. It derives most of its vocabularies from Germanic branch of  Indo-European language family, part is derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from English and French.
Structurally and grammatically, every language has a special identity, German has a unique wonderment I have impinged on thus far. It's like an endless thread, the more you go into, the more intertwined complex elements you delve into where you can't make sense of what's going on around you at the first glance! So, you get stuck, then you get out, you get back again, and you move on, and on, and on in desperate attempts to figure out this mysterious periphery. It's an inevitable upshot for the newborn in the language.
At this phase, the leads I came up with provide me with a modest sensation to describe an open-ended perception towards German. I can just bring up some funny adventures were deliberately made to stir up the desire of catching up with this language all the time whether inside the classroom or outside. Otherwise, I felt that frustration burdened me down in the battlefield where German grammar alone guarantees my fatal defeat per se!
It's imaginable, and of course, it's quite clear when considering, for instance, the article "the" has three types in German "Der, Die, and Das" which are used in 16 forms according to different rules of feminine, masculine, and neutral that you must abide by. It's mind-boggling and leaves us wondering how can we distinguish if this concept classified as one of the aforementioned types rapidly and on time? My German teacher after explaining a bit the answer said, "Das ist Deutsch!" (This is German!).
Learning a second or a third language is totally confined to the merit, and my meritocracy is a relentless fondness for being a multi-lingual person. And, of course, nothing cost less, it requires time, efforts, and money ... etc. Thus, enjoying multiculturalism and showing off with impressive linguistic capacities cost you sacrificing.
I, actually, used to have a great deal of courage from my multi-lingual sister who fluently speaks four languages, she is insatiable with this, to the degree prompted her to inform me recently that she's looking towards owning the fifth language. All due respect for courageous and brilliant people!
The problem I encountered is the vulnerability in managing eagerness of learning the language wisely. The nature of my research in German affairs opens many channels up where German all the time is present, so, I can't wait for enough to explore what's written in a certain corner which ends me up confused with enormous complicated concepts that supposedly useless in my level, I could barely speak German.
German has its share in the writings of Mark Twain, who showed his ominous orientation towards his German experience as this majestic language is really as bad as he explained more than a century ago when argued in his essay "The Awful German Language,"

"The inventor of this language complicated it all he could. When we wish to speak of our "good friend or friends," in our enlightened tongue, we stick to the one form and have no trouble or hard feeling about it; but with the German tongue it is different. When a German gets his hands on an adjective, he declines it, and keeps on declining it until the common sense is all declined out of it. It is as bad as Latin."

And he concludes arguing that reforming German with remedies that he explains his readiness to do so through some suggestions,

"In the first place, I would leave out the Dative case. It confuses the plurals; and, besides, nobody ever knows when he is in the Dative case, except he discover it by accident and then he does not know when or where it was that he got into it, or how long he has been in it, or how he is going to get out of it again. The Dative case is an ornamental folly- it's better to discard it."

Conspicuously, German leaves an impact that sometimes makes learners run down given to cognitive complexity that not all people have good mental capacities to cope up with. Hence, Mark Twain ended up suggesting some modifications to the language in order to make it easier. I think he hadn't an expectancy that what he was thinking about is a figment of the imagination. It's a language spoken by millions of masses transferred it to this generation as they had used it. So, we still grapple with "Dative." Can we erase the fact that "Vladimir Lenin was the founding father of Bolshevik Revolution of 1917" from the historical documents?
Practically, as a German learner, I see he was somewhat right, let's take an example of how does it grammatically work in the following table;

It clarifies how the adjective (applied on male personal pronoun "Sein means His") before the noun is being changed based on the grammatical status. This is a constant draft that the inventors of German Language set up and mustn't be overruled because it's applied on millions of vocabularies. It seems a draconian rule for Mark Twain!

To make it more understandable, the whole things written in the table are obligatory to apply on every single German word. Otherwise, your German is wrong. Beginning with the first column on the left some abbreviations are put consecutively (Nom. "Nominative," Acc. "Accusative," Dat. "Dative," and Gen. "Genetiv"). The sentences are shown in the table can be simply used in English as such;
Singular, from "Nom" to "Dat" cases (two forms for each one): This is a nice friend. His nice friend.
For "Gen": Of this nice friend. Of his nice friend.
Also the same thing with neuter, but here another word is used (Kid); This is a nice kid. His nice kid.
"Gen": Of this nice kid. Of his nice kid.
Plural, from "Nom" to "Dat": these are nice kids. His nice kids.
"Gen": Of these nice kids. Of his nice kids.
But, hold on! the story is incomplete yet, there are cases with the other pronouns (Sie-she, Ihr-you, sie-they (plural), Sie-she or he (formal), euch-you all, and wir-we)

Do you understand now why Mark Twain was upset? Why should we constrain ourselves with this linguistic process as he claims? I could say as my teacher once said, "Das ist Deutsch!" Accept it or leave it.
On the other hand, there are trolls who fiercely defending German believing that it's a majestic language like me. As James Lane states,

"Well, Mr. Twain, you have been dead for over a century now, so maybe it's about time to have another look at your marvelous essay and see it anything has changed in the intervening years. Most of your suggestions for how to slim German down into a more manageable tongue have been ignored. I regret to inform you that the Dative case is well and truly alive, and in fact it is the Genitive case -the one which adds the sneaky -S- to its nouns as in "Wegen des Regens," "because of the rain,-" which seems most under threat."

 Going back to what said that Japanese writer, I feel that owning another language makes me a different person, I could touch upon this transformation.  The last experience at the company where I work is one of many I've gone through, which is indicative, my boss called me in to oversee an oral translation meeting between a Bulgarian delegation of businessmen has been visiting us for setting up a cooperative business, the head of board introduced himself mentioning, "I spent 7 years in Berlin where I studied business administration." After translating to my staff, I commented jokingly in German, "Ich vermute, dass Sie sprechen sehr gut Deutsch," "I guess you speak very good German." He surprisingly replied, "Natürlich spreche ich deutsch, aber wo hast du Deutsch gelernt?" I answered him in German while my colleagues were staring astonishingly at me and their facial expressions insinuated that "Wow you speak German also Nasser, we really had no idea." They actually don't know precisely the fact how poor still my German is! But, understandable.
Then, we chatted together in German over the plenary session whenever we had intervals. His reaction is actually familiar for me, it ascribed to stereotypes of how do people in the West portray us in the East as we still live in the darkness, or in a nomadic life where no modern technology, knowledge and so on and so forth. I totally have an aware about this fact, so, probably, the first inquiry he came up with is how come a guy from the other hemisphere or what's so-called MENA region speaks German or trying to? 
I really don't know why this perception overflying my head, maybe it's a mere obsession caused by getting infected of the Orientalism of Edward Said and his argument about Eastern-Western civilizational links. This businessman has never been to Palestine before. This, indeed, gives more courage.
By the way, I run into people with the same thinking from time to time. For instance, we have to talk to soldiers at Israeli checkpoints to deal with different matters like permits and other vetting measures we are exposed to. I don't speak Hebrew, many of them have asked me this question, "Where and how did you learn English?" It seemingly this a globally spoken language is weird to be spoken by a Palestinian about whom he/she used to nurture his/her mind with negative stereotypes.  
Anyhow, this German course carries the hope for more promising linguistic experiences in the foreseeable future. I'm dissatisfied with my performance at the moment. However, with perseverance, everything will hopefully be perfect.