Identify the characteristics beliefs and practises associated with Krishna Essay Example for Free

Identify the characteristics beliefs and practises associated with Krishna Essay And what is the significance for a devotee of Krishna. Krishna is believed to be Vishnus eight incarnations. Vishnu represents the preserver status in the Trimurti but is more frequently appreciated in his incarnation as Krishna. Krishna appears in many mythological stories but is most famously remembered for his part in the Bhagvad Gita. This scripture is believed to have been spoken by Krishna himself. Krishna is seen as a king and a conqueror of demons but his followers appear particularly fond of his childhood and youth. His love affair with the beautiful cowherdess, Radha is immensely popular with his followers. In many Indian temples dedicated to Krishna, his followers visit (Darshan) his images and present water for washing, drinking, clothes, flowers, incense and offer praise during their puja. Chanting and singing the Hare Krishna mantra is a very popular activity found in temples. The maha-mantra is a transcendental sound vibration which awakens love of God in the heart and mind. As with all other activities, music is considered a sacred offering to God. Murtis of Krishna are ritually installed temples, as it is believed that it is actually full of divine spirit of Krishna. Krishnas pictures often portray him as the young flute player, surrounded by cows, teasing the gopi girls, or occasionally as the mischievous friend and even as the charioteer who accompanies Arjuna. These different images illsurate the different forms of relations a Hindu can have with god, either as best friend, a lover or mischievous son. To achieve an understanding of Krishna it important to be aware of the events in the Bhagvad Gita. Arjuna is preparing for a battle in which he will be fighting against his own members of the family. He feels that this is morally wrong and has conversation with his charioteer. His charioteer, Krishna is the supreme lord in disguise. It is here; Krishna explains the path to self liberation and to discovering the inner atman. Krishna points out that the soul does not die in battle, but moves into a new one. The soul can not be pierced, it can not be parched, it can not be wetted, it is everwhere, immovable He reminds Arjuna of his dharma and the effects of Karma. Krishna goes further on to state that is not action itself that should be avoided but the results of it. One should not think of particular rewards for their actions but offer selflessly to the Lord. This is the function of Karma yoga. Having taught this he goes onto mentioning different paths such as jnana and yoga and presentating the need for reaching a state of samadhi through knowledge and devotion. The festival calendar varies region to region throughout India. The festival to celebrate the birth of Krishna is held between August and September and is called Janammastami. The bhagvad Purana which focuses on how to be yogi is often read out. Krishna unlike some of the other supreme deities, acknowledged that there were those who were marginalized such as the low caste and women and therefore highlighted that there were many different paths for each Hindu to reach liberation in his own way. Krishna is encompasses the perfect balance between performing his dharma in such a way that good karma is continually repeated. Through performing jnana and bhakti yoga, a devotee can offer selfless acts, which will be received with Krishnas grace and blessings. Therefore Krishnas love for Radha is the perfect example for any Hindu to achieve a harmonious union with the Lord and achieve moksha.

Masculine and Feminine Spaces Within the Home

Masculine and Feminine Spaces Within the Home This essay will analyse the historical relevance of the idea of masculine and feminine spaces within the home and whether these ideas are still apparent in a 21st century South African context. This analysis will be done by using the ideals placed on the Victorian Household and the psychological gender of the spaces, through looking into key spaces within the De Villiers family home and how the design interventions used in their home are relevant or irrelevant to the idea of masculine and feminine spaces. Through looking at both Public and Private Spaces within the house this extent will be analysed. The Victorian era is an era that has held a lot of symbolism to our current culture. It has been the cause of some great debate about the gender roles on men and women for centuries (Forty 1986: 110). The Victorian era held the strongest reasons for questions to be asked about the house and what went on in doors (Forty 1986: 109). Our current society still lives by some of the rules that were placed into the home environment, though a few roles may be reversed or neutralised. When looking at the key culture of the Victorian era the person has to analyse the middle class to upper class households that held more than three rooms and had rooms that were gender orientated (Forty 1986: 106). â€Å"As domestic environments have come to be regarded as signs of the occupants characters, people have gone to great lengths to present a satisfactory account of themselves.† (Forty 1986: 106) As people we base a large amount of what we think of a person or family on their living conditions and therefore we project the desired opinion that we want from others onto our own living spaces, to be perceived in a certain way. This was a mentality that was seen in the Victorian era as well and predicted the future of you and you relatives (Forty 1986: 102). The Home was seen as a class symbol that would project the wealth and status of the family that lived within (Forty 1986: 101). This was an important part of knowing who to socialise with and what their personal worth would be to you. Sexualities can only be adequately evaluated in relation to their broader cultural contexts (Smyth 1992:20). This can determine if one or both partners in a heterosexual relationship tend to be either more feminine or masculine in the relationship. Cavallaro (2001:115) states that: â€Å"Anti-essentialists do not deny that men and women are biologically and anatomically different. However, they argue that masculinity and femininity are not timeless realities grounded in natural laws but actually cultural concepts that change significantly through time and space.† The sex of the person does not affect the gender role that they have. How that will affect the relationship within the home in terms of the interior style according to the gender role that is more predominant. The De Villiers family home is a household that is commonly found in South African, a mix of Afrikaans plaas and English City mentality (De Villiers 2015). The mother was brought up in Johannesburg and the father on a farm in Nelspruit (De Villiers 2015). The household consists of the mother, Debbi and the father, Lewis with their three sons over twenty-one living with them (De Villiers 2015). The family has a love for hosting friends and family in their spaces, this has made some design choices crucial in the house (De Villiers 2015). Debbi Studied to be a grade 5 teacher, but after having her first son chose to raise their children as a stay at home Mother (De Villiers 2015). At this stage the father had a big part in the design choices and certain things like floral patterns and colour were not allowed to play a role in the communal spaces (De Villiers 2015). Debbi decided to do her own curtains for the house and this soon after became a business that was bringing in more money th an the construction Job that Lewis had (De Villiers 2015). They soon started to work together and this is when the change in the house happened and the chance for Debbi to bring Hints of florals into the house (De Villiers 2015). The house is over 85 years old and was renovated eleven years ago to modernise some of the feature and add to some of the spaces in the house (De Villiers 2015). The family hosts a large collection of inherited antiques that have been reupholstered to suit the style of the house (De Villiers 2015). The mix between contemporary and old form a balance in this neutral colour scheme home. The latest room to be redecorated was the television room in February 2015 (De Villiers 2015). The exterior is a common South African face brick exterior. In the Victorian time the men had domain over what the exterior of the house was to be this was because the exterior world was a man’s world (Forty 1986: 104). A masculine exterior was seen as superior as it improved the power status of the family that lived within the house, if the exterior was more feminine the house was seen as bordering on a childish expression (Ehrnberger, Rà ¤sà ¤nen Ilstedt 2012: 89). The exterior of the De Villiers h ouse is masculine but the garden softens the exterior and makes the overall appearance more neutral. As one enter the house you walk onto a raised platform that forms the passage to the private areas of the house and the public areas, this can be seen on the diagrammatic in Figure 1. The entrance looks into the open plan Formal living room (Figure 1 and 2). This room would be the equivalent to the music room and drawing room in a Victorian household. The space is divided into three defined segments: the first a Lounge area that is symmetrical with Colour making the space asymmetrical, seen in figure 2; a seating area of two wingback chairs that has a table with family pictures and other memorabilia, seen in Figure 2; and a Music area that has the piano and a music stand, the piano has memorabilia on top of it, seen in Figure 2. The soft furnishings are in a majority neutral palate with red cushions and pale blues or florals (Figure 2 3) being brought through, this a feminine way of decorating the space (Kinchin 1996: 13). The dark woods of all the hard furniture is a masculine trai t (Kinchin 1996: 13). â€Å"Boundaries between inner psyche and outward aesthetic expression were growing ever more indistinct† (Sidlavskas 1996:70). The overall design of the room is more feminine with the Photographs and displays of plants and embellishments throughout the space, these embellishments of the room can be seen as a nostalgic element of a more feminine nature of remembering things from the past (Morley 2002: 58). The next space is the formal dining room that is off the kitchen and Formal living room, as can be seen in Figure 1. Figure 4 shows the entire space of the dining room. Mainly done in dark furnishings with a few decorative items. The room is more masculine with a strong contrast to the Formal living room. The Fire place has a feminine look to it and has been in the house since it was originally built. The furniture is all repurposed family antiques. The pictures on the walls are prints and painting of men. These elements make the room more masculine and as it is more purpose decorated, therefore it has a more serious feel to it. This space is not a common used space and is kept for special occasions where in the Victorian era it would have been the most used room and the biggest status symbol in the house (Kinchin 1996: 16). This use of the dining room would also allude to the Victorian ideal of the saying ‘man of the House’ and this would therefore need the space to com e across more masculine to show the ownership of the house unit. The outdoor patio space that is off the dining room, seen in Figure 1, is a space used to celebrate family events. Morley (2002: 19) talks about the need of the family to part take in rituals (Birthdays, Easter and Christmas celebrations) in certain areas of the house as a way of showing an â€Å"appearance of proper family relations†. This space in the De Villiers house is the Main patio, which has been designed to be an entertainment area. This area was added to the house ten years ago and has been used to celebrate a wide range of events, as well as a favourite space to spend time with one another. This space is a multi-purpose space that brings in the families love of nature into the space with the garden bordering the space. This natural element is seen as a feminine side and with the curving chandeliers and lighter colours. the overall space has more of a feminine feel to the space. The Family Sitting room that is off the dining room, seen in Figure 1, is the most used space by the entire family. Decorated in a Postmodern style that is emotionally decorated (Figure 6) and not functionally decorated, â€Å"stressing a unique and ‘daring’ combination of heterogeneous furniture elements all favoured for their authentic individual merits† (Cieraad 1999: 9). This space was redesigned in February and therefore the gender role of the room has changed. All the dark wood furnishings have been limited and some painted white to give a softness to the hard furniture. The walls have been repainted in a neutral colour, while the colour blue has been brought in with florals and patterns to balance masculine and feminine in the room (Figure 6). The room that was predominately the son’s haven therefore more masculine, has become a shared neural space for the whole families use. The son’s bedrooms are each different and match each of their personalities. The oldest son’s bedroom (figure 18) is bedroom 3. The colour scheme is very similar to the rest of the house with a more neutral gender role. The middle son’s bedroom (figure 15 and 16) is simply decorated with blues and a few items on his desk. The youngest son (figure 17) has the most items in his bedroom and has a large about of memorabilia in the room. The colour scheme is blue and green. The boys have masculine rooms. â€Å"We must recognise that often home is ‘a contested domain: an arena where differing interests struggle to define their own spaces within which to localise and cultivate their identity’† stated by Ehrnberger (Rà ¤sà ¤nen Ilstedt 2012: 57). Each of the sons are trying to find their own identity in their individual rooms and therefore their rooms are a contrast to the overall style of the house. The main bedroom suit that is off the main passageway next to bedroom 1, seen in Figure 1, is the haven in the house for the husband and wife. Figure 7 to 14 show the entire suit. Each space has a different gender role and this shows who the space was designed more for the people living within it. The bedroom shown in figure 7, 8 and 9, is less ornamentally designed then the public spaces. The furnishings are in mainly neutral colours with very little patterning on them. Each night stand has a different appeal. There is a small patio and seating area for the husband and wife to spend time with each other in their shared space. The wife’s night stand (figure 7) is round with a table cloth making it softer, it has a plant and a small lamp on the table along with a few books and other items. Along with her dressing table it marks her individual space within the room. The husband’s nightstand (figure 8) has a chandelier hanging over it, the stand is made of a dark wood and has piles of books on the stand. The husband’s side of the bed is closest to his study. â€Å"The surface of a room, the shape of an object, its colour, can inspire sympathy or even antipathy†¦ objects become signs of a great number of small actions† Paul Bourget (Sidlauskas 1996:73). The individual spaces within the shared spaces are strongly defied unlike the rest of the house. The rooms off the bedroom each have more masculine traits. The study (Figure 10 and 11) off the main bedroom is overflowing with clutter and books. This space seems messy but is a well-used space and is the husband’s main space for himself in the house. The atrium off the space shows the need for individual space in the garden area for him as well. The bathroom seen in figure 13 and 14, shows a more masculine space with the use of dark woods along the neutral colours. There is very little decoration other than two paintings and a chair that has been placed in the space. The bathroom is more of a place of function then emotion, making the space more masculine (Morley 2002: 57). The De Villiers house was designed in a French style that would lead one to think that the femininity of that style of design would be the most prominent gender role within their house. This house shows that through the people the space is made a home and their personal gender roles, along with the functionality of each space determines the overall gender role of each space. Rothchild (1999: 11) talks about the change in ownership roles of the house due to the workplace becoming more feminine. This allows one to see that the family unit has a more balanced Gender role household due to Debbie and Lewis working together as co-owners of a business, though Debbie now has a more design choice in the house. The private spaces applies to the individual that spends the most amount of time within that space. While the public space tend to be more masculine with feminine touches or elements being brought in to balance the space. The exterior of this house does not have an effect on the overall gender role within the house. From my personal perspective, the De Villiers house tends to hold a more balanced amount of masculine and feminine gender spaces, though feminine elements outweigh the masculine elements in the public spaces. The overall design style of the house stays consistent throughout the space.

Capital Punishment Essay: Incidental Issues :: Argumentative Persuasive Topics

Incidental Issues and Capital Punishment      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  This essay gives consideration to some of the incidental issues in the death penalty debate: cost, relative suffering, brutalization, and others.    Many nondecisive issues are associated with capital punishment. Some believe that the monetary cost of appealing a capital sentence is excessive (1). Yet most comparisons of the cost of life imprisonment with the cost of life imprisonment with the cost of execution, apart from their dubious relevance, are flawed at least by the implied assumption that life prisoners will generate no judicial costs during their imprisonment. At any rate, the actual monetary costs are trumped by the importance of doing justice.    Others insist that a person sentenced to death suffers more than his victim suffered, and that this (excess) suffering is undue according to the lex talionis (rule of retaliation) (2). We cannot know whether the murderer on death row suffers more than his victim suffered; however, unlike the murderer, the victim deserved none of the suffering inflicted. Further, the limitations of the lex talionis were meant to restrain private vengeance, not the social retribution that has taken its place. Punishment-- regardless of the motivation-- is not intended to revenge, offset, or compensate for the victim's suffering, or to measured by it. Punishment is to vindicate the law and the social order undermined by the crime. This is why a kidnapper's penal confinement is not limited to the period for which he imprisoned his victim; nor is a burglar's confinement meant merely to offset the suffering or the harm he caused his victim; nor is it meant only to offset the advantage he gained (3).    Another argument heard at least since Beccaria (4) is that, by killing a murderer, we encourage, endorse, or legitimize unlawful killing. Yet, although all punishments are meant to be unpleasant, it is seldom argued that they legitimize the unlawful imposition of identical unpleasantness. Imprisonment is not thought to legitimize kidnapping; neither are fines thought to legitimize robbery. The difference between murder and execution, or between kidnapping and imprisonment, is that the first is unlawful and undeserved, the second a lawful and deserved punishment for an unlawful act. The physical similarities of the punishment to the crime are irrelevant. The relevant difference is not physical, but social (5).    We threaten punishments in order to deter crime. We impose them not only to make the threats credible but also as retribution (justice) for the crimes that were not deterred.

A Brief look at the Physiological Basis and Neurological Effect of Brain Tumors :: Biology Essays Research Papers

A Brief look at the Physiological Basis and Neurological Effect of Brain Tumors I've always been interested in medicine, and more specifically, in surgery, but I never really knew which realm of surgery appealed to me the most. So I set out on a quest to find where my future in medicine may lay. I spent time with an orthopedic surgeon and loved the carpentry-like style of the trade, and I spent a week with a general surgeon and watched him fix hernias and cut out moles. But the surgery that struck me the hardest, and the one that I vowed to stay the furthest from, was neurosurgery. The idea of carefully manipulating someone's nervous system in order to give them back the most basic of physical abilities, that of control over one's body, was almost too much to handle. Of all the systems of the body, the nervous system seems to be the most delicate of all. Yet only now, in this class, do I realize the incredible balancing that goes on between so many different components to make the nervous system functional. Furthermore, any alteration to that balance can cause a host of serious problems that could render the nervous system as a whole, or even part of it, completely useless. Tumors are an excellent example of how the balance can be upset, and are one of the most well known of the afflictions to the brain. There are several different kinds of tumors that effect the brain, each is based on what kind or kinds of cells it developed from in the brain. The four main kinds of cells that are effected are astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, ependymal cells, and microglial. Tumors in each of these cell types are referred to as astrocytomas, oligodendrogliomas, microgliomas or primary nervous system lymphoma, and ependymomas. Although tumors can arise from these nervous system cells and others, approximately 65% of brain tumors are astrocytomas. The actual cause of any given tumor is difficult if not impossible to determine, but tumors are generally caused by one of or a combination of three things: radiation, chemicals, and viral agents. Tumors can also be caused during mistakes in DNA replication, but this accounts for a smaller incidence of brain tumors. These genetic alterations can often be harmless, resulting in the effected cell dying and being disposed of by the organism. But on occasion, the effected gene is one that is responsible for having a cell lie dormant , oncogenes, or one that is in place to regulate growth, tumor suppresser genes.

Teaching Philosophy :: Education Teaching Teachers Essays

Teaching Philosophy Teaching is not about being a figure of authority, being in control or the adage, â€Å"June, July and August.† Those who are in the education profession with those goals in mind will not be effective teachers and they fail those who find themselves at his or her mercy in the classroom. The most effective and successful teachers are those who found it was all they ever wanted to do; found a passion for it that lasted through the tedious process of educating by state standards to make it their profession. They are â€Å"called† to teach, another adage in regard to those who are obviously doing what they are best suited to do, something they have a passion for. Anyone can be taught to play a musical instrument to some degree or other but only those with the talent seemingly born in them will become masters of their instruments. It truly takes more than practice and the same is true for the teaching profession; it requires a love and born in talent. Regard for the students is a requirement, not an option. First and foremost there has to be a full understanding that they are people, unique individuals with differing characteristics. It would be an awful mistake of anyone to try to mold them into an idea of what someone thinks they should be. Differences are a fact; they must be accepted as the individuals must be accepted for the wonderful part they play in making the diversity or our society such as it is. If everyone fit the â€Å"perfect mold† life would be an endless drudgery. My experiences to date have taught me that what we see on the surface, or what we think we see, is not always the truth. Our senses do after all fail us so often. The seemingly inattentive student that continually makes comments or asks questions is not an annoyance, he is learning his way. The quiet student in the back that appears to be listening and absorbing everything could very well be hearing nothing except the thoughts in her head about totally unrelated topics.

Purinex Inc. Case Study Essay

Executive Summary 1. Statement of Problem This study is commissioned to analyze the Purinex, Inc. financing plan, which is related to determine the best financing alternative for the company in securing additional cash needed to establish a partnership with a large-capitalization pharmaceutical firm. Gilad Harpaz, Purinex’s chief financial officer believes a partnership deal could bring the company to execute its mission, developing drugs for the treatment of sepsis and diabetes. However, the problem facing Purinex is that—while there is a chance for Purinex to secure a partner in the next four to twelve months, Purinex just has available cash to last around 11 months; furthermore, there is still a very strong chance that a different partnership would occur about one year later. In short, Purinex is now facing the challenge of the lack of capital to reach the partnership deals. According to the case, Gilad Harpaz is considering three options for Purinex to solve the problem. To help identify the feasibility and attractiveness of these financing alternatives, this study is based on the decision tree approach to evaluate the options. 2. Discussion As described in the case, firstly, the partnership deal would entitle Purinex to receive a combination of up-front fees, milestone payments, and royalties for the treatment of either sepsis or diabetes (see Appendix 1 for the detailed information). Secondly, due to the lack of capital, there are three financing options: 1) raising a one-time round financing from a Venture Capital (VC) firm, 2) simply waiting in the expectation that either sepsis deal or the diabetes deal would come through, and 3) undertaking another one-time round financing from a number of angel investors. It is needed to note that when Purinex seeks external funding investments either from VC firm or angel investing, the investors will acquire certain equity in Purinex (see Appendix 2 for the expected ownership percentage). Nevertheless, if Purinex chooses to maintain 100 percent control, it would lose the opportunity to secure a third-party partnership which is anticipated to occur about one year later. The reason is that Purinex has only $700,000 cash on hand which is good only for around 11 months. It is important to note that this study is based on the following assumption—the  combination of monies for each partnership deal will be received once Purinex successfully secures a partner. In addition, the probability of establishing a partnership with a pharmaceutical company for the wait-6-months option is estimated to be 25% since the achieved partnership chance for the next four to twelve months is about 75% (see Appendix 3 for the calculation). Furthermore, the expected value (EV) for each financing option is derived from the calculation of the EV of the partnership deal, and it is based on the standpoint of the founder’s equity interest. As a result, the decision tree for Purinex’s financing plan is shown in Appendix 4. One can notice that based on the potential return and risk level, the financing alternative for waiting 6 months is ranked as the highest risk option in terms of offering the highest potential return. The reason is that Purinex does not have to share its earning with other parties. Thus, once the partnership agreement is reached, Purinex’s founders can obtain the entire EV of $325 million. However, the major risk associated with this option is Purinex has far less opportunity to secure a partner. While there is a 75% chance for VC and angel financing options to achieve the partnership deal, this option just has a 25% probability. Furthermore, the VC and angel financing options still hav e the other chance—a 95% probability—to secure a different partnership about one year later. With regard to the VC option and the Angel option, it seems like the VC option provides a higher return for the sources of cash since this option just takes 3 months to complete the process and could offer Purinex $10 million, which enables Purinex to survive another 15 years. In addition, the VC option will improve 10% for the terms of either drug deal. However, this study would consider financing from angel investors is more feasible and attractive for Purinex based on the analysis of decision tree. The decision tree shows the fact that VC firms would require 40 percent of the equity in Purinex, resulting in the situation of having less EV. Perhaps the most important factor is that there is a very strong chance—a 98.75% possibility (100% – [25% * 5%])—that a partnership deal will come through during the following two years, and thereby raising $2 million form angel investors is quite enough for Purinex to secure the partnership deal. In addition to the analysis of decision tree, there is still a qualitative consideration that has impact on structuring the decision. Indeed, with the external financing,  the existing owners share composition will be changed that would trigger the control power issue and impose a significant number of restrictions on Purinex, including preferences for board appointments, antidilution rights liquidity, participation, and negative covenants. Therefore, choosing the angel option would offset this negative impact because Purinex’s ownership percentage will still be 89.74%, which is much greater than a 60% for the VC option. 3. Recommendation Fundamentally, the goal of Gilad Harpaz is to seek the best financing alternative for Purinex in securing additional funds in order to accomplish the partnership deals and maximize the value of Purinex today. Based on the presented analysis of decision tree, a major finding of this study is that Gilad Harpaz should try to adopt and implement the angel financing strategy which has a maximum EV along with lower risk. However, with this strategy, the issue of dilution in the founder’s equity interest is still needed to be considered. In addition, in order to pursue the future growth, Purinex should try to employ the partnership strategy to generate more sales at a short period of time. Hence, this study believes, based on the decision tree approach, the best financing alternative for Purinex is financing with Angel investors along with the partnership strategy.

What made peace hard in the Arab-Israeli conflict

The peace treaty between Israel and Palestine was signed by the two presidents, Yitzhak Rabin (Israeli president) and Yasser Arafat (Palestinian president) in 1993. The peace treaty didn't last for very long because the two countries as a whole didn't like the peace treaty because lots of different groups didn't agree with it. When the Israelis were given land in Palestine by the US, They were outraged. They had owned it for almost the last 2000 years. The Palestinians didn't see why they had to give up their land to the Israelis. What made it worse was the fact that the Israelis took over Jerusalem (sacred place to both Israelis and Palestinians) during the war in 1967. The Israeli Jews wanted Jerusalem because that is where the Wailing Wall is (the last standing wall of their ancient mosque). The Palestinian Muslims wanted Jerusalem because they believe that their prophet Mohammed descended to heaven there. The fact that both sides wanted Jerusalem made peace difficult because they wanted a place that is holy to both of them, and were willing to fight for it. During the wars, seven hundred thousand Palestinians were forced out of the country by the Israelis. They had to become refugees and they had really poor living conditions because most of them lived in makeshift huts and tents. Also, they had poor water supply and a lack of food. They were living in poverty, and this made the situation even worse because they all hated the Israelis even more because they had driven them out and made them live like this. This made peace more difficult because the Palestinians have no quality of life and they hate the Israelis even more. When reporters from Britain and America went to the refugees over there to get some news, they found out that their life was awful for them and then Britain and America started feeling sorry for them. The PLO thought because the fact Britain and America were feeling sorry for them, that they should stop using terrorism. The HAMAS however, didn't stop using terrorism. This made peace more difficult because there was sti ll terrorism and people dying from this. HAMAS are a Palestinian group who do not accept the state of Israel. They are terrorist organisations who use suicide bombings to try to get what they want, which is to destroy Israel and establish an Islamic state of Palestine. They are worse than the PLO ever were. They think terrorism is the answer because if they use terrorism they will be able to scare the Israelis so much they will eventually surrender. HAMAS challenged the PLO and Arafat for support so they would be able to get bombs and weapons. The Israelis didn't like HAMAS because they were terrorizing their citizens and they were killing lots of people. This made peace more likely because if the Israelis didn't like what HAMAS were doing, they would try to make peace to make HAMAS stop. Israel is a small country of less than 5 million people but there are still many different views on how the country should be run. The Labour party is one of the two most powerful parties in Israeli politics. They believe that peace is an important for the wellbeing of their country. The other one is the Likud party. The Likud believe that there should be no Palestinian state and if the Palestinians do something to them they will hit back even harder. Likud won every election in Israel since 1977 up to 1992 which is when the Labour party won. This helped make peace possible because the politicians in the labour party were willing to sign a peace treaty with Yasser Arafat of the PLO. Israel however still had their super power, the USA. When USA heard that Russia had collapsed at the end of the cold war, they didn't support Israel so strongly because there was no Russia to compete with because they were not helping Palestine anymore. When Russia collapsed, the Arab countries had no support. This was because Russia (USSR) and they had no money from them or weapons. Because of this, other countries felt more sympathetic towards them. Because lots of the Arab countries were looking to the US for money and weapons now, the US had more influence over them. This made peace easier because if the US had more influence over them then they could make them make peace. The gulf war was the war between Iraq and the UN when Saddam Hussein tried to take over Kuwait. The USA went over to Kuwait and stopped him from invading. Lots of Arab countries supported the USA when they were trying to stop Saddam Hussein. Then the Arab countries asked USA why they were on Israel's side because they did the same as Saddam Hussein in taking over land that was not theirs. The Arabs thought this was very hypocritical of them because they weren't stopping the Israelis from something that Saddam Hussein had done. Bush (USA president) wanted to keep the Saudi Arabia and Egypt on his side so the other countries would be more sympathetic towards the Palestinians. This made the peace treaty more likely because then the Palestinians would be more willing to make peace because this put pressure on the Israelis to make peace. The members of Likud believe that the entire country of Israel should be theirs, and there should be no form of division of it for the Palestinians. They are not willing to make peace and share their land with the Palestinians at all. The Labour party thought that Jerusalem should still belong to the Jews, but they still thought they should give some land back to the Palestinians in return for peace. When Arafat and the PLO heard of this proposition, they accepted this resolution, and they had high hopes at the prospect of peace after nearly 40 years of constant negotiating. The PLO gave up using terrorism and their plan of trying to drive the Israelis into the sea because they now knew it wouldn't work. This made peace more possible because they were no longer killing people unnecessarily. Another reason why this made peace more possible was because no one would have sat down at a table if Yasser Arafat was there, because he was the leader of the PLO, which was the terrorist group. Another reason why peace was more possible was because reporters went over to where the refugees lived and found out how they had to live. They found they lived in horrible makeshift tents and they had little food and little water. They realised that people had been born and had died as refugees and had no quality of life. The PLO realised that using terrorism wasn't getting them anywhere and they needed to stop to be able to get peace. Palestinian civilians aged around fourteen in the Israeli streets started to rebel against the Israeli soldiers by throwing stones at the tanks. The soldiers became irritated and started to shoot them. People were outraged on both the Palestinian and the Israeli sides. These were just kids they were shooting and they weren't doing any harm by throwing stones at the tanks. This made peace more likely because the people on the Palestinian side were angry that the Israeli soldiers were just shooting their children dead, and they wanted it to stop. This would have made them want to sign the peace treaty. People started to feel sorry for the Palestinians and not blame them for the fact that peace was not possible. When the PLO stopped using terrorism, peace was more possible because they were not trying to kill people to try and get what they wanted. However, HAMAS had not stopped using terrorism and were using suicide bombers and promising people would go to paradise if they died for their country and their religion. Arafat (leader of the PLO) was losing popularity to them and people started listening to HAMAS instead of Yasser Arafat. This made peace more likely because Yasser Arafat needed some sort of victory against HAMAS, so he signed the peace treaty. In 1993, when the two countries of Israel and Palestine signed a peace treaty, Clinton was there as the peacemaker. He wanted to be seen like this because it made him look good to everyone else and also may have helped him win a next election because he has done something really good. One of the reasons Yasser Arafat agreed to the peace treaty was because he needed some sort of success against HAMAS. He wanted to have some more popularity again amongst his people so they would listen to him and not HAMAS. Yitzhak Rabin wanted to make peace because his country was facing economic problems and the government was spending far too much on the army and weapons. Also Yitzhak Rabin wanted peace because the Intifada was making Israel look bad because of their occupation and control of Palestinian territories. The first Intifada ended when Israel granted limited autonomy to the Palestine national authority in the 1993 peace agreement. Lots of things were really necessary to change on both sides for peace between Israel and Palestine. There were lots of things each side did that the other hated. Lots of things did change and made peace possible. First of all, one thing that changed was the new winner of the general Israeli elections in 1992. The Labour party won the next election which made Yitzhak Rabin the president. The labour party were in favour of making peace with Palestine, unlike the Likud who had been in power since 1977. The Likud who were against making peace in Israel were not in power any more so they could not stop the peace treaty. Because the labour party was in control, lots of other people in Israel thought that the peace treaty was a good idea. This was a really important thing to happen because if the Labour party had not been elected there was not going to be any chance of Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat signing a peace treaty. Also in Palestine lots of things changed. The PLO stopped terrorism because people found out how the refugees were living, which made peace possible because they weren't killing loads of the opposite side. This was quite an important reason because if the PLO hadn't given up terrorism, no one would have sat down at a table with Yasser Arafat and tried to make peace if he was the leader of a terrorist group. Also the fact that HAMAS were becoming more popular in Palestine made Yasser Arafat want to do something good so he would be more popular again, and people would listen to him and not to HAMAS. This was not as much an important reason as the other reasons because Yasser Arafat would have wanted peace anyway, no matter whether HAMAS was going to carry on with terrorism. Also this was not as important because HAMAS didn't originally sign the peace treaty, so they were not really part of the agreement. They only made peace more difficult after the treaty had been signed. Overall both the Israelis and the Palestinians had something in their society that changed to make the peace treaty work. Some things still didn't work out though because although the PLO stopped terrorism, HAMAS still used it. Also, even though the labour party won in 1992, the Likud party won the next election. The Likud were not in favour of peace so this did not work out because the Likud spent vast amounts money on the army again.