Tasting the Sky: Life on the West Bank
Patricia Hutchinson
Cottonwood Middle School
Purpose- To help students extend their contextual understanding of reading and
writing in cross cultural literature and within these cultural environments.
Overview of main ideas from the book: In this memoir of a childhood in
Ramallah, on the West Bank, Bakarat offers a child's view of the daily indignities,
oppression, and textures of life in an occupied land. The starting point for her
letters to the world is her detention, on the way home from the university, where
she has gone to check a mailbox for news of the world. She recalls-the terrors of
the Six-Day War; the privations of refugees and the possibilities that she
discovered in the first letter of the Arabic alphabet.
Connection to the Curriculum- literature and geography. Tasting the Sky
expresses the power of language and how it becomes the author’s true home- (one
which can never be taken away.)The lesson also addresses how a place changes
over time.
Grade Level 7-8
Connections to the National/Arizona Geography Standards
Strand 2: World History
PO 8. Describe two points of view on the same historical event.
Strand 4: Geography
Concept 2: Places and Regions
PO 1. Describe the human and physical characteristics of places and
regions.
PO 4. Describe how a place changes over time. (Connect with content
studied.)
Strand 2: Comprehending Literary Text
Concept 2: Historical and Cultural Aspects of Literature
PO 1. Describe the historical and cultural aspects found in cross-cultural
works of literature.
Time- 2-3 class periods (after completion of the novel). [Period One for
questioning, discussion and setting the stage, Period Two for writing
activity]
Materials: Tasting the Sky, map(s) of the middle east and of the West Bank,
colored pencils, copy of “The 6 Day War”, letter writing materials and
prompts for the Post Box 43 activity. (For extension -short videos).
Objectives- Students will be able to compare and contrast childhood memories of
the war and growing up on the West Bank, against accounts written about the
Six- Day War in the MSN Encarta articles. Students will be able to articulate the
power that language had on the writer and how she used it, by writing to each
other.
Preparation for the Lesson- The teacher will introduce the literary term, memoir.
How is memoir different from autobiography?
Memoir (dictionary.com)
• a record of events written by a person having intimate knowledge of them and based on
personal observation. ( Memoirs are more focused on specific life experiences)
Autobiography (dictionary.com)
• a history of a person's life written or told by that person.
Opening the Lesson- The teacher will use a world map of the middle east to help
narrow and refocus student attention to this part of the world. (An optional map
activity might include labeling the map with the names of countries); The class
will quickly brainstorm historical and geographical facts from the story, and will
contribute personal knowledge to create a historical context for the story,
Write the following quote on the board and let students reflect on it
individually until the end of the lesson. (Don’t discuss it at this point)
“ When a war ends, it does not go away. It hides inside us.”
Step 2: Pass out copies of the MSN Encarta readings on the 6 Day War. Separate
the class into small groups of 4- each person in the group will have a
copy of one of the readings. Give time for silent reading- encourage
students to highlight or underline important points as they read.
Step 3: Give time for the groups to share several points from the readings with
each other.
Step 4: Ask students to reform into new groups. Place all Reading 1s together,
Reading 2s together etc. Ask each group to synthesize the most important
aspects of their reading as it pertains to the novel, Tasting the Sky. and
share it.
Step 5: Write this collective information on a chart or on the board and leave it
for reference, comparison and contrast and point of view questions that
might arise from the writing activity.
Step 6. Pair the students so that you form well balanced writing partners. Each
student will have one writing prompt, which is pulled directly from the
reading and which represents a memory from childhood of the 6 Day War.
Step 7: Each student writes a personal response (in a letter form) to the prompt
they receive. (everyone gets one).
Students will then “post” this response to their paired writing partner. For
fun, and added interest, you could create a “letter box” barrier between
each pair of students and they could pass writing to each other through the
box.
Step 8: After sufficient time has passed for students to write and reply to each
other (one to two times), regroup the students and respond to the
following question (which has been on the board).
Assessing Student Learning“ When a war ends, it does not go away. It hides inside us.”
What does mother mean by this quote?
Step 9: Return to the factual information on the chart paper. Where do the story
lines intersect? Where do they differ? Where are they the same or similar?
• Formative assessment- through monitoring of student responses
• Summative assessment (of writing) through use of writing conventions and
content
Extending the Lesson:
Ask students to write about a childhood memory, and then use a parent or
family member memory, or a newspaper article to compare and contrast against
the childhood memory.
The teacher will introduce the concept of “fence.” Ask the students to
demonstrate an understanding of fence before supplying the dictionary offerings.
Fence: (dictionary.com)
• a barrier enclosing or bordering a field, yard, etc., usually made of posts and
wire or wood, used to prevent entrance, to confine, or to mark a boundary.
• to enclose by some barrier, establishing exclusive right to possession
• to defend; protect; guard:
• to ward off; keep out.
Ask the students to reflect on the uses of ‘fence’ within the memoir. This
concept of fence extends beyond to (possible responses) concentration camps,
reservations, mental issues such as autism, prisons and jails.
View the short videos of the West Bank and compare the contemporary
images with childhood memories.
*Palestine, West Bank, Israel, Arab, Islam, Judaism, 6 Day War are all
powerful, and value-laden terms. The story and lesson lend themselves to group
discussion (which needs to remain academic) and which respects the possible
religions and ethnic sensitivities of the class.
Title: Tasting the Sky: A Palestinian Childhood
Author: Ibtisam Barakat
ISBN: 0374357331 / 9780374357337
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
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Becky L. Eden
MidEast.PDF10
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School of Geographical Sciences, Arizona State University
Becky L. Eden
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”Palestine, The West Bank, and Israel”
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WEST BANK
Reading One: Six-Day War- MSN Encarta
INTRODUCTION
Six-Day War, armed conflict in June 1967 between Israel and the Arab states of Egypt, Jordan,
and Syria. In six days, Israel conquered the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan
Heights, which became collectively known as the Occupied Territories. Israel and its Arab
neighbors had been hostile toward each other since 1948, when Israel became a nation in an area
that Palestinian Arabs claim as their homeland. After Israel declared its statehood, several Arab
states and Palestinian groups immediately attacked Israel, only to be driven back. In 1956 Israel
overran Egypt in the Suez-Sinai War. Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser vowed to avenge
Arab losses and press the cause of Palestinian nationalism. To this end, he organized an alliance
of Arab states surrounding Israel and mobilized for war. Israel preempted the invasion with its
own attack on June 5, 1967. In the following days, Israel drove Arab armies from the Sinai
Peninsula, Gaza Strip, West Bank, and Golan Heights, all of which it then occupied. Israel also
reunited Jerusalem, the eastern half of which Jordan had controlled since the 1948-1949 war. The
Six-Day War was viewed as an enormous victory for Israel, but the territories it gained did not
stop future fighting. The peace process throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s has in large part
been an attempt to resolve the land disputes created by Israel’s military success.
Contributed By: Shaul Cohen, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of Oregon. Author of The Politics of
Planting: Israeli-Palestinian Competition for Control of Land in the Jerusalem Periphery.
"Six-Day War," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
© 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Reading Two: Six-Day War- MSN Encarta
CAUSES OF THE WAR
In the years before the Six-Day War, the Arab countries continually refused to acknowledge the
legitimacy of the Jewish state, and Arab nationalists led by Nasser called for the destruction of
Israel. Egypt and Jordan supported Palestinian fedayeen (guerrillas), who attacked troops and
civilians in Israeli territory, then retreated to the Egyptian-controlled Gaza Strip or the Jordaniancontrolled West Bank. From its Golan Heights region, Syria regularly shelled Israeli farms. For its
part, Israel refused to accept Jordan’s control of Jewish holy places in East Jerusalem. Israel also
kept tensions high by responding to Arab incursions with reprisals on Arab territory.
In April 1967, after Syria heavily shelled Israeli villages from the Golan Heights, Israel and Syria
engaged in aerial clashes. Israel shot down six of Syria’s MiG fighter planes, which were given by
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Israel warned Syria against future attacks, and
both the Syrians and Soviets were alarmed by the warning. Syria appealed to Nasser for backing,
and in mid-May the Egyptian army moved 100,000 troops and 1000 tanks into the Sinai
Peninsula on Israel’s southern border. The United Nations (UN) had earlier stationed forces in
the area as observers, but on May 17, Nasser called for the removal of UN personnel from
several locations. Within days, all of the observers were removed. On May 22 Nasser announced
the closure of the Strait of Tiran, a vital shipping corridor for Israel with links to the Red Sea and
major sources of petroleum. A similar closure of the strait had been a major cause of the Suez
Crisis in 1956; Israel had made clear since then that it would regard another closure as an act of
war. Israel was further alarmed when Egypt and Jordan signed a treaty placing the two armies
under a joint command. Despite a flurry of diplomatic effort, war seemed inevitable.
Contributed By: Shaul Cohen, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of Oregon. Author of The Politics of
Planting: Israeli-Palestinian Competition for Control of Land in the Jerusalem Periphery.
"Six-Day War," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
© 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Reading 3: Six-Day War
THE BATTLES BEGIN
Because Israel feared fighting on three fronts (Egyptian, Jordanian, and Syrian), and because it
preferred that fighting take place in Arab rather than Israeli territory, Israel decided to strike first.
On the morning of June 5 the Israeli air force attacked Egypt, the largest force in the region. The
timing of the attack, 8:45 AM, was designed to catch the maximum number of Egyptian aircraft
on the ground and to come when the Egyptian high command was stuck in traffic between homes
and military bases. The Israeli aircraft took evasive measures to elude Egyptian radar and
approached from directions that were not anticipated. The surprise was complete. Within hours
of the strike, the Israelis, who focused their attacks on military and air bases, had destroyed 309
of the 340 total combat aircraft belonging to the Egyptians. Israeli ground forces then moved into
the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza Strip, where they fought Egyptian units. Egyptian casualties were
heavy, but Israel suffered only minimal casualties.
War was not far behind on Israel’s eastern front. Israel had conveyed a message to King Hussein
of Jordan asking him to stay out of the conflict, but on the first morning of the war Nasser called
Hussein and encouraged him to fight. Nasser reportedly told Hussein that Egypt had been
victorious in the morning’s fighting—an illusion the Egyptian public believed for several days. At
11:00 AM Jordanian troops attacked the Israeli half of Jerusalem with mortars and gunfire and
shelled targets in the Israeli interior. Israel’s air force, having immobilized the Egyptian air force,
turned its attention to Jordan. By evening, the Jordanian air force had been largely destroyed,
again with minimal Israeli casualties. At midnight Israeli ground forces attacked Jordanian troops
in Jerusalem, and by the morning of June 6, Israeli troops had nearly encircled the city.
On the second day of the war the Israeli air force continued its operations against Arab air bases,
raising the total number of destroyed Arab planes to 416, which included more than two-thirds of
the Syrian air force. With nearly total control of the skies, Israeli fighter planes and bombers were
free to support the tank and infantry forces on the ground. Thus Jordanian reinforcements were
prevented from reaching Jerusalem, and by 10:00 AM on June 6 the Israelis had taken the
Western Wall, also known as the Wailing Wall, in the Old City, the holiest site in Judaism. It was
the first time in nearly 2000 years that Jews had controlled the wall. Ground battles continued in
the Sinai, where Egypt’s armies fell back in the face of Israeli advances. On the third day of the
war, June 7, Jordanian forces were pushed from the West Bank across the Jordan River. The UN
arranged a cease-fire between Israel and Jordan that went into effect that evening.
The following day, June 8, Israeli forces reached the Suez Canal. As artillery battles continued
along the front, the Israeli air force decimated retreating Egyptians, who were backed up on the
few roads through desert mountain passes. As the Sinai shifted to Israeli control, Israel turned its
forces toward the Golan Heights. There, on June 9, Israel began a difficult assault up steep terrain
against entrenched Syrian forces. Israel sent an armored corps into the front of Syrian lines while
infantry forces surrounded the Syrian positions. The balance of power soon shifted to Israel’s
favor, and at 6:30 PM on June 10, Israel and Syria made a cease-fire agreement. Israel controlled
all of the Golan Heights, including parts of Mount Hermon. Fighting between Israel and Egypt
did not formally end for many years, although Israel controlled the Sinai Peninsula. Not until the
1979 Camp David Accords did the two countries finally reach peace.
Contributed By:
Shaul Cohen, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of Oregon. Author of The Politics of
Planting: Israeli-Palestinian Competition for Control of Land in the Jerusalem Periphery.
"Six-Day War," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
© 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Six-Day War 4: MSN Encarta
AFTERMATH
The speed and scope of Israel’s victory were devastating to the Arabs, who had expected
victory. Egypt, Jordan, and Syria lost almost all of their air forces and much of their armed
weaponry. About 10,000 Egyptians were killed in Sinai and Gaza alone, compared with 300
Israeli casualties on that front. In all, Egypt lost about 11,000 troops, Jordan lost about 6000,
Syria lost about 1000, and Israel lost 700. As a result, Arab leaders endured unpopularity at
home while Israel’s government, which had united before and during the war, surged in
popularity. Abroad, the USSR, which had strongly supported the Arab powers, was
embarrassed because the Arab nations had been defeated by an ally of the United States and
Soviet weapons systems had failed to overpower Western weapons.
On November 22 the UN passed Resolution 242, which called for Israel to withdraw from the
Occupied Territories; in return Arab states would recognize Israel’s independence and guarantee
secure borders for Israel. Events, however, did not follow Resolution 242. The Arabs and
Palestinians declared their intention to continue fighting Israel, and Israel refused to return the
Occupied Territories under such conditions. Terrorist attacks and reprisals persisted, and Israel
and Egypt continued to engage in artillery, sniper, and occasional air attacks for several years. As
a result, the Six-Day War was followed by what has come to be known as the War of Attrition.
Although cease-fire agreements eventually ended this situation, the region remained volatile.
Israel moved to secure its position in the Occupied Territories by extending its lines of defense to
the boundaries of the Arab states. The Sinai, West Bank, and Golan Heights were all fortified,
and parts of these areas were lightly settled with Jewish Israelis. Israel also announced its intent
to secure Jerusalem as its undivided and eternal capital, further antagonizing the Arab states.
These disagreements eventually led to the 1973 Arab-Israeli War of 1973. Nonetheless,
Resolution 242, which followed the Six-Day War, created the foundation of the peace process
that began to yield results in the late 1970s
Contributed By: Shaul Cohen, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, University of Oregon. Author of The Politics of
Planting: Israeli-Palestinian Competition for Control of Land in the Jerusalem Periphery.
"Six-Day War," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2008
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
© 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
Reading One:
June 5, 1967
......He told Mother he had heard that Israeli warplanes had been targeting
Palestinian homes and the safest thing would be to turn off all the lights, leave our
house immediately, and sit in the water trench in the garden while we decided
what to do. He also wanted to listen to the radio to find out which specific areas
were being attacked, but the only radio we owned was a set the size of an oven..to
big to carry into the trench...
(pp. 20-21)
_________________________________________________________________
Reading Two
We quickly realized the footsteps were those of a stream of people from
neighboring villages fleeing their homes.....Father asked what they knew. A man’s
voice answered, “After the planes attack, they will be combing the area house by
house. Word is they will butcher every living thing they find.”
(p. 22)
__________________________________________________________________
Reading Three
The noise of planes filled the darkness everywhere. One plane seemed to be
right above us, seeding the ground around us with bullets and bombs, and as it
trailed off into the distance, it set nearby patches of the darkness afire. It was
impossible to tell which side of the sky would be the next to blaze.:
(p. 23)
Reading 4
People continued to pass by our house, spreading word of impending terror.
A breathless man told my father that there was no one left in his village. He and
others were going to hide in the caves, then try to cross the bridge at the border to
Jordan.
(p. 24)
__________________________________________________________________
Reading 5
How could he open the door? The driver pleaded. People would force him
and his family our, take the tanker, and leave. My father promised this would not
happen. The driver hesitated- until we all heard the thundering of renewed
bombardment. Then the driver beckoned to his wife, The door opened a crackand Mother, my brothers, and I instantly swirled around and shoved ourselves into
the seat. The driver’s wife, now with three children crying in her lap, looked into
Mother’s face and cursed. Trembling, she reached over to the door and locked it.
(p. 33).
__________________________________________________________________
Reading 6
We were approaching the bridge over the Jordan River. Once we
crossed it, we would be leaving the West Bank behind us.
Countless vehicles, bursting with people like ours, were trying to cross this
bridge, Groups of fleeing people, carrying their belongings in knotted blankets
waited on the roadsides and begged for rides. Some walked in resignation or tried
to wade through the shallow water under the trembling bridge.
Word was there were shelters in Zarqa, Amman, Al-Salt and other
Jordanian cities, Many families were opening their homes to receive West Bank
refugees.
(pp 34-35)
Reading 7
We fought our way into the shelter, which wasn’t very much more than a
box of strangers packed in like sardines. Every few minutes, sirens went
off....Voices would shout. People would run up the stairs, then run down howling
news about fires and bombings they’d seen from the second- and third-floor
windows.
The sirens were warnings before or after bombardment and they were
always followed by a silent moment of nauseating anticipation of the destruction
of our shelter.
`
(pp. 37-38),
__________________________________________________________________
Reading 8
Then the howling of stray dogs began. The war had awakened their pack
instinct. They came to the city searching for food and corners to hind in........ But
that did not keep me from hearing gunshots as bullets entered the bodies of the
strays.
(p. 38).
__________________________________________________________________
Reading 9
The packs retreated, but the injured dogs were left crying in voices that
grew smaller and smaller until they resembled the whimpering of infants. Tears
soaked my face. I knew they were dying and that they had come to our door only
because, they, like us, were seeking refuge. But instead of understanding, we shot
at them, the way the warplanes shot at us. I listened until there was only silence.
(p 39)
Reading 10
Although the war had ended, they said we were not free to go back to the
West Bank. My father also announced that he had found work transporting soda
pop from a factory to local shops.
(p. 46)
__________________________________________________________________
Reading 11
Mother said she had heard that, after the war, the government of Jordan had
turned many schools into temporary housing for West Bank refugees. The students
would not return till September. So she insisted that we move to a school. We
would have playgrounds, and she would not be preoccupied with our safety, she
argued. Father agreed.
(p. 54)
__________________________________________________________________
Reading 12
“Perhaps it won’t be long before we see Ramallah again,” Mother said.
“Suleiman has already registered our family with the International Red Cross.”
She raised up her hands in the gesture of a prayer. “The names of those who are
granted permits will be announced on the radio. I will keep the radio on all day.”
“But all the cities are occupied now. Don’t you know what that means?”
Hamemeh protested. She bit her lips anxiously between the words. “Will it ever
be safe to go back?”
(P. 55)