Final Thoughts ~ Not On Our Watch

I am really happy with the ending of the book, I believe that it is a lot stronger than most of the rest, and it makes me happy that there are so many ways in which this genocide has a potential to stop. The ending was amazingly strong compared to the book, although I am reluctant that the rest of the book wasn't like that. Just like Ricky my favorite part of the whole book was the punch line: "Millions of lives hang in the balance,their future determined in part by weather or not we act. Ultimately, I pray that we not stand down from our post. Not us. Not now. Not on our watch" I felt this last line like a punch in the gut, and it made me want to do something. I thank John and Don for such a marvelous book, and I hope that we can end this genocide. Because "Nobody really dies, until he is forgotten".

Dialectic Journaling ~ Not On Our Watch II

After reading chapters 4-6, I feel like the book may be gaining some momentum since where we left of on chapter 3. I can see how Don Cheadle and John Prendergast are starting to make more resolutions on how this cause may not be lost anyways, and how if there's hope, we may make a difference. I really enjoy the style in which this book is written because, I never read any book like this. I feel that even though this book has a realy strong subject, it could be just a little more straightforward and powerful if the whole text was shortened up a little.

I also like the fact that they are tying the present to the past. As I mentioned on a previous discussion that our class had, I believe that: "History is the study of the PAST, in relation to the PRESENT to prepare for the FUTURE". I am therefore glad to see how Don Cheadle and John Prendergast are doing just that. They are presenting the current case, they are tying it to a similar past case, and they are explaining how this and future genocides can be solved.

As Ryan Follin mentioned in his blog: "I believe the suggestions they offer will be ineffective", and "I truly believe that Darfur is a lost cause". But we lose nothing with trying and nothing is lost until nobody cares.

Group Meeting ~ Not On Our Watch I

During our class discussion about Not On Our Watch it really pulled my attention that Carl and Bev said: “John Prendergast, and Don Cheadle are not normal people”. I thought that more than anything that was a sign of disrespect against Don and John, because even though they have more connections than we do, and they have starred in big Hollywood movies, or worked at the White House, they were once like us, and saying that their accomplishments alienate them from us and therefore are not ‘normal’ is more than anything a sign of disrespect, jealousy, and more than anything else, a sign of self-pity, because they would rather live somebody else’s life than their own. My advice for people who feel like that… aim high, and you’ll reach whatever it is, that you want to do.

Dialectic Journaling ~ Not On Our Watch I

Not On Our Watch is a very well-written book, and I found myself very compelled to it for several reasons. First and foremost, I am very fond of the subject and the drive to show people all the things that we can do to change the world. It talks about the genocide that's going on in Darfur, and how several people have worked to improve the situation, although the level of help is sad, it gives hope to those of us who understand that small details that we do can radically improve the way we (as a group of human beings) can live. I also enjoyed the way it is written. I feel that to write personal stories in the book gives it a great sense of humanity, and is easier to relate to. I also find it very interesting that John Prendergast has been through so much stuff, that it gives you fortitude, and a drive to be like him, and stay strong.

Dialectic Journaling ~ Night III

“…Then I remembered something else: his son had seen him losing ground, limping, staggering back to the rear of the column. He had seen him. And he continued to run on in the front, letting the distance between them grow greater.
A terrible thought loomed up in my mind: he had wanted to get rid of his father!”

This is another incredibly powerful quote from the book: Night. It was possibly the qoute that shoked me the most in the whole book. To suffer so much for so much time that you end up wanting to lose your own father, I really just cannot imagine such despair. Especially after the things that Elie Weisel says about Rabbi Eliahou (the father), because he portrays him as a nice and compassionate figure. I feel that to be on the brink of abandoning your weakened father for YOUR own sake is selfish and it simply doesn't fit in my mind how someone could do that. There were other quotes similar to this one, for example: Some guy beat his own father to death for a piece of bread, and Elie himself couldn't do anything to try and save his own father after he got sick.

Dialectic Journaling ~ Night II

"Behind me, I heard the same man asking:
"Where is God now?"
And I heard a voice within me answer him:
"Where is he? Here He is-- He is hanging here on this gallows. . . .""


This is another quote of Elie Weisel questioning his faith. This is a thought that takes place after Elie Weisel and the other Jews are forced to witnessthe hangings of three men. Two were adults, and it was actually normal now to see adults being hanged, but there was a little kid no more that thirteen who was also hung. In the book he says that when they passed by him he was so light that he was still alive, grasping for air. Out of that whole page I chose the segment above, because of the incredible poetic power that it has, it moved me when I read it, and I felt that it would be a key element to the rest of the book.

Dialectic Journaling ~ Night

"For the first time, I felt a revolt rise up in me. Why should I bless His name? The Eternal, Lord of the Universe, the All-Powerful and Terrible, was silent. What had I to thank Him for?

This is what Elie Weisel is thinking to himself right before he is supposed to be killed in the crematories. I myself have doubted, and I believe that everybody has done so too doubted if God really exists. Because if he did, we wouldn't suffer as much as we sometimes do, the pain, the fear. It is part of the human being to be curious, and when things don't go your way it is completely normal to doubt if this is really happening. But like the older men in the book said: "You must never lose faith, even when the sword hangs over your head." And so we must not lose faith in God, but more importantly, I believe that we must never lose faith in ourselves.