Back Again: First Impressions

This isn’t my first time at the Israel rodeo. This is be my third trip to the holy land and my second longest. I lived here for 9 months after high school on the Nativ College Leadership program where I lived in the center of Jerusalem for 5 months and on a kibbutz for 3 and the rest of the time was spent traveling and participating in various leadership opportunities. That program shaped me in so many ways as a person, but more specifically it shaped my outlook on Israel, its importance to me as a Jew, and as a person concerned with politics. It actually made me more politically conservative which is fascinating, because I truly thought I was a liberal (apparently I was wrong).

While living here I became more critical of Israeli political decisions and more understanding to the occupation of Palestinians. As a person who has lived abroad when I came back to America I realized the importance of culture in the development of society. If there is no consideration for the culture of a country than conflict resolution and/or creating any type of lasting legislation will not work. This is why I believe that American intervention in the conflict between Israel and Palestine is so counterproductive, because of the vast cultural differences between the two regions. This is why for my independent study research I plan on focusing on non-governmental means of peace, specifically, at how this is being achieved in the economic sector and its effectiveness.

I believe in coexistence. I believe there should be no security wall/fence (whatever you want to call it). I believe there is a right for Israel to exist and for Palestine. I believe Palestinian refugees have just as much right to Israel as Jewish as well as Druze, Bedouins, and Christians. This is the holy land and not one culture or religion should be able to have a monopoly of it. When I lived here I participated in a Masa leadership weekend where we did a simulation where we were asked to try and negotiate an all-inclusive Israel. It was probably one of the most difficult things I have ever been a part of. The program showed me the complexities of peace and how governments complicate things and that for the normal everyday person they don’t really care about what is on the flag but rather what the government is willing to do for them. I’m not advocating to completely get rid of government, but there is a place for government intervention, and in the case of Israel and Palestine they first need to build a stable social foundation (creating economic and social ties between the two societies) before they start drawing lines because everything is so polarized that getting back to the basics of building a country will help both sides create a lasting peace agreement which will be beneficial and realistic for both sides.