I am pro-Palestinian
For around 8 months, I have been sharing many details of my life, my thoughts, my quirks and my aspirations. I feel quite guilty that I have been extremely silent over the past few weeks what has been going through my mind and what I have been working on, and the reasons behind what I am currently spending time on.
I am pro-Palestinian. I grew up with the dream of Yitzhak Rabin, of a two-state solution, that would allow both Israelis and Palestinians lead normal lives. Lives where children can dream beyond the current conflict. Lives where people can sit in a cafe and chat for hours about nothing and everything, without fear of a random act of terror. Lives where people live, have jobs, and raise children to love, not hate; to respect difference, not fear it.
I live in the paradox of the modern Israeli.
We have learned to want peace at almost any cost. We have uprooted Israeli families from their long established homes, destroying communities. Just in order to give more land and self government to the Palestinians in Gaza. So they can live normal lives.
In spite of that, Southern Israel has been living under a constant barrage of rockets from Hamas, a terrorist organization that has usurped the democratic process for an extremely non-democratic venture. They feel that we should not exist as a country, as a people, and will do whatever they can do strike fear into our citizen's hearts at every moment of the day.
These rockets cause damage, hurt and even kill. But more than all that, they prevent people from living normal lives. They cause people to live in fear. That maybe their child's nursery will be struck with a "stray" rocket. That if they are in a public intersection, a projectile may simply fall from heaven. That the house that they have created all their memories in will be destroyed in an instant.
And in here lies the paradox. Israel does not want war. We love life.
I was approached by a good friend to help on a grassroots project to help spread the word about the Israeli side of the current conflict using Social Media tools. In this capacity, I have been reading scores of articles over the last few weeks. I have, as well, been privy to the progress reports that the Israeli Army has published on a daily basis, including detailed information regarding the ongoing humanitarian efforts from the Israeli side for the Palestinians in Gaza.
I am disgusted by Hamas. I am disgusted by their use of Palestinians as human shields, and their storing firepower in and firing rockets from mosques, schools, hospitals, and private homes. Israel uses extremely precise missiles, and even warns citizens about impending actions, but is being painted as a murderous nation, with words flitting around the media such as "genocide" or "holocaust". Considering that Israel treats wounded Palestinians, I find that portrait appalling.
This is not a post to discuss the humanitarian efforts of the Israelis or the utter disregard for human life of Hamas, but rather to be honest. I have chosen not to fill my twitter stream with every single report when something happens, because I respect that people don't want to be confronted with this 100 times a day. I am simply trying to include you in my internal conversation. I battle with myself every day juggling my natural aversion to war and the constant threat on my countrymen.
I want this battle to end. But until it does, I will stand behind my country in whatever they do, because I know that this is not a battle for land or control, it is a battle for a better future for all of us. A battle for normalcy. Normal lives for both Palestinians and Israelis.
If you choose to comment on this post (and I hope that you will), I can only request that you please respect me as a person and refrain from ad hominem attacks. I am highly capable of intelligent and reasonable conversation, and reserve the right to delete any comment that is full of vitriol and hate.
I am pro-Palestinian. I grew up with the dream of Yitzhak Rabin, of a two-state solution, that would allow both Israelis and Palestinians lead normal lives. Lives where children can dream beyond the current conflict. Lives where people can sit in a cafe and chat for hours about nothing and everything, without fear of a random act of terror. Lives where people live, have jobs, and raise children to love, not hate; to respect difference, not fear it.
I live in the paradox of the modern Israeli.
We have learned to want peace at almost any cost. We have uprooted Israeli families from their long established homes, destroying communities. Just in order to give more land and self government to the Palestinians in Gaza. So they can live normal lives.
In spite of that, Southern Israel has been living under a constant barrage of rockets from Hamas, a terrorist organization that has usurped the democratic process for an extremely non-democratic venture. They feel that we should not exist as a country, as a people, and will do whatever they can do strike fear into our citizen's hearts at every moment of the day.
These rockets cause damage, hurt and even kill. But more than all that, they prevent people from living normal lives. They cause people to live in fear. That maybe their child's nursery will be struck with a "stray" rocket. That if they are in a public intersection, a projectile may simply fall from heaven. That the house that they have created all their memories in will be destroyed in an instant.
And in here lies the paradox. Israel does not want war. We love life.
I was approached by a good friend to help on a grassroots project to help spread the word about the Israeli side of the current conflict using Social Media tools. In this capacity, I have been reading scores of articles over the last few weeks. I have, as well, been privy to the progress reports that the Israeli Army has published on a daily basis, including detailed information regarding the ongoing humanitarian efforts from the Israeli side for the Palestinians in Gaza.
I am disgusted by Hamas. I am disgusted by their use of Palestinians as human shields, and their storing firepower in and firing rockets from mosques, schools, hospitals, and private homes. Israel uses extremely precise missiles, and even warns citizens about impending actions, but is being painted as a murderous nation, with words flitting around the media such as "genocide" or "holocaust". Considering that Israel treats wounded Palestinians, I find that portrait appalling.
This is not a post to discuss the humanitarian efforts of the Israelis or the utter disregard for human life of Hamas, but rather to be honest. I have chosen not to fill my twitter stream with every single report when something happens, because I respect that people don't want to be confronted with this 100 times a day. I am simply trying to include you in my internal conversation. I battle with myself every day juggling my natural aversion to war and the constant threat on my countrymen.
I want this battle to end. But until it does, I will stand behind my country in whatever they do, because I know that this is not a battle for land or control, it is a battle for a better future for all of us. A battle for normalcy. Normal lives for both Palestinians and Israelis.
If you choose to comment on this post (and I hope that you will), I can only request that you please respect me as a person and refrain from ad hominem attacks. I am highly capable of intelligent and reasonable conversation, and reserve the right to delete any comment that is full of vitriol and hate.
