Hope for Peace

When I was 11 years old, I went on a Shabbaton with my friends from my school. The Shabbaton was supposed to be a Shabbat weekend of education and prayer. I wanted to go on this Shabbaton because it was an excuse to spend an entire weekend hanging out with my friends. Because it was so long ago, I don't remember much from this weekend except that I was really excited to wear a new purple patterned skirt. One event, however, from this Shabbaton weekend I vividly remember. Sitting cross legged on the floor of a cafeteria, we were shown a film about Palestinian and Islamic children being indoctrinated to hate Jews and Israel. We saw violent images of Palestinian terrorists attacks. This film did not discuss Israel's violent actions against Palestinians or explain that they were only representing a small percentage of extremists. At this Shabbaton in Ohio, we were being indoctrinated to support Israel blindly and despise Palestinians and their hatred. After viewing this film, most of my friends felt horrified at the actions of Palestinians. I felt confused and angry that we were shown this one sided film. Ever since I became aware of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I have felt confused. I do feel that Jewish people need a homeland. Since taking this class, I started rethinking why I have this feeling. I still don't know if I can articulate why I feel like Jewish people need a homeland. Part of this feeling is because of the Holocaust. After the genocide of 6 million people, Jewish people need a geographic place of their own. With intolerance, hatred, and violence in the world, all people need a safe place. Palestinians need a safe place. Reading about the creation of Israel and a Jewish homeland made me angry. Throughout reading about the history of Jerusalem, it has continually amazed me how easily the oppressed become the oppressors. Even after a history of discrimination, pogroms, and the horrific tragedy of the Holocaust, Jewish people in the creation of Israel tyrannized Palestinians; "in the eyes of Israel's right, the Jews' return to their holy place involved the destruction of the Muslim presence there"(408). Like empires that had conquered Jerusalem in the past, they used building construction as a weapon against Arab citizens. Israeli policies and settlements have caused thousands of Palestinians to lose their homes. After a history of living in exile, the state of Israel has forced another group into exile. After a history of suffering through pogroms, the Jewish people enacted pogroms against Palestinians. In the history of Jerusalem, the Islamic conquests have been the most peaceful and tolerant. The Jewish conquest of Israel did not follow the Islam's example; "it becomes a sad irony that on two occasions in the past, it was an Islamic conquest of Jerusalem that made it possible for Jews to return to their holy city"(420). Often times I feel that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is hopeless, but I never lose my optimism for the future completely. Losing hope that a solution among Israelis and Palestinians can be reached would mean losing hope in humanity.