The Israeli-Palestinian Conflict #50: When I Up In The Class, All Eyes On Me
Flash Forward To 2024?
Looking back, the First Lebanon War was one of the last wars of its kind. Similar to the vast majority of wars in history , all of Israel ’s wars took place on battlefields, which were the borders of the country. So when soldiers and reserve forces were drafted, they fought there and far from the homefront, which continued with their daily routine without the people actively fighting. Even in the battles in Lebanon or Syria , the fights were between armies or terror organizations, and civilians were out of the limit. But it’s not like this today. Wars have changed.
Moreover, the only media channels back then were several newspapers with only a morning edition, a few radio stations that operated only part of the day, and only one TV channel that broadcasted a current affairs program in the afternoon and the main evening newscast. That was the only way the homefront could get updates on the war from public media outlets unless people knew in-person soldiers or someone holding an official position who could share details from the battlefield. These were the only available communication channels at that time. It was a completely different world from today, where we are connected 24/7 to multiple media outlets, news apps, and social media networks and receive updates or push notifications every millisecond. These updates and notifications include reports of events and opinions of various former and present politicians, analysts, commentators, and ordinary people in our network without any particular expertise or experience. Today, whether we like it or not, we are all exposed to a tremendous amount of noise all day.
Technology has changed the world and the people.
I Live In This History
The First Lebanon War began when I was two years old. My father was drafted into the reserve forces of the IDF to fight the war, while my mother stayed with me - a young mother with a 2-year-old baby alone. I was the firstborn. My parents were a young couple with their first child when another war broke out. The state of Israel had just celebrated its 34th year of independence, and a month later, its fifth war broke out. I can’t even imagine how it feels to bring a child into this world and raise it in a war zone. Knowing that my father was going to fight again, for the second time before he turned 30, is still emotionally overwhelming for me. Especially since, even back then, no one saw the end of wars on the horizon. Obviously, I have no memories of this war because I was two years old. Yet, unlike the previous wars, this one occurred during my lifetime. So far, I have told you the history of the Jewish people and the story of the state of Israel since its establishment from the knowledge I have accumulated over the years. But from now on, I have memories of events, so when preparing the lesson plans for this history class, I'll describe the journey through time with the heartbeat of personal experiences.
I have vague and, as I grew older, profound memories of the historical events. I grew up with these events, and they have shaped my life and who I am. I have learned important lessons from these events and am still learning. For me, it wasn’t a matter of choice; I was born in Israel . And just like me, any other person born on the other side couldn’t choose it either. So technically, regardless of sides, neither of us could have chosen where to be born or when. And with that reality, people on both sides want to live a normal life.
Discrimination, clashes due to cultural gaps between Jewish communities from different countries, knowledge gaps, financial gaps, lack of equality, the Holocaust trauma, and frequent wars are only part of the problems Israel ’s society has faced since its establishment. Some of these problems exist in other countries as well. Even countries without enemies face domestic social issues. So what happens when these problems exist in the most extreme way in two nations that border each other and constantly fight each other? The result is a nuclear social bomb that politicians can easily manipulate into violence and put at risk the majority of the moderate people. Financial gaps lead to disparities in which people cannot sustain basic livelihood. So when that happens, the ones in power can light a social fire that leads to chaos and can easily make things worse.
Conflicts, Conflicts, and More Conflicts
The Middle East has become a war zone since the First World War . The people living in this region are living in a war zone. I’m not a professional, but in a way, the people who live in this region carry a heavy mental weight or some level of PTSD . Too much blood has been spilled, so resentment and revenge are dominant emotions. These emotions are not unique to Israelis and Palestinians ; they also exist among Palestinians and Lebanese , Palestinians and Syrians , Palestinians and Jordanians , and among different Islamic streams and political parties in Syria , Lebanon , Iran , Iraq , and all other Arab countries . Most Americans , Canadians , Europeans , or people from any other country that is not an Arab country see all Arab countries as one block. However, the Arab countries and Islam's internal struggles are worse than the struggles that used to be between England and France for hundreds of years or Ireland and England , for example. When the average Western person watches the news, they think these wars are only between all Arab countries against Israel , but it is not. This region is full of disputes, conflicts, and disagreements.
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France and England have fought each other for hundreds of years, and during that time, millions have died. Eventually, they reached a settlement and ended years of bloodshed and hate by signing one agreement. And so do England and Ireland .
Therefore, an important lesson we can all learn from history is that nations that want to end any bloody dispute can do it in a diplomatic way in a minute. Those who choose life do the work to reach an agreement. In contrast, those who flourish from wars and bloodshed do everything to damage any chance for settlements or peace agreements. Those who benefit from conflicts will always be willing to sacrifice all lives except their own. The bottom line is that the choice lies in the hands of both sides. The only way out of this is for the neutral people outside this conflict to strengthen the people at the center. Strengthen the moderates on all sides. Right now, the most extreme on each side is holding the wheel, and we are racing towards the abyss.
Now is the time for those who sit on the fence to help. If you are tired of wars and unnecessary death, this is the time you can help. Your help does not require leaving your house, leaving work early, leaving your family, or even requiring money or special training. The only things that your help requires are an open heart, the ability to love, show compassion, be patient, a desire to connect with people, and 30 min of your time.
The question is, who will be willing to get off the fence and help us once and for all?
Will you?
That's all for today, class. We'll continue tomorrow.
Take care.