Israel: 7.4 Billion Sides to Every Story

TL;DR: . The acknowledgement of gray doesn’t negate the existence of black and white; it enhances it.

First off: hello! I realized it’s been quite awhile since I last blogged. Here’s to hoping that this post is the catalyst to establishing a rhythm of more regularly updating this page. Anyways, as many of you already know, I recently had the privilege of visiting Israel for 10 days this winter break, and it’s got me contemplating ~all sorts~ of things. While I’m certain that visiting the country in any capacity would be meaningful and interesting, this trip was particularly enlightening because it was run through the Jewish National Fund, meaning we had an incredible itinerary full of meetings with high-ranking politicians, journalists, and business men and women, as well as visits to important religious, historical, and political sites. Many times I thought to myself, “there’s no way I could have arranged this myself.” For a brief context, JNF hosts multiple trips to Israel, including many of the well-publicized Birthright trips for Jewish students to visit Israel. The fully subsidized trip I went on, however, is called the Caravan for Democracy and is for non-Jewish American college students who have never visited Israel before. One of my good friends nominated me to apply last year, a process that included written essays, recommendations, and a Skype interview (I actually applied while I was still out of school for Lyme disease, just banking on the fact that I’d be better in a year). I went into the trip with an itinerary and packing list but no solid concept of why anyone would pay for 80 college students to travel to another country. It didn’t make sense to me, so I anticipated a heavy political agenda. Especially because I had lived in Jordan for about 2 months during my gap year, I already had some exposure to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the ways it had affected the Jabers, my beloved host family in Amman. Learning more about a conflict that affects those I love so dearly was actually one of my motivations for attending the trip. Despite bracing for one-sided political statements, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the program, led by two employees of JNF and one Israeli tour guide, was actually very open to constructive dialogue and a balanced representation of the region. In fact, it seemed that the entire “agenda” was exactly that: to allow future American leaders to experience Israel and the Middle East for themselves, allowing them to create informed opinions and discern true reporting from sensational news (“fake news,” per se). Every night, my bus of about 40 students would gather in a circle to reflect on what we’d learned that day, how it affected us, and any other takeaways. Listening to the thoughts of my peers, I was genuinely honored to be in a group of such impressive, compassionate students. Each student there is doing huge things in his/her respective communities and campuses, and one of the highlights of the trip was getting to know them. Beyond the interpersonal component, I learned an exorbitant amount about everything ranging from the historical context of my faith, organized conflict across societies, identity politics, and even hands-on things like the Israeli startup industry and drip irrigation in deserts. I could talk for far too long about the whole thing, but I’ll try to keep this post focused to a key point…

As I’ve already alluded, one of the most nuanced insights this trip gave me was the recognition of false dichotomies, especially in political rhetoric. Beginning this trip expecting one-sided lectures shows the mindset I entered with; to be honest, I truly feared that visiting Israel would somehow be a stab in the back to all my loved ones in Jordan. I know that sounds crazy, especially given that Israel and Jordan have had a peace treaty since 1994, but I feared that the region was so politically charged that getting too involved anywhere could show “loyalty.” While there is weight to the idea that certain topics have legitimate “sides” (Republican:Democrat, Chipotle:Qdoba), I started to recognize that the different perspectives are not necessarily as black and white as lazy-thinking tells us. To degrade an issue to two, totally unified sides is simply lazy, and I had fallen victim to the trend in many issues in my mind. After speaking with real people like a former member of the Knesset (Jewish Parliament), a Palestinian journalist, the IDF Colonel who built the Israeli West Bank Wall (called the "Wall of Security" or "Separation Wall," among other names depending on political slant), and regular Israeli citizens I met, I began to scratch the surface of the diversity of thought about the conflict, and really about any conflict. Each person has a unique set of experiences that affect his/her perspective, and the more I learned, the more I recognized my ignorance. I think this “unlearning” can be incredibly powerful in any sort of disagreement. The acknowledgement of shades of gray doesn’t negate the existence of black and white; it enhances it. What I mean is: I still believe that there are many issues with a “right” and “wrong,” but I also am more vigilant about catching myself in confirmation bias of my own views and simply neglecting other perspectives without thinking of the experiences that likely led to each. Seeing nuance can actually bolster well-informed “sides.” So, yes, there are obviously two sides to every story, but there are actually more like 7.4 billion sides: one for each human on earth. I can still say that I love my Jordanian host family dearly and am very concerned about the approx 7.2 million Palestinian refugees, and I can simultaneously say that I now have Israeli friends that I also love dearly and am very concerned about the 3,699 killed and 14,734 injured from terrorist attacks since its national independence.

Side tangent about political dichotomies: I also have (ironic) opinions about the tendency of Americans to arrogantly assume that we need a strong opinion and “side” on everything, even when it has nothing to do with us. There’s a difference between being well-informed and being insertive in cultures and regions that we don’t understand. The trend to interfere in things that are not ours and expect that our input is always appreciated and influential points to the larger historical trend of Eurocentricity and America-centric thinking. On individual levels, I think we can learn and listen without feeling like we need to 100% side with anyone. On a national level, there are certainly still times when involvement is necessary (the defense of others, the prevention of atrocities etc), but there are also times when we unnecessarily manipulate world events to get our way. Just some food for thought.