Politics are
never easy. Everyone has their own opinion, their own political affiliation and
their own perception. Trying to explain what it means, or where you stand, can
be confusing and infuriating. Trying to understand these explanations can be
downright maddening.
The last 6
days have been a whirlwind of political emotions for me. I came here thinking I
was set in my self-declared right wing opinion. But, as the speakers progressed
I felt more and more drawn to the left. Why? We heard many speakers, but until
today I did not feel that any speaker was being honest or forthcoming. I felt
that I was hearing the opinions that were convenient to convey, rather than all
sides of the story. The speakers we heard until now, although all very
intelligent, spewed out a lot of right-wing, sometimes narrow-minded facts.
Sorry, that doesn't cut it for me. I want to hear the meat, the details, and
yes, the ugly truth.
I am a
critical thinker. How can I critically approach the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict, or properly advocate for Israel on my campus, when I don’t have the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing BUT the truth? Up until this point, I felt
like I've been getting half-truths. When I asked one of our speakers about the
ethics of the settlers in Hevron, Rather than giving me a proper, evidence-based
answer, the response I got was “That’s simply nonsense; the Israeli settlers
would never do that.” Some of the other questions were partially answered, a
lot of politically correct terminology had been thrown around, but I hadn't gotten the meat, the honesty.
Today, that
changed. Today we got to converse with Inon Tagner. Among other things, Inon
told us about the struggles the Israeli-Arabs face in Israel. He spoke of the
discrimination, but also the privileges. We heard about the intricate and
sometimes exasperating legalities and parties in the Israeli Parliament. Most
of all, we heard another side. He told us why the 1.4 million Palestinians
living in the West Bank do not have Israeli citizenship, and about the tensions
between the Palestinian-Arabs and Israeli-Arabs. Nothing was sugar-coated or made
to sound like “roses and honey” as Inon explained. The half-truth we had been
getting until now suddenly fit into the whole truth.
Not to say
that one side is more correct than the other or that there is a more “truthful”
truth. But, no story should be taken at face value; no ‘truth’ should go
unquestioned. We should always feel like we are getting all the facts, not just
the convenient ones. We need to arm ourselves with every piece of knowledge and
information we can. If we don’t let ourselves hear every side of the truth,
even the ugly parts, how can we truly advocate for Israel?
In my journey
in the last 7 days, I did not once doubt my desire to be a pro-Israel advocate
on my campus. I love Israel. For me, asking tough questions, and getting painful
answers is the best and only way to advocate for Israel in the most honest and
effective way possible.
-S.B.
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