Disclaimer: I usually use this blog just as a way to send quick updates to friends and family on my whereabouts and what I am up to. But this post is going to be political, something that I try to avoid in general but the past few weeks have gotten me so frustrated that I feel bottled up and this blog post is one way to let off the steam.
I'm frustrated. Over the past two weeks, my county has been subjected to a terror wave of car rammings, stabbing sprees, and shootings. People are dying simply because they are Jews. Forget occupation, economic grievances, and even the latest excuse of the rumor of Jewish prayer being allowed on the temple mount (as if it isn't already a disgrace that Jews aren't allowed on our holiest site so as to not offend Muslim sensibilities!). This is simply the latest episode of the Palestinian/ wider Arab world's inability to accept a Jewish presence in the Jewish homeland. It's part and parcel of the over one hundred year long conflict. But that isn't why I'm frustrated.
I'm furious over the misreporting and incredibly biased coverage of the world media. Coverage that portrays policemen defending themselves as aggressors. The media that in general does it's absolute best to portray Palestinians as perpetual victims- the same western condescension that views "Orientals" as subjects and not as actors responsible for the consequences of their own actions. But this flawed media coverage is nothing new and it's not why I'm angry.
I feel useless. I'm stationed up north watching another county tear itself apart in an endless civil war while I can't help out my fellow citizens in their own war. I feel useless as I worry about my friends and family as they go about their daily lives. But Israelis have always worried from the war of independence to the current day and my feeling of uselessness isn't why I'm frustrated.
I'm frustrated because when I made aliyah, I did so because of one overarching reason: only in Israel are Jews the masters of our own fate. Here in the experiment of Jewish sovereignty, we would shoulder the burdens of government, defence, etc and formulate policies. For the first time, however I feel frustrated because I feel that we all- from left wing to right wing- have nothing to say. There are no solutions or creative vision. What are we supposed to do to stop this terror?
The right and left throw out the old tired slogans but my hunch is that underneath all of the talk is a weary acceptance, or resignation to the current state of affairs. That's because there isn't anything to do- of course I don't mean that there aren't drastic security measures or policies we could take- I mean that I feel there is nothing we Jews can do as a sovereign state to change the fact that the Palestinian/wider Arab world reject Israel on principle. Therefore the reason I made aliyah, namely Jews being the masters of their own fate and solving their own problems, has been taken away from me. This is one problem that is out of our hands- we can't force their world to accept our sovereignty. Acceptance must come from within, it can't be forced upon ppl externally. And this is why I'm frustrated.
But just as I've written before about how the army is about coming to a middle ground between idealized expectations and reality; so too is aliyah. Just because there are problems that we can't solve doesn't mean we give up. I still have no regrets about moving here. I still feel -know- that Israel is the Jewish homeland, that Israel is the Jewish people's future and that a brighter future awaits us. I feel-know- that there is a vitality to life here, perhaps because of the uncertainty, and that living amongst one's people as a majority is simply more liberating than living as a minority, no matter how well integrated or protected.
So what to do? Fight against the terrorists while not losing our Jewish values and humanity. Work to make the country secure from attacks from within and without but also work to make it a better country. One with good economic opportunities, less racism, increased appreciation of our Jewish heritage, less cynicism and critique and more open to appreciating the great things this country does and offer.
As the title of this post states (taken from the famous Ehud Manor song) "I have no other land, even if my land is burning".
Hoping for quiet and peace.
Nathan
