Living Past the Terror

Thousands+of+Jews+gathered+at+the+Western+Wall+in+Jerusalem+to+say+slichot+prior+to+Rosh+Hashana.+Over+the+last+few+weeks%2C+a+wave+of+Palestinian+attacks+on+Israeli+civilians+has+triggered+fear+and+anxiety+throughout+the+nation.

photo by Talia Weiss

Thousands of Jews gathered at the Western Wall in Jerusalem to say slichot prior to Rosh Hashana. Over the last few weeks, a wave of Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians has triggered fear and anxiety throughout the nation.

Talia Weiss, Guest Columnist

Alumna Talia Weiss (’15), who is spending a year abroad in Israel through Young Judaea’s gap year program, reflects on living in Israel over the last few weeks.

I woke up this morning to yet another Haaretz notification about another attack in Jerusalem. Sadly, this has become my norm. Half awake in bed, I am greeted with different versions of the same sentence. Someone, or a group of people, was murdered. Whether an Israeli or a Palestinian did it, whether it was with a knife, a car, or a gun; someone was murdered.

This semester on my gap year program, Young Judaea Year Course, I am living right outside of Tel Aviv in the city of Bat Yam. It’s definitely no Montgomery County, but at the beginning of my program, I felt relatively safe. I could walk around the city by myself and not think twice about it.

Then, the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian violence began to escalate, and we began to hear about 5-10 separate attacks per day. They weren’t calculated attacks, with rockets, which the state could at least give you some warning to get to safety. They were with household objects. Items that any angry person wanting to make a statement could get ahold of.

The feeling of when you’re by yourself, walking on a dimly lit street at night and it seems as if someone’s been following you or someone’s going to jump out from that perfectly normal yet somehow sketchy car and attack you is how every outing, daytime or night, feels here.

While you keep your eyes focused on your path ahead, you give a onceover to every passerby. Is there something poking out of their pockets? Are they walking too fast? Are they walking too slowly? Are their general mannerisms just weird? Should I cross the street just in case?

As these questions race through your mind you realize, they’re giving you the same look. They think you could cause the next headline as well. It is at that moment when you understand, everybody is just as nervous as the person next to them. While everybody has different opinions about the situation, the whole country is on edge.

This past Wednesday, my program visited the cultural center, Beit Hagefen in Haifa whose goal is to bridge the gaps between the various ethnicities inhabiting Haifa. Bet Hagefen is regarded as a highly successful endeavor and engages its teen constituency through music, art, dance and theater. Despite the pluralistic environment and multicultural acceptance, even the people working at Bet Hagefen are worried. During my program’s visit, their representative said that while nothing too terrible has happened at their events, their Arab participants keep mentioning that they don’t feel safe speaking Arabic on the streets as they believe that they’re regarded with more suspicion when they speak with their native language in public.

I don’t know about you, but I cannot settle for this type of life. Sure, violence, fear and suspicion have been the status quo here for years and the conflict is not easy, but no one ever said achieving peace would be easy. It takes time, it takes effort and it takes compromise.

Being in Israel during another one of these difficult times has only strengthened my belief that the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be fixed. I’ve spoken with so many young Israelis who want change, who believe that there is good and bad on both sides, and are willing to make the effort to stop the violence and begin on the path to peace.

I believe there can be a future with peace, and I hope our generation never gives up on our dream.