By Leah Spellberg
An important aspect of living in Israel is beginning to understand the complicated history of the land. We met with Zeev Ben Shachar, an educator on Israel, to give us a crash course background on everything from pre 1948 establishment to the issues facing Israel today such as Palestinian refugees. Although I feel that I have received prior education on the history of Israel and the conflicts she faces, there is always more to learn and other ways to think about what is in front of us.
One major issue that resonated with me while we were learning from Zeev, and still today, is the idea of compromise. For example, when it comes to negotiating peace, a huge talking point is the Palestinian refugees that lost their homes in the Independence war, or Al-Naqba (“the catastrophe”). The central question is whether these people have the right to return to their homes, just as Israel gives the right to any Jew to return to Israel. From one side these people lost their homes that their families lived in for many generations. But on the other side Israel would lose a vital aspect of the Zionist dream, a Jewish majority, if it were to allow all the refugees to return. The details and arguments can go on and on about how to deal with these issues and find a way to compromise, but what is hard for me is how this conversation continues to go back and forth without an answer.
Part of my goals in coming to Israel was to be able to go home and talk about Israel, explain what is going on, and find ways to help. But if the people who are in charge of this country and the major thinkers are stuck in a vicious cycle of making the same arguments with no end in sight, then how can I go back to a place so far away and begin to explain what is going on. My goal for the rest of my time here in Israel is to continue to think about this, and find reconciliation with the idea that I may not see a solution in my lifetime, but that doesn’t mean I can’t educate people and have thoughtful conversation.
