Two recent encounters on this campus have compelled me to write down my thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The first happened several Fridays ago. Arab students set up a display of maps and flags outside the campus center in order to promote awareness of the Palestinian cause. I, being an optimistic and dedicated supporter of a large-scale peace process, stopped by and opened dialogue with some of the students. I was not surprised by most of the arguments until the topic of suicide bombers came up. At that point, I was admittedly taken aback by a fellow student explaining that seeing her innocent father searched time and again at Israeli checkpoints led even her, on several occasions, to thoughts of a suicide attack.
The second encounter was this past week at a panel discussion in Hotung about the conflict in the Middle East. In her concluding remarks, one of the students representing the Arab side explained that before she took part in dialogues with Jewish students on this issue, she called the attackers "freedom fighters". Now, she says, she has learned that these suicide attacks do not work, and she therefore no longer considers them a useful tactic in a struggle for peace.
That was her warm and fuzzy concluding remark to a warm and fuzzy panel discussion. This scares me. It more than scares me, actually - it disgusts me. Suicide bombers are not the answer because they do not work? No. Suicide bombers aren't the answer because they are wrong.
Strapping a bomb to your body and walking into a crowded school, a bus, a caf?©, a club, with the hopes of killing as many innocent people as possible is unacceptable no matter what horrible circumstances you are in. Have the Israelis done bad things in this conflict too? Yes. The difference is that no legitimate Jewish leader in the world is happy about those things. They consider it a horrible side effect of protection. Israelis are trying to get rid of terrorists and regret every innocent life they accidentally kill in the process. The Palestinians have a different set of standards.
Am I claiming moral superiority in this conflict? I certainly am. I am a moral absolutist when it comes down to it, and the values of the Palestinian governing bodies and much of the world Arab leadership is absolutely out of line.
You want to know the difference in the value systems between the Palestinians and Israelis? Here it is. For 54 years going, from day one until now, elementary school students in Israel come home from school to their parents and show them the pictures of doves that they drew in class. Turn on Israeli radio - there's nothing to hide. Even if you speak no Hebrew, you'll hear one word over and over again. That word is shalom - peace. It overwhelms the music. It overwhelms the prayer, too. Jews end their most important prayer three times a day with a plea for peace in this world. And here's the kicker. We said that same prayer in Auschwitz. We say that same prayer in French synagogues as they are destroyed by anti-Semitic attacks. We said that same prayer from day one, say it today, and will say it again tomorrow.
Shall we compare? What are they learning in Arafat's elementary schools? Is it peace or is it guns? And what are they playing on radio and television throughout the Arab world? Is it songs of peace? And what are they praying for, victory or peace?
I can proudly say that as an 18-year old deeply invested in the prospect of peace, I could propose to do a project in support of peace efforts, and funds would flow out from the Jewish world to help me through it. What can an 18-year old Palestinian youth do to get money flowing from the Arab world? We know very well how he can get money from his beloved leader, Yasser Arafat, don't we? All he has to do is strap explosives to his chest and run into a bunch of Israelis.
If Israel is dealing with a Palestinian leader whose only reason for curbing suicide bombers is that it is not working, we have a big problem. Anyone who thinks that suicide bombings should stop for a reason other than that they are absolutely wrong is not a partner for peace. That belief is morally repulsive and despicable.
I, for one, will continue to hope, pray, and work towards peace in every way I can. I will continue to talk, I will continue to listen. But what needs to happen without delay is for the Palestinian leadership along with Syria, Iraq, Iran, and yes, even Saudi Arabia, to reexamine their ethics, to stop encouraging suicide bombers, to stop professing a doctrine of hate to their school children. In the meantime, the Israelis will continue to protect themselves from terrorism with one hand, and in the other hand, they will hold their olive branch and their dove; and they will wait for you to join them.
Eitan Hersh is an undeclared freshman.
