January 14, 2009

I love discovering the connections between the two languages that evolved nearly around the same time as well as the dissimilarities between the two. For example, many of the letters in the alphabet sound the same such as “Alef” in Hebrew and “Alif” in Arabic. However, it is fascinating to learn how to write Arabic since mostly all of the letters connect, unlike in Hebrew.   All of these courses as well as living in Israel and the current war going on in Gaza have made me extremely interested in Middle East Studies and have made me consider possibly pursuing a career in it.

Right now is a crucial time to be living in Israel as I realized almost exactly two weeks ago when war broke out in the west of Israel, the area of the Gaza Strip. There is nothing comparable to living here when important events in history take place. Had I been living in America during this time, I would have had an interest to this war, but let’s face it, almost everyone’s mindset has come to be “Yet another war in Israel.” Reading what is going on in the Israeli newspapers, watching it constantly on the TVs everywhere I go, listening to it in Hebrew on the taxis’ radios, and engaging in discussions with the Israeli security guards and soldiers has enabled me to not only gain a better understanding of the situation but to also gain a much larger interest in the matter as well. Although I continue to live my life in Israel, for the first time since I have been here, I am afraid to take buses or public transportation. Yet I, like the rest of the population living here, have no choice but to continue life as it is.

I watched the funeral on TV of a young Israeli commander who died in combat and had a four month old baby at home. But it was when I spent this past Shabbat at a family in the area, that the situation became real to me. The twenty-four year old daughter told me that she would be spending this Shabbat at her parent’s house because her husband, whom she had married six weeks ago, is an elite paratrooper and she was unsure of his whereabouts- only then did the magnitude of the situation become clear.

Yesterday, Tuesday, I was able to partake in what I felt was an important effort to help the war. I joined hundreds of other volunteers, some from my program, some new immigrants, and several Israeli soldiers in making boxed-packages of food by using an assembly line on an automatic conveyer belt in a food warehouse for the soldiers who are in combat. Working for nine hours straight was tiring but when I discovered that the previous day the volunteers made 30,000 packages and the result from our efforts was 70,000 packages, I realized the impact we had made.  The packages may not have stopped the war or the daily casualties from the Israeli armies and casualties from the Palestinian civilians in Gaza but volunteers joining together to help those on the front lines was, what I felt, a direct way and perhaps the best way I could help in this war.