Children kidnapped from their homes; rockets fired across arbitrary lines on a map; 2,200 people killed during a bloody summer. A speech that divided a congress; an election that divided a nation; a leadership statement that divided a campus.
As we reflect on a semester and a year that brought renewed conflict over Israel to our world, our city, and our Hilltop, we are reminded of an unfortunate reality: Israel is inherently divisive.
This year was certainly not the first to feature conflict. Growing up watching the news, I remember an Israel consistently defined by its wars with Hamas and Hezbollah, its opposition to Iran’s nuclear program, and its enormously complicated struggle for peace and security in the West Bank and Gaza. And that’s only the last 19 years of Israel’s history—the previous 48 make recent decades looks tranquil. As a Jewish American, the word “Israel” always felt dramatic, like the three syllables in its name were a manifestation of its 3000 year-old struggle for existence.
But this narrative of conflict does not do justice to the depth of Israel’s story, and it fails to capture the real life experiences of so many Israelis. What about the Israel of normal parents, children, doctors, and teachers? What about the Israel of Jews and Arabs living, working, and raising their families side-by-side?
More importantly, perpetuating the sole narrative of conflict does nothing but contribute to the continuity of conflict. As long as we continue to define Israel solely by division, it will divide. And as long as we continue to draw arbitrary lines in the sand, those lines will cut through our communities as sharply as the rockets that cut through Israel’s summer sky.
So let us transcend that narrative.
Let us reject labels, do away with battle lines, and strive to become an example of what it looks like to come together as a community. Georgetown, perhaps more so than any other University, is uniquely situated to be this example—but we must work actively to bring it about.
The Georgetown Israel Alliance is seeking to do just that. This week marks the 67th anniversary of Israel’s founding, and we are working actively to create a space where all Hoyas can come together, acknowledging areas of discomfort and disagreement, but celebrating something deeper.
Let us celebrate the fact that Israel continues to serve as an important refuge for Jews fleeing anti-semitism and discrimination around the world.
Let us celebrate the fact that Arab citizens of Israel are active participants in its flawed but vibrant democratic system.
Let us celebrate the fact that Israel is a democracy at all, in a region filled with autocracies and theocracies.
Let us celebrate Israel’s thriving economy, culture of entrepreneurship and innovation, and growing contributions to global humanitarian aid and disaster relief efforts.
Let us celebrate the strength of the U.S.-Israel relationship, which has survived political turmoil for 67 years and continues to rest on fundamentally shared values and interests.
And let us celebrate all this together, regardless of background or political affiliation, because that’s what it means to be inclusive, that’s what it means to be pro-Israel, and that’s what it means to attend Georgetown University.
We’ve seen enough violence and vitriol, enough wars waged with weapons and words. As a proud Hoya and a board member of the Georgetown Israel Alliance, I hope we can all use this week as an opportunity to come together, celebrate the miracle of the modern state of Israel, and have an honest conversation about how to improve the ways we engage in this issue as a community. Yesterday’s Israel Day celebration on Copley Lawn was only the start.
Let’s transcend the narrative.
Ari is a freshman in the College and External Secretary of the Georgetown Israel Alliance.
I would very happily transcend this bullshit narrative.
Hmmm–can Israeli Arabs vote?