Conflicts and Confusion

     This past weekend was the first time since the beginning of the semester that I left the kibbutz to visit family in Israel. Not only was I thrilled to see my grandma, uncle, and cousins that I had not seen for over two years, but also to reunite with all of them over a Shabbat dinner. The food, people, and conversation were all amazing, even though it was in Hebrew and I did not understand most of it. What I did understand consisted of stray words that I tried to piece together and form sentences. Surprisingly, a calm family dinner soon transformed into a heated conversation about politics. They all agreed that "Bibi" was a bad prime minister, but disagreed on what should change in the upcoming election. My 11 year old cousin even joined in. Because my family came from Iraq about 70 years ago, they have mixed feelings about a two state solution and the Arab Israeli conflict in general. 

     On the one hand, they feel that protecting Israeli Arabs is important because they will most likely make up future generations of Israelis. On the other hand, they have been subject to Jewish expulsion from Iraq, and are aware of the threats that radical Islamists pose to Israel. My younger cousins support avodah, the workers' party, mainly because they are friends with many Israeli Arabs. However, my uncle and grandma disagree completely. My grandma was young when she, her mother, and 6 siblings left Iraq, and yet she still remembers her life there. One of the main reasons she is against a two state solution is because of the terrors she witnessed in Iraq. She remembers how Jews were publicly hanged in town squares or other populous places. My younger cousins disagree with her stance by arguing that only radical Islamists believe in expelling Jews, and that there are close to none living in Israel. With both of these sides arguing, I'm not sure what to think. I feel that I don't know enough about the situation yet to have an accurate and educated opinion. I'm hoping that by the end of these 4 months I will have witnessed enough to develop my own.