reality

We had a forum speaker tonight. I don't even know his name. All i know is that he's a Christian Palestinian and I finally heard what i've been wanting to hear since i got here.

He gave his opinion on the Arab/Israeli conflict, albeit very biased, but nontheless, it was his opinion. I loved it. I didn't completely agree with what he had to say, but he had some pretty interesting ideas about the gaza/flotilla event, hamas, and the separation wall going around the west bank and gaza. He focused heavily on the concept of victimization. Both Palestinians and Israelis love to play the victim, but he said that pity will get them no where. It's time to focus on the future, not the past. Amen to that.

It's unbelievable how thick the hate is and how deep the wounds are on both sides. I was talking to one of our security guards, Itumar, the other night. He's a 25 yr old Israeli from West Jerusalem who thinks America is too big and NYC might just be heaven on earth. i told him he needed to go to maui. He asked me what i thought about Israel before I came. I looked at him and said, "honestly, as a 20 yr old american girl i have a really negative view of this place. I imagined religious radicals, a lot of violence, a lot of danger, and just overall a really scary place to be." Of course he wondered why i would ever want to come here if that was what i thought it was like. I said, "I came because I wanted to see a part of the world I don't think I will ever see again in this context and because I wanted to form my own opinion of the events happening here." then we started talking about his argentine girlfriend and somewhere in there i asked how he learned english so well. Friends and American movies. Then I asked if he knew arabic. (every sign here is in arabic, hebrew, and english. asking him if he spoke arabic was a valid question). apparently not. if you had walked in at that moment you might have thought I'd asked him if he were gay and his girlfriend was really a man just by the look of shock and disgust on his face. He knows no more arabic than I do. While none of the employees of the Jerusalem Center are allowed to share their opinions on the conflict, if you ask the right questions you can figure it out pretty quick. Let me just add here that I love the security guards and janitors here. Ferras and Sadik are 2 of my favorites.

Just some side stats:

I live in Palestinian East Jerusalem where 67% of families are below the poverty line and 50% of the kids drop out of school.

ATTENTION AMERICANS: we don't realize how blessed we are. I have never cherished the notion of freedom more in my life. our problems are nothing in comparison to the disaster that is Israel. At home I'm not required to show my passport or documentation when I leave home and enter another city, i can get a quality education, and i can use public bathrooms for free. and they have toilet paper. Seriously, you shouldn't have to pay to use the bathroom- it's a human right. Basically I LOVE America. i think it's time for a DC trip to pay a little R-E-S-P-E-C-T to our historical homies.

I have felt so ignorant when it comes to this conflict and I realize that's my own fault. I should've been more aware of what's going on because it is a BIG deal. As i was sitting in this forum the guy seriously had me around his finger. And it hit me. This is exactly where i'm supposed to be this summer.