A Lively Discussion

An Israeli and Palestinian in a heated argument after dinner over the current situation in the Gaza Strip.

A Mexican, Italian, Bulgarian, German, Peruvian, Uruguayan, Portuguese, and myself, the Korean-American, seated around the table listening attentively with the occasional input.

The Israeli declares that Israel is only against the terrorist group Hamas, and that Israel is working for the good of the Palestinians. Hamas is seeking to empower itself and will not stop at anything to get there, including setting up its military base underneath a hospital, hiding out under civilian homes, and pushing children to the front of military lines in order to discourage Israeli military from fighting. Hamas has consistently violated ceasefires and refuses to negotiate a treaty, instead shooting rockets into Israel and causing mayhem. If Israel puts a stop to its military reactions and undos the blockade on the Gaza Strip, Hamas would see it as an admittance of weakness and take advantage of the situation in order to gain more weapons and strength. On the other hand, even though civilian lives have been lost, the Israeli intelligence has been doing an excellent job targetting Hamas leaders. Israel has been responsible for its bombings by informing resident families in the target homes of its intent to bomb the house and warning them to clear out. Israel is trying to make it clear that its war is with Hamas, not with Palestine.

The Palestinian replies by stating that all his people can believe is what they see before their very own eyes, and that is countless of Palestinian civilians being killed and dying, due to the combination of Israeli attacks and blockades. Although Israel claims that her only enemy is Hamas, when hundreds of innocent civilians are killed in the name of defeating Hamas, Palestinians inevitably view Israel as their enemy. Because of the blockades preventing travel as well as passageway of food and medical supplies, many Palestinians are dying of starvation, disease, or wounds caused by Israeli bombings. Countless families have lost their homes and are living in the streets with nowhere to go. As a result, many Palestinians support Hamas, believing that Hamas' victory will bring peace to the region and put an end to all the sufferings of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. If only the blockades on Palestinian cities would be let up and supplies flow resumed, Palestinians would maybe have faith that Israel seeks only to crush Hamas, for the good of everyone, both Palestinian and Israeli.

In the midst of this, the other observers around the table occasionally interrupt with their own comments and questions. Where is Hamas even getting its weapons supplies from? Can Israel justify the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians for the deaths of a couple of Hamas leaders? (Here, the Peruvian says, yes, if that's what it must come down to; she cites her own nation's history in dealing with insurgent terrorist organizations and the innocent people killed in attempts to kill the real culprits.) The pictures and stories depicted by the media for either side are all filled with propaganda. Part of the reason that this issue is so difficult to be resolved is because of the involvement of many outside countries in this affair between two.

For a while, it seems as if there is no end in sight to this debate. While the one tries to respect the views and statements of the other, they cannot help but argue for what they feel is the correct presentation of the situation in the Gaza Strip. Yet they manage to finally come to a conclusion with the agreement that both sides, Israelis and Palestinians alike, long only for peace. If there was a feasible way of negotiating peace without violence, the two both agree that they would jump on the opportunity to bring an end the war.

Today was my first day back at the United World College (USA) since my winter break, and this is the kind of discussion that I witnessed and participated in during dinnertime. In what other place does this occur? I found myself surrounded by my peers - 16 to 18 year olds - from different nations, all with their own views and opinions on the current situation in the Gaza Strip. Each person is affected by his or her nation's history and what he or she was brought up learning, and this in turn affects the way he or she analyzes and judges the current occurences in action. Although everyone declares to wish for peace, at what cost must it be bought? Some believe that the sacrifices of civilian lives are not in vain. Others believe that the deaths of so many innocents cannot be justified by the claims of a government for wanting peace. The one thing that came out of this discussion, though, was that every participant left with an understanding and the viewpoint from both the sides of the Israeli and the Palestinian, and they themselves came to face the realities and faults of not just the opposing side, but their of their own people, their own forces of power.

This does not occur everyday. From country to country, depending on where the interests of the governments lie, the portrayal of the Gaza situation varies, whether in support of Israel, or of Palestine. In most cases, the discussions held over this topic are either overwhelmingly influenced by one bias over the other, or in political situations, the conversation is directed based on the ambitions and interests of the speakers. At UWC, though, here this discussion is held between two teenagers of warring cultures, who can only defend what they've been told and what they have seen and heard from their families back at home. It is evident that propaganda has done its work on both, but here at UWC, they have the opportunity to hear from the other side, personal stories and evidence from their own media. The additional input of their peers, those who come from the rest of world that is observing the situation, also brings a new light to the discussion - new ideas, new potential solutions, new opinions. And watching my peers, my friends, participating in this conversation and trying to collectively come up with solutions for peace, I realized that I was witnessing the future diplomats and ambassadors of this world. My generation, this UWC generation are the future leaders. The fate of the world will be in our hands someday. The negotiations, the talks, the peace conferences and meetings - the kids seated around me at the dinner table are the ones who will be facilitating and partaking in them. They are our future. And seeing and being part of a discussion like this, and realizing that this is just the preamble to what will be future discussions filled with action, gives me hope. Because if 10 students from all over the world can sit down and talk about and argue over the situation in Gaza, I have a vision that in 10, 20 years, these same 10 will once again sit down together to talk about and argue over future situations, and this time with the power to put into motion agreements and conclusions for peace.