A Yellow License Plate

Ever since last Wednesday, I have been asked multiple times, how, as a Jew, I can stand up for the Palestinians, who are firing rockets indiscriminately into Israeli sovereign territory. With much deliberation and a great deal of struggle, I have come to some conclusions. These views are based on my personal experience, and while you may argue with my conclusions, you cannot argue with my feelings. These rockets are unjustifiable, but they are not launched out of senseless hatred. Rather, they are a symptom of conflict that has lasted for decades with no seeming end in sight.

This summer, I traveled with a yellow license plate. There may seem to be no meaning in this statement, but the relevance hides in the fact that my license plate wasn’t green. This color proved my citizenship, hinted at my religion, gave me the right to travel on roads labeled “Jewish-only” and speed through checkpoints. My license plate was not green, but if it were, I would have had a much harder time driving through the West Bank.

Green is the color of Islam, the color of Hamas, the color of Palestinian (non-citizen) license plates. Yellow is the color of Fatah, and of Jewish license plates. The West rallies against green and for yellow, against extremism and for moderation, against Palestinians and for Israelis. We try to fit the world into this dichotomy, this us against them mentality that serves us only to dehumanize the side of which we are not a part.

I am appalled at this new war and I’m appalled at the reaction to it. If I have learned anything this year it’s that if you stand for peace, you cannot solely stand with Israel or Palestine; you must stand with both. Israel is entitled to defend itself, but is not entitled to ignore the peace process. Israel is entitled build its Jewish character, but it is not entitled to build settlements. Israel is entitled to land between the Mediterranean and the Jordan, but it is not entitled all of it.

These rockets won’t stop. Well, they will for a period of time, but then they will start again. Another air strike will be launched on Gaza. Many more innocent civilians will die on both sides, and people will say Hamas are terrorists and Israel is fascist and this polarized argument will lead right back into the same cycle of violence. What we need is peace, acknowledgment of plight and of statehood. The Jewish right to self-determination and the Palestinian one are equal in scope. They both deserve recognition and legitimacy. Their futures are intertwined because they both lay claims to the same small piece of land.

Until we realize that there are two sides to this story, nothing will be accomplished. Rockets aren’t launched because Muslims want to push the Jews into the sea. They are a violent sign of frustration and malcontent and desperation with the lives that we, as Americans, as Jews, as people, are helping to make worse by not insisting on an end to this conflict. Am Yisrael Chai, but not at the expense of another nation.