Effects of Israel-Gaza Conflict Reverberate in Oak Park

The latest sanguinary chapter of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has wound to a close, leaving the region as deeply polarized as ever, split between the unyielding disputes of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples. The conflict’s repercussions resound widely, even among students at Oak Park High School, with opinions registering across a broad spectrum.

After 50 days of fighting, an Egyptian negotiated ceasefire brought the confrontation between Israel and Hamas to a close.

According to the UN, the conflict left 73 Israelis, and more than 2100 Gazans dead of which almost 500 were children. The bombardment of the coastal enclave resulted in destruction valued to exceed $5 billion, according to the Minister of Public Works in Gaza, Mufeed al-Hasayneh.

Tensions began to mount as three Israeli boys were believed to have been kidnapped by Hamas in the West Bank on June 12. This set off a frantic search by Israel, ending 18 days later in the discovery of the boys’ dead bodies beneath a pile of rocks.

Reacting to the kidnappings, Israel instituted a wide crackdown in the West Bank, searching thousands of homes, and arresting hundreds of Palestinians suspected of involvement with Hamas. Responding to the crackdown, Hamas fired a fusillade of rockets into Israel. Pledging reprisal for these attacks, Israel on July 8 launched Operation Protective Edge, a bombing campaign of the Gaza Strip, followed ten days later by a ground invasion.

A number of Oak Park High School students were in Israel during this period. Among them was Senior Maya Stainfeld. In an interview with the Talon, she described the situation.

“After the three [boys] were found dead, things started to heat up. They said there would possibly be bombings, and rockets, and war.”

To this day, she maintains an app on her phone that notifies her of missile attacks on Israel.

The conflict has deeply resonated with Stainfeld.

“It affected a lot of my life choices, … after that, I really feel like I want to contribute.”

After graduating next June, she is planning on joining the intelligence branch of the Israel Defense Forces.

“If you don’t destroy [Hamas], they only grow. … How many innocent people have to die, before you have to try to take care of the problem?”

According to the Associated Press, President Abbas of the Palestinian Authority likewise denounced Hamas’s actions. He condemned the group’s refusal to accept an earlier truce, and held it responsible for needlessly prolonging the conflict. “It was possible for us to avoid all of that, 2,000 martyrs, 10,000 injured, 50,000 houses [destroyed].”

On the other hand, Israel’s offensive led to international condemnation of their tactics. Amnesty International, an American based group that promotes human rights across the globe, has reported attacks on UN schools, where displaced civilians were taking shelter.

Israel claims that Hamas has systematically taken advantage of such sites to store armaments, and provoke Israeli action.

“In an attempt to win the world’s sympathy, Hamas cynically used Palestinian civilians as human shields. It used schools, not just schools – UN schools, private homes, mosques, even hospitals to store and fire rockets at Israel,” said Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, in a speech given at the UN on September 29, 2014.

A number of Oak Park students could not come to terms with the actions of either side.

Junior Ashkaan Khalilzadeh saw a great deal of fault in both groups. “I would personally be supportive of neither side, because I believe that both sides are incredibly at fault.”

Noting the longstanding dispute, however, he saw little chance for resolution. “I don’t even think there is a way to resolve it, because these two have been fighting for as long as anyone can remember. … And I think that both sides are so stubborn and so war-happy that nothing will get done.”

Junior Nicholas Tesoro offered sharp criticisms of both sides. “I think they’re both in the wrong. They’ve been fighting each other for thousands of years. Get over yourselves. … There has got to be some peaceful method where leaders from both sides can come, sit down, and hash this out.”

Senior Ronak Bhatia acknowledged the difficulty of finding a lasting solution to the problem, but suggested establishing a system of schools with the expressed intent of educating Israeli and Palestinian children. This method he saw as a way of fostering bonds between the sides.

“If you educate the children with concepts of peace, and you let the children know that this has been a conflict that has been going on for this many years, and show that the world has some interest in the future of peace, … because in the end, we’re all just humans, maybe we could reach something.”

Just such solutions are in development in Israel. Hand In Hand, an Israeli organization founded in 1997, has grown to operate five integrated schools in Israel. At these schools, Arab and Israeli children are taught together in the same classrooms to foster amiable relations between Israelis and Palestinians. In a statement posted on the organization’s website, Julie Bram, a board member for Hand in Hand describes an environment that inspires hope for the future of the region.

“As hard as it is to believe, given the media images we are constantly bombarded with, at the Hand in Hand schools in Israel, Arab families do not feel like second-class citizens and are not treated as such. Here there is mutual respect and equality. Most importantly, the groundwork is being laid for a better and more peaceful life for all.”

These efforts are notable because it happens to be the children that bear the burdens of the disputes of their parents and ancestors. Stainfeld described a close friend of hers, whom she had known since childhood. He went off to fight for Israel at the age of 19.

“He wanted to be a fighter. He wanted to be in the tanks. He thought he could handle it. And then, when the war came around, and he found out he’d be in Gaza, he stopped talking. He didn’t talk to anyone. He didn’t talk to his parents. He didn’t talk to me. … After he got back, he was just not there. … It completely messed him up. He’s still not okay, even though it’s over, for now.”