Embedded Files
October 8, 2023. My daughter & I are in Israel for the year. We are receiving a lot of messages from people at home inquiring as to our safety and asking us when we're coming home. I'm writing this because I want friends, family, students, and colleagues to better understand why we have decided to stay here as long as we can. I have a lot of thoughts, and as an historian, an educator, and a Jew, I also have different perspectives to offer to help those who come from different backgrounds understand where my daughter & I are coming from, if they're interested.Â
WHY? The following is a short sample of the questions I've been receiving (explicitly and implicitly), and the questions I've been asking myself, that will be the focus of this blog - I'll keep adding to this list as I receive more from both external and internal sources:
Why is Israel always in the news?
Why is Israel always the bad guy?
Why do the Israelis treat the Palestinians so badly?
Why don't they let the Palestinians have a state?
Why am I a Zionist?
Why do I think that anti-Zionism is really anti-Semitism?
And in keeping with my academic background and the basic themes that govern my research, the inevitable:
Why is it so important to not only "learn history" but to actually understand how history is produced?
NOTE (Nov 17): This blog began as a way of letting my friends and family know I was safe, and a cathartic means for me to process my emotions while also providing background for colleagues who knew little about the context but wanted to learn. I purposely kept the blog off of the radar of search engines as much as possible, because I am a private person and these are my private thoughts and experiences, and I didn't want them trashed by trolls. However, as one of my posts was put on facebook (not by me) and went viral, something amazing happened: I started to receive dozens of emails from strangers who wanted to thank me! People have said very kind things about my giving voice to their pain and loneliness, and about how I've helped them to learn more about what's going on. I realize now that even as I receive some less supportive messages, my words are touching people. If my writing is able to help anyone out there who is experiencing the same profound sense of loss as I have, who is scared and feeling helpless, as I am, my privacy is a small price to pay. I will keep posting, and I thank all of you who have written to me with positive messages of support and solidarity, from the bottom of my heart.
Above: my favorite photo from the beach by my rented apartment in Haifa.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse