Last night our icnext group went out into the streets of Emek Refaim with the goal of interviewing Israeli families. Although it took us a lot of time and many awkward moments to pick a family to interview, we finally found the perfect couple. To begin, they told us that they were from Mitzpe Yericho, but then we went immediately off the topic of family as they told us they didn’t consider this part of the West Bank. This was something all members of our interview group found interesting, so in response, slightly non sequitur (sorry Amnon), we asked them about their political views. Unsurprisingly, they told us that they were right wing. They said that a two state solution would be adequate as long as Palestinians and Israelis were fully separate but equal. But they also said realistically that it would never happen.
To get back on topic we asked them about their kids and we discovered that they had four kids who were three, six, eight, and nine. As a follow up question I asked if their kids went to Jewish school to which they said “of course” with a sort of “that’s obvious, not even a question” type of attitude.
Their most striking response was when we asked them to compare family dynamics in their homeland with dynamics abroad. They responded that everyone here takes care of each other in a loving way unlike anywhere else in the world. From what I’ve seen of Israel, I wholeheartedly agree with this notion because even as an outsider this kehilah inherent to me in the way society functions. This whole process has made me firmly believe that the only way “the issue” can be solved is to person- face to face.