Living Contradictions

One sunny day last April, I found myself, for the first time in my life, scared to speak up. A very vocal girl from a tender age, even among those smarter, louder and meaner than myself, I never had any trouble expressing my views about anything, especially politics. So when I realized I was afraid to speak, I knew there was something wrong.

A born and bred lefty who's only gotten lefty-er in her early adulthood, you might imagine I was in a sea of Klan members or a Christian Coalition meeting or even a Republican-dominated dinner party. I wasn't. I was participating in a political prisoners conference at my liberal college. The panelists included anti-imperialists and black liberationists, and the attendees were students I knew from my sociology class, activists I had supported in their various causes, and friends. I doubt there was a bone right of liberal in the entire room.

Everything started fine, but when the talk turned from prisoners to Palestinians, the atmosphere changed and my historic love for the left suddenly faltered. I agreed with people's initial comments: Sharon's encroachment into Palestinian territory was unjustified and the Israeli forces should immediately withdraw. The Palestinians were entitled to self-determination as a dispossessed nation. But soon, the focus shifted from making peace to placing blame: Israel is an oppressor on par with Hitler and the Nazis. Israel stole land from the Palestinians and should return it to them in full, regardless of the Israeli's right to self-determination and their own state. In fact, Israel deserved no such rights.

My heart broke. For the first time in a long time, I cried in public, and needed to leave the conference. I had to get out of there, because I was scared the other activists would see my tears and know exactly what I was feeling. My lefty membership card might be permanently revoked.

I set out to find others like myself:

	GLOSSARY Anti-Semitism, n. Opposition to, or hatred of, Semites, esp. Jews. Hillel, n. Jewish student life organization at college campuses. Zionism, n. A Jewish movement that arose in the late 19th century in response to growing anti-Semitism and sought to reestablish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Modern Zionism is concerned with the support and development of the state of Israel.

Jewish students who identify with left politics, but, due to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, are now re-thinking that relationship. This re-evaluation stems from a unique position. While most of America, most Jews and most of the left still support Israel even if they do not support Prime Minister Sharon's recent policies, many young lefties do not. In fact, the radical college left is nearly the only secular, non-ethnic group that has rallied for the Palestinians.

The radical left is particularly strong on college campuses, where some of the most dynamic, and often divisive, activism occurs. The heated, heady campus milieu provides tinder for explosive debates in which more than mere politics is at stake. At college, students work to define themselves in terms of culture, ethnicity, religion and lifestyle. Debates get very personal, and very polarized, often into diametrical "for-thises" or "anti-thats." The rhetoric surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian crisis illustrates this perfectly -- students latch onto terms like "pro-Israel" or "pro-Palestine" despite their shortcomings in promoting real dialogue, and hopefully, reconciliation.

While campus support of the Palestinians does not necessarily entail blanket opposition to Israel's existence, it often has. The media plays up conflicts between protesters and the extremes of either position to the extent that many people don't even know that a middle ground exists. Yet because the American left is a third party in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it has the potential to serve as an unbiased mediator and an advocate for peace. When the radical left offers only anti-Zionism, it matches the Bush administration's unquestioning support of Israel with its own brand of ideological fundamentalism. It remains to be seen whether activists will embrace their unique position, or squander it.