My name is Jennifer Fendrick, and I am a senior at George Mason University. I am a Global Affairs major, with a concentration in Middle Eastern Affairs, so the issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are relevant to me in this regard.
This topic is also of particular significance to me in another sense: I lived in the state of Israel for more than a year, from 2010 to late 2011. I had moved there with the intention of making Alyiah, or immigrating to Israel, which is allowed for anyone claiming at least one Jewish grandparent (I have two).
However, I became increasingly disturbed by what can only be described as a kind of frighteningly casual, virulent strain of racism that permeated much of Israeli society. Time and again, I overhead seemingly ordinary Israelis speak almost offhandedly of their hatred for Arabs, of their inhumanity, which made them undeserving of a state of their own.
Many, including Israel’s then-Foreign Minister, Avidgor Lieberman, also expressed a desire for a forced exodus of all Arabs currently living in Israel (needless to say, many did not seem to appreciate the irony of wishing for an Arab exodus from Israel, particularly in light of Jewish history).
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