Life Beyond the Conflict

Tragic news has a way of traveling fast through the webs of connection which link one concerned person to the next. It was moments after I got out of my 4:10 class on Tuesday that I heard: "Suicide bombers strike twice in Israel, killing at least fifteen, celebrations in Gaza" (Jerusalem Report). "Separate homicide attacks kill at least seven in Jerusalem, eight near Tel Aviv" (Fox News). "Dual suicide bombings shatter Israeli lives" (CNN). And so the headlines scream all too often. Although with each additional attack comes a change in the wording, the body count, or the location, the essential story remains the same. Tragic. Painful. Brutal. Death.

Unfortunately or fortunately, for Israelis, life must go on. However, for many, the fear remains. Thomas Friedman of The New York Times put it well when he expressed the incontestable fear one experiences while sitting on a bus: "If you want to understand why Israel is building a wall and fence around the West Bank to defend against suicide bombers, just hop on any bus in Jerusalem. You can't wait to get off. You scrutinize every passenger. You look at every backpack. You flinch when another bus pulls alongside. And you can't wait to get off."

Your thoughts take horrific turns and your mind plays games as you imagine a terrible explosion, breaking through your reality, literally tearing you to pieces. These thoughts are the results of three years of constant pain, of another wound erupting before the last has even had time to heal. Yet, amazingly, Israeli productivity and innovation have not diminished. The progress that Israelis continue to make reveals their undying determination to better the world we live in and ensure global health and well-being.
Israeli microbiologists just developed the first passive vaccine against the mosquito-borne West Nile virus, a virus that has already killed thousands and infected many more around the world. It has been reported that in the U.S. alone, it has killed 282 and infected 4,156 people. On a recent trip to Israel, Christopher Reeve attended a conference on paralysis research and advancements and commented, "Israel is the center of some of the world's leading research related to paralysis. There are many new therapies in the pipeline as well as care strategies being employed that may also benefit millions of people around the world living with paralysis. This includes therapies derived from stem cell research." Israel is also a leading proponent in the new field of nanotechnology, which refers to any production technology in which objects are designed and built by the specification and positioning of single atoms or molecules. This study could prove infinitely valuable.

Israeli researchers have also recently discovered a genetic marker for lung cancer that will enable them to detect smokers who have a significantly increased risk of the cancer. On an educational front, Israel is one of the only countries in the Middle East to hold a model U.N. program, and can boast of a committee that draws Israelis and Palestinian teens together to negotiate relevant conflicts. Through the conference, Israelis and Palestinians were able to work together to solve age-old problems, build respect for one another, and work towards peace, one relationship at a time.
The strength and will of the Israeli people to push for a better tomorrow in spite of the fact that their future is so precarious may seem like a paradox. But, to Reeve, a man who has shown superhuman resolve in the face of his own personal tragedy, it makes sense. In an address to the Israeli people, Reeve said the following: "The Israeli people are so full of life, so full of life, and no disability, nothing can take that away. This is a place for laughter and food and dancing and celebrating ... and no matter what adversity comes your way you take it with courage and you take it with grace and your zest for life is something that we all can learn from."

The author is a Barnard College junior majoring in English.