The Middle East has always had a stigma surrounding the area and its people: war-torn, stuck in conflict, and overtaken by religion. But that’s not true. The Middle East is filled to the brim with different types of culture, people, nature, scenery, cities, and so much more. It’s definitely not covered in evil and terror like shown in the media.
Growing up in Singapore, I was always surrounded by internationals. When I finally returned to Israel at the age of 16, I decided to go to an international high school called EMIS.*1 It’s a new and one-of-a-kind experimental school with goals for peace and sustainability in the Middle East. I also got to intern at EcoPeace, an NPO with similar peace goals, made up of environmental activists from Israel, Palestine, and Jordan.
After graduating from high school, I spent two years in mandatory military service. It was very difficult to go into the military after studying with Palestinian friends whose lives had been hurt by Israeli soldiers. I felt like I was going back a step instead of taking one forward. However, this also let me see that Israel and Palestine weren’t always hostile towards each other.
Through these experiences, I now believe that achieving peace in the Middle East is not impossible. But to do so, we need collective goals everyone in the Middle East can accept. I believe one of those goals should be tackling environmental issues like water scarcity. As the area is basically desert-like, this is in everyone’s best interest. EcoPeace Middle East helps address the issues of water depletion by building a pipeline from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. I have seen how working together on environmental issues can lead to mutual understanding that overcomes political, religious, and ethnic differences, helping to realize world peace. I think the first step to that is proper education that focuses on real understanding, and it must be widely provided across the Middle East.
My dream is for the Middle East to become a place where everyone is comfortable with their religion, skin color, and history. Peace in the Middle East may seem difficult, but I don’t think that’s necessarily so. It’s not hard to imagine people being kind to each other because it already happens every day.