I lived in Saudi Arabia for three years — 2001–2004. That was 10th through 12th grade. So yeah, I went to prom in Saudi Arabia. That was weird. But overall I had a pretty good experience. I love the Middle East.
One of the things you learn if you live in that part of the world is that most Arabs sympathize with the Palestinians and view the Israelis as oppressors, occupiers, a foreign colonial power, a neighborhood bully. And they’ve got a point. If you really learn about what life is like for the people who live in Gaza or the West Bank, it’s hard not to see the Palestinians as oppressed. Their movements are heavily restricted. Many face desperate, grinding poverty, with little hope of opportunity on the horizon. And they are largely cut off from the outside world.
Of course, this does not in any way excuse the virulent anti-semitism that — at least when I was in high school — was so commonplace among many Arabs I met, most of whom, as was the case in Saudi Arabia, had never even met a Jew. (There aren’t a lot of Jews in Saudi Arabia… ha!)
But while I never shared the casual anti-semitism of too many of my peers, I did learn to sympathize with the Palestinian cause. And I still do. These feelings of sympathy have only been reinforced by medical aid trips my sister (an NP) has made to Gaza. She’s had first-hand encounters with what many Gazans face, and…