unparalleled youth

The reason why American Jewish youth seem to have a "waning love affair" with Israel is not reparable by simply working "as partners, for the long haul ahead" is because of a general difference in values. We cannot simply join hands when our goals are vastly different. I am very well acquainted with people my own age who shock me in the juxtaposition of their high level of education and dedication to racist policies. I have had friends tell me that they have no interest in living amongst Arabs in their country and others asking why they can't just leave Israel. When these views are popular among young people, how can the older generations expect us to see eye to eye?

In programs in which American and Israeli youth interact, many close friends are made and these friends surely see each other again when the Israelis visit the US and Americans go back to Israel for other programs. However, I've noticed that my American upbringing has led me to develop this egalitarian ideology in which nobody has the right to trample the rights of another, regardless of ethnicity, race, political status, or religion. I understand that this way of thinking is not typically American, either, as many Americans do not exhibit this kind of behavior. However, the general policy of our country is to uphold this ideology in which everybody is equal and has the same basic rights.

In Israel, many of my friends do not see matters in the same light. They understand it from the American perspective, but when applied to their own country they just cannot agree. Even some of my American Jewish friends have the same dilemma in applying such standards to Israel, and in fact, they sometimes conclude that Israel cannot be expected to uphold the same morals. I simply cannot figure out why people who believe in the morals of equality and justice can pick and choose where these morals belong in the world. This is the reason that I have noticed a strain on the relationships that I have with many of the friends that I have met on my travels to Israel, as well as why it may be difficult for our young communities of American and Israeli Jews, which are growing apart in terms of our central values, to work together in combating something that only one of these two demographics sees as a threat to Israel's future.