Story of Avad

My name is Avad. I am 21 y/o & currently studying Architecture in Istanbul. I have been here for three years. Turkey is very interesting, I love it here. I know people complain, but it is decent place to live in, at least for me. It’s like one big community.

I am from #Jerusalem, & my family is still there. I have a love hate relationship with Israel. Jerusalem is such a diverse city, so when I started travelling beyond Israel I wasn’t shocked at the diversity I was exposed to in other countries. It gave me the ability to also see things from a different perspective & also learn. I am not sure I will stay my whole life here. For me it’s too stressful. I am too invested in the local conflict.

However, I take issue with the occupation in Israel. There was an election two years ago & the results were incredibly disappointing. Whenever there’s a fight here between Arabs & Jews it is always plastered across the news. It really bothers me with the racism here.

I feel very different. Young people in Israel don’t try to think in a different way. I am not much into nationalism, I never have been. I think it’s silly to stand up & put hand on my heart for the Israeli flag. I believe countries are concepts & just part of our imagination. Something doesn’t feel right, so why would I sacrifice my life for something I don’t believe in.

The older generation had hope with the left-wing Israeli party, but they kind of just gave up on it. For them, it’s been almost 30 years. The Palestinian conflict has been going on for 73 years now, people just take the stance to not talk about it & ignore it. For me, I disagree. I side with the left movement, & even though they are very weak, we can improve that with education & social sciences. For them it’s just more about giving up, for them it’s not going to change.

Jerusalem is very close to Palestine, literally two-minute drive away you can see the border. It is very close & very difficult for me to ignore. I think the young generation are less interested in general about politics. Sadly, that is the most case for young Israelis.

For the citizens of Israel, the Arab Israelis, it’s very easy to move around. We have border between Israel & Palestine. When you go there you can really feel the occupation. It’s technically the wall, like the wall that Trump was talking about, it exists there. You have a very small narrow street that connects the two states. It’s controlled by the military which they are not qualified to do. For Palestinians, you have to get a visa to get into Israel. Most get work visa, they go in the morning & work during the day doing labour & then they come back but in general it is not as easy to get inside.

It’s not controlled well, sometimes they don’t even check your passport. For some Palestinian’s they can just hide in the car & they can get in. The wall is there just to diminish the Palestinian hopes, it’s more physical thing. You know it being there, it’s like you’re under control. It’s like “don’t even think about a revolution or creating a democratic future Palestine”

So many incidents happened where a woman would be walk & the military would be thinking “she’s coming to stop me” & they would shoot her. So many per year. It still does happen. But with Covid, all borders were closed. It happened so much that Palestinians got afraid they wouldn’t create any attention as they know that the military is not qualified, so the minute they feel afraid they will just shoot.

I don’t think change will be in the near future. I believe there might be a future for Israel, maybe in 30 years. When the new generation starts going to the parliament & they start being politicians.