In January of 2009, I was entering my last semester at Marshall University, in West Virginia. I was a liberal arts major, focusing on religious studies and sociology. I had taken two years of Arabic and worked with Muslim students on campus, helping them with navigating classes and providing friendship. I honestly hadn’t thought much about Israel outside of religious terms and considered myself politically neutral. That all changed abruptly during what would be known as Operation Cast Lead, or simply, The Gaza War.
One day things seemed normal, and then the next, my Muslim friends surrounded me, asking me to be a Jewish voice for an upcoming political event they were planning. I was one of very few Jewish students on campus. Later that evening I went to my synagogue for our weekly Yiddish choir practice, and I told the group of the event. I didn’t feel knowledgeable enough to…
