Opinion: What do you think about the Israel-Gaza War?
Editor’s note: The subject of srael and Palestine is a highly complex issue and certainly cannot be captured or explained in a few opinion-based interviews. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own extensive research. A few resources are provided below.
The latest conflict began on October 7, 2023 when members of Hamas attacked Israel and killed over 1,100 people as well as took more than 200 people as hostages. Since then, the Israeli military launched a counteroffensive in Gaza and has killed over 25,000 Palestinian people, according to recent figures reported by Al Jazeera.
Journalism 2 students interviewed a few teachers and students about their opinions on the Israel-Gaza War.
Here’s what they had to say.
Ms. Suarez, Science teacher
Interview by Hector S.
Q: What do you think about the Israel-Gaza war?
A: As a teacher, what’s really difficult in talking about what’s going on in Israel and Palestine is just the amount of violence, grief and sadness that comes with seeing so much death on such a vast scale. And it’s almost, like, I somehow sometimes don’t feel like we have enough time in school to talk about how students are feeling and their processing their emotions around such big, sad, and traumatic events that are happening, even if it’s not here in the United States. You’re seeing it and it’s affecting you.
Q: What is your opinion about the war?
A: I feel comfortable expressing my opinion on what’s going on, but not necessarily at work, and that’s only because, unfortunately, the teachers’ union [UTLA] hasn’t made a stance on supporting Palestine. For example. the district sent out an email where they only mentioned Israel and not Palestine, so I know that teachers have some limitations on what they can do at school in terms of politics and, unfortunately, talking about Israel and Palestine is a very divisive topic and it’s very taboo, and for a long time it’s one of those topics that people really are afraid to talk about. So, I am in full support of Palestine and will always be Palestine all the way, but sometimes I wonder if that will get me in trouble for a multitude of reasons.
Q: Why is it difficult for teachers to speak out about this?
A: Students have the student bill of rights which has free expression under there and teachers aren’t necessarily held to the same thing because we don’t have a teachers bill of rights. We have a lot of codes and a lot of ways that we need to behave and we need to be, so a lot of times that does mean trying to silence our political voices, our values, and our ethics and a lot of things that might be seen as not appropriate for school when school is a political place whether we like it or not.
Ms. Grace, History teacher
Interview by Heyli G.
Q: What do you know about the war?
A: What I know is that this is a continuation of a conflict and an occupation on Palestine land for over since the 1880s. At least that’s how far my history goes, it’s the 1880s, yea.
Q: Who do you think is in the right?
A: Oh wow, so I think that question, no offense to you, cause I think it’s a great question to have the conversation and I think probably intentionally simplified but the question is too simple. At the same time, there is no way for me that the Palestinians have been wrong in any way over this conflict because when I look at the actions of violence coming from the Palestinian people, they’re actually acts of resistance, and the resistance are sometimes violent. Many times also nonviolent, but because they’ve been resisting for so many decades and centuries. You know there’s a phrase or a quote, I actually forgot who said it but it’s like you know, I’m gonna, first I’m gonna ask you for what I need then when you close the door I’m gonna knock, but then when you don’t answer my knock, I’m gonna have to kick the door down and that’s what I see happening — is an escalation of events from the Palestinian people for being occupied and brutalized and oppressed for so long. So the Israeli government and military and being incredibly brutal in their genocide of the Palestinian people.
Q: Do you think it’s going to get any better?
A: We [the U.S.] are definitely currently making it worse by giving money to Israeli military which we know are doing things, like bombing hospitals and homes and apartments, which have nothing to do with what they claim is their political conflict. So, all I know is that we’re making it incredibly worse right now and I think our media is also really biased about it. When students first started documenting, they were ‘OMG did you hear what happened in Israel and Palestine’ and I’m just, what frustrates me is that I see the media and the government leave out the context of the history and as a herhistory teacher, that infuriates me cause I know if we don’t learn the herhistory of it, then we can’t see it clearly. So, we’re not, we’re not seeing it clearly right now we’re only getting to see one piece of the side.
Dhagie K., 10th grader
Interview by Xiomara A.
Q: How does the U.S benefit from helping Israel ?
A: The U.S doesn’t benefit from the war at all besides gaining more oil for their industry. In reality, they are just giving away billions of dollars every year to a country that doesn’t even care about the U.S current state. Americans and non-Americans living in the U.S agree that the taxes that are taken away from us shouldn’t be sent to wars that shouldn’t be our business to get involved in. Israel and Palestine are literally on the other side of the world, why would that matter to U.S. and American citizens?
Q: How has the conflict affected the daily lives of people living in Palestine and Israel?
A: The war has affected both Israel and Palestine in bad terms. However, Palestine has taken the more damage when it comes to death and injuries rates. Gaza has been exterminated with thousands of missiles thrown from Israel, killing millions of innocent men, women, kids, and elders in the way. People have been taken hostage and torture or raped to death. However in the other side ,Israel has been attacked but hasn’t taken as much damage like Palestine has, but of course let’s not forget that in war there is no good in both sides. Just like in Palestine, innocent Israelis’ lives are being taken away because of a conflict that they weren’t even part of. Both sides are taking kills and injuries every second, but the difference is that Israel has been provided with aid from most NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) countries nonstop and the western media is supporting Israel as much as they can with propaganda all over America in order to keep sending our tax money for them to be killing innocents. Palestine on the other hand has been portrayed as terrorists in western news, with companies and celebrities supporting Palestinians defending their own homeland .
Q: Are you on the Palestine or Israel side? And why?
A: I support Palestine because it’s a land where Palestinians have lived for thousands of years. People from Israel are just fighting for a land that does not belong to them because it belongs to Palestinians. Let’s not forget when people from Israel only went as refugees and took advantage of that help and took over a land that belonged to the people who once helped them.
Here are a few resources:
What are Israel and Palestine? Why are they fighting?
Top UN court orders Israel to prevent genocide in Gaza but stops short of ordering cease-fire
Islamophobia and antisemitism on rise in US amid Israel-Hamas war
