Survey results expose unsurprising levels of ambivalence, ignorance
42.9% of 226 West students surveyed know very little about the current Middle East conflict. To put that in perspective, that is almost half of the student body, relative to those who were surveyed. Many students don’t know or care to know anything about the situation. They see it as something far, far away, irrelevant to them in America.
Within the same survey, 11.9% of students knew nothing at all about the situation, and this idea goes far outside of just West. The American government is engrossed in the trenches of the conflict, with Republicans and Democrats arguing about funding for aid and humanitarian issues. The president comes out with countless press conferences. But, if an American citizen doesn’t follow the news or care to, they will be oblivious to the horror occurring.
A large reason for this ambivalence is that the conflict is not occurring within the United States. Junior GJ Zahner, hoping to help the situation, realizes the lack of resources available to help those in Israel and Palestine.
“I’ve been emailing, calling, donating money, watching for protests near Oshkosh, but it feels like nothing I do will ever be enough,” they said.
Zahner also sees a raging support for Israel within American politics, as President Joe Biden has come out with many statements in adamant support for Israel as violence continues.
“I know the U.S will support Israel no matter how many war crimes they commit,” Zahner said.
Junior Caleb Ruhl understands the reason so many West students have an apathetic stance toward the situation, and lack of education and information lies at the root.
“People need to be more educated on the subject. People will look at it at face value when they need to actually do reading on it,” he said. “You can do virtually anything to educate yourself on the subject. People don’t do that because they’re either too lazy or just don’t care.”
Israeli citizens’ experiences and the events that have taken place across the Israel and Palestinian conflict can alter the way one sees the situation, still not halting the conclusion of which side to take.
“I have some Israeli friends that I talk to, and it has radically affected my view on the situation,” Ruhl said. “After some of the war crimes I saw, it made me more pro-Israel, but that doesn’t mean I am 100% pro Israel, they do awful things too, such as the colonization and settlements, but from the Israeli citizens that I have talked to, they mainly just blame Palestine.”
Similarly, Zahner has followed the conflict closely since it began as it affects their well-being watching as the tragedies continue.
“Watching this crisis unfold has seriously affected my mental health. Whole bloodlines wiped out in a day,” they said. “I watched a video of a Palestinian child who had just been pulled from the rubble of a building, his whole family gone, and the look in his eyes will be burnt into my psyche for probably the rest of my life.”
Zahner believes people can shy away from the true horror of the situation.
“It’s a genocide in every sense of the word,” they said. “It infuriates me how so many people shy away from calling it that. Gaza is an open air prison. This isn’t war, it’s a genocide.”
Though this is not happening directly in the United States, this affects America as a world-wide issue.
“Just because it’s not happening here, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t care what happens over there. It can affect us here, we’re all one earth,” Ruhl said.
By Anika Flores
Published November 27 2023
Oshkosh West Index Volume 120 Issue II