When the conflict becomes a routine

This week, I came across a story that drew my attention: missiles were fired from Gaza into southern Israel. I came across this story from a Facebook status of a friend, and later noticed that it got a very minor coverage in the morning paper the following day.

When I noticed this, the first thing that came to my mind was “well, it's not a big deal,” but after I let those words echo in my mind, something really bothered me:  why isn't it a big deal to us anymore?! What has happened to us, that when people are being hurt from this conflict, that we see it as a part of a routine of some sort and just go on with our lives? Have we come to a completion with this hurtful conflict?

I don't know what has become of us, that we are willing to let such stories slide. We read about yet another attack on Israel, in courtesy of a terror organization, sigh, and turn to “liking” our friend's new profile picture. Perhaps in time we've become comfortably numb. We know that dwelling on such events will get us nowhere, because we know that this conflict will never end. We sometimes refuse to admit this, but by doing it, we, the majority, simply clear the stage for the extreme minorities, and for both governments, who, for some reason, seem to prefer the continuity of this conflict.

Israel is not that old, only 65. And not too long ago, before there were Smartphones and individualism to keep us busy, people here fought with their lives for this right to live here. Now, 65 years later, Israel is still fighting for its existence, and the other side wants a state of its own. At the same time, people from all over the world are working very hard to delegitimize our home. This time, we are smarter than we were back then. We know better than to start a war. We've learned to use diplomacy, and to sit and talk. But instead of taking action, we are counting on others to talk for us, and not doing the talking ourselves. We take events such as the ones above for granted, and go on with our lives, as if there is nothing left to do to improve the reality we are living in.

We cannot look away and ignore. Not now, not ever. Our reality is tiring, I know, but this cannot be the end, because otherwise, it would soon be impossible to fix what is broken. Missiles being fired on Israeli civilians cannot be accepted as yet another day in Israel. We cannot leave this conflict to our children, because three generations dealing with it are enough.