Psychologically, our reality derives from the stories we tell ourselves, at least the ones we believe. – Matthew D. Lieberman 

Since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel and the ensuing conflict, antisemitism has risen as well as hate against Palestinians in the U.S. [1] The narratives we tell ourselves about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict matter because they affect not only our view of the conflict and the people involved, but also our empathy and our actions.  

Do we tell ourselves that this is an ancient, religious, and inevitable war going back to the Biblical story of Ishmael and Isaac? This narrative is common among Evangelicals and is in part what lead to many such Christians being more sympathetic to Israelis. Instead, do we look at the actual history and view the beginnings of this conflict as possibly avoidable, originating in 1948, and being primarily over land? 

What about the narrative that we as Christians identify more with Israelis? We need to recognize that there are Christians in danger on both sides, but even if this were not the case, that no life is less valuable because of how close their religious beliefs are to ours. 

Do we tell ourselves this war is about peace or, as a recent article in the Southern Accent argued, about liberation? The former positions Israel as peacemakers and Palestinians as troublemakers, the latter as oppressors and liberty fighters. Understanding this binary helps us understand the polarization both in the U.S. on this topic and the motivations of many Israelis and Palestinians.  

Do we believe that we have nothing to do with this war? This narrative is not only false but harmful. We do have something to do with this war because, as I previously stated, hate against Jewish and Palestinian people in the U.S. is on the rise. There are people here on campus who are connected to both sides of this conflict, and we need to make sure that both feel welcome and safe to share their stories.  

Another common narrative is that to be pro-Palestinian liberation is to be pro-Hamas. Do we believe this, or perhaps that to be outraged about the loss of innocent Palestinian lives is antisemitic, but to talk about the attacks against innocent Israelis is to support Israel’s military actions? 

Must the paradigms and losses on both sides be spoken of in the same breath to avoid criticism from either of these views?    

In this issue we discuss many aspects of the conflict, from its origins to ways you can support humanitarian efforts monetarily (yet another reason we need to change the narrative that we have nothing to do with this war). This issue includes a double feature—one on the Whitman protests and one featuring our chaplain, Albert Handal. You may notice that both articles are more sympathetic to the Palestinian side of the conflict.  

With this in mind, I encourage you to do three things with this issue. 1) Take each article in the context of the entire issue. 2) Do not think The Collegian or the University supports Hamas or does not feel for Israeli people—we simply wanted to cover subjects that are relevant to Walla Walla University students, and both subjects featured are more closely tied to WWU than many of the other articles. 3) Take this opportunity to consider a different narrative than the one you currently hold. 

References 

1. Morales, M. (October 25, 2023). Jews, Palestinians and Muslims in the US say they’re experiencing growing fear about rising bigotry and hatred. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/25/us/israel-hamas-war-hate-crimes-us/index.html  

Photos  

1. Photo from Canva.