Israeli and Palestinian Penn State Students Talk About Conflict
By: Cody Combs
Updated: November 22, 2012
STATE COLLEGE, CENTRE COUNTY - A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas seems to have put a stop to the deadly fighting in the region for now.
The conflict, which stretches back decades, affects people all over the world, and that includes Central Pennsylvania.
Israeli Penn State student and gymnast Felix Aronovich said this most recent conflict is just another chapter in the long history of fighting in the region.
"It's there on a day to day basis," he said. "It's nothing different from any other day...it's a little bit bigger."
Aronovich represented Israel as a gymnast during the 2012 London Olympics.
On the other side of the political and geographical divide is Haneen Maqboul, a Palestinian Penn State student from the West Bank.
Maqboul talked about the lack of lasting peace.
"I'm 24 years old, born during the First Intifada," she said. "I've seen the Second Intifada, all my life there has been fighting in Palestine."
Both Maqboul and Aronovich said they find themselves thinking about and contacting family more often during the conflict.
Aronovich says he gets frustrated with what he says is slanted coverage that doesn't show the Israeli perspective.
"They shoot hundreds of rockets at us every day and I try to explain that we're victims too," he continued. "It's both sides, so I try to show the Israeli side."
Moqboul said she believes that far too few people around the world understand the situation in Palestine.
"People are fighting and dying, children and civilian, they're not in the military or anything," she said. "I think they should be more educated about what's happening in Palestine or Israel."
Moqboul's family lives in the West Bank, and while much of the conflict does not currently affect that region, she says her father has to go through two security checkpoints before going to work, often in long and dangerous lines.
Aronovich's family lives in Kiryat Bialik, located in the northern part of Israel, so he says his immediate family is not in much danger. His sister does live in Jerusalem, where rockets have been fired at from Gaza.
"I have some family and friends that are living in the center of the country closer to Gaza," he said. "So they're kind of uneasy."
A cease-fire between Israel and Hamas was announced Wednesday, considerably calming down the dangerous situation.
