Israel-Gaza Strip Clash Reaches Suffolk Students

Aamina Guidri

The conflict between Israel and Gaza has affected many Suffolk students who are personally connected with this issue through friends and family. This conflict has been going on for years, with brutal violence from explosions in restaurants to rockets being fired into cities, killing many innocent civilians.

Suffolk student Angie Moussa, an Egyptian-American studying international relations, is saddened that the conflict is still an ongoing issue that seems to not be getting any better.

“I think it is sad that the conflict is still going on after all these years and I believe that more peace talks need to occur as they have been at a virtual standstill over the past few years,” said Moussa. While she does not know anyone personally residing in Gaza or Israel, she still feels that the conflict is not getting better and more peaceful solutions are not being used to solve this problem.

Another Suffolk student ,Roy-Ben Joseph, is an Israeli citizen with family residing in Israel. Joseph finds that he is also very sad and feels terrible that this conflict is not getting better. He claims that he “lives in fear for my family.” It is a constant worry for him to deal with his immediate family witnessing bus explosions, and even having rockets fired at them in southern Israel. The effect is tremendous and reflective of how seriously the conflict between Gaza and Israel is affecting people.

Unfortunately, as brutal as this war is, Suffolk students do not seem to think it will get any better.

“I don’t know if a real solution will ever be found that pleases both sides,” said Moussa. Another reason why this conflict may not be over in the near future is that with the violence occurring again at this stage in their relations, it seems that this continuous conflict is only getting worse.

“It’s only going to cause more tension and bloodshed, and cause the relationship to deteriorate even further,” said Moussa. Joseph believes that this conflict will not get better as long as Palestine supports the Hamas, a terrorist group and governing party in the Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip, which is responsible for many violent attacks. He also claims that if Abu Mazen, the Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization, is elected, negotiations can begin and may be a possible solution to the problem.

Another important factor that has great impact on the conflict of late is Egypt’s influence. Moussa believes that Egypt has a positive impact on this conflict and is a neutralizer.

“Egypt is helping the conflict because the country helped facilitate the cease-fire that was eventually reached and that stopped the fighting,” said Moussa

Joseph also shares this same opinion that Egypt can help the situation, adding that “Egypt’s involvement is a blessing.” However, he does not feel that the relationship between Egypt and Israel is as good as it used to be due to their former president, Hosni Mubarak, being taken out of office. Also, Moussa does not agree that Egypt’s involvement will help both Gaza and Israel equally, stating, “I don’t think a certain region will benefit more than another because Egypt is trying to be relatively neutral and play a diplomatic role.”

Essentially, it is very apparent that this prolonged conflict has impacted many Suffolk students greatly. While there is still hope that this conflict will be resolved, there is still the fearful feeling that this war will continue for a long time and cause more pain for families and friends impacted by the war.