I Stand With Israel

As I sit here, watching the news, reading posts on Facebook, Twitter, etc. I can't help but remember that just two short months ago I was spending my last Shabbat abroad in Israel. I can't believe what has happened since those days in May. For the first time in a long time, I'm scared to go back to Israel, a place that I call my second home and at the same time, I'm here in America wishing I was back in Israel with the friends I've made which I now consider family.
Israel's a place that I will always feel connected to, a homeland for the Jewish people, a place that will always welcome me with open arms even if I go years without returning. I've developed such a deep love and understanding of Israel and it scares me to think that after all of this, Israel could cease to exist.
I am heartbroken and devastated by the hatred of humanity against a small country that was created for the Jewish people. I cringe every time my phone vibrates with an JPOST alert, hoping that it's not the names of the boys I know stationed in Gaza; praying for the families that have lost loved ones. My anxiety goes through the roof when I learn of other friends that are entering the reserve units in Israel.
All citizens of Israel are required to draft into the army; and they want to, because their goal is to protect Israel during both a time of peace and war.
And although I don't see myself making Aliyah to Israel or joining the army, this small country about the size of New Jersey will always be one of the most important places in the world to me. I hope to bring my children there, I hope to educate them on the Jewish people and show them the beauty of the land.
So during this time of war, I'm left here with the unanswered questions of how and why? How can people sit here and listen to the bias of CNN, BBC, FOX, ABCNews, etc? How can Hamas shoot rockets into Israel and fool the U.S. so well that Israeli's are the one's being blamed? Why has humanity disappeared so much that we sit in silence while innocent Israeli's and Palestinians are being killed by rockets and underground tunnels initiated by Hamas? How can Israel be blamed for the killing of innocent Palestinian civilians when they warn every person, every school, every building, every area before a rocket goes off? How can the Western civilization be in such denial that Israeli's are the bad guys?
The media has a way of twisting and turning stories into something with action, adventure and bias so that organizations or groups of people will publicize their stories, even if they are incorrect.
I'm sick and tired of listening to all this propaganda coming across the airwaves...I wish people would get their facts straight. I want my voice heard, because I know what it's like to live there, I know this is not the way things have to be. Israel is such a vibrant country and it has every right to defend itself.
עם ישראל חי !