Israeli Elections 2006

I know there are a number of American high school students who are involved in politics, but it seems to me that many, many more Israeli students care more about the upcoming elections than do Americans of the same age before their elections.

When I was in high school I knew a little about American politics. But the little I knew came from sterotypes and jokes (e.g. Jimmy Carter liked peanuts, Reagan liked jelly beans, etc.). Maybe it was just me: I didn't really care that much about politics.

But I am surrounded by students talking politics, "wearing" politics (t-shirts, ribbons), working politics (many hand out fliers or hold banners at intersections), joking politics... I'm not saying that there are incredible, well-thought-out, philosophical discussions filling the hallways. They're still kids and they still see the world, for the most part, in black and white. Politics to them are reduced to banners, mottos, personalities. Most could not talk about politics in deep, thoughtful ways.

But there does seem to be an interest among Israeli youth in politics in a way that far surpasses what I remember when I was their age. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they live politics more than Americans. They have to: they or their friends may have been displaced during the disengagement. They or their friends feel terrorism and its effects in a very real, tangible way. Finances are tight and every financial decision by the government is felt - and spoken about - at home. Their fathers and brothers serve in the army - they too will soon.

To many Israeli youth, the luxury to detach from politics is a luxury they cannot afford.