A Lesson in Humility and Political Moderation

Last year during the war on Gaza I became overly critical and bitter, and began to incorrectly see Israel as a monolithic state and I largely ignored its leftist community. My professor/advisor saw this in my papers and sent me a really amazing poem about Israeli-Arab coexistence by a member of the Israeli peace camp. That night I had a dream that I was talking with some Iraqi college students and desperately trying to distance myself from US policies towards the Middle East and Arab world, and trying to explain that it was simply out of my hands-- that I had protested and tried to stop the war. I woke up and realized that in my dream I was essentially playing the part of Israeli leftists. The poem and my subsequent dream brought me to a major realization. It was an important lesson I'll never forget. I also quickly realized that I should have known better and my professor had put me in check. I promptly wrote him an email and thanked him.