An Army with a State: Security

Israel is essentially one giant fortress, ringed on all sides by countries that have, in the past, done their level best to drive the Israelis into the sea. Because of this stark reality, Israel from the literal birth of its existence has had to put security first and foremost on its list of priorities. This translates into a highly suspicious and heavily armed citizenry, ready at all times to defend the state against domestic or foreign terror and aggression. I have both experienced and observed this phenomenon. My first observation is that Israelis tasked with security profile people. What I mean by this is that if you are suspicious in any way, have a stamp on your passport from an Arab country, or are even descended from a nationality that the Israelis don't deem trustworthy,you will be required to undergo more extensive security checks than others. I experienced this myself at JFK, where my Jordanian stamp in my passport resulted in extra questions and checks. I experienced the other side of this coin as well, however. When leaving Israel in 2009, the customs official at the airport asked my mother and I one question: "What is the origin of your last name?" We responded "Finland" and were waved through without any extra questions or checks. I guess the Israelis don't find Finland threatening. Such procedures would be greeted with outrage in my politically correct homeland, but the Israelis have little time or patience for political correctness when it comes to security. Their first and foremost concern is the survival of the state, and if some toes are stepped on along the way, then that is the price that has to be paid. The second experience that has helped inspire this post is the procedure we go through everyday as students at Hebrew University. Our student village is walled off, and to enter one must have a valid student ID and show it to the guard at the gate. No ID, no entrance. When we want to enter the campus itself, we not only have to present our ID's, but we also have to have our bags checked by a security officer and go through a metal detector. This process is repeated at the entrance of any major Israeli public building or area. Its not as bad as it sounds, taking only about a minute, but it's another stark reminder of the realities of Israeli life in an area of the world where they are at best not welcome and at worst hated. The university has more reason than most to impose stringent security, as a suicide bomber attacked the school during the second intifada in the early 2000's. The third observation highlighting the sacrosanct status of security in Israel is the number of guns one sees on a daily basis. Guns are everywhere in Israel, carried not just by the frequent patrols of soldiers through the streets and at checkpoints, but by civilians as well. Weapons carried by civilians range from standard handguns (I saw a man praying at the Wailing Wall with one sticking out of his back pocket), to those "evil and irresponsible assault rifles" as Obama would call them, to full out machine guns of military grade and efficiency. Israelis carry these weapons as nonchalantly as if they're backpacks or purses, and after a couple of days one just becomes used to their incredible presence in everyday Israeli life. These measures have been taken because of the unprecedented security situation that Israel has historically and currently been forced to deal with. In a country where the threat of attack is a daily reality, the Israelis have transformed themselves into an armed camp, ready to confront any threat at a moment's notice. Such is life in Israel, and I couldn't feel safer.