Why young Iranians, Americans, and Israelis give me hope - opinion

Nevertheless, my spirits are high because of the good news coming from Iran that stranded me here, the resilience of Israelis, and also what I saw from young Americans on a speaking tour that took me to 10 states over the past two and a half weeks.

When I spoke to a packed audience at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, last week, a dozen young protesters came and sat near my podium up front with their anti-Israel signs hoisted to the crowd the entire time.

It was a breakthrough that Skidmore student protesters stayed for my entire lecture, listened, learned, and engaged by asking tough questions even though they objected. The college facilitated them expressing themselves, and while their sitting on stage was obviously very disrespectful, they didn’t stop me from talking for a single second.

I began by respectfully wishing the protesters a “Ramadan Karim” in Arabic. But most looked like confused, wealthy white suburbanites, and I doubt too many were fasting. I kept my cool during my lecture and while I answered questions calmly for more than an hour.

When I told them they were paying an outrageous $70,000 in annual tuition to be educated by people with varied views, Skidmore President Marc Conner, whose office graciously co-sponsored my talk with Hillel and the Jewish Federation, admitted it was even more.

I displayed maps of the history of Israel and taught the crowd about the 1920 San Remo Conference, where world leaders mandated a Jewish state. I spoke about the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel that goes back 3,500 years and our right to it as indigenous people and from the Bible.

Recounting my four visits to Gaza, I spoke empathetically about Gazans, who have suffered under Hamas since the terrorist group took power by force in 2007. I told them about Israel’s plans to revitalize the Gazan economy as part of normalization with the Saudis, which I heard about from Israel’s national security adviser on October 6, 2023, hours before Hamas terrorists and ordinary Gazans invaded and massacred Israelis.

If they truly cared about Gaza, I told them, they should be protesting against Hamas, not against me. I urged them to demonstrate on behalf of America’s most discriminated against minority – Jews – and, of course, for the oppressed people of Iran.

If Iran ends up getting a regime that cares more about helping its own people than killing mine, these courageous protesters deserve credit, not just the leaders of the US or Israel, who hesitated until young Iranians were murdered begging them to take action. Trump would not have gotten to the point of pledging “help is on the way” without their tremendous sacrifice.

I wish the Iranian protesters received more support from the international media, who harmed their cause by downplaying the demonstrations after playing up much smaller protests against Israel on campuses and in European capitals.

Iran International executive director Mehdi Parpanchi told me at a briefing of the Hollywood Brigade Jewish advocacy network that had the protesters shout “Death to America” instead of supporting building ties with the US, the media would have covered them more.

“With his bushy white beard and easy smile, Ayatollah Khamenei cut a more avuncular figure in public than his perpetually scowling but much more revered mentor, and he was known to be fond of Persian poetry and classic Western novels, especially Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables.”

Why is it that murderous dictators automatically become poets in the mainstream media when they die? If he smiled when ordering the execution of political opponents, gay people, and other minorities he made miserable, was he any less praiseworthy?

I looked up “avuncular” – a word generally used to describe Santa Claus – and Khamenei was as far away from the generous toy distributor as it gets.

The pro-Israel media watchdog HonestReporting pointed out that Sky News listed the countries hit by Iran but forgot to include Israel.

An analysis in The Independent claimed that the “US and Israel attacked Iran when peace was within reach,” as if the tens of thousands of missiles fired by Iran and its proxies were all wayward white doves.

There were the usual false accusations of Israel attacking a school and then a hospital. When Hezbollah entered the fray, media outlets like CNN, NBC, and The Wall Street Journal hid who really started it.

“When Al Jazeera is the most accurate headline, it’s time for the rest of the media to hang their heads in shame,” HonestReporting said on X/Twitter. “Or has Purim come early in Qatar?”

Purim kind of didn’t come at all in Israel, where school was canceled indefinitely the day kids across the country usually come in their costumes.

But Israeli kids are used to it. They know that when they run to their bomb shelters, it’s all for a greater good, and they have learned to take it in stride.

That resilience makes me miss being in Israel even more. I can’t wait to join my fellow Israelis hurrying down the steps with a folding chair.

I hope this will be the last war for me and my children for a very long time and that better days lie ahead. And as for the weather in New York, that will still stay awful.