Majoring in Aliyah: Wake up and vote!

Election season is nigh, and one topic is on the mind of all the students here at Bar-Ilan: Finals! February 10, Election Day, falls in the middle of chufshat semester [semester break], the month-long period at the end of each semester, in which there is no class, but there are tests to take and papers to turn in almost every day. I'm sure that the government's election committee didn't take this fact into consideration, but the juxtaposition of these two events has had some interesting results.

College campuses are traditionally hubs of political activity, but the one I'm on isn't. At first, the operation in Gaza stole the election's thunder. Now that that's over with, exams have taken its place. Instead of political events, there was a program explaining to first-year students how tests work. Instead of going to rallies, students are going to the library. Study groups have replaced political parties.

I can't say that Bar-Ilan is representative of all Israeli campuses. Ever since a certain infamous Bar-Ilan student was given a life sentence, political action has been forbidden on campus grounds. However, holding up signs and holding party-related events isn't the only way to show political awareness. As a student in the Political Science and Communications departments, I expected to encounter discussions about the candidates, their platforms and the way they've let their opinions known. This has rarely happened. I've heard more about Barack Obama's inauguration than Ehud Barak's campaign, much to my dismay. 

This week, the university hosted a debate between MK Prof. Aryeh Eldad and MK Dr. Ahmed Tibi. The hall was half-empty; out of a student body of 20,000, only a few hundred showed up. The audience was disproportionately Arab, as this was a rare opportunity for those students' voices to be heard on an Orthodox-Jewish campus, but few Jewish students thought it was important enough to attend. Students seem to be too busy with their own lives to be bothered with the elections; I just hope they take a break out of their busy studying schedules to vote!

I don't think that election apathy is limited to Bar-Ilan, however. This is the second election I've experienced since I moved to Israel, and I see a big difference between 2006 and 2009. After the previous elections, the media lamented the public's ennui. The rise of the Pensioners' Party was attributed to support from young voters who were apathetic, and wanted to choose a party simply because it was outside of the political mainstream.

Despite the public's supposed lack of concern, I saw a lot more action three years ago than I see today. Those elections were held a few months after the disengagement, and idealistic young Israelis took to the street, knocking on doors and trying to convince others to vote for or against the parties that supported the plan. Banners hung from windows, posters were pasted to nearly every flat surface, and stickers were attached to many a bumper. One of my favorite election-related events was when Rabin Square in Tel Aviv turned into Democracy Square during the week before elections. Different parties set up booths in the square in central Tel Aviv, where candidates and activists alike explained their positions. I hit the town with an Israeli friend, covered in bumper-stickers for my party of choice, full of idealism and determined to bring change before "Hope" and "Change" became clichés.

Today, I don't see any grassroots movements or exciting election events. Electioneering was more intense before the municipal elections in November. People seem to be jaded; after the corruption cases of the past few years, they seem to think that all politicians are the same. Even those who recently made aliyah, and would presumably be more idealistic, have become blasé when it comes to choosing our next leaders. I've heard the sentence "I'd love to vote, but there isn't anyone worth voting for," from both sabras [local Israelis] and olim [new immigrants].

I'm also aware of the claim that some are in shock because there is so much at stake. Between the current economic climate and security issues that plague Israeli, the politicians elected on February 10 will have a major effect on the future of our country. People have frozen because there is so much to do.

That is precisely why everyone has to wake up! As citizens of the only true democracy in the Middle East, we have the right, the privilege and the obligation to let our voices be heard. I strongly believe that citizens should appreciate and exercise the right to choose their elected officials. Therefore, I send in absentee ballots in the US elections. I've voted for city council and the school board of a town I no longer live in. I sent a ballot for the presidential elections, despite knowing that it was unlikely that my vote would matter.

In Israel, on the other hand, every vote counts. Our population is small, and the issues are big. Voting isn't just exercising a right. Voting directly affects the outcome of the election and the shape of the country (literally and figuratively).

Fellow students: We have a long future ahead of us. Don't you want to make sure that it's bright? That is why I recommend following the advice of the infamous Mayor Daley of Chicago: "Vote early - and vote often." After all, the way governments rise and fall in Israel, voting often is legal!