Is Israel The Wicked Witch of the East??

So you think Israel is The Wicked Witch? Fine. Just call her Elphaba.

Okay, American progressives – I get it. Watching the news and crying for the Gazans, you are confident Israel is evil.  The stories on your social media and the fear and hatred you see in your justice-seeking friend’s eyes make you believe Israel is the bad guy, the thing to be scared of, The Wicked Witch herself.

Well, I’m writing to finally acknowledge the truth – Israel IS very much like The Wicked Witch.

And if you only listen to Dorothy’s journey or the stories of the munchkins, you would firmly believe she was the epitome of evil. But today, we know she was so much more than wicked.

Yes, all the Oz stories are works of fiction, but what “Wicked” does for Elphaba, truth and history do for Israel. And in our case, our story came first. 

In the musical and soon-to-be-released movie, we learn Elphaba’s story. We learn her name and watch her struggle with people who hate her or fear her, not because of something she’s said or done but because she is different and has her own way of seeing things. We learn her heart is pure, and her values are ones we completely agree with. We look at the world through her hopes, dreams, and heartbreaks and realize that she is deeply misunderstood. 

The same is true for Israel. And it’s time for American progressives to stop believing only one story exists. Stop believing that because an experience is real – it tells you everything you need to know. Yes, the Palestinians believe Israel’s founding was a catastrophe and that everything she does is to steal. But Dorothy never had all the information, and neither do you. Dorothy wasn’t the original occupant of the ruby slippers, and the witch has good reason to fight for them.  That fact does not make Dorothy’s experience a lie. It just limits her (and your) knowledge of The Wicked Witch. It means the fear and anger she(you) has in her heart – was purposefully curated by those trying to brew a recipe for hate. It means the things she(you) sees, while accurate, are only a tiny part of the larger story of the Wicked Witch’s life, what she’s fighting for, and what she deserves.

I get that the stories coming out of Gaza are really hard. I’m not going to argue that –  war is brutal. But believing Israel is solely to blame, that Israel is the “bad guy” in the equation, and that Israel is the “wicked” one is honestly like being asked to judge the character of Elphaba, having only ever watched the opening number of the Wicked production.

If you’ve never heard her story, you can go on believing the witch was bad. But the reality is that there is a vast, beautiful, and complex story you would be ignoring. You’d be missing the truth completely, EVEN if what you knew was “accurate” – you would realize it wasn’t the whole story. 

But if you stop calling her names, stop believing the misinformation and falling into the group-think mentality, if you spent time REALLY hearing about her life and her journey FROM HER – you would never call her wicked again.  

So yes, Israel is Elphaba.

Again – I get that both of the popular Oz tales are works of fiction, and Wicked was written much later, but today we watch and understand that Elphaba’s story actually came first. And we all agree – Elphaba’s story is one worth hearing.

You can discount our history, heart, and perspective and simply stick with what you’ve heard, or you can be open to learning about Israel’s story, her heart, her struggles, her dreams, and her fight for survival. If you do, you will surely cry when she’s hurt, cheer when she defies gravity, and pray you can help her find the peace she deserves.

I’m not discounting Dorothy. I’m just pointing out that Elphaba is so much more than Dorothy makes her out to be.

If we can be open to the truth of Israel’s values, history, and heart, then the future will truly be unlimited.