"So, what are your thoughts on the war?"

Woah.

I know Jordan borders both Israel and Palestine and that the conflict likely percolates people's minds on the other side of the Dead Sea.

But I didn't expect to be asked my opinion so directly within just a few hours of arriving.

Yet here we were.

I was sitting at this local lunch spot in Amman, the capital and largest city in Jordan, having just struck up a conversation with two guys at the table next to me.

They were from the West Bank in Palestine and had just found out I was from the US. And they were expecting an answer to their question.

"What are your thoughts on the war?"

Oh man.

How to sum up my thoughts on a decades-long conflict in a few sentences to people who don't speak my native language?

"Too many people are dying in Gaza," I managed to say.

This Post Is Not a Political Statement

I'm not Jewish.

I'm not Muslim.

But I have Jewish friends. And I have Muslim friends.

I love them both, and I love all people. The current conflict is multi-faceted, deep-rooted, and straight-up complicated.

This post will not dive deep into my opinions on the war, but given the controversial nature of the topic, I feel obliged to say that this is not some sort of political statement.

This is a travel blog. Lol. What I am writing is simply my observations from my time in Jordan.

"Too Many People Are Dying in Gaza"

I was so taken aback by their question that that was all I managed. For my new Palestinian friends, that was all they wanted to hear.

"Thank you, bro."

The ice was broken.

Until this moment, I hadn't quite considered that US military and foreign policy action in the Middle East directly affects people like them.

To be completely honest, I hadn't quite considered that people from Palestine were real people.

As dehumanizing as it sounds to say, I'd argue that's a harsh truth that many people from Western countries may not acknowledge.

Our media portrays Gaza and the West Bank as geographic locations, not collections of people.

They report numbers of people dying or displaced that are so large that someone halfway across the world, with no context, has no way of really internalizing their suffering.

The US has a massive role to play in that. While our government's position has shifted from letting Israel defend itself by any means necessary to insisting that Israel prioritize the lives of civilians in the process, that hasn't actually led to much change in the means by which Israel has gone about dismantling Hamas.

The people who suffer most from this are the Palestinian civilians, especially those in Gaza.

No Grudges

Like the government I helped elect in the US, I couldn't give much more than an empty apology to my new Palestinian friends.

Their territory is threatened. Their people are dying. They have nowhere to go.

But...sorry?

On behalf of who? Myself? My country?

I have no idea, to be honest. But what more could I say?

I felt helpless sitting there, which is ironic because that's probably exactly how the people of Gaza feel right now.

But, the most eye-opening part of my time in Amman, was how forgiving, welcoming, and hospitable the people in Jordan were.

Later during that lunch, my Palestinian friends told me that I was their brother, and to not apologize for the war that's defined their lives. People are not their governments they said.

They told me that I would be welcome to their homes in the West Bank whenever it was safe to come.

They welcomed me to Jordan and hoped that I was having a great time.

Their humility and hospitality were something I've yet to find anywhere else in the world.

I was awestruck how people on the verge of losing everything so willingly offer up what little they have, in the name of love and friendship, to a complete stranger like myself.

It Didn't Just Happen Once

I met a Syrian guy who extended me the same welcome as the Palestinians.

Then two Jordanians.

Finally, I met Hassan.

Hassan left his home in Iraq to study in Jordan. He also spoke really good English to the point where we could have real conversations about both the Israel-Hamas War, and other Middle Eastern conflicts.

For an hour, we sat on some steps and talked.

I learned that Hamas (the governing entity in Gaza) is extremely popular among people in the West Bank who are ruled by the Palestinian Authority (PA), a government seen as corrupt by its own people.

To be fair, the PA hasn't held an election since 2006, the same time Hamas gained power in Gaza, likely over fears that Hamas would win in the West Bank too.

I learned Iraq, 20 years after the US invaded, is still extremely unstable, due to the power vacuum left behind that has been filled with Iranian-backed leaders who have sowed conflict in the region.

But on the flip side, I learned that the Middle East must have the nicest, most forgiving people on the planet.

Every time I tried to apologize for how the US invaded Iraq, he wouldn't let me, giving the same response as the Palestinians I met earlier.

"It's not the people, it's the governments."

Twice Hassan offered to buy me tea as we were talking.

He invited me to his home for dinner the following night (I had to decline as I would be leaving Amman).

He told me so many times that all he wanted was for me to feel welcome, to feel happy, to know I was his brother, and that one day, Inshallah (God willing), I could visit his village in Iraq, when the situation was safer.

During a day when my newfound knowledge of the war made me lose hope in humanity, the kindness of Jordanians and the refugees residing there helped me regain hope for humanity as well.

Yeah. So that was Day 1 in Jordan.

Closing Thoughts

In recent weeks, I've had the fortune of talking to multiple Israelis who have left their country since October 7.

Their side is also multi-faceted and not acknowledged in this post. This post was about Jordan and my experience in Amman, nothing more.

In a world divided along pro-Israel and pro-Palestine factions, I want this post to serve as a pro-humanity lens to this conflict.

To everyone else, I encourage you to do your research and have sympathy. The world is a complicated place, and exploring it can give you a fresh perspective.

That's what I gained during my time in Amman.

I want to close with something I've known for a while, but probably never felt so starkly as during my time in Jordan.

I get to travel, write, and experience life from a place of tremendous privilege. If you're reading this, the odds are you do as well.

If you find yourself complaining about how life is hard, stop and consider your situation compared to people in Gaza, refugees in Jordan, or the millions of people all over the world who would do anything to be in your shoes.

Thank you for reading.