Our little big country

Israel is a tiny country. To prove it I'm presenting you with two photographs. I took them both from the same spot just outside Ein Hashofet. There is a back entrance which I just recently discovered. Anyway, the first picture, on the left is Mediterranean sea with Hadera smokestacks. To the right of those, as everybody knows is Ceasarea, but that's not really important now. Honestly, Hadera is not important either. From what I hear it's not the best place to live in. The reason why I'm talking about it is that on a map it's kinda far. The single fact that I can see the sea is incredible. What's even more incredible is that on the other side of the kibbutz I can also see Nazareth, Afula and on a clear day even Mount Hermon. You know, the same Mount Hermon which has the majority of it in Syria.
But back to the spot of these pictures. The other view that you're seeing is a city that's often in the news that the outside world sees and hears whenever there is a story about Israel. Yeah, those white houses are Jenin. The same Jenin that has had housed a quarter of suicide bombers in the latest intifada. The same Jenin that was attempted to be made a PR tool for Palestinians as another sample of "Zionist brutality". But on the contrary, it has shown just how far IDF goes to avoid civilian casualties of the enemy. Many soldiers died on those streets so that many other women and children on both sides could continue on living.
Ein Hashofet itself has seen many battles around it. It's placed strategically and is one of the kibbutzes that helped win the War of Independence. It is mentioned in many books including one by Moshe Dayan that my new roommate, Matt, is reading now. (Yes, I now have a roommate. I will write about it separately some time in the future.)
I am simply blown away by this "sight" phenomenon. Everything is so incredibly close that you can see half the country. Sure, on the map it might look like lines and numbers when it comes to determining what is "ours" and what's "theirs". However, I don't see those lines when I look over and see the coastline on one end, and West Bank on the other. Probably "they" will be happy if "we" let them do whatever they want with their Qassams and Katyushas. Are we seriously thinking that if the rest of the world is living by the lines on their maps, we can just ignore what our eyes are seeing?
I have no answers to what to do. I am just amazed by how little our big country is. And, yes, it is big. I'm especially feeling it now that I'm in the process of deciding where to study in the near future. So many options... Big universities, hundreds of smaller colleges. In almost every city there are at least a couple of choices. And it's understandable why education is this important here. We have no oil and almost no resources, limited water, even less money and constant conflict with neighbors. There is no other way to survive. Have to use every little bit of energy and brainpower with a hope for a bright future. Yes, there are problems but we know about them and we are constantly trying to fix them. Please, just let us. We can, I promise. We are big. Our heart is big. There is no bigger heart than the heart of Israel.