As the Israeli-Palestinian conflict boils in the Middle East, to Krop students it seems like a world away. But for junior Magena Abdulahi and English teacher Andrew Reich, who have family in the Middle Eastern countries at war, the attacks hit close to home.

The conflict is not a new one. Descendants of ancient Palestine and nationalists of 60-year-old Israel continue to fight for land.

"Historically both groups have rights to the land, you could argue," Reich said.

Most of Abdulahi’s family is from Haifa, a city in Israel, but currently live in Lebanon as second class citizens.

"The ones who are still alive of Palestinian kin are refugees in Lebanon," Abdulahi said. "They have no right of citizenship or nationality."

Reich’s family in Israel lives on the border of the Gaza Strip in a collective community called a Kibbutz. His family experiences sporadic attacks from rockets fired from Gaza.

According to CNN, homeless Gaza families now occupy the streets because of Israeli Army attacks.

Some families have relocated to tents donated by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Often, 30 plus people share a tent; the children sleep inside and the men and women outside.

The Hamas, or the Islamic Resistance Movement, also launched assaults on Israel including air attacks.

"You have two groups of people living in a very small country about the size of New Jersey," Reich said. "Problem is [neither group] recognizes the other group’s right to be there."

Reich wrote a pro-Israel editorial which was printed in The Miami Herald in the mid-nineties. As an additional effort to support Israel, Reich participated in a recent rally at the Holocaust Memorial in Miami Beach.

"I once organized a protest against National Public Radio," Reich said. "They did a lot of coverage on the Middle East and a lot of the coverage [I felt was] biased against Israel."

Abdulahi is also passionate in spreading awareness of the conflict. She took part in protests when she visited Lebanon in December and early January of this year. As a supporter of ending occupation in Palestine, Abdulahi stresses what she calls the righteous cause, saying in a Facebook message: "End the occupation, the resistance will not end."

Reich argues that the Hamas who are constantly shooting rockets into Israel make it difficult for there to be a compromise.

"There is one Jewish country, and that country is a very small country," Reich said. "They want the Israelis out completely and that’s really the problem."

"There’s a saying that [there is] a judge and two women who both claim a child is theirs. The two mothers are Palestine and Israel and the child is the land," Abdulahi said. "And the judge says, ‘alright we’ll just split it in half.’ One mother [is okay with that] but the other [says] no. Then you can immediately tell who the mother of the child is. That’s why [Palestinians] are fighting."