My day beyond borders with Thrive in Gush Etzion
My first trip to Israel, through Birthright, ended two weeks before the beginning of my semester at Hebrew University this spring. Upon arriving in Israel, we were all loaded onto a bus and drove to Jerusalem, with Israeli pop music blasting all the way there. At one point, our tour guide lowered the volume to tell us that we were passing by a security fence, without providing any other explanation. I remember sitting in my seat, confused, wondering what kind of fence would be important enough to mention during our sing along.
At this point, I had not yet gleaned enough information to be able to form my questions, and I did not think it was the proper environment to do so. From that day on, I promised myself that when I started at Hebrew University, I would push myself to learn more about the topic. The Israeli participants on my Birthright trip did scrape together some answers to quench my curiosity in the moment, but even these answers seemed scattered and unfulfilling. Until this point, the few explanations I had received were biased, incomplete, or factually inaccurate.
This past Friday, however, I was able to finally have a chance to fill many of the gaps in my knowledge by traveling to the West Bank with both Hebrew University and Tel Aviv University students on Thrive.
The experience started with another comprehensive presentation by Avi Lewis. With the perfect amount of detail, he provided us with an overview spanning from the time of the Ottoman Empire to the present day. He even included details about the security fence, which of course was a particular highlight for me. Never had I heard such a clear, succinct, comprehensive explanation of the history of the conflict that left me feeling confident and knowledgeable. This issue, I realized, has spanned hundreds of years, and is therefore easy to get caught up on the hundreds of details regarding the situation. Avi’s presentation gave students with a limited understanding of the conflict, such as myself, enough history to understand technical information that ensued later in the day, such as conversations about the Sykes-Picot Agreement, the Balfour Declaration, the UN Partition Plan, as well as general information about settlements. The information enabled everyone to gain a historical footing so that we were all able to participate in conversations throughout the day.
We began our tour at the Neve Daniel lookout in Gush Etzion, where we could see settlements, Palestinian towns, Jordanian mountains, and even Hebrew University. We were standing in a spot that Avi highlighted in his presentation; allowing us to further visualize the historical details. We then went to an organization called Roots, an Israeli Palestinian Movement for Peace. A sign posted on the outside had the words karma and dignity in large, red letters in both English and Arabic. All of the Thrive students filed underneath this sign and headed into the center. We heard from a Jew and a Palestinian about their personal lives and how the conflict weaves into their stories. It can become easy to be wrapped up in the history and forget that this issue influences individuals. This proved to be a powerful way to humanize the conflict for me.
This time, when I rode the bus back to Jerusalem with Israeli music pumping through my headphones, I felt more connected to Israel after these experiences. There is always more to learn, but Friday was an important stepping-stone to continue the process.
