Even though we were not in the comforts of Marquette University Law School, I had to put the students back a classroom during a few stops on our trip. The first classroom experience came at Hebrew University, in a class led by Professor Avi Kluger, an expert in listening. (And the title of this blog came from one of our students describing the first exercise in which we had to follow the hand motions of our partner.)  As I was paired with my rather tall RA Sean McCarthy (and many of us were mismatched in this way), this particular exercise was really rather funny and started all of us off laughing.  A great classroom icebreaker.

We have met with the Parent’s Circle each time we have gone to Israel for an amazing meeting, and this time did not disappoint either.  My favorite part was how they ended — “Do Not Be Pro-Israel; Do Not Be Pro-Palestine; Be Pro-Peace.” From student Jennifer Sosa:

Prior to going to Israel, I never quite understood how much the Israeli and Palestinian conflict actually affected all citizens, even those who are not directly involved. Consequently, due to territorial disputes, innocent people are victims of crimes from both ends. Disputes that date back hundreds of years are the cause of such victimization. For years now, religion and politics have been the predominant reasons that prevent the conflict from ceasing.

Ben and Moira [spoke to us.] Ben was an Israeli who lost his daughter, a young woman who was serving her country through the military. Upon finding out that his daughter died because of a Palestinian, nothing but hatred filled Ben and the only thing he sought was revenge. Moira, a Palestinian who was originally from the United States, lost her husband due to a misjudgment on behalf of an Israeli soldier, and through the soldier’s ability to use his authoritative power, her husband was wrongfully killed. Her husband was shot multiple times by this soldier and nothing was done to aid or save him. Moira was left angry and hurt.