Israel Reflections 2013–The Golan Heights
This year traveling up to the Golan Heights was a little more fraught with tension – after all, UN peacekeepers had been held for three days by Syrian rebels and the Syrian civil war made the historically quiet area more active. It also ended up being the location of one of the most amazing learning experiences of the trip. To put this all in perspective, student Katie Lonze shares her experience from both 2011 and 2013:
Two years ago, I was part of a group of about 30 law students from Marquette University and Arizona State University that traveled to Israel over spring break to learn about International Conflict Resolution and the various attempts at peacemaking in the Middle East. As a first-year law student, not enrolled in the class, I came into the trip with a less than fully developed understanding of the issues going on in the Middle East (which of course assumes that it is possible to have a fully developed understanding of the region.) This past week I was fortunate to return to Israel with 32 students and four faculty members from Marquette. The return trip was an entirely different experience, thanks to both the wealth of knowledge I obtained the first time and to my continuing interest in learning about past and current events in the Middle East.