Israel Reflections 2013–Introduction to the Old City
Much as I did in 2011, I will be posting some of the student reflections on the trip to Israel as the best way to reflect on the conflict. I could brag about the students–what the students have learned, how being actually there is so important, how proud they made me with their insight and questions–but their words are so eloquent that I am mostly going to put them up on the blog directly with little editing. This is from our first full day in Israel when we started our tour of Jerusalem with a view over the Old City. Courtesy of Erika Frank Motsch:
I am standing atop the Mount of Olives. Jerusalem is before me. The time is near midday. On top of the land, I see every major monotheistic religion represented – Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. The sun is shining; the sky is a bright blue that makes you believe you can reach out and touch it with your finger-tips. The wind brings mixes the exhilarating and calm smells of spicy and clean. At once, three beautiful sounds fill the air: Christian church bells, the Islamic call to prayer, and a Jewish prayer in Hebrew coming from a group of Orthodox Jewish men below. I am in awe. In this moment, I feel the beauty of each faith.
In that exact moment, I also begin to realize how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is so much deeper than one of land and politics.