“Shalom!” I call out as I step into the busy pita shop at the Mahune Yahuda market in Jerusalem. I have visited this tiny, but always packed, deli several times over the last few weeks that I have been in Jerusalem, and the owners and I have made a habit of greeting each other. I pick up two packages of a dozen pitas each and pay with my shekels at the cashier- this should last me for the next week or so. I nod a friendly goodbye and make me way out into the blazing sun. The heat immediately hits me as I remind myself for the hundredth time that this is the desert weather.
Stephanie standing in front of the Western Wall amidst the many visitors.
During July 2017, I partook in a program called ‘Co-Existence of the Middle East’ at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in Israel. As part of my summer exchange, I was spending a month in both classroom and field trip settings to learn more about the Israeli – Palestine conflict and the various facets involved. I had just finished my Munk One program and would start my major in Peace, Conflict, and Justice in the upcoming spring; this summer program was a great way to make use of my knowledge in tackling global challenges and to apply the field lessons learned in such conflict when connecting with theories. However, the more I learned and engaged, the more questions and confusion I had. The conflict was not illustrated merely as a black-and-white situation as many media sources often portrayed it to be. In fact, it carried having the responsibility of humanity and the lens it needed to be seen from those who suffered in the midst of it all. Our interactions with various groups, such as Parents Circle (an NGO for parents of victims), parliament members of the Knesset, and locals of the Druze community (an ethnoreligious group) offered the importance of narratives and how they must always be taken into account when discussing such conflict.
Stephanie stands in front of the Temple Mount on a quiet morning.
Unfortunately, during the last week of our summer course, we woke up to news that Temple Mount, a religious site debated for centuries by both the Jewish and Arab community, had been bombed. We watched in fear and in crippling silence the protests and unrest gathering on the streets of Old Jerusalem. All of our social media platforms were filled with news coverage of the events and messages from loved ones back home. The development of the events were shocking and simply surreal – it was true that we knew this area was one of conflict but never would we ever imagine it unfolding literally in front of us. A few of us had just visited the area a couple of days before as it was only a 20 minute bus ride from our residence. This event stayed memorable, for even though we were safe and had the luxury of being in a separate area, this was the nature of the work and the reality of the issue.
Being in Israel also illuminated that despite all the political challenges, it was still a country, just like any other, and contained its own sense of beauty for the world. I remember a particular trip up north to Haifa where my friends and I decided to visit neighbouring micronation Akhzivland, by the coast of Akhziv. We spent the day talking to the “first-lady” of this micronation and getting our passports stamped with homemade entry and exit stamps. As it was a Friday, and evidently Shabbat, we had no access to public transportation and were in no rush to get back to our Airbnb in Haifa. And so we decided to spend the evening watching the beautiful sunset cast its rays over the vast ocean and nearby Lebanon. It was a majestic moment to be present in and to cast away our thoughts on the conflict for a brief moment.
The beautiful sunset at micronation Akhzivland’s private beach.
As an avid traveler, I have been to many wonderful countries around the world. However, I have never encountered something so unique and exceptional as Israel. What’s more, the program provided me with an unparalleled outlook of both the issue and the daily life in present day Israel, and the effect of politics in the Middle East. The program left me transformed in an emotional and academic way that I would have never gained otherwise.
On my last day in Israel, I decided to visit a hummus bar housed in an old synagogue, in an attempt to recreate some of the things I loved about being in the country. As I people watch young Israelis and Arabs around me talk and laugh the afternoon away, I am hopeful that peace and co-existence of this region will be generated within my lifetime. I step out once again in the scorching heat and try to remember how to translate “see you soon” in Hebrew.