Harvard Israel Trek 2015

Delicate yellow wildflowers among coils of barbed wire, Mount Bental (Golan Heights).

Found: Nausea

Unsolicited Letter #1

Dear Old Man at the Dome of the Rock,

Hummus Withdrawal

24 hours ago, I was sitting on a plane, irascibly trying to tune out two screaming toddlers and reflecting on the past 240 hours of my life. And so here is the first of hopefully many recorded reflections on a transformative experience.

Israel/Palestine: Negotiations between Traumatized Groups

On top of the Bental Mountain in Golan Heights, I asked an IDF Spokeswoman what the biggest challenge was that she faced in dealing with foreign journalists. “The story is often already written,” she said. “Journalists are pressed for time and energy, so most stories…

Mount Sinai

Medium: Photoshop

Once Upon a Bus

If I’m honest with myself, what I’m going to remember most about the past ten days is the bus. There are other images that stick: the slate grey mud of the Dead Sea smeared across our stomachs and foreheads, fishermen in dampened jeans, at work on the rocks of Acre’s ancient harbor, the Tel Aviv…

To my newfound Love,

I came to you, Israel, wanting to hate you. To be confirmed in my reasonable European certainty of your arrogant oppression, lounging along the mediterranean coast, facing West in your vast carelessness and American wealth. I wanted to appreciate your history, but tut over the arrogant folly of your…

I Will Climb This Mountain with My Hands Wide Open

Camels limping forth with tourists upon their backs

Their hooves rhythmically clodding the shifting dust

The sun sets beyond the desert mountains