Harvard Israel Trek
For me, Harvard’s Israel Trek made me rethink fundamentally how I consume information and forced me to reshape my attitude to preconceived notions. Over the course of nine days, together with a group of 50 fellow Harvard students, now lifelong friends, I learned from experts in Israeli politics, history, culture and economics about their different perspectives and attitudes to the state of Israel. What does being Jewish really mean? What is at stake in recognizing Israel? What does it mean to be Palestinian? How is the life of an Arab-Israeli different from his Jewish counterparts? What role does the military play in daily life? How was the upcoming election going to shape peace talks in the near and long term? Why has Tel Aviv become such a center for innovation and startups? Journeying through Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Kinneret and the Jordanian desert, each member of the trip found their own answers to these questions. Prior to traveling to Israel I had engaged some of my Israeli and Jewish friends to better understand the conflict from their perspective. I had taken Harvard’s “Hebrew Bible” in an attempt to better understand the history of the Jewish people and their religion. I had read the news and formed most of my understanding from New York Times articles, and paid close attention to our preparatory meetings in Hillel. I thought through this exploration I knew what the situation was and that the trip to Israel would more tangibly confirm these ideas.
On touching down, however, I realized I had drastically relied too heavily on external, and often biased outlets, both in favor and against Israel. Spending a week in Israel allowed me to understand both sides of the conflict more clearly. On the one hand, the Jewish population has been in search of a place they can call home, a place where they are free from persecution and the majority population. At the same time, the Arab population, which had been living in the land for the last few centuries, has been effectively siphoned into a substantially smaller, highly militarized, poorer area. The tragedy of the conflict does not lie in misunderstanding, but rather complete understanding on both sides. Both sides claim to be the victim, the afflicted, the worse-off, the demonized, the murdered. Through our discussions, I learned that fear-mongering on the part of Israeli politicians seeking to maintain power or minimize the chance of a two-state solution has only stagnated progress. Beyond our time spent better understanding the conflict, I observed an incredible excitement and optimism among the younger people of Tel Aviv in thinking about their future. On one interaction with a young IDF soldier, I shared my thoughts on the conflict to which she replied, “Always need to bring politics into it.” Israel is more than just its conflict with the Palestinian population. It is a thriving country, with a burgeoning economy and a young and excited population who are eager to resolve the conflict but also to get on with life. I look forward to returning to the country one day to see how it has progressed, and hopefully continue healthy dialogues with friends both in the U.S. and around the world. I feel in a position of much deeper knowledge, knowledge which will hopefully allow me to debate about complex subject matter related to the Israeli state. This would not have been possible without Harvard’s Israel Trek and the amazing support of the program’s benefactors. I hope Israel Trek will continue to educate future generations of Harvard students and allow them to one-day help establish a peaceful future for both Israeli and Palestinian populations.
