Spring Break: Trip to Israel and Palestine

During this year's spring break, I went on a student-organized trip to Israel and Palestine. The itinerary included a combination of field excursions with briefings on the Israel-Palestine conflict, Israel's relations with its neighbors and its internal politics. We met with government officials from both sides, including members of the Knesset, Israeli Prime Minister's spokesperson, and the chief Palestinian negotiator.

We also met with Australian UN Peacekeepers at the Syrian border and Gabriel Bach, Holocaust survivor and deputy prosecutor in the Eichmann trial.

It was an eventful trip, made more so by exchange of rocket fire on the day we were scheduled to visit the Gaza border and an Iron Dome, Israel's air defense system. We weren't able to see the Iron Dome, as it was obviously busy, but the majority of us opted to tour Sderot as planned, a border town where the residents have 15 seconds between the time their air raid siren sounds and when the rocket hits. Fortunately, no alarms went off during the visit.

To see the cultural side of the country, we toured Old City Jerusalem and slept in Bedouin tents in the Negev desert. Heavy rain in the desert made watching the sunrise and going for camel rides impossible, but as a result, getting to watch a rare flood and waterfalls in the desert made it all worth it. The bus made an unscheduled stop at a canyon, which, normally completely dry, had turned into a raging river and waterfalls. This is a rare sight, especially in the desert, and only lasts several hours.

Our last day was a sunny one, and we spent it on the beach in Tel Aviv... before flying back to a snowy DC.

Church of Annunciation, Nazareth

Street signs in Tel Aviv

Sea of Galilee

Jericho, Palestine

Knesset, Jerusalem

Inside the Knesset

Wailing Wall, Jerusalem

The Dead Sea

Floods in the Negev desert
(You can kind of see the raging river at the bottom of the canyon.)

Rocket shells outside the police station in Sderot

Missile-protected playground

Opening to the caterpillar above
(The orange line marks safety.)

Art alley in Old Jaffa, Tel Aviv

Last sunny day in Tel Aviv