“I’ll take you to the candy shop”

August 7, 2012

The day commenced with a discussion regarding the Israeli security fence which is a hot topic in today’s political discourse. The fence is located on the southern edge of Jerusalem. The other side of the barrier is a slope to topographically prevent a car driving through the barrier. Every thirty or forty minutes a jeep drives by on the road with a Bedouin tracker to see if anyone has crossed over. There is a wall rather than a fence to prevent traffic. From where we were standing to the first house in our line of vision, someone with a bomb could get to us in fifteen minutes.

Along with learning about the security fence we also learned about the demographics of Jerusalem. 22% of Arabs in Israel have equal rights. In Jerusalem, 10% of the population in Israel lives there, 36% of the people are Arab and 64% of the people are Jewish. These demographics are so important because in order to be a Jewish state Israel needs to have a Jewish majority. We also talked about the settlements and how other than in Jerusalem people are not in consensus about the settlements. In all negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, the Palestinian Authority has never demanded the evacuation of settlements, demands are Arab East Jerusalem and the entire Old City.

None of us believe that good fences make good neighbors but in the case of Jerusalem… it has protected the lives of all citizens

Our next visit was a meeting with the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem. According to the Deputy Mayor, Israel supports two states and two people that is clear however what is ambiguous is where are the borders? How do you manage to treat a city that’s treated as something on an operating table by the rest of the world? Some services cannot be divided but must be shared. How does Israel function as a pilgrim city for three religions? Jerusalem has these three unique populations with their own neighborhoods. People chose their cultural context and the neighborhood they want to live in however the public domain is shared by all.

Israel does not need to be on the defensive because we have nothing to be defensive about

Following this informative visit we traveled to Bethlehem. In Arabic, Israel means house of meat and in Hebrew it means house of bread, I found this to be extremely interesting. This unique city is home to 50,000 people 40% Christian and 60% Muslim. The mayor and minister of Bethlehem are always Christian. They also celebrate three Christmases per year: the one on the 25th of December, the Armenian and the Greek. Bethlehem is under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

In Bethlehem, we had the opportunity to visit the Church of the Nativity, the oldest church in the world. The entrance of the church has a small door to prevent camels and horses from getting in it also causes people to bow down to get in. The first church was built in 326 by Queen Helen, Emperor Constantine’s mother. The Church of the Nativity is divided into a Greek Orthodox, Catholic and Russian Orthodox church. The basicila is divided into five naves and contains eleven columns (12 disciples minus Judah) We also go to go underneath the church to see where Jesus was born. It was so powerful to be singing Christmas carols and be standing where Jesus was born.

Our Palestinian tour guide then took us to his restaurant and shop. At the shop I bargained in Arabic very successfully even at the fine jewelry counter! After getting back on the bus a man was trying to sell us head scarves and I ended up speaking to him for quite some time. By the end of the conversation he was singing to me Candy Shop by 50 Cent… The bus trip from this point on in the day was SO ANNOYING because everyone bought flutes in Bethlehem and no one knows how to play them…

We then headed back to Jerusalem to see the Israel Museum. On the grounds of the museum is an extensive model of Jerusalem. Additionally a small exhibit where the Shrine of the Book exists.

Later in the evening myself and two other Catholic students on the trip prayed the rosary. There are four of us on the trip out of 36 students who are Catholic and three out of the four of us are of Latino descent. We continue to joke how we should start our own group called CLANUFI (Catholic Latinos and Nick United for Israel).
“I’ll take you to the candy shop”
August 7, 2012

The day commenced with a discussion regarding the Israeli security fence which is a hot topic in today’s political discourse. The fence is located on the southern edge of Jerusalem. The other side of the barrier is a slope to topographically prevent a car driving through the barrier. Every thirty or forty minutes a jeep drives by on the road with a Bedouin tracker to see if anyone has crossed over. There is a wall rather than a fence to prevent traffic. From where we were standing to the first house in our line of vision, someone with a bomb could get to us in fifteen minutes.

Along with learning about the security fence we also learned about the demographics of Jerusalem. 22% of Arabs in Israel have equal rights. In Jerusalem, 10% of the population in Israel lives there, 36% of the people are Arab and 64% of the people are Jewish. These demographics are so important because in order to be a Jewish state Israel needs to have a Jewish majority. We also talked about the settlements and how other than in Jerusalem people are not in consensus about the settlements. In all negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, the Palestinian Authority has never demanded the evacuation of settlements, demands are Arab East Jerusalem and the entire Old City.

None of us believe that good fences make good neighbors but in the case of Jerusalem… it has protected the lives of all citizens

Our next visit was a meeting with the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem. According to the Deputy Mayor, Israel supports two states and two people that is clear however what is ambiguous is where are the borders? How do you manage to treat a city that’s treated as something on an operating table by the rest of the world? Some services cannot be divided but must be shared. How does Israel function as a pilgrim city for three religions? Jerusalem has these three unique populations with their own neighborhoods. People chose their cultural context and the neighborhood they want to live in however the public domain is shared by all.

Israel does not need to be on the defensive because we have nothing to be defensive about

Following this informative visit we traveled to Bethlehem. In Arabic, Israel means house of meat and in Hebrew it means house of bread, I found this to be extremely interesting. This unique city is home to 50,000 people 40% Christian and 60% Muslim. The mayor and minister of Bethlehem are always Christian. They also celebrate three Christmases per year: the one on the 25th of December, the Armenian and the Greek. Bethlehem is under the control of the Palestinian Authority.

In Bethlehem, we had the opportunity to visit the Church of the Nativity, the oldest church in the world. The entrance of the church has a small door to prevent camels and horses from getting in it also causes people to bow down to get in. The first church was built in 326 by Queen Helen, Emperor Constantine’s mother. The Church of the Nativity is divided into a Greek Orthodox, Catholic and Russian Orthodox church. The basicila is divided into five naves and contains eleven columns (12 disciples minus Judah) We also go to go underneath the church to see where Jesus was born. It was so powerful to be singing Christmas carols and be standing where Jesus was born.

Our Palestinian tour guide then took us to his restaurant and shop. At the shop I bargained in Arabic very successfully even at the fine jewelry counter! After getting back on the bus a man was trying to sell us head scarves and I ended up speaking to him for quite some time. By the end of the conversation he was singing to me Candy Shop by 50 Cent… The bus trip from this point on in the day was SO ANNOYING because everyone bought flutes in Bethlehem and no one knows how to play them…

We then headed back to Jerusalem to see the Israel Museum. On the grounds of the museum is an extensive model of Jerusalem. Additionally a small exhibit where the Shrine of the Book exists.

Later in the evening myself and two other Catholic students on the trip prayed the rosary. There are four of us on the trip out of 36 students who are Catholic and three out of the four of us are of Latino descent. We continue to joke how we should start our own group called CLANUFI (Catholic Latinos and Nick United for Israel).