Our last day of the trip was bittersweet. We spent the morning packing up and reflecting on our trip. We ended our official itinerary with a trip to Walla! News. Here we spoke to Jacob Eilon, a well-known anchor and editor. Eilon said reporting in Israel is “getting harder and harder.” The same … Continue reading Tel Aviv – Day 10
The goal of this trip was to get a sense of Israeli society from many different perspectives – social, cultural, religious, etc. On Monday, we got the political perspective. Israel has a parliamentary democracy, and the legislative branch (the parliament) is called the Knesset. There are 120 seats in the parliament, and because it’s a … Continue reading Knesset – Day 9
We got an early start on day 8. With my alarm set to 4:30 AM, I woke up and joined our group for a sunrise hike. https://twitter.com/SimonPerez1/status/975460566553780224 https://twitter.com/lileana_pearson/status/975332835748794368 It was not the “glorified walk” we were expected, but the beautiful views made the trek worth it. After the hike, we spent the morning at the … Continue reading Gaza Strip – Day 8
Our trip coordinators at the JPC warned us that this would be an exhausting trip, but by day seven we were really feeling it. Luckily, we had some free time during the day in Tel Aviv, to rest and reflect. All of us were shocked at how fast the days were flying by. In the … Continue reading Tel Sheva – Day 7
The common theme for days 5 and 6 was ‘borders.’ Today, we went to Misgav Am, a kibbutz located just about a mile from the Lebanon border. https://twitter.com/SimonPerez1/status/974700505887846410 A kibbutz is a communal settlement in Israel, which initially started out as agricultural settlements and is based on collective group values. For the kibbutz, it’s ‘group … Continue reading Haifa – Day 6
We drove a few hours north up to Tsfat, which is close to the Syrian border. We visited Ziv Medical Center, a university-affiliated, government funded hospital serving about 250,000 patients. They take pride in serving patients of many different ethnicities, and having staff members of many different ethnicities. One of their biggest accomplishments is caring … Continue reading Golan Heights – Day 5
This was probably the most mind-blowing day of our trip. We met 36-year-old Tzippy Yarom, a woman in the Haredi community. She talked to us about “Haredim Mibifnim,” meaning the “Ultra-Orthodox from Within.” This was an incredible experience because she shattered all my preconceived notions about women in the ultra-orthodox community. Some things about Yarom: … Continue reading Jerusalem – Day 4
On our third day in Israel, we visited Efrat, a Jewish settlement on the West Bank. (It’s within the ‘Gush Etzion,’ a group of settlements south of Jerusalem). We first went to the Lone Tree, a symbolic site for Efrat. We also met Rabbi Alan Haber who told us his experience of living in the … Continue reading Bethlehem – Day 3
Israel is about the size of New Jersey, but there was still so much to see. After our first day exploring the Old City in Jerusalem, we spent the next two days exploring the West Bank. The best way to describe the Israel/Palestine relationship is “it’s complicated.” Our guide said it’s “like two different worlds … Continue reading West Bank – Day 2
Never thought I would be in Israel for spring break… but here I am! I’m taking a journalism trip hosted by the Jerusalem Press Club, with 14 of my classmates from the Newhouse school. Our itinerary stops in almost all corners of the country and immerses us in various aspects of society – political, religious, … Continue reading Old City – Day 1
Rashika Jaipuriar 