Our Long Arrival

After two days of orientation and excited preparation, we finally boarded the plane last night at about 6 pm. We entered the plane with a sense of camaraderie. As Sydney put it, we are like siblings on a big long road trip. Flight #1 to Frankfurt was uneventful and smooth. We had to go through another special security gate to board our next plane to Tel Aviv. Israel is the only country that has security personnel in every airport in the world. We all made it through OK, and were anxiously waiting to board when a man in a bullet-proof vest and combat boots came storming through, obviously upset about something. It turned out that one of the gates between the waiting area and the boarding area had not been properly locked, all 240 passengers had to go through the security line AGAIN. This delayed things about 40 minutes and was an exhausting process. As I passed through the security line again, one of the Israeli personnel was looking at me suspiciously and began speaking to me in Arabic. When I returned his aggression with a confused look, he relaxed and said "ah, OK she is not Arab. Pass." This of course upset me, but not as much as seeing the real implications of the unfettered racial profiling that Israeli institutions indulge in. Though to many my brown skin and "exotic" (barf) eyes classify me as a potential threat, once they hear my father's name (yes, the immigration officer did ask...) that cause for concern is immediately alleviated, a privilege that not everyone on our delegation has. Once we arrived in Tel Aviv, three of our members were held for 2-3 extra hours for extra questioning.  They are all Palestinian (big shocker, I know). My heart was heavy as we pulled away from the airport, knowing they would have to wait to prove their very existence is not questionable, a burden most of us did not have to face at all, and a reminder of all the systems that are set up to protect certain groups, at the expense of the oppression of others.

We saw this theme again and again as we drove from the airport to our hotel in Jerusalem. The wall that divides not only illegal settlements from Palestinian villages, but Palestinian villages from each other. Families from families. We drove on roads designated for Israelis only. We saw the black water tanks atop each Palestinian home; a dark reminder of the scarce (usually only weekly) access to water that their neighboring settlers don't have to think about (even though they pay the same, sometimes more in property taxes). We saw the red warning signs that adorned the entry to every Palestinian village, cautioning settlers of the threat these people pose by simply existing and complete with gates and roadblocks. ALl of this was incredibly overwhelming, especially on such little sleep, and I found myself constantly on the verge of tears.

A general sense of the landscape.

A settlement still under construction. This is illegal under international law, and is part of the general plan of land annexation. 

One section of the wall that divides two Palestinian villages. 

We arrived at the hotel, and immediately ate a delicious dinner and enjoyed each other's fellowship, processing together and commiserating in our sense of collective shock. I am so excited to see what lies ahead, and to have the chance to explore these issues further! Our room overlooks the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City, a reminder of beauty and resilience in the wreck.