Since the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers last June and the revenge killing of a Palestinian teenager, we have known that what we are seeing is not just casual violence. Today, it is necessary to see the current situation as structural, not random.
Read MoreOur final day began differently. We returned to South Tel Aviv for a panel on shared society. After this meeting we had our last tour — a walking tour of old Jaffa, followed by lunch, free time, our final wrap-up meeting, and our farewell dinner.
Read MoreSunday, November 16, was day 6 of our tour, and although the prior five days laid much of the foundation for what we were about to learn, our trip to Hebron deeply affected us, far beyond what most of us may have expected.
Read MoreShabbat morning in Jerusalem began with a sumptuous cold breakfast in the hotel dining room. At 10:30, half a dozen of us assembled to follow Itzik in a 4-hour tour of the Old City. In the evening, according to study tour custom, we heard an Israeli and then a Palestinian speaker on prospects for peace. Between the two, Itzik led us in making Havdalah to mark the end of Shabbat. After the talks, the group walked to dinner at the rooftop restaurant in Notre Dame of Jerusalem.
Read MoreA selection of images from the NIF Study Tour.
Read MoreThis guest post by Benette Phillips gives an overview of a very interesting and intense day: two sessions in the morning, a guided bus tour to three vantage points, a sumptuous lunch, a meeting with three key leaders of KIAH, and a light and sound show at the Tower of David in the Old City.
Read MoreIf I didn’t know better, I would have thought we’d all signed up for a culinary tour of Israel. We started out last week in the Mahane Yehuda market cheese tasting and went into Shabbat fortified with olive oil, wine and chocolate. But as New Israel Fund has deftly managed our study tour, our food forays were as much metaphors as they were realities.
Read MoreIf day one of the NIF Study Tour in Israel was highlighted by the culinary tour of the Machane Yehuda market and the chance to dine there, Wednesday began our opportunity to learn about NIF grantees and meet the people who are attempting to help Israel to be its best self.
Read MoreThe Study Tour is off to a wonderful start. We all met this afternoon in a small conference room at the hotel to introduce ourselves and review the itinerary.
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It’s been another difficult week in Jerusalem. Tension has building over the past months. Indeed, it’s been building since before the terrible events of this past summer.
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