Israel at a crossroads

Family, friends, and lovers of Israel,

I have the pleasure of writing the first post written by someone that is not Brian or Aileen.  For more about shawarma please refer to Brian's future posts...

Birthright bus #1069 was lucky enough to have a guide with more knowledge of Israel's political history than any history book could ever provide. Doron bombarded us with information within moments of our arrival on the bus, "fresh" off of our 10 hour flight from JFK airport in NY to Ben Gurion airport just outside of Tel Aviv, Israel. According to our fearless leader, this is a critical point in Israeli history because of the stark differences of the 'hawks' who criticize any peace negotiations that include returning Israeli settlements to the Palestinians and 'doves' who might say that unless some land is given to the other side, it will be impossible to have the autonomous Jewish state that we all want. The other division today is between the defenders of the by-the-book Orthodox observance and the more secular Jews that identify their Judaism more with their identity in our culture than with the religious aspect of our faith. This is largely a generational difference and the conservative block tends to be in Jerusalem while the evolving liberal wing tends to call Tel Aviv home. 

Our first stop was the location of the 1995 assassination of Israeli prime minister Yitzhak Rabin. Doron told a very personal first-person account of the day that spun Israel into chaos and disrupted the Oslo peace talks that had taken place above the assassination sight in the town hall in a square of Tel Aviv.

After our stay at a hotel in Ashkelon, we are heading towards the Gaza Strip. Everyone is curious to see this spot which exists in a so-called "twilight zone" with no legal owner. Many people have said that they feel much better than yesterday, having plowed through the worst of the jet lag during an afternoon tour of a secret underground ammunition factory under a kibbutz and then jumping in the hotel pool. We are passing through security now. But don't worry- we have an armed guard on our bus!

Stay tuned!

~Corey G.