Jeremy Levenson, Freshman
English Major - University of Pennsylvania
When Eric first emailed us the itinerary of our trip, I thought this extraordinary opportunity would come and go in the blink of an eye. Reflecting on the experience a week after our return, I was only partly right- the trip may have felt even faster. The twelve day journey was a whirlwind of jaw dropping sights and visits, enlightening and inspiring lectures, transformative discussions and strong personal connections. Experience has the effect of changing a person’s perspective, layering it with memories of past thoughts and feelings, and, after such myriad experiences, I feel myself returning as a nearly new person in many regards. Among my many jumbled thoughts, I will expand on those most central to my personal growth.
As we walked on the plane en route to Abu Dhabi, the word I thought would be most critical to understanding the conflict in the Middle East was empathy. While preparing for the trip and during our orientation with Akram Elias, I knew that, as a young Jewish individual, I would need to practice great empathy as I confronted people and cultures that would be classified by some in my family and my culture as “the other” or even the enemy for their anti-Israel sentiments. Without trying to share the suffering and truly put myself in the shoes of radicals on both sides, I knew I would never be able to understand the cause of their passion or connect with them. Practicing patience and persistence while reserving my natural judgments, I succeeded in, as President Obama touched upon in his Cairo Address, defining our relationship not by our differences but by our commonalities. I was able to connect with a family of Muslim Somalians living in Pakistan on the plane from Bahrain to Amman, our guides in Jordan and Israel, our staunchly pro-Israel voice Efraim Inbar and the Palestinian students we met in Jerusalem among many others. However, in disciplining myself to practice empathy, the line between what I judged right and wrong was obscured. While I could distinguish many as morally reprehensible and many others as morally respectable, there were far too many who left me puzzled, calling into question my views about the entire conflict. In a region in which decades, and symbolically thousands of years of conflict have traumatized both sides, I realized solving the conflict is not a matter of which side is right or which side is wrong but instead of how can we build a more peaceful future for both sides.
Second, the experience brought into question my perspective on religion and my own Jewish identity. Having served on my high school’s diversity committee and lived in a city socially divided by a large economic gap, I had developed an understanding of the importance of developing relationships across socioeconomic and cultural barriers. However, on the topic of religion, I was more skeptical: religion seemed so divisive and problem causing. I was frightened by the religious fervor in the Middle East and elsewhere in the world that seemed to accompany ignorance. As a result, I believe that I unconsciously ignored my own background as a Jew. I preferred to be free of the social and religious obligations that came with being Jewish. But, going to the Middle East and being so personally impacted by anti-Israel remarks, I have realized that Judaism will always be with me. Hiding from it only prevents me from understanding what religion means to me. Furthermore, after visiting Sharon Rosen and the Search for Common Ground and Rabbi Ron Kronish and Face to Face, I now can see the promise of interfaith dialogue. In the future, religion perhaps can drive unity and not just division after all. Returning home, I plan to become more active in my Jewish community in trying to make that vision possible.
Finally, the program has helped me better understand what it means to be an international citizen and why dialogue and friendships between people of diverse backgrounds are so critical to society. During orientation, as Nancy Overholt sought our comments on the importance of international education, I used the words “interconnected” and “interdependent” to describe the world. I had read these words and had a vague understanding of what they meant after a trip two summers ago to Botswana. But, returning from the Middle East, these words have taken on a new meaning. On the trip, we learned of the drastic religious polarization that has occurred in the Middle East with Jews only occupying Israel, Muslims gathering in Arab countries and Christians leaving the region altogether. We also saw the impact of this polarization: without any Jews in Jordan, conspiracy theories prevailed among the professors and Efraim Inbar could not name one Palestinian friend. Lacking face-to-face interaction with people unlike themselves, neither side could understand each other. Education and citizenship are dependent on individuals having experiences with those unlike themselves, whether it is in terms of socioeconomic class, culture, race, ideology, gender, sexuality, religion or nationality. With atomic weapons, dramatic economic inequality, global warming and the many other threats that are facing our entire planet, peace and justice rely on simple chemistry: opposites connecting, listening to and understanding one another.
This trip was truly the whirlwind I mentioned earlier and I have touched upon only some of many revelations I have had. I am extremely thankful for being given this unbelievable opportunity. I am indebted to the Ibrahim Family Foundation, IIE, Dr. David and all of the other participants on this trip. I look forward to working at Penn with the other participants and making the Ibrahims and IIE proud of their program.
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