Ibrahim Kareem, Senior
Middle Eastern Studies Major - Florida State University
The Ibrahim Leadership and Dialogue Project was an amazing experience to me. Prior to this trip, I have never gone on any sort of international scholarship trip or been involved with international education exchange programs. I am still taking in all the experiences I had on this trip and the things I have learned in Washington D.C, the UAE, Jordan, and Israel.
Even though it was not part of our international trip, I found Washington D.C. and the orientation itself to be a great learning experience. This was my first time in our national’s capital and something about the city felt very special to me. I enjoyed the introductions by the Ibrahim family, the Institute of International Education staff, and the students going on the trip. The goals of both the Ibrahim family and the IIE were very admirable to me, and seeing the diversity of the students on the trip was excellent. My favorite part of the orientation and the most educational to me was Mr. Akram Elias. Mr. Elias offered great basic knowledge of the region to everyone, but even as someone who majors in Middle Eastern Studies and is very interested in the region, I learned some things that I would have never learned in a formal classroom setting. Particularly enjoyable and informative would be Mr. Elias explanation of certain things, such as explaining why showing the bottom of your shoes to someone is offensive in the culture, and not just saying “don’t do this.” Another great part of the orientation was meeting Dr. David and hearing his lecture on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. After taking whole classes on this conflict, I knew it would be very difficult to explain to a group of people in a short amount of time. But Dr. David’s lecture was amazing, giving a brief history of the conflict from the start to the present in a way that was easily understandable and if it was new to you, would make to want to look into it more. Even at the end of the day at our informal dinner, we all had some great conversations about what we learned that day. I knew after the first day I was with a special group of people.
Then started our international travels, I took something different out of each of the counties we visited. I was fortunate enough to have visited the United Arab Emirates before, but this time I went to Abu Dhabi I had a completely different look at it. It was almost like visiting a different city. Our first meeting with Lara Setrakian was very interesting, especially with the post election tensions that were happening in Iran at the time. Hearing about her job and how she is part of a growing trend of international reporting and having people actually in the field was a great introduction to what we would learn about on our trip. Ms. Setrakian talked about recent events she was reporting, such the Iranian election story, the Lebanese election, and some sensitive issues and difficulties she faced as being a reporter in the region were things I have never had the chance to speak about with someone in her position.
On our tour of Abu Dhabi that day, I found the visit to the Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan Mosque to be the most standout to me personally. It is by far the largest and at least my opinion the most beautiful mosque I have seen in my life. I remember when I was in Abu Dhabi in 2006; this mosque was still in the final phases of construction. I have been a huge fan of Islamic art and architecture since I took a class on the subject, and it was amazing to see so many things I learned about in a classroom by reading a book in person, right in front of me. It is amazing that the Mosque is so new yet looks like it could be right out of the 10th century. On a more personal note, as a Muslim this type of mosque is what comes to my mind when I think of a mosque. In Islam there is no set way a mosque should look (so long as it has some important features that actually make it a “mosque”) and a Muslim can pray anywhere, but to me praying in this mosque was a great experience to me.
After hearing from Ms. Setrakian I found our meeting at The National newspaper in Abu Dhabi to be very interesting. It was a much different talk. It was a great experience to get a look into a newspaper that is funded by the state and is basically made up completely of expiates to the country. I felt it was a great reflection on the country itself. But even with all of these great meetings and places we went to, I felt like the more informal dialogue we had as a group about the UAE was the most intellectually stimulating. Conversations with other students on how they felt about the Emirates, conversations with our tour guide Mr. Muhammad Ali, and informal conversations with Dr. David had me thinking about the whole situation of the country now.
After our time in Abu Dhabi, I was very excited to visit Jordan. Jordan would be the first Arab country that I have been to outside of the gulf, and to me, it was everything I thought of when I thought of the Middle East. A mix of new and old, history and heritage everywhere, small streets, Arabic actually being spoken (as opposed to the UAE, where even though it is the official language, everyone speaks English). Before this I had only seen the Middle East of the Gulf, one rich with oil money and with brand new buildings, streets, etc. The dinner with the Fulbright students was a great meeting for our first night. It was great for me, to meet so many driven people around my age that were so interested in everything I was. This dinner was definitely one of my favorite times on the trip. I learned so much about the actual Fulbright program, something I actually knew little about and found out that it is something that I am now very interested in. I planned on living in the Middle East for a year or so to try to learn some more Arabic, yet had no idea that with the Fulbright I would get intensive classes while at the same time doing research in something I am passionate about. This dinner also helped me personally realize that learning Arabic is not impossible. Hearing the Fulbright students speak in Arabic to the waiters and talk about their experiences using Arabic daily were both inspirational and reassuring to me.
Our trip to Petra was unbelievable. Not only was it very informative to learn about the ancient history of Petra but it was truly awe inspiring to see these monuments in person instead of in a picture on Wikipedia. I felt like it was a great trip to see the rich history of the Middle East and how so many civilizations and cultures have, and still live in the region. I also felt the trip the Mount Nebo, the Jordan River and the Jesus Christ baptism site were great in showing the history of the area and also very significant when to religion. It was really something standing in the area that Jesus Christ is said to have been baptized, and to see the view Moses had of the Promised Land. It definitely had the feeling of a place that was very important to a lot of people in the world. While we were by the baptism site, we saw people performing a baptism right there. It was also interesting to be at a border between Israel and Jordan, two countries separated by such a small river with armed soldiers on both sides. It said a lot about the Arab- Israeli conflict and the political situation to me.
The talks we had in Jordan were also very memorable, especially our talk with Dr. Mohammad Majali and the University of Jordan. This meeting was not really a talk on religion or Sharia studies, but became a political talk mostly about the war in Iraq and the issue of Palestine. It proved to be a very thought provoking discussion, showing me and everyone in the room a point of view that you never hear in the United States. The points of view of Dr. Majali and his colleagues brought great discussions in our group, and this proved to be one of the most interesting meetings for us, in my opinion. For our last meeting in Jordan it was very special to me to meet the Jordanian ambassador to the United States, Zeid Ra'ad Zeid Al-Hussein. Our conversation about peace and his job were very inspirational. It was lucky of us that he knew Dr. David; otherwise we might have missed out on such a good learning experience.
Israel would prove to be in my opinion the most interesting place, and the visit that would affect me the most. Israel is a place I have studied a lot about at the university, and did not think I would have the pleasure to visit in the near future, at least. But to see it and be there was something else. As soon as we got to the checkpoint it was all an educational experience to me. It was a weird feeling to be treated differently than others in the group because of my name, yet for me it showed how to conflict in the area has affected the people in it. However once we got into Israel and to Jerusalem, I was very excited to visit the old city. To me Jerusalem was the most important place we went and the most educational. I think that with the goals of this scholarship all future groups should visit Jerusalem like we did. Walking to the Temple Mount or Harem al Shariff it was quite the site to see how the Western Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and the al Aqsa mosque are so close to each other was striking. Seeing the Dome of the Rock and the al Aqsa mosque was an amazing experience in terms of architectural beauty, history, and holiness. Being at the al Aqsa most and praying was almost unreal, and experience which was even better then my experience in Abu Dhabi.
After that, making a visit to the Western Wall was an experience I won’t forget. It was amazing to see the holiness site for the Jewish people, and place which is at the center of so much political debate in our present day. Our last stop at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was an amazing compliment to the holy sites of Muslims and Jews. Seeing the place where it is said that Jesus was crucified and where his tomb is was an intense experience. The whole tour was one of the greatest parts of our trip and it was amazing to see the similarities between the three Abrahamic religions and how all of these religions come from the same place.
Meeting with Rabbi Ron Kronish was very educational. The short speech he gave on his organization and the peace process was informative, and when we talked to the face to face/faith to faith students I learned so much about how they feel. In this experience, like the Fulbright experience it was very easy to talk to people around the same age group. I learned a lot about the Israeli students and found their point of views refreshing, much different than some points of view I had heard before. It was also a great chance to hear about what it is like to grow up and actually live in the conflict, be affected by it firsthand.
The Goldberg Ceremony did not go as planned, and due to some complications the Palestinian winner could not make it to Jerusalem, so I thought it was very interesting to see the political situation even affect us on the trip while we were there. I was very excited for it to be moved to a “neutral zone in the West Bank” to get a chance to see things like the Separation wall in the West Bank. The ceremony itself affected me very much because it was so nice to see people on both sides trying so hard to reach out to each other.
Our final dinner with Professor Inbar in Jerusalem proved to be one of my favorite learning experiences in Israel. It was fantastic to speak with someone that has a viewpoint you do not get to see much, like the one we saw in Jordan at the University of Jordan.
This trip has taught me many things and will be one that I always remember. All three of the countries we visited affected me in different ways. I had thought about going to study in Jordan, and after visiting it I would like to study even more there now. Going to Israel and seeing Jerusalem is something I think everyone should do in their lives, and being able to see the country and meet some people that lived there has affected my view of the conflict very much. The group of students we had could not be better and our personal talks about things we were seeing or hearing together were just as educational to me as meeting with professors. Having Winston, Mike, and Dr. David along also helped enrich the trip. I would learn new things every chance I had to talk to Dr. David. What this trip has taught me the most however is that to understand a place you must actually go there, which is why I think I will continue looking at programs for international education throughout my life.
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