Thousands of miles away from America, the conversation on my recent trip to Israel was dominated by the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
As a counselor with Write on For Israel, the Israel advocacy high-school program coordinated by the Jewish Week and sponsored by the Avi Chai Foundation, I accompanied 27 select Jewish high school students on an intense ten-day tour. One evening, I found myself in a heated Bush-Kerry debate with a student who was a Kerry supporter. Walking alongside the ancient hilltops of Jerusalem, I argued the merits of President Bush’s pro-Israel record and his unprecedented support of Israel. The next day, the student approached me and told me he was reconsidering his support of Kerry.
“I think I might be harming Israel if I vote for Kerry,” he said.
This conversation was just one example of the intense discussions regarding America, Israel, and the world that characterized our trip. Write On For Israel is a two-year intensive program during which high school juniors and seniors learn about Israel-related issues. With anti-Israel fever raging on many college campuses, the goal is to train students in the history and politics of the Arab-Israeli conflict in order to prepare them to advocate for Israel when they arrive on campuses.
Seminars are held on Sundays, culminating in a free trip to Israel after the first year of the program. As a senior at Columbia, I was privileged to work as a mentor to the students, leading discussion groups and editing the students’ written work. In addition, I benefited from the wide variety of speakers: Jonathan Kessler, student director of AIPAC; John Donovan, reporter for Nightline; Rachel Fish, student activist at Harvard; and Walid Shoebat, former PLO terrorist, were just a few of the engaging lecturers.
But the highlight of the program was our visit to Israel. Unlike most high school trips that feature the hottest tourist spots, ours involved meeting and speaking with journalists, political leaders and government spokespeople. As our program director, former CNN Mideast correspondent Linda Scherzer, said frequently throughout the trip, “Write On For Israel is no ‘hava nagila’ trip.”
Our first stop upon arriving in Israel was the security fence surrounding the Arab village of Kalkilya, the locus of many terrorist attacks situated shockingly close to the Israeli town of Kfar Saba. The proximity of the two villages came as a surprise to many of us, and a greater understanding of Israel’s need for the fence began to crystallize in our minds.
We then headed north, where we met with members of the IDF to discuss Israel’s borders with Lebanon and Syria. Looking out over those now relatively quiet borders, we again were struck by the constant danger that lurks so close to Israel.
Traveling south, we met with many different types of Israelis, among them a number of Druze who voiced their allegiance to Israel and noted that despite their minority status, the Jewish state had provided them with a safe place to live and practice their religion – unlike the Arab countries in which other Druze live.
Most strikingly, we met with a group of Arab-Israeli teenagers interested in fostering dialogue between Arabs and Jews. At first the discussion was positive, and I felt a spark of hope. There was a commonality between the teenagers: like the Jewish students, the Arab teenagers were interested in painting, sports and music. But when we began to discuss more political topics, the camaraderie and hope disappeared. The Arab teenagers refused to condemn their brethren for their acts of terrorism, claiming that suicide bombing was an acceptable way to express dismay at the current situation. If even educated Arabs interested in dialogue support suicide bombing, we concluded, there is little hope for peace in the foreseeable future.
The second half of our trip was spent in Jerusalem, where we met with many notable Israelis, including Minister of Diaspora Affairs Natan Sharansky and Sherry Mandel, whose son Koby was murdered by Arab terrorists.
As our knowledge of Israeli history and the current conflict grew, we were forcd to grapple with with the question of what our role is as American Jews. While Ariel Sharon struggled to build a unity government, we considered our own government in the United States, and questioned whether Bush or Kerry would be a better choice for Israel.
By the end of the trip, the overall sentiment among the group was one of deep support of President Bush. Most of the group felt that American Jewry must support Bush, who has consistently supported Israel during some particularly bleak and trying times.
My experience in Israel served to reinforce my decision to begin working, upon my college graduation, for the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC), an organization that seeks to foster ties between the American Jewish community and Republican decision makers.
Now, as a newly hired employee at the RJC, I proudly stand behind President Bush. He is a leader who has clearly articulated and acted on his support for Israel. American Jewry must in turn support President Bush. Israel is counting on us.
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