“Imagine a class where you could expose students to all the different perspectives from different camps of Palestinians, different camps of Israeli Jews, and then actually go there and see how people are living,” San Diego State political science professor Jonathan Graubart said.
It’s what Graubart and a handful of students from the Olive Tree Initiative did during the summer.
OTI chapters from several California universities including SDSU recently returned from a 19-day summer trip to Israel and Palestine where members learned about conflict resolution. Through experiential learning, OTI students witnessed aspects of the conflict firsthand.
OTI met with more than 80 groups and individuals who either deal directly with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict or were directly affected by it.
SDSU OTI President, Lori Carrillo said the trip was “amazing,” but “physically and emotionally exhausting.”
Carrillo said it was jarring at first to pass through the various security checkpoints when moving from site to site, which is standard procedure.
“There’s soldiers with M16s (assault rifles) everywhere and you kind of get used to it. They ask a lot of ‘what are you doing? Where are you going?’” Carrillo explained.
When visiting Hebron, a city in the southern West Bank, Carrillo said a bulletproof glass wall separated the entrances to the holy site of Abraham’s tomb. On one side,
Muslims enter through a mosque. On the other side, Jews enter through a synagogue. Neither party comes in direct contact with the other and neither party is allowed to enter through the other side. This is meant to prevent potential violence among the worshipers, according to Carrillo.
Graubart said it’s not unusual for the occasional riot to break out at the holy sites; although, OTI didn’t witness any during the trip.
When traveling between territories, OTI students witnessed some of the deplorable living conditions many Palestinians and Israelis experience. Water tanks lined Palestinian rooftops, providing an alternative to the brackish water along the Gaza Strip, which is undrinkable, according to the Palestinian Water Authority.
In addition, members heard firsthand accounts of tragic experiences from various Palestinians and Israelis.
SDSU OTI Public Relations Representative, Sandy Chavez, said one story struck her deeply.
“We were at a graveyard and this Israeli guy was sharing an emotional story about his daughter,,” Chavez said.
According to Carrillo and Chavez, the child was on a bus with other children heading home from school when a suicide bomber blew up the bus. The children didn’t survive, but the young girl’s backpack stayed intact. Within the backpack, the father found his daughter’s diary and several drawings. He shared one of the drawings with several OTI members while he told his story.
“You could see it in his eyes.When he’s talking, his throat still gets choked up. It’s just very very emotional,” Chavez said.
Graubart said there was a lot of crying during the trip because it seemed wherever they went, someone had a tragic story to tell. The University of California, Berkeley OTI Chapter brought its campus psychologist with them on the trip in case members needed counseling to cope with emotional challenges.
Chavez said she plans to share her experience with incoming OTI members, as well as the SDSU community.
“If I could describe the trip in two words, it would be ‘intense’ and ‘unique,’” Chavez said.
