One of my favorite days during the Hasbara trip was our tour of the Old City. While I’ve been to the Old City as a tourist many times and lived there for a year, there is still so much information to learn from the surrounding ancient history. Our tour began in the Jewish Quarter, the most familiar quarter to me, but this time it felt different. In the past, it has been an obvious fact that I am a Jewish woman who is currently standing in one of the holiest sites in the world. However, the more we discussed the geographical location we were in, the more complex this statement became. The Old City is currently the home to 4 different religions but the region has been under the rule of many different authorities over the past thousands of years. When we stepped from the Jewish quarter to the Arab quarter, it felt like a completely different world. The stones were the same, yet the smells and sounds were new and intriguing. I shifted from feeling like a local to feeling like a tourist. We saw the delicacies of the Arab bazaar and the hustle and bustle to the Temple Mount for prayer. Although the Jewish people also claim the Temple Mount as the holiest site in the world, it is mostly off limits to us at this time. Coming from being able to practice my religion freely in the Jewish quarter, to being prohibited from a certain holy site was an unusual feeling. While the Israeli’s only regained authority of the Jewish quarter following the 1967 war, there have been Jews in all areas of the Old City since biblical times. In fact, we were able to see the apartments and schools of Jewish families living in the Arab quarter. It may seem bizarre that these people chose to live in the predominantly Arab communities, however, they feel compelled to maintain their presence in all corners of the city which has always belonged to them and their ancestors. Their children must be escorted by guards from school to their apartments, yet that is the price they are willing to pay to continue existing in their homeland. We also were able to see the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, a holy site for the Christian faith. I was astounded at the grandeur of the ancient building and the diversity of people who flock to see the Church. In such a small area, there is spirituality from all corners of the world. One of the most impactful places we stopped on our tour was a rooftop where we were able to see all four quarters of the city at once. This view gave me a perspective of the trip as a whole. Although I was participating in a program aimed to increase my knowledge as a pro-Israel activist, this can only be done after being exposed to the considerations of more than just the Israeli’s I am familiar with. On my mission as a pro-Israel activist, I am going to encounter people from different backgrounds who question my awareness of the reality in Israel. After participating on the Hasbara Fellowship trip, I am more conscious of the way the situation impacts the entirety of those living in Israel. I found myself standing in the Jewish quarter, but I was able to see the expanse of the history surrounding me.
