Our last day of the trip began by visiting a Palestinian Education Bookshop in East Jerusalem. Out of all the Palestinian speakers, Mahmoud Muna best spoke my language. He began by talking about the fragmentation of 5 different types of Palestinians: Inside Israel, East Jerusalem, West Bank, Gaza and Palestinian Disapora. Of the first 4, each has a different ID card issues by Israel, and there are different license plates as well. What made Mahmoud compelling is he talked about the heinous, unacceptable and scary nature of October 7 (Khaled on Day 2 went even further by saying he understood Israel needing to respond for weeks or even a couple months, just not for 2.5 years). Mahmoud also said one need not use the academic jargon (occupation, apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide) but then one must find another term to describe what happened. Mahmoud and his nephew Ahmed were arrested by Israeli police but after finding no crime against them they were released. I bought two books from Mahmoud: Daybreak in Gaza from Gazan writers after October 7 and Life Under Occupation by a Spanish journalist who travelled throughout the West Bank and Gaza. It’s important to hear others’ narratives and stories even when one disagrees with the facts or things which are being conveyed.

We returned to the hotel and heard from Tal Becker, who indicated that one can basically know nothing for certain (i.e. did Israel deliberately cause famine in Gaza? To get an answer one needs access to the Israeli Cabinets’ wartime remarks). Tal’s words were very emotional: that he had come up with a plan to kill/martyr his children should Hamas reach his house. Tal’s main theory was that western, liberal values were viewed as the solution to all of Israel’s problems, just as Adam thought Eve, his Ezer K’negdo, was the answer to all his problems. Romantic love/romanticization looks for simple solutions; being in the therapy room is where you work things out in all their complexity.

We had small groups throughout the 4 days to process what we heard and how we will bring this information to our home communities (which I am still working on). Here is our group picture from the end of the trip.

My last few hours were spent frantically shopping and exploring the Shuk, Ben Yehuda and Nahalat Sheva. On my way back to the hotel I ran by this relatively new museum, which I hope to see during a future trip.

Thank you for reading. I am open to discussing my adventures with any of you in the coming weeks.