Change In Opinion (Or Not)

When considering the class as a whole, it has covered a wide array of topics relating to Jerusalem from the Palestinian and Israeli perspectives. As a Jewish person within the conservative movement it was engrained in me to go to Israel and that it is without a doubt the Jewish homeland. I would nod along blindly and agree with what I was taught in Hebrew school and in my own home. I never thought to question why people feel this way or how I came to feel that way. Towards the end of my high school career I became more involved with my Judaism and took an active role in exploring the fundamentals of my Judaism through Torah. I never wanted to look into the political side of Jerusalem because I naively had this perfect image of Jerusalem. I didn't really have a personal opinion about Israel as a political power or Israeli society. I knew that I liked the idea of Israel, but that's where it started and ended. I had been to Israel through a Jewish organization and of course loved my time there Taking this class opened my eyes to the societal and political issues within Jerusalem today and others from the beginning of its history.

The first eye-opening experience occurred when we read Karen Armstrong's book. I didn't realize that I had put Jerusalem on this religious pedestal and never considered it as a city with conflicts, bloodshed, and less than glamorous moments. I knew about the history from Jewish studies classes but I had trouble placing them in context with my religious perspective of Jerusalem. I do think the two perspectives can exist side by side but I have struggled and continue to struggle with combining the two and deciding how I feel about the situation. I've also come to realize that it is necessary to remove religion from Israeli politics in order to make any sort of resolution or agreement. I still feel connected to Israel as a Jewish homeland but am unsure how I feel about sharing that homeland with others, who in their eyes, have just as much of a claim to the land as the Jewish people. Who am I to deny them of that belief?

Long story short: I can say that I do know a lot about Jerusalem and its history. My religious connection to Jerusalem exists along with my knowledge of both sides of the conflict. I tend to be an overly sympathetic person, which probably is connected to inability to deny someone of one of their deepest traditions: a home.