Brian Cohen
  • Making the Grade Blog
  • About Me
  • Tutoring
  • Press
  • Resources to Share

Reflections on my trip to Israel: Why we didn't go to Turkey

8/3/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
After the 10-day trip I staffed, my fiancé met me at the airport outside of Tel Aviv and we had six days to explore Israel ourselves after which we would spend eight days in Turkey - or so the plan said. What actually ended up happening was a set of last-minute decisions sparked by the current Gaza-Israel conflict. Due to the increase in anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment in Turkey (especially by the Prime Minister and the Mayor of Ankara) we decided it was in our best interest not to travel there. When the Prime Minister of the country accuses the local Jewish population of supporting genocide, you don't go visit the country.

Instead we traveled and visited friends and family for the two weeks that we had. We went to Jerusalem twice, spent a lot of time with my cousins in Kfar Saba, and went North and to the beach - everywhere away from Gaza. 

One particularly interesting visit had us in Azor, a town southeast of Tel Aviv, where our family had a magnet on their refrigerator explaining how many seconds there were between hearing a siren and when the rocket would hit from the previous Gaza conflict. This was a bit jarring for me as the harshest magnets I had on the fridge growing up rebuked you for not clearing your dishes. It is unfortunate the this exists in the daily lives of so many. 

During our two weeks we heard four sirens - one of which when we were driving and had to pull over to seek shelter with other locals. When we looked up we could see the rocket trails and the poof of smoke where Israeli's Iron Dome system had destroyed the rockets before hitting ground.

Much like with my Birthright trip, it was unique to experience this firsthand and think about all the ramifications of the current crisis. Hundreds of people are dying for a battle that many would agree they don't want but "need" to have, whatever that means. I have friends and family who are currently fighting in and around the Gaza Strip and I worry about them. The people living inside of Gaza are in a very bad situation and may not see hope in sight. I wish this conflict to end peacefully soon so that people from both sides can stop dying and begin talking to each other about what needs to happen to make peace. 

0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I am a math teacher in the New York Department of Education. I infuse technology and real-world problems into my curriculum in order to prepare my students for the future. I would love for people across the country to recognize we teachers can't do it alone. If you don't believe me, come visit my classroom!

    Picture

    Contact Me

    Picture

    Email Updates

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    Archives

    March 2022
    September 2021
    August 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    November 2011
    October 2011
    September 2011
    August 2011
    July 2011
    June 2011
    May 2011
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    January 2011

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.