Today we visited Israel’s capitol city, Jerusalem, with our tour guide, Benji Davis. As we drove up to the viewpoint, we were greeted with the unbelievably vast and breathtaking panorama of the city. After a lot of “oohs,” “ahhs,” and pictures, we all sat down to begin a lesson about the geopolitical state of Jerusalem. Benji began with a map of what the city used to be – a “no-man’s land” between Israel and Jordan. Beyond the mountains, Benji pointed to the Arab territories. We then began to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over Jerusalem. We learned that while the West Bank may be sovereign Israeli territory, it has yet to be officially annexed.
In addition to the conflict over the Israeli land, Benji expanded on the religious claims over Jerusalem. From Christianity and Islam to Judaism, each religion has its holiest sites located in certain regions. Christianity has the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, Islam has the Dome of the Rock, and Judaism has multiple holy sites located in Jerusalem. The question arose: my truth or your truth? Will each religion accept the others’ beliefs? With Benji, we discussed the divided state of Jerusalem. Despite religion, there exist different populations, legal statuses, and complications for Jerusalem’s residents.
Overall, what was supposed to be a 3 hour geopolitical tour of Jerusalem had to be shortened to a 30 minute session. However, Benji was able to give us a valuable message – to remember the conversations we’ve had about the former and current states of the country.