Trip to Israel and Palestine

Shalom! Eighteen IB History and Politics students and three members of staff - Roni Hameiri, Kicki Lurcock and Andrew Young, recently enjoyed a six day trip to the land of the Six Day War. The itinerary included Israel, the Palestinian Authority and a drive along the borders of Jordan, Syria and the Lebanon.

On our return, each student competed a questionnaire – apart from the après ski their highlights included: floating in the Dead Sea, climbing up and down King Herod's citadel at Masada, Yad Varshem - the Holocaust museum and memorial and meeting Palestinian students at the University of Bethlehem.

Jerusalem was at the heart of the trip. Daytime and nighttime tours exposed the students to Jewish, Muslim and Christian cultures. The Wailing Wall, for example, evinced different responses from the students. Some were awestruck with the idea that they could touch over 2,000 years of history, whilst others felt uneasy taking photographs whilst devout Jews prayed and cried in equal measure.

My abiding memory of the trip is seeing antiquity and modernity living cheek by jowl - and this is not a reference to the teachers and students!

Andrew Young, History Teacher

March