Why Am I Here?

As part of a field trip that the Arava Institute took the students on, we visited the Hebron River valley.  This area, located within the municipality of Jerusalem, has beautiful hills covered in a thin green with parts of the rock exposed.  The students were lead to a part of the valley where we could look down at the river flowing below.  It became clear as a distinct smell hit our noses that this river was heavily polluted with sewage.  Ascending up the sides of the hills surrounding the river were Palestinian owned homes.  The state of these homes contrasted sharply with beauty of the region.  The trash from these homes sat in huge piles falling down the hills at the edge of groups of homes.  Our guide told us that the people here pay taxes to the state of Israel; however, they were not receiving municipality benefits such as sewage treatment or trash collection.  The inequality of Palestinians and Israelis became clear as the guide told us that Jewish areas within Jerusalem received all of these municipality benefits.  As our group was observing the river, a 14 year old boy who lived near by came and stood with us.  He spoke to me and with the help of someone in the group to translate Arabic to English and vise versa, we had a conversation.  One of the things that he said to me was you are very welcome here.  This phrase struck me.  This boy was living in a polluted, economically disadvantaged area, but he was still very hospitable and willing to share his home with us.  

The Hebron River.  The pipe takes the village’s sewage and adds it to the river.  

Palestinian homes built on the sides of the hills.  

This was my moment of productive discomfort.  I was in a situation that was both physically and mentally uncomfortable, yet I could learn a lot from this moment.  Like Talya Zemach-Bersin stated in her essay,“American Students Abroad Can't Be 'Global Citizens'”, the global systems of “inequality, power, privilege, and difference” were present in this place.  As an outsider, I could merely observe and take my experience back with me hoping to combine it with tools and knowledge about how to combat inequalities both in Israel and in the United States.