Stories & Voices
When College Students Experience Israel Firsthand
May 5th, 2017
UJA Federation of New York >> Angela, left, with a fellow student at Masada during the ASB Israel trip.
Angela, left, with a fellow student at Masada during the ASB Israel trip.

What inspired Angela most about her Israel trip was that it humanized issues for her that are hot topics in much of the world, and on her New York campus.

“It was an opportunity to listen to people from many different views,” noted Angela, who is a junior at Barnard College, serves as vice chair of student life, and has no religious affiliation. “I found it fascinating, as someone studying political science and as a human in general.”

The educational trip, called ASB Israel — the acronym stands for “alternative spring break” — was funded in part by UJA and created by Columbia/Barnard Hillel, our nonprofit partner.

“Israel is a contentious issue at Columbia University,” said Brian Cohen, executive director of Columbia/Barnard Hillel. “We wanted to provide students with a firsthand experience to meet leaders and citizens of all sides of the issues, ask questions, and learn about the country and people.”

Now in its second year, this spring ASB Israel brought 40 students — the vast majority from non-Jewish backgrounds — to Israel. The students hold leadership roles in student government, fraternities, sororities, or social clubs.

Students met with government representatives, including Knesset Member Tzipi Livni and the former U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro, as well as a settlement advocate and a Palestinian educator from East Jerusalem.

“We were able to hear contrasting perspectives,” Angela said. “And I realized how each has an intimate stake in the politics of Israel.”

For Sean, a senior and co-chair of the Student Affairs Committee at Columbia University, the trip drove home that conflicts in the region and on campus are often portrayed in the most black-and-white extremes.

 

 

Sean, left, with another classmate in Tel Aviv.

 

“In reality, the issues are tremendously complicated and have been going on a very long time,” he said. “We need to bring more nuance to the dialogue.”

Sean, who was a participant with last year’s ASB Israel and is Catholic, came across an especially poignant moment while at the top of a building on Mount Zion in Jerusalem. The spot was the meeting place of the Apostles, a holy space for Christians, and when Sean looked out, he saw a nearby building with a minaret, and then heard beneath him chanting rising from a Sephardic synagogue.

“It was a glimpse of all three Abrahamic religions together,” he said. “I felt a stronger connection to other people, history, and religions.”

Now, both Sean and Angela encourage students to participate on ASB Israel.

“Go. It made me a more critical thinker,” Sean told his classmates. “I learned about other perspectives. And it builds empathy.”