Today was a realization about what kind of city Israel is and the sorrows of the people in the city. In the morning, we visited Yad Vashem, a museum about the Holocaust and it's association with Palestine. Walking through this museum was an eye opening experience. Some of the museum held a bias to resolve the reasons why the Jewish people should have significant rule in the Holy Land because of their previous discrimination's. My grandfather had escaped to Israel from Germany when he was fourteen. There was an area of the museum about those Jew's who escaped to Israel before WWII. Above this, we saw shoes that were taken from the Jews and piled under the floor. The point that gave me the most guilt was a large cylindrical room with books and books of names of those who died in the Holocaust. My last stop was to the children's memorial which listed the names and ages of the children known to have died in the work camps.
After an emotional morning, we returned to the college to digest the information. While waiting for lunch, some of us went out to find bottled water because the tap isn't great. It is extremely difficult to find water because many of the stores are closed on Friday. Friday is the Muslim day of worship, Saturday is the Sabbath (for Jews) and Sunday is the day of rest for Christians.
Before proceeding with the day I talked with the Bishop about my concerns with the course and the attitude of our instructor. He agreed with many of the points I made and said many of the other groups on the trip felt the same. In a conversation later in the night, many of the disputes were worked out which lead to improvements in our schedule. It is a bump that we had to face.
We left the college after lunch and saw the dividing wall on the east side of Jerusalem which separates Israel from Palestine. The wall is horrible and a tragedy for people who live on the other side. Several people don't belong to a country because Palestine isn't a country and the state of Israel will not accept these people as citizens. The tall separation only allows certain people through and is part of the reason we stop at the check points along the road. This is unfortunate for these people although the worst part of the situation is that United States lobbyists are paying for the production of the dividing wall and the progression of the discrimination of Israel and Palestinian Territories.
Past this wall, we stopped at the Mount of Olives visited the Dominus Flevit Chapel which provides an incredible view of the old city and Dome of the Rock and proceeded down the hill to the Garden of Gethsemane and the connecting church. In the evening we were treated to ice cream or milkshakes at a local restaurant where there happened to be a wedding reception which provided great fun. Our evening was great and gave us hope about tomorrow and the improvements to the day as we head to Galilee.
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