The Beauty of Israel

Israel

Israel is one of the countries that is

important to learning about the past, with events such as Jesus's birth and death, wars between Israel and Palestine, ancient scriptures like the Dead Sea scrolls and much more to be discovered. With tons of mountains and valleys and some green and some brown, these are the things that make Israel such a wonderful, beautiful place.

Israel has a lot to itself, making it bold and clear. Things like being the only country in the world that identifies as being Jewish, and having complications with countries disliking them, they yet still stand proud of themselves. Everything from the wars they've had to having the saltiest water in the world, Israel has had a lot put into it. Now, lets talk about why Israel is at the top of my list to revisit.

1. Having a lot of diversity in religion, and accepting everyone's religion, allowing them to build places to pray and not putting any restrictions on who or what to pray on.

2. Amazing mountains, lakes, and scenery for everyone to view. Some of my favorite places are (of course) the Dead Sea, the Wadi Argot water hike, (It has a natural water slide!), and Masada, the last Jewish settlement before the Romans conquered Israel.

3. The food is so delicious! Actually, when Israel was becoming a country and lots of people from different countries come to Israel, they decided to pick the best food and have that as a native dish. They adopted Arabic food (but still! It's so good!)

Now, the part that's most interesting, is the conflict between Israel and Palestine. Palestine is not an actual country, some might argue it should be and some may argue it shouldn't. You may ask, why is Israel not friends with Palestine? Well, Israelis and Palestinians claimed Israel to be their land 2000+ years ago, and when some of the Israelis went to Europe, unfortunately World War 2 started, and left millions of Jewish people dead and the rest homeless. Israel was under British control until May 1948 when their mandate ended. The Jewish people wanted their land of Israel back, but the problem was that Palestinian people were already there. The US said that it would be fine if the Jewish people go back to Israel. Britain said that it wouldn't be a good idea.

Then when the US got a new president (President Truman) he said that he would send people to study the situation and come back with the best idea. When the researchers came back, they said the best idea would be to split the land up and have the Arab-Muslim people be on one side and the Jewish people on the other side. The Arab-Muslim people refused to let the Jewish people have some of their land, so they went to war.

Palestine and Israel still fight to this day, and there are two sides. Now, Palestine is looked over by the United Nations, and is shrinking in size as many Palestinians left and relocated to places such as Jordan, Egypt, and Lebanon.

Despite all the war, there is still friendship between Palestinians and Israelis. When I went to Palestine and Israel, I had a Jewish tour guide (Ami) and a Palestinian bus driver (Noor). They were friends. They ate at the same table, respected each other and made decisions together. We are all human and there is always the possibility to get along with each other and grow friendships, not wars.

Bus driver Noor (Center)

King and Harris Family with tour guide Ami (bottom, far right)

Ainsley at the whaling wall

I think Israel is a beautiful country and I hope one day Israel and Palestine could be as good friends as Ami and Noor.