It's less than one week til I head back to Israel, almost one year after I first went. I'm a very different person this time around, with a very different reason for going. Last year, I had just graduated from college with my BA in Anthropology and went to Israel via Taglit (Birthright.) I went because it was free and it seemed like a fitting adventure for the summer after graduation. I had no deep connection with my Judaism, nor with Israel (although I found the history and politics fascinating.)
I returned from Israel and started my graduate degree in Journalism just three weeks later. I never meant to become obsessed with the country and Middle East politics, but it happened. I remained in close contact with a number of people I had met on the trip (both Israeli and American) and followed the politics of the region like a groupie follows a favorite band. I read Ha'aretz and JPost religiously (no pun intended) and chose to write all of my current-affairs papers about the region.
I finally decided to do my thesis about Jewish Israeli and American young adults--and after much research, writing, re-writing, and meeting with my committee chair (and eventually committee) I decided upon making a multimedia documentary about how Arab Spring (the uprisings in the Middle East) affected the young adults. How do they feel about the politics of Israel? How do they feel about Israel being a Jewish state rather than a non-sectarian state? Did the uprisings scare the Israelis or change their ideas about how their own country should be run? Did Americans fear the loss of a Jewish state? I wanted to explore the importance of the American-Israeli political relationship through the eyes of the newest generation of young Jewish adults. I chose this group because they have not lived through any of the major wars that have shaped the region.
Keep checking back in for my posts about my upcoming adventure. I promise my upcoming posts will be a little less dry!
