Day 9

Tour of Old Jaffa

Our tour of Old Jaffa was guided by two members of a coexistence group in Jaffa, emphasizing to us that Jaffa is one of six cities in Israel where Muslims and Jews live together peacefully. Our guides were a Jewish Israeli woman and an Arab Muslim Israeli man. We started the tour at this clock tower and then continued through the city…

The tour was good and bad. Other than the specific history of Jaffa, there wasn’t much that I felt really added to my understanding of the various conflicts between Arabs and Israelis, Muslims and Jews, etc. On the other hand, I loved the tour, because we got to walk around a beautiful town in fabulous weather. We went to a gorgeous park, and I definitely have to admit on toning out the tour for a while and just enjoying the scenery.

African Refugee Development Center

Despite everything, seeing all the religious sites, the tours, trips into the West Bank, etc., I think the most eye opening experience I had throughout the whole trip was our tour with the African Refugee Development Center. Our guide Nick took us around what seemed like an entire city of refugees within an area of Tel Aviv. This park is where most refugees spend their first few nights to a few weeks in Tel Aviv—Nick said on any given night you can find approximately 200 homeless refugees sleeping in the park.

The level of poverty in this area was something I had never seen first-hand before, and I can’t even imagine living it. It was a rather jarring experience that left most of us very uncomfortable. One adult on our trip misplaced that discomfort, suggesting that it was due to being surrounded by so many black people. I tried to explain that it had absolutely nothing to do with the race of the refugees and everything to do with being hit pretty hard with a reality check of our own privilege. The refugees in this town came to Tel Aviv as a place to seek safety and start anew after fleeing their home countries—we came on a class trip.

Nahalat Binyamin Market

After seeing such incredible poverty, it was hard to swallow the fact that we were immediately heading to a market where we would purchase food other people prepared for us and shop casually for souvenirs to bring home. Of course, we managed just fine by checking off our ARDC in it’s little experience box and moving on with our lives. We got lunch and shopped a bit. After a few hours, Alissa, Rachel, and I started to walk home. After a bit, Rachel hopped in a taxi and headed to her aunt’s house for Shabbat, and Alissa and I proceeded to get lost… but not lost enough to not make it home safely. Saw some stray kitties on the way, so I was happy enough.

When we got home, it was time to pack. Last night in Tel Aviv and then off for more adventures and a plane ride home the next day.