Alexis Sugden
Pilgrimage to The Holy Land, in Israel and Palestine
Written on 16th February 2023
Before I start, I’d like to thank my generous grandmother who funded this trip for me, our amazing tour guide, and the brilliant group of people we shared this experience with.
WHY?
The first thing for me to mention would be the fact that I’m not religious. So, you may ask, why have I taken part in pilgrimage to The Holy Land?
The simple answer to that question is this. I’ve started to realise more recently the true importance of having a strong grounding of knowledge of the world we live in. Included in this criteria are things like the understanding of how different demographics of people have, and still do live their lives. This means gaining a somewhat developed image of the formation, structure and influence of some of the different cultures, political systems and ecosystems that we co-exist with on earth. Therefore, because of this urge to teach myself more about the world, a 10 day trip to The Holy Land in Israel and Palestine was right up my street.
I took 2 weeks out of school for this opportunity, and it was worth every second, despite having to catch up on 2 weeks of A-level content, 4 months before my final exams. I learnt more about the myself and the world during this 2 week period than I ever have done, and I advise anyone who gets an opportunity like this to seize it with an open mind and make the most of it.
MISCONCEPTIONS!
Israel and Palestine are often places with huge misconceptions surrounding them, most namely of these misconceptions, is that the entirety of these two countries is a warzone, with no escape from missiles and destruction. Others include an assumption of a weak economy, or of poor standards of living, or of a country strictly defined by political conflict, which are true of certain areas of the country and to a certain extent. However, these almost couldn’t be further from the truth when we look at the country as a whole, and I too am guilty of these misconceptions, or at least I was, until I got a first hand taste of the country itself.
Upon my own research, I was surprised to find out that the UK has higher crime rates than Israel [1], that Israel has the second largest number of start-up companies in the world, after the US, and that its Air Force is highly respected globally, with some reports saying only 5 other countries in the world have a stronger Air Force [2].
As you read more of this article, you will soon begin to understand that many of our misconceptions about this part of the world are almost entirely fictional, although not always entirely untrue.
THE PILGRIMAGE
A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a greater good. In my case, the objective was for the 24 Christians in my group to make a spiritual connection with Jesus, by following in the footsteps of their ancestors.
Heading north from the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, we started the pilgrimage at the sea of Galilee where we visited many churches, monasteries and viewpoints, all of which have some synoptic link to the biblical scriptures in some way or another. For me, these visits were more of an architectural and cultural experience, than a spiritual journey, although the archaeology and religious history was still something of great interest to me. In all honesty, if I had read the bible beforehand, this trip would have made so much more sense, but to the dissent of many people, reading the bible isn’t at the top of my agenda.
During the 4 nights that we stayed in the Kibbutz hotel of Nof Ginosar, we visited all of the amazing places seen below.
Following our 4 nights in the Galilee we continued our journey through The Holy Land, travelling south, Jerusalem bound, into the West Bank, and through the Jordan Rift Valley, which was created by tectonic plate action between 5-23 Million Years Ago. This one day journey through the Jordan Valley took us to the attractions pictured below. This part of the journey exposed us to landscape and architecture completely different to that of the Galilee, it was almost as if we had entered a different world, with deserts instead of greenery, and Arabic road signs rather than Hebrew road signs to name just a few of the stark differences.
JERUSALEM
Arriving in Jerusalem at the end of day 5 was a huge culture shock and I feel it was a much needed eye opener. Here, we stayed for the remaining 5 nights of our pilgrimage.
Jerusalem was a different world for me, and that’s why I found it so interesting. The pure difference of culture, architecture and rich history compared to what I am used to in the UK was immense, and I feel hugely privileged to have experienced this at such a young age. The lifestyle in Jerusalem, to me, seemed much more busy than in highly populated areas of the UK, mainly due to the seemingly disorderly yet somehow functionable way in which things are done there. It’s a loud city, with car horns and men shouting playing key roles in the background noise of the city. My perspective now of a Middle Eastern city is that life is centred around the mantra of “Less thinking, More doing”, with much less faff, but more inaccuracies and inefficiencies.
With respect to the people themselves, I really didn’t know what to expect beforehand. Whether this was a good or bad thing I’m not entirely sure, but what I definitely did discover was a nation of genuinely helpful and welcoming people, and despite spacial awareness not always appearing top of their agenda, never once did I feel unsafe or as if I wasn’t wanted. This made for a very comfortable experience overall, which admittedly wasn’t what I expected when I was first invited on this trip.
Below are just a few of the many incredible photos I have from Jerusalem.
MOVING MOMENTS
Although every moment of this trip was amazing, there are a few certain experiences which were particularly outstanding for me, or should I say particularly shocking. Experiences which I felt I needed to get to grips with and have some level of understanding about, mostly out of respect for other human beings. I’ve expanded on these outstanding experiences below.
MOMENT ONE
The first of these moments was from the “Good Samaritan Road” where a group of Arabs called the Bedouins have maintained a traditional way of life, equal to how their ancestors would have lived hundreds of years ago. A lifestyle which, from the outside, would probably be referred to as near extreme poverty. (Photos of the living conditions of this community can be seen below).
The living conditions looked shocking, but what was confusing to me was the fact that many of the people in this community had mobile phones. I’m yet to come to a conclusion as to whether these people do truly live in poverty, so perhaps a bit more research and learning on my part would aid me in coming to a conclusion regarding this. Nevertheless though the experience was touching.
Unfortunately a language barrier disabled me from having a proper conversation with any of the Bedouins, however the things I witnessed spoke with enough enormity and impact by themselves. Seeing this kind of lifestyle in person, and the sparkle in the eyes of the children when I hand them a chocolate bar, is overall one of the most touching moments of my life so far, and makes me truly grateful for the life I currently live in the UK.
MOMENT TWO
Thankfully the second outstanding experience I’d like to talk about wasn’t hindered by a language barrier. This occurred on our day trip into Bethlehem, a Palestinian occupied city, where our tour guide couldn’t join us due to him being an Israeli.
In Bethlehem we were shown around the Sheppard’s fields by Mohammed, a Palestinian tour guide. Before showing us around the historical and religious sites of Bethlehem, Mohammed first spoke to us about the political and military conflicts between Israel and Palestine, and what it means for him as a resident Palestinian. Many things which I almost take for granted in the UK such as travel, healthcare and education are seen as luxuries for Mohammed and his family, mainly he said because of the corrupt Palestinian government, and his nationality.
Whilst the rest of my group held a church service in “Jerome’s Caves”, I had the opportunity to speak 1-on-1 with Mohammed. We spoke about the wars in recent history, politics and he thinks will happen regarding the Israel-Palestine conflict in the near future. He mentioned to me that if he wants to travel anywhere outside of Palestine, he has to use a Jordanian passport, and that every time anyone in his family needs medical attention it is a huge difficulty because even though there is a good hospital 10km away in Jerusalem, he is not allowed access because of his Palestinian identity.
Speaking to people like Mohammed in this situation is something I long to do as much as I can in my life as it acts as a true eye opener to the realities of the world we actually live in, and it is deeply saddening to see that decades of territorial and political conflict mean that innocent families like Mohammed’s, aren’t able to live a life they should be entitled to as human beings. Just like the first, this experience made me truly grateful for the life I currently live in the UK.
MOMENT THREE
The last of these prominent thought provoking experiences is one which needs very little explanation.
Situated in an incredible piece of concrete architecture (Pictured Below), Yad Vashem is the world holocaust museum and memorial site. Throughout the exhibition are images, sculptures and stories which map out the ethnic devastation of the Nazi Party during the second world war. I’m not normally the type of person to keep my mouth shut for long periods of time, but this place silenced me. I simply didn’t know which expressions I should have expressed. Let me tell you this though; time passes very quickly when you are immersed in a deep experience like this and you don’t look at the time.
CONCLUSION
To summarise then, this pilgrimage was one of the most incredible visual and psychological experiences of my life. It provided interest, food for thought and much needed eye openers.
The main thing I learnt on a personal level from this trip is the importance of keeping an open mind no matter what I’m doing. Because the ability to see things from a different perspective is such an invaluable skill that can’t be replaced.
Oh also, before I finish, I think it would be unfair not to mention the stunning Serbian girl I met at the hotel in Jerusalem.