Watching from atop the last Jewish stronghold during the Roman conquest 2,000 years ago, 13 GW students watched the first sunrise of 2002 glisten off the Dead Sea and light up the Jordan Valley.

This years’ GW Birthright Israel group, significantly smaller than last year’s total, traveled to Israel to show solidarity with the Jewish homeland despite security concerns stemming from 15 months of violence that scared away many applicants.

Retracing the steps of their forefathers and rediscovering their roots, the 13 students and GW Hillel Student Life Coordinator Sarah Raful participated in the Birthright Israel trip along with thousands of other students from around the world.

The Birthright Israel program offers a free trip to Israel for Jewish students and send more than 22,700 students to Israel in the last two years, according to a November press release.

Founded by Jewish executives Charles Bronfman and Michael Steinhardt, the program is sponsored by the Israeli government and a number of international Jewish organizations.

This winter marked a severe decline in the amount of Birthright participants at GW and nationwide. More than 200 GW students applied for the trip and more than 60 students attended last winter, versus 45 applications and 13 participants this year, Raful said.

Raful said security concerns stemming from the September terrorist attacks in the United States and recent suicide bombings in Israel weighed heavily on the minds of parents and students.

“With September 11, everything in between and, most recently, December 1, more and more kids became concerned for their safety,” Raful said.

Suicide bombers killed at least 25 Israelis and injured more than 200 in attacks on a Haifa bus and outside a heavily crowded Jerusalem street in December.

The15 month-old Palestinian uprising, called the Intifada, has sparked
an increase in violent incidents between the Israeli government and Palestinian Authority.

Raful said students were not allowed to use public transportation or walk around heavily crowded areas like Ben Yehuda Street, the site of the last suicide bombing in Jerusalem.

Buses were in close security coordination with the Israeli government, traveling on secure roads and bypassing the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem. As part of the heightened security, each bus included armed bus drivers and tour guides.

Students said they felt secure throughout the trip and thought it was especially important to travel to Israel this year.

“There were some concerns and my family had some worries, but personally, after living in D.C. through anthrax and September 11, I had no problems traveling to Israel,” freshman Sean Schecter said.

Senior Joshua Katz said security was not a concern once he arrived in Israel.

“Once I landed, I never once thought about security,” Katz said. “They pacify all your fears and looking back on it . once you get there, you don’t even think to be scared.”

Students arrived in Israel Dec. 27, spending their first night at Kibbutz Ein Gev in Northern Israel. A kibbutz is an Israeli collective farm or village that often focuses on an agricultural or industrial product.

From the Kibbutz, students traveled to the biblical city of Sfat and then
took a tour of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

“They really covered the modern conflict from both sides and gave us a good perspective on the issues,” Schecter said.

He said U.S. news is often biased and that it sensationalizes the violence and politics.

“An Israeli soldier told me that if you sat a Jew and a Palestinian in a room, the conflict could be solved in 10 minutes,” Schecter said.

Students traveled to Tel Aviv, Israel’s biggest city, to visit the site of the Yitzhak Rabin memorial in the square where former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin was assassinated six years ago.

As part of their experience learning about different aspects of the country, students slept in tents New Year’s Eve alongside the Bedouin tribes, which live in the Negev Desert.

“You learn that Israel is not only home to Jews, but it has a diverse population of Bedouins, Druze, Arabs and Palestinians living within its borders,” Schecter said.

Students then traveled to the Dead Sea, Masada and Jerusalem to close the trip.

Many students noted that visiting the Western Wall was one of the most emotional experiences on the trip. The wall is the last external remnant of the second Jewish Temple that was destroyed by the Romans in the first century.

“I think the wall impacted all the students in different ways . some felt a closeness, some an energy, and some not anything at all, and all of those reactions are fine,” Raful said.

Schecter noted that the graves of Israeli soldiers and leaders at Mt. Herzl had a significant impact on him.

“Even as an American, I felt a connection with the soldiers like they were my brothers and sisters that died,” he said.

Participants said they were eager to be more vocal in supporting Israel upon visiting the country and gained a closer connection to the country.

“Ever since you grow up, you have been taught to love Israel and by going on the trip you learn that there is really a piece of you that is set aside for the country,” freshman Sean Schecter said. “I have really gained a connection to the place, the history and the people.”