What classrooms can't teach

by Jeremiah Nasiatka, Campus Director

When Jase, a student and Congressional intern from Mississippi, returned home from the CUFI Washington Summit, he sent an email to the student body at his university expressing his desire to start a CUFI on Campus chapter. Within a few moments of pressing “send,” emails started to come in, accusing Israel of being an “apartheid state” and berating him for wanting to support such an “oppressive” country.
He, like many students, felt inadequately prepared to respond, because it is next to impossible to confront such extreme, emotionally-charged narratives, while being armed with just facts alone. He needed the most effective argument any student can bring to the table – “I’ve been there.”
Equipping our most accomplished student leaders with the ability to say “I’ve been there, I’ve seen that, I now understand why Israel does that,” is the goal of the annual CUFI on Campus Advocacy Mission to Israel. Only one week after the Summit ended, 39 accomplished student leaders left for an intense, two-week educational mission to experience the powerful spirituality and complex political realities within the modern state of Israel.
A far cry from the typical Christian Israel tourism experience, student leaders interacted with Israeli soldiers patrolling the Lebanese border, met with journalists, pundits and defense officials, and toured the political hotspots and flashpoints they will need to be familiar with to advocate effectively on campus.
“You can read about Israel, watch documentaries and hear about it from other people, but you don’t really understand what it’s like until you go there,” says Justine Gruen, a junior at Kansas State University. “The opportunities that CUFI provided were literally once in a lifetime opportunities.”
In one of the most politically-intense days of the trip, the students visited Jewish communities in East Jerusalem, overlooked and discussed the security barrier constructed to prevent suicide bombers from entering Jerusalem, then entered Bethlehem in the disputed territories to experience life in a Palestinian Authority-controlled city.
For many students of course, the most powerful sites were those that spoke to them spiritually, as the group spent time at the Mount of the Beatitudes, Capernaum, the Western Wall and the Old City of Jerusalem, celebrating thousands of years of Jewish and Christian history throughout the land.
“When visiting the various holy sites in Israel, there was an overwhelming aura of peace,” says Jonathan Clinkenbeard from Southwestern Assemblies of God University. “You can sense the joy in this land and feel how grateful the Israelis are to be home. That’s the most important fact from my trip. This is the Jewish Homeland.”
Even with the intense schedule, the team had the chance to enjoy the land as well, with a rafting trip down the Jordan River, an afternoon doing archeological excavations and spelunking in 2,000 year old caves, and opportunities to experience the chaotic fun of open air markets in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
“We encountered local culture and got firsthand experience about how the Jewish and Arabic people go about their daily lives,” says Timothy Kovach, a junior at the University of Nevada Reno. “We ate the food, met the locals and showed our support for Israel at every turn. I learned more from this trip then any classroom could have ever taught me.”
Throughout the trip, students participated in several lectures and educational sessions focused on facts and narratives they would need upon returning to campus. These included an overview of the Israeli Political System and its impact on negotiations and U.S. – Israel relations, a historical lecture on how various portions of the land were acquired, and a discussion with Q&A focused on the upcoming attempt by the Palestinian Authority to unilaterally declare statehood at the U.N. this September. On the group’s final day in Israel, the students participated in an interactive “Two-Minute Challenge” session, during which they worked together to form and present concise, two-minute answers to some of the most challenging questions they will face on campus this fall.
As for Jase from Mississippi, the trip, and especially those final sessions, changed his perspective on the conflict and built his confidence to boldly confront the accusations he received by email.
“I’m ready to go back,” he says. “I feel like I can respond now and I’m excited to get the chapter going strong.”