As my three days of site visits with Rozana and two days of strategic planning with them have come to an end, I find myself thinking deeply about the experience, what it means, and how it has affected me.

As we wrapped things up over our last two days, it felt like summer camp was ending. Even though I only spent 3-5 days with the Rozana team, they became friends. Some live in Hebron and some in Ramallah. I’ll have to go visit next time I am here. Some are East Jerusalem and some Herzaliya. Some are London and some are Melbourne Australia. Some are New York and others in Jaffa. We are geographically diverse and it is not easy to hang out together until the next big gathering, just like summer camp. It was hard to say goodbye and after just five days, the experience and the people are now part of my heart and soul.

I met some people at the various hospitals that became friends. Akram, the CEO of Al Rahkma Rehabilitation hospital, and I ended up seeing each other three different times. I’m looking forward to his visit to the US. Muhammad, who is a doctor and teaches at a Palestinian University, who invited me to visit the University so he could give me a tour that I look forward to taking. We sat, talking and talking over lunch, connecting and becoming friends. I want to follow up on Ruba, an amazing doctor and woman who left her Palestinian hospital to do a fellowship at Sheba to better her skills. After finishing an extended fellowship, she will be returning to her hospital to help other doctors and better serve her patients. All new friends, all Palestinian. If you told me that before the trip, I wouldn’t have believed it.

I met a few of the Rozana team on zoom before coming and there were many I only met when I arrived. Ran, Raed, and Diana went from zoom colleagues to friends, each so much better in person. Adil, Wajdi, Malak, and Muhammad each taught me so much and I am lucky to have met them and call them friends. I’m excited to learn more and hang out when I return.

I spent a lot of time with Ken, Ron, Doug and Rodica, each the board chair of their country’s Rozana board. The US, International, the UK and Israel. I’m excited to spend more time with them all.

Rozana showed me the power of connecting on a human level and how it bridges differences and gets beyond the surface level. As we work together, I’ll not only learn from them but I’ll learn more about them and then about me. We are breaking boundaries that the world tells us can’t be done right now. Proof that the talking heads and politicians are wrong and that Rozana is right. It’s people to people. Shared experiences.

I’ve been thinking a lot about these five days and the different lives we live. Not by choice but by outside forces. As I took the train from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv I found myself thinking how easy that was for me yet how hard it was for Adil and Malak to go from Ramallah to Jerusalem. It was so difficult and would have taken so long that they couldn’t join us that day. It took half the time to take the train to Tel Aviv and the taxi to my hotel than it would have taken them to get to Jerusalem.

I have also been thinking about the partnerships that already exist. Israeli and Palestinian hospitals. Joint programs Rozana has with Magen David Adom, Sheba hospital and a number of other organizations. Good things are happening and there is proof that more good things can happen.

Most Jews I know have never met a Palestinian. Never spent time talking with them. Never listening and sharing. Their experiences are merely the talking heads. Many Palestinians have the same experience. There encounter with Jews are only with the IDF and are not positive ones.

This week has reminded me that we need to get beyond what we are being fed. It’s junk food. It’s not healthy for anybody. This week showed me opportunities that I didn’t think were possible for a decade or more are actually happening now!

This isn’t me being Pollyanna or brainwashed. This is my love of Israel deepening with hope. Change is possible NOW, despite the PA, the current Israeli government, Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran. It’s happening between people, between institutions, and through partnership.

Yes there are terrorists. Yes there are people who want no Israel and no Jews. All that isn’t true. There are far more who merely want to live their lives fully next to Israel, in partnership with Israel, and with respect from and towards Israelis. They want freedom, not the end of Israel or the Jews. That is our hope. That is our opportunity. It does exist.

After one of my long and deep conversations with a Palestinian this week, he spoke with one of the Rozana lay leaders. In the conversation he mentioned our talk and how much he enjoyed it. Then he asked the lay leader, ‘Is he Jewish?’ It shows what can happen when we meet as people, talk as people, show empathy as people, and focus on our similarities not our differences. We get beyond the stereotypes. I believe that he and I did, hence his question.

I am excited to build my friendships with the people I met and those who are my colleagues. I have much to learn from them and I believe they can learn from me. While the governments aren’t talking and building towards a better future, that doesn’t stop each and every one of us to do so.

A few years ago I learned the meaning of the word ‘Inshallah’. It means ‘If God wills it’. So I will do my part to build for a better future. I hope that you will do yours. And perhaps then we can have peace and that bright future.

Inshallah.