The End

So I waited to do my last post partially because I had zero time while I was with all the volunteers and partially because I wanted to see what would happen once I got to the airport. The last couple days was a lot of traveling with the group, we went to Nabolis one day and the next to Jericho and the Dead Sea. Jericho and the Dead Sea was the same day I had to leave so after the Dead Sea, I carried all my bags about a kilometer to the nearest bus stop. I then got a ride to Jerusalem where I was picked up by a taxi that drove me directly to Ben Gurion in Tel Aviv. Security was a little rough, it took me about three hours longer getting through security than all the Jewish families and Israelis I saw just kind of skipping by. After I said I "visited" the West Bank, the woman questioning me went and spoke to a higher-up, then returned and said, "I'm sorry, but I need to ask you more questions to make sure there aren't any bombs in your bags." After being questioned for about 10 more minutes, I put my bags through the x-ray, then had to get them inspected. Israeli security opened each of my bags and took out nearly everything in them and wiped them down with a wand-like tool to, what I'm assuming, test for poison or bomb residue. This took about 45 minutes to an hour. Then I was taken to a separate room where I had my own private pat down and metal detector test along with everything in my pockets/my belt, hat, and sandals; this took about half an hour. Then I was taken to finally check in, afterwards, I had to personally take my checked bag to the elevator that led to the loading dock and I put my bag on the baggage cart. After this, another woman led me to a security checkpoint where she swiped her card and had her thumb print scanned which than opened the door allowing me to reach passport control. The woman at passport control matched my face up with the passport, stamped it with an exit stamp, and then I was allowed to go to my gate. Overall, it took me about an hour and a half, hour forty-five to get through security. Some people say they do this randomly but I guarantee, if I said I never visited the West Bank, I could've gotten through security in half an hour.

It's weird being back in the states. It's cold and "civilized." I never went to Palestine for the farm work, I went to experience what no one here truly understands. I went to be surrounded by Israeli settlements, to have people look at me like I don't belong there, to speak with the people and to better understand the government. The farm is not meant to be a profit-making business like in the states, my job was not to farm, it was to maintain a symbol. Not of defiance, not of rebellion, but of humanity. Tent of Nations is a Christian organization and they reminded me of that multiple times but I don't think that has anything to do with it. You don't need to be a Christian, or a Muslim, or a Jew to do the right thing or to be morally or ethically sound. Right and wrong came before religion, came before politics, came before man. The Nassar family is simply doing what they believe is right, what I believe is right, standing up for what is humane and moral. In this day and age, after everything humanity has been through, we still treat each other like shit, as unequals, as animals. People, all over the world, can work as hard as they want but will never achieve what others can. There is no such thing as equal opportunity, as fairness, as justice in today's governments and religions. I mean, yes, these entities talk about justice and morality but when have we ever truly learned from them? I know good people and I know bad people and in the end, there are no correlations between any of them - religion, political beliefs, ethnic or racial background, nationality, gender, etc. Goodness, true goodness is not something that can be taught, it has to be shown, it has to be experienced. People at Tent of Nations are showing their goodness, although I don't agree with everything they say about politics or religion, they are staying strong in the path of segregation and abuse. I have learned a lot while in Palestine, I have gained so much more than I will ever truly comprehend from all of my travels; but in the end, one question always pops up in my mind, what's the point? Why even bother with all of this? The reason is simple, I do not hope or wish for world peace, for the world to be kind and generous to one another, to treat others as they wish to be treated, or to love your neighbor as yourself; I simply wish to postpone the inevitable, to hold back the arm that will eventually deliver the killing blow. This is not depressing or pessimistic, this is reality, this is humanity. People are beautiful in all their knowledge and wisdom and mistakes and my only hope for mankind is that we continue strong until we reach that tipping point, the point of no return. That day will come but until then, embrace those you love, stand up for what you believe in, fight passionately for what is good and right, but above all, think. Think and grow, this is how we postpone the inevitable, this is how we can truly live our lives. Go ahead and pray and hope and dream for something better but it's YOU who has to stand up in the end, to say when enough is enough. It's your choice, will you speak and fight for what is right or when the time comes, shrink back and stay silent?