Supreme Court and Security Fence

Shalom! On Monday we went to the Supreme Court and the security fence.  The evening before we had heard about the procedures the guy from Kids For Peace has to go through every day just to pass from the West Bank to Israel.  Then on Monday we actually got to see it, event though we didn't go through the checkpoint, we drove around the roundabout and saw the wall.  A checkpoint that should normally take about 25 minutes can take him up to two and half hours!  We had also been told to think about whether the fence was necessary and important or not.  We learned about the bus bombing attacks and concluded that after the fence was established, the bombings went down significantly so there was definitely a need for it, even if it might affect people's style of living a bit.  We also went to the supreme court, where we got to sit in on a case for a little and although it was in Hebrew it was still pretty interesting.  We learned that the person with the most seniority sits in the middle and then from right to left, it goes most seniority to least.  The case we sat in on had the Court Justice.  We learned that the architectural style of the court building was meant to represent the inside and outside coming together.  That is why there were outside stones on the inside of the building too.  We learned that the more controversial a case is, the more judges they will have, but usually it would just be three.  It's very different in Israel because even non-citizens can present a petition, which no other countries do.  Israel doesn't expel citizens to international courts because they fear anti-semitism.  The maximum sentence is lifetime, which is 23 years.  Israel has one supreme court, six district courts, and 30 magistrate courts.  Israel has a pretty different legal system than America.
My question for you is...What do you guys think about the security fence, do you see it as necessary?

This was the front of the building, which had a sign on it and it translates to The House of Justice from Hebrew.

This is the view from the inside of the second floor of the building of the Supreme Court,  they wanted to emphasize the effect of inside and outside characteristics in the building.

This is the library that judges, lawyers, etc. can use to research certain topics as needed.  It can be used for references and more information.

This is the memorial stone outside of the bus stop, which marked the 100th bus bombing of the second intifada.

This is the "Security Fence" in between Israel and the West Bank.  It's a wall/ fence that essentially surrounds the whole perimeter.

This is a hallway that was halfway inside and halfway outside.

This is Sami and Stephan posing with the fence behind them.  Well, Sami posed but Stephan wasn't ready.

Yom Hazikaron/Yom HaAtzmaut

We were warned day in and day out about the sensitivity of Israelis on this day. May 10th, Yom Hazikaron, Israeli Memorial Day. On this day, the soldiers and everyone who has given their lives for the creation of the Jewish State are remembered. The next day is Yom HaAtzmaut, Israeli Independence day. Joining these two days together conveys a simple message: Israelis owe the independence and the very existence of the Jewish state to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for it.
Israel came to a standstill at 11 am Wednesday when a siren shrieked through the countryside, reminding the nation of the losses it's suffered this year and those past. The evening of Yom Hazikaron, we went to the Kotel, where we had the privilege of seeing president Reuven Rivlin and IDF Chief of Staff Gadi Eizenkot speak. The platform was filled with chairs, in which sat soldiers who had all been affected by a loss. I founded it very touching to watch the father of a fallen soldier say Kaddish.
I've always had great appreciation for Israel's soldiers, and experiencing this day in Israel not only strengthened my appreciation for them, but also my appreciation for the people of Israel as a whole. It was beautiful to see everybody at a two minute standstill no matter where they were, remembering our fallen soldiers.
Independence day marked the transition from remembrance to celebration. That night we went to Ben Yehuda street in Jerusalem where we were met with massive crowds of happy people, fireworks and loud music. It was pretty lit, ngl.
Experiencing both of these holidays in Israel was something I'll never forget. Here's my question for you: What was one thing you liked or stood out to you about each day and why?

Yam L'Yam

Yam L'Yam

Yam L’Yam was certainly a trip we won’t forget. On the first day of Yam L’Yam, our Passover host families drove us to our pick up places to get picked up by the bus. There were two buses and luckily, I was on the bus that actually made it to our destination on time. Once we got to our destination, we met our tour guide that we would have for the week and ate lunch. After lunch, we started our first hike. It was a water hike, and for most of it, we were a little higher than knee deep in the water (at least for us under 6ft tall). A few of us fell in, but luckily none of us got hurt. I stayed up front with the tour guide and had a nice conversation with him, even though he seemed a little annoyed by all of my questions. We soon got to an open spot right before it got to the deep water. Nemo, our tour guide, had us stop and all stand in a circle. He them proceeded to get out a water bottle and told us that we would take water from the Kineret and bring it all the way with us to Mediterranean to release it. After that we took the bus up to our first campsite. Our first campsite was nice, with facilities. We got all of our supplies and learned about what would be happening during the week. After that, we had a campfire and ate dinner. 

The next day, we woke up at 6 am and started on our way. We walked a nice trail until we got to our site for breakfast. After that, we were told we would be walking with our groups, which we had assigned for lunch. My group was group number 1, the “V-Jenna-terians” and Nate.  We hiked upwards on a hard, long hard. My group was very supportive and we never separated from each other. Come lunch time, I couldn’t go on and went back, but the rest of people went on with the hike. Our campsite was filled with people, and we all had tents. On that night, we were taken on a night hike, where Nemo took us and had us each go off and sit on our own and reflect on our lives, and of course, watch the stars. 

The next morning, we woke up a little later and started our hike. It was nice and shady, with a lot of cows around. When we got to breakfast, our group, like others, decided to make apples with caramel and cinnamon. After that, we continued on just in our groups, playing games and walking along. Once again the last group, we made it to the lunch site (due to the fact we waited for our group) and made fried rice, and saw a herd of goats come along and terrify us at first. The rest of the day was nice, and we got to the campsite. 

I didn’t go the next day, but from what I hear, it was a nice water hike that a lot of people fell in the water on. At the campsite, it was a nice change from the prickly land the night before, and had a cute little ice-cream truck. 

On our last day, we had the option to either bike or take the bus. I took the bus along with some of the other girls, and we arrived at the beach early. It was beautiful, and Evelyn and I took the time there to explore on the rocks and take pictures. In all, Yam L’Yam was certainly an interesting experience to have in our lives.  

What was your favorite part of this tiyul?