"This weekend I experienced not only a personal achievement (going hiking instead of netflixing) but also got to meet brilliantly lovely people from all over the country.
Mabat- מבט- an organization of students- leads this initiative of bring Palestinian and Jewish adults together for the sake of getting to know each other, and the country we live in.
The journey was not just a hike and camping, it had elements of depth, despair, bonding, unity, revelation, and recognition.
One of the activities over the Fri-Sat outing was climbing into a deep cave, turning off all lights, including the candles at one point, and answering questions about light and dark and their meaning in our lives. Imagine exposing your soul, even for a little bit, in front of a cave full of strangers you just met 4 hours earlier.
We finished the journey on top of a mountain in Kaziv nature reserve, after an ODT-inspired climb where one rope connected all of us, as we climbed together, responsible for one another.
If I was alone, I would have just sat down to cry at some point because the despair and the frustration, and the hopelessness of not knowing when this will end, was just too much for me. But being connected to my teammates, made me feel like I dont have a choice- in the best way possible. I had to keep focusing on one step and then another. The journey was frightening, the physical output was intense, but we finished the trail better people for it.
Dont underestimate the importance of sticking with like minded people and creating a clan of winners.
