Reflection on Panel: Religion in Israel and Palestine

Earlier this year we had the amazing opportunity to welcome Bishop John Taylor, Marium Mohiuddin, and Eliana Kaya onto our campus to speak about religion in Israel and Palestine. It was an extraordinary experience to be able to listen to all of the personal and religious connections that connected all three religions, Christianity, Judaism, and Muslim, to Israel and Palestine. This panel discussion focused on the ways that each religion was connected to the land and the similarities between them. Even though the politics of Israel at the moment are quite volatile, with a focus on religious and cultural coexistence, it was an amazing experience to listen to so many different perspectives and how they are able to interact and coexist in such a geographically small location. My family is very multicultural and my cousins are Jewish, so it was a really enlightening experience for me to learn more about their religious origins and discover more about their daily lives. My aunt and uncle are much more connected to their religion and have not tried to force it upon their children so there has always been a slight disconnect between my cousins and their parents, which has caused the rest of our family to know less about the background of Judaism. Ii appreciated how Miss Eliana Kaya stressed how religion is a very individual experience and how there is no one way to practice that is right or better than any other. I think that prior to this panel, coming from an atheist family, I had always thought of religion to be more strict and rigid and while still individual, followed a base structure of practice. This religious panel discussion was an extremely eye-opening experience to have!