Caravan for Democracy & AIPAC Policy Conference: Blog #1

Last month, I had the privilege of traveling to Washington, D.C. for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) Policy Conference. The annual policy conference is the largest gathering of America’s pro-Israel community.

I was invited to the conference on behalf of the Jewish National Fund (JNF), whose goal is to facilitate constrictive dialogue about Israel and the Middle East on college campuses across America. This past January, I was selected to be a part of JNF’s Caravan Democracy Student Leadership Mission to Israel, a ten-day fully subsidized trip that provides non-Jewish American students with an opportunity to explore the Jewish and democratic state of Israel through meetings with political, cultural, and community leaders from diverse backgrounds and faiths.

During my time in Israel, I was able to collaborate with student leaders from around the United States. I also got to learn about Israel’s vibrant culture, Israeli-Palestinian relations on the ground, and several groundbreaking Israeli innovations in military technology, clean energy, and start-up technology. I was also surprised to learn that Israel has such a lively LGBTQ+ population, and even hosts one of the largest Pride festivals every year in the city of Tel Aviv. As an International Relations and Religious Studies major, with a concentration in Middle East and North African Studies, I was excited to travel to Jerusalem and be in a place so sacred to the three Abrahamic faiths. Getting to participate in the Caravan for Democracy Fellowship was a truly transformative experience, and it gave me a new perspective going into the AIPAC Policy Conference.