Jerusalem Day 3 - Geopolitical Tour

Our third day consisted of an especially exciting and full schedule. We started off with a geopolitical tour, where we visited various debated locations. We started off by going to a hill overlooking Jerusalem, where our guide, Col. (Res.) Miri Eisin, explained its history and current affairs. 

View of Jerusalem!

Zooming in on the Old City!

Once we finished hearing Miri give us the rundown on Jerusalem's history and current political climate, we made our way to the Separation Fence between Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The Fence was constructed as a reaction to the casualties in the Second Intifada and intended to prevent similar events from happening in the future.

Vehicle checkpoint

Thousands of West Bank residents pass through the inspection points on a daily basis

After touring the Separation Fence, we went to a neighborhood in South Jerusalem which overlooked the Fence and West Bank.

West Bank

Bethlehem

Following our informative and engaging geopolitical tour, our next stop was at the Supreme Court of Israel. Because Israel is a fairly new country with no constitution or bill of rights, and because there is no precedent for every case that comes before it, the Supreme Court will draw on international law to make decisions.
The Supreme Court is built in a contemporary design influenced by traditional Middle Eastern motifs, and is set up to create an attractive interaction of shadow and light. It was great to look around. We even met a few Supreme Court justices and listened to them speak about adjudication and other aspects of their jobs.

Walking up to the Supreme Court

The dome

The library

Inside a courtroom

Courtyard

Our final destination was the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where we had a question and answer session with Ambassador Arthur Lenk, who served as the Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan and is currently the Director of the Department of International Law.

Couldn't get a shot of Ambassador Lenk that wasn't blurry, so this is me standing behind a podium.

We ended the evening with some exciting sessions of Israeli karaoke! It's like regular karaoke, except with a band. And everyone sings together, which makes awkward, tone-deaf solo performances a thing of the past. It was so nice to mingle with the other delegates and bask in their camaraderie, while listening to the music and joining in the singing. It was really the perfect end to our day.

Excited for karaoke!

The band