Just came back from a 10 day trip to Israel with the birthright organization (it pays to have a jewish father!). It was a great trip, had lots of fun. Had a lot to think about since I've learned many new things about Israeli history and I feel even more significantly uninformed right now.

I was kind of struggling the whole time because the main narrative of the trip was "Israel is a great country that the jewish people need". Which makes sense as 1/3 of the trip is paid by the israeli government but I was happy they really didn't push any opinions on us beyond that. My (instinctual and immature) knee jerk reaction to that was to frantically google anti-zionist opinions and question why Israel should be a country at all.

But then, I realized I don't have to make up my mind and have an opinion on the matter since what's done is done and whether or not I think the creation of Israel was a great or a terrible idea frankly does not matter. I do feel like understanding the past is important tho, much reading about geopolitics ahead. The middle east is a mess.

As a side note, Israeli people my age are the bomb. Especially compared to selfish, whiny, overly-jewish Canadians. I guess growing up in a war zone, serving in the army and not having to prove your jewishness to everyone around you makes for some level headed, mature, generous and positive people :)