TCNJ student travels to israel
as part of future leaders
study mission

Terence Grado, a junior political science and philosophy double major, traveled to Israel in December as part of the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Second Annual Current and Future Leaders Study Mission. Grado was one of just 13 college students selected for the mission from a pool of more than 200 applicants.

According to the ADL Web site, the study mission “is designed to give student leaders an opportunity to learn about the history of the Jewish people, the State of Israel as a modern democracy, and to get a firsthand perspective on news-making events in Palestinian–Israeli relations.”

During his 10-day stay, Grado visited Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, the Golan Heights, Nazareth, Bethlehem, and the West Bank, and toured the Old City, the Knesset (the Israeli parliament), the Western Wall tunnel, and Yad VaShem (a Holocaust Memorial museum).

“Overall, the trip was an amazing experience,” Grado said.

A good deal of his time was spent meeting with journalists like Eeta Prince Gibson (of the Jerusalem Report) or Elias Zananiri (a Palestinian journalist and director of the Geneva Peace Initiative) and discussing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “That was the focus, but we also discussed religion, everyday Israeli life, Israeli politics,” and more, Grado explained.

The TCNJ junior also had the chance to meet “everyday Israeli citizens; minorities within Israel, such as the Druiz people and Bedouin women; members of Knesset; Israeli students; and IDF soldiers.”

Grado said he and his traveling companions also “experienced Israeli night life by going to a club for New Year's Eve…toured a couple of Israeli college campuses, ate dinner at an Israeli student-run village, floated in the Dead Sea, stayed in a kibbutz, ate dinner with an Orthodox Jewish family, and experienced a traditional Shabbat dinner. We did so much!”

One experience that sticks out in his mind is the trip they took to the city of Sderot. “This was the most dangerous part of our trip, hands down,” explained Grado. “Every day…rockets are launched into the city by extremists,” said Grado. “While there, I even heard a rocket launched. It was definitely an eye-opening experience.”

Grado also had the chance to visit Israel’s many holy sites. “As a practicing Catholic, it was very spiritual to be standing in the believed place of Jesus’ last supper, his place of crucifixion, his place of Baptism in the Jordan river, [and the] place where he was prepared for burial,” Grado said.

Grado, who plans to go to law school and hopes to one day enter politics, said he learned a lot from his experiences in Israel. “I feel like I know much more about what is going on [in Israel] now that I’ve been there and heard from so many different people,” Grado explained.

“While I learned tenfold, I still left quite confused, but that confusion reflects how much I actually learned and the tremendous complexity of the issues,” he said. “Through further study and reading, coupled with this awesome experience, I may be able to make a truly educated stance on how to build peace.”

“This experience [also] gave me a greater appreciation and understanding of a global perspective on the world, and what non-Americans feel toward America and the world, thus helping [shape] my positions on foreign policy,” Grado added. “I’m truly thankful to ADL for giving me this opportunity…. I learned [things I] will never forget it.”