Multi-perspective Pilgrimage to Israel & Palestine
Recommended Resources
Top Books, Podcasts, Films on Israel & Palestine available here
Rev. Carl's Sermons
- Part 1: “Antidotes & Poisons: Imagining a Future for Israel & Palestine”: Text or Video
- Part 2: "Pilgrimage, Perspective(s), & Peace: Reflections on 10 Days in Israel & Palestine": Text or Video
- Podcast: links available at top of frederickuu.org/sermons
Tuesday, June 6, 2023 - Thursday, June 15, 2023
Message from Rev. Carl
In the winter of 1999, I had the opportunity to be part of a six-week travel study to Egypt, Israel, Jordan, and Italy. Two decades later, I am excited about this opportunity to lead a UU pilgrimage to Israel and Palestine. The focal themes for our trip will be:
- Pilgrimage: “A tourist passes through a place, a pilgrim allows a place to pass through them.”
- Perspectives: Israel means at least the modern State of Israel and the historical Land of Israel. Palestine means both a historic region in the Middle East as well as modern state recognized by 138 of the 193 United Nations members. (The United States does not recognize the State of Palestine.) Our exploration will be guided by Medji Tour’s award-winning model that includes a Jewish Israeli guide and a Palestinian Arab guide in conversation while touring, and where stops would include visits with speakers representing multiple points of view on topics ranging from archaeology to religious history to modern history and current issues.
- Peace: We will be exploring the question of how this journey can help us better live into our UU Sixth Principle, “The goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all.”
Medji Tours
- Medji translates to "honor" or "respect
- Co-founded by Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian Muslim (and TED Fellow and National Geographic Explorer) and Scott Cooper, a Jewish American social entrepreneur, socially and environmentally responsible, respectful of multiple worldviews, and oriented toward peace and freedom.
- Watch the TED Talk by Medji co-founder Aziz Abu Sarah.
- Read the Smithsonian Magazine cover story about Medji Tours.
Details
- Cost (not including airfare): $2,995/person ($300 due at registration once trip confirmed, with final payments due 3-4 months before departure.) (Single Supplement $750)
- 4-page Itinerary with further details on cost, schedule, etc.
- Final Itineraray
Weather
- For those of us more familiar with the U.S, the climate in Israel and Palestine has been described as fairly similar to California. Another way of conceptualizing where we will be is that the latitude of Jerusalem is between the latitudes of Phoenix and Houston in the U.S.
Interested & Planning to Attend Trip
- The Rev. Dr. Carl Gregg, co-leader
- Magin LaSov Gregg, co-leader
- Kathryn Adams, Intern Minister
- Mary Fletcher
- Betsy Bainbridge
- Steve Ramberg
- Tina Lund
- Steve Buckingham
- Cheryl O'Brien
- James Stafford
- Shirley Stafford
- Jane Talarico
- Michael Paskowsky
- Susan Shannon
- Yamileth Retana
- Julio Retana
- Kate Franklin
- Rosemary Dumont
- Matthew Beyers
- Pam West
Optional Pre-trip Monthly Religious Education Opportunities
- Pre-Trip classes, events, and workshop will be open to all, whether or not you are attending the pilgrimage.
- All are welcome to participate in the pre-trip opportunities as much or as little as is helpful or possible for you. (You are welcome to also attend any of the pre-trip book discussions whether you have read none, some, most, or all of the recommended books.)
- You may, of course, attend the trip without doing any of the preparation:
- Slides from "Day 1": Israel & Palestine (March 2020)
- Slides from "Day 2": Jerusalem (April 2020)
- Slides from "Day 3": antisemitism (May 2020)
- Slides from "Day 4": Historical Jesus (June 2020)
- Crossing Boundaries: A Traveler's Guide to World Peace by Aziz Abu Sarah, cofounder of Mejdi Tours (February 2023)
- Light in Gaza: Writings Born of Fire, edited by Jehad Abusalim, et al (May 2022)
Additional resources available here.
(The short link to this webpage is frederickuu.org/pilgrimage.)