The land where Jesus walked
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JERUSALEM’s Old City stretches toward the Dome of the Rock, bringing together the history of three major faiths.
POSTERS and photographs across Israel keep alive the memory of those killed in the attacks.
BURNED-OUT vehicles remain at the site of the 7 October attacks, stark reminders of the
TRIBUNE’s business reporter Toby Magsaysay poses by the Western Wall.
TEL AVIV’s Mediterranean coast glows at sunset, offering a moment of calm at Frishman beach amid the country’s turmoil.
IN the Galilee, freshly roasted coffee offered a taste of Bedouin hospitality and everyday life.
JERUSALEM’s Mahane Yehuda Market bustles with shoppers, vendors and the ordinary rhythm of Israeli life.
FRIENDS in Jaffa. From left: Raff Herida of A2Z, DAILY TRIBUNE’ Toby Magsaysay, Rikki Mathay of NET25, Barbie Muhlach of A2Z, and Tristan Nodalo of NewsWatch.
THE narrow stone alleys of Jaffa reflect the city’s centuries-old character.
ISRAEL — I arrived knowing I was stepping into one of the most complex and contentious political debates in the world.
Israel has faced intense criticism since the 7 October attacks, while the broader Israeli-Palestinian conflict has generated strong international support for Palestinian statehood and serious allegations against Israel. I expected the visit to be complicated. I did not expect it to be so deeply human.
I walked the streets of Jaffa and Jerusalem, visited places sacred to Christians, Jews and Muslims, and saw reminders of a conflict that has shaped generations.
But what stayed with me most were the people.
We met a Jewish-Christian guide from the Galilee, a Palestinian-Israeli doctor who treated a friend after an unfortunate encounter with a tree, and an American-Israeli who invited us to share a conversation with him and his Muslim friend at Frishman Beach.
We prayed at the Western Wall, shared coffee with a Bedouin Muslim family, dined with members of the Druze community and celebrated Shabbat with a rabbi and his family.
None of these encounters erased the political realities or the suffering on either side. Nor did they make me agree with everything the Israeli government does.
But they reminded me that a country is not its government, and a people are not their politicians.
Israelis and Palestinians deserve to live in peace and security. Peace does not belong to one religion, race or ethnicity.
Perhaps the most important lesson of the journey was simple: we can condemn governments without dehumanizing their people.
Beneath the politics, history and noise are ordinary people who want what ordinary people everywhere want: to live, to love, raise their children and come home alive.
