All year, in every session,speaker, or discussion we had,”perspective”, “different opinions” as well as “open minded” were all words we were told to keep in mind when addressing the conflict and tension within the state of Israel. And so with every new idea and bias speakers presented, we eagerly tried to suspend our prior opinions on the topic and view each with a fresh set of eyes. On Thursday morning, after eating breakfast at the Rabin Hostel, the cohort awaited our speaker Ben, a representative of the Israeli non-profit organization Ir Amim. Ben, a true sabra (native Israeli) was born and. raised in Jerusalem, served in Gaza last summer, and is currently also a tour guide and historian. He is a true representation of an Israeli. Ben along with the other members of Ir Amim refuse to ignore the ever so apparent conflict in Israel, most specifically with Jerusalem. Ir Amim, which translates to a “city of nations”, is an organization who’s purpose is to educate people about the importance of Jerusalem to Jews as well as Palestinians. They believe that both groups of people not only have a connection to the holy city but a right to it. What differntiates Ir Amim from other organizations, is that they are Jews recognizing the other side’s right and desire for Jerusalem. After the six day war in June 1967, Israel gained east Jerusalem which included the Temple Mount and the Kotel ,as well as control over the Sinai Peninsula, Gaza, the Golan Heights, and The West Bank. Taking control of these areas from Jordanian juristiction allowed the size of Israel to triple. What many people don’t know, is that when we celebrate Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, a day to remember the reunification of Jerusalem, we are not only celebrating the reunification but the addition of land to Jerusalem itself. These parts, were taken from Jordanian juristiction and do not necessarily add to the holiness and historical importance of Jerusalem. These additions to Jerusalem, Ir Amim believes, should be given to Palestinians. “We should not give up the Kotel or rule in the Jewish quarter, but places such as “Sur Bachor” in east Jerusalem aren’t important to Jerusalem and so we should give it up to create peace” said Ben. the Israeli justification for Jerusalem’s annexed land is said to be for safet, yet if this reasoning were to be completely true, it would have been more strategic for Israel to annex land more to the north, in the Ramallah area. However we learned that they didn’t annex there because of the large Arab population which would have to be given citizenship, leading to a potential Arab majority. The majority of Palestinians want to find a peaceful solution and are not like the radicals. In fact, the majority of Palestinians want a two state solution and would settle for a mere 22% of the land. Ir Amim believes that the more Israel negotiates and gives land to Palestinians, terror will decrease. Ir Amim recognizes initiatives taken by Abas such as informing the Israeli government of the murderers who killed Eyal, Gilad, and Naftali the three boys who were killed last summer. Ben’s message, while a bit more liberal than other speakers we have had, was quite clear: we have to acknowledge that as much as Jews believe they have a right to Jerusalem, the same applies to Palestinians, and we must change our perspective, open our minds, and be open to changing our fixed mindsets and search for what humans want and crave the most, peace.