An Unexpected Day

Unlike Day 1, which started with breakout sessions and ended with speeches, Day 2 had the opposite configuration. The day started off with multiple security screenings (thanks Mr. Vice President), which was because Joe Biden gave a rousing speech about America’s enduring defense and support of Israel. Also appearing was Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu by Skype.

But before those speeches, a string of Israelis appeared promoting Israeli innovation and ingenuity. This included a retired soldier whose PTSD is treated by an Israeli foundation that is working with the American Wounded Warrior Project to help American soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan who suffer from PTSD. As well, the founders of SpaceIL, who plan to put an Israeli spacecraft on the Moon, represented Israel’s position as a leader in science and technology.

The headline speakers all shared the same tone and message: that under no condition could Iran be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon, and that each and every option would be on the table to stop them from doing just that. Bibi and Biden repeated Ehud Barak’s message from the night before, along with Senators John McCain and Kirsten Gillibrand (a Republican and a Democrat, respectively). The parade of suits all carried the same message to the 13,000 activists inside the Convention Center, and the thousands more watching across the country.

After the morning speeches, I attended two sessions. The first was about the Palestinians’ missed opportunities for peace, from 1947 to 2008. This was followed by, like in all sessions, an open Q&A session. I learned about the Palestinian rejection of the 1947 partition, Arafat’s rejection of the overly generous Clinton Parameters, and everything in between.  This session led me to a much improved understanding of the peace process and the previous opportunities for peace that have fallen through.

My second session was about the UNWRA (United Nations Relief Works Agency); this was far and away the best session I went to over both days. Everyone else who went to this session agrees with me (I think). It covered how the UNRWA only serves Palestinians and how it claims that there are 5 million Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war. It claims that a refugee’s descendants – apparently up to and including the fourth and fifth generations – are considered refugees. This hypocrisy was explained VERY clearly and I gained a ton from this session.

Tomorrow we head to Capitol Hill to lobby our representatives (watch out, Claire McCaskill). We get to actually influence something, which will be a nice change from sitting in a convention center (though I’m not really complaining – that part is also pretty cool). I’m hoping (and I think my delegation agrees with me) that tomorrow our lobbying will actually effect some change and this trip will have an effect on the world.