Living the Dream

Living The Dream To Relaunch Feb. 1

With the chapter essentially closed on David and I’s trip to Israel, it’s time to turn...

Jan 27th

A Clarification To My Clarification:...

An e-mail from him to me this morning: “Brian, I wanted to comment on your recent blog...

Jan 22nd

A Clarification (Brian)

I wanted to take a moment to make a couple brief clarifications to my “final summary.” ...

Jan 22nd

Brian's Final Summary: "Too Great A...

I landed in Israel thinking about the words of Rodney King. “Why can’t we all just get along?”...

Jan 20th

David's Final Summary: The Holocaust Of...

“I support Israel—period. I identify with Israel—period. I never attack, never criticize...

Jan 20th

One-State Or Two-State

Brian: One-state solution, probably achieved through a temporary two-state solution David: The...

Jan 20th

Watch

MLK Jr. “I have a dream” speech

Jan 20th

Martin Luther King Jr. Day And Final...

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day. It’s a great day for all of us (not just because my middle...

Jan 20th

Link: Israel Declares Unilateral Ceasefire

Jan 18th

“As medical professionals responsible for the health and...”
— Statement from the Israeli...

Jan 15th

My Favorite Part of Israel

Since I’ve gotten this question 100 times since returning to Northwestern, I thought I’d...

Jan 15th

Post-Birthright Analysis: Sexism

By Alex Finkel For Living the Dream Now that I’m back in the U.S. and I tell people I went...

Jan 15th

Final Summaries Postponed

So the last couple days have been crazy. As a result, the final summaries (and other analysis...

Jan 15th

Final Analysis And Conclusions

We’ve been home for nearly a week now and we’re both back to our daily lives, but...

Jan 12th

Link: What You Didn't Know About Gaza

Jan 12th

Israel And Facebook Statuses

After Israel’s invasion of Gaza, someone decided to create a Facebook application which tracks...

Jan 11th

“The City has received over a foot of snow and forecasts are...”
— Evanston Director of Streets...

Jan 11th

Watch

Full Daily Show segment on Israel’s invasion of Gaza

Jan 11th

The Daily Show On Israel/Gaza

Jon Stewart: Come on, can’t someone phrase this in a way that will really bring it home?
Video of NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg: Let me just phrase it for you something that will bring it home. If you’re in your apartment and some emotionally disturbed person is banging on the door, screaming, “I’m going to come through this door and kill you.” Do you want us to respond with one police officer, which is proportional, or all the resources at our command?
Jon Stewart: I guess it depends if I forced that guy to live in my hallway. And made him go through checkpoints everytime he has to take a shit. But then again, by removing him by force—as long as you really believe there will be no more crazy people in New York—OK.

Jan 11th

Post-Birthright Analysis: Should You Go?

It’s a free trip to Israel. Yes, you should go. Expect to hear some Zionist rhetoric about...

Jan 10th

Trip Thoughts

While unpacking and getting ready for the new semester, I’ve been reflecting on the past three...

Jan 10th

How To Live In Israel

Harry: I could definitely see myself living in israel when i'm older. I could see myself retiring there when like 55
Me: I could see it
Harry: when i retire i want to have houses all over the world, so that all my friends can come and visit me
Me: haha how are you gonna make that kind of money?
Harry: well i figure i'll just have like one kid
Brian: uh huh
Harry: and he or she will be really smart and get a ton of scholarships, so i won't have to pay for college. and then i'll just deprive them of everything they want growing up to teach them discipline and save money for my own selfish purposes

Jan 10th

Poli Sci 390

…will probably be my toughest class this quarter. The class, “Special Topics in...

Jan 9th

Still Reflecting

In just three short weeks in Israel, we did so much. We met with people of varying beliefs and...

Jan 9th

"You're Alive!?"

“BRIAN ROSENTHAL. You’re alive!” “Thank God you’re not...

Jan 9th

Link: Rockets Fired From Lebanon Into Israel

Jan 8th

Link: As Troops Enter, We Fear The Worst

Jan 7th

Back On American Soil

After some interesting security questions in the Tel Aviv airport (“you don’t speak any...

Jan 7th

The End

This is our final post from Israel. It’s not, however the last post about our trip. In fact,...

Jan 6th

Day 21: Tel Aviv

We spent our final day in Israel in the great city of Tel Aviv. We had morning coffee with a...

Jan 6th

"Maybe It's Something In The Culture"...

While walking back to Ellen’s apartment, we ran into one of her friends, a French woman who is...

Jan 6th

Israeli "Liberation"

Background: Looking at a sign giving "the abridged history of Jaffa," we see an entry saying that Israeli soldiers had "liberated the city" in 1948.
Us: Liberated the city from what?
Simon: The local people

Jan 6th

Everybody's Right

We spent the afternoon shopping and walking around the old city of Jaffa with our old friend Simon...

Jan 6th

“No difference.”
— Asmerom in response to what he...

Jan 6th

New Issue: Refugees In Israel

We spent the morning meeting with Asmerom, a 24-year-old Eritrean man who has been in Israel for 13...

Jan 6th

“This idea of not talking to Hamas. I don’t get it. You...”
— Ellen (Ahmed said something...

Jan 5th

Ellen: Peace Demonstrations Larger This...

In our conversation tonight, Ellen offered a little bit of good news about the situation following...

Jan 5th

The beach was beautiful (Photo credit: Brian)

Jan 5th

David on Tel Aviv beach

Jan 5th

Day 20: The Home Stretch

We took a morning bus to Tel Aviv, the final Israeli city we will be visiting (it’s also the...

Jan 5th

The Myth Of The "Stressed Israeli"?

 We met a wonderful Spanish woman on the bus to Tel Aviv this morning, and soon started talking with...

Jan 5th

Small Haifa demonstration in support of Gaza

Jan 5th

Link: US Blocks UN Gaza Ceasefire

Jan 5th

Bah’ai picture, as promised

Jan 5th

Arabic Culture

As we’ve learned about the Arab/Israeli conflict during the past several days, we’ve...

Jan 5th

Us at the Western Wall

Jan 5th

“We can live together. I’ve interacted with many of my...”
— Ahmed’s wife

Jan 5th

"Sometimes, I Wish I Didn't Have Kids"

During our visit, Ahmed’s wife also gave us some great insights. Speaking with her 7-year-old...

Jan 5th

Ahmed: Wall is "Nonsense"

Sitting at his dinner table 200 meters away from the West Bank separation wall, our host Ahmed gave...

Jan 5th

Brian at the Dasmacus Gate, entrance to the Muslim Quarter...

Jan 4th

Day 19: The East (Muslim) Side Of...

We spent today in the Eastern part of Jerusalem, home to the city’s Muslim population. After...

Jan 4th

ICAHD Visit

This afternoon, we met with Jimmy Johnson of the Israeli Committee Against Home Demolitions (ICAHD)....

Jan 4th

Watch

Post-Birthright Analysis: SHRUBBERY!? (Editor’s Note: In the coming days, LtD will feature several...

Jan 4th

Link: Israel Launches Ground Assault

Jan 3rd

The Irony Of The Bah'ai Temple

Walking around the breathtakingly beautiful Bah’ai gardens this morning (pictures coming), I...

Jan 3rd

Breaking News: We Will Not Be Visiting...

Amid increasing protesting, we have decided not to visit the West Bank tomorrow, meaning we will not...

Jan 3rd

Day 18: Back To Jerusalem

Easy day today. Activities included walking to see the Bah’ai gardens/shrine and walking to...

Jan 3rd

Link: Israel Assault Continues For 7th Day

Jan 2nd

Day 17: Haifa

After days of dodging missiles and confronting Israeli soldiers, we settled down in Haifa for a...

Jan 2nd

Breaking News: Laptop Stolen

That’s right; someone broke into our locked Haifa hotel room this afternoon and stole the...

Jan 2nd

West Bank: To Visit, Or Not To Visit

Some of you know that we have long considered a visit to the West Bank as integral to a proper...

Jan 2nd

The now infamous wall separating the West Bank from Israel...

Jan 2nd

Jan 2nd

The Wall

In 2002, the Israeli government decided to construct a wall separating the West Bank and Israel, in...

Jan 2nd

Post-Birthright Analysis: The...

(Editor’s Note: In the coming days, LtD will feature several different “Post-Birthright Analysis”...

Jan 2nd

“When I lived in the US, I used to watch CNN, ABC, CBS,...”
— Ameer

Jan 2nd

Lessons From Gaza: Palestinians Will...

At the family visit/party tonight, we had a long discussion with Ameer, a pre-dental student in the...

Jan 2nd

Jatt High School

Despite noticable differences in appearance - the architecture of the building, the students’...

Jan 2nd

One of our many meals of the day. Lutfia has made a special...

Jan 2nd

Day 16: The Life Of A Palestinian...

Today was probably the most powerful day of trip so far. We started the day with a visit to Jatt...

Jan 2nd

Link: Leaders Lie, Civilians Die, Lessons Of...

Jan 2nd

“America’s policies on Iraq and here have made the...”
— —Abed’s wife...

Jan 2nd

3 Hour Drive To Travel 100 Feet

While at the West Bank separation wall, we met a Palestinian man on his way to his house, which was...

Jan 1st

Watch

Israeli soldiers force Brian to delete photos of the West Bank separation wall. This incident took...

Jan 1st