I spent 10 days in Israel this summer with 45 other educators from Southern California. In that time, we received an in-depth look at the history and many cultures that make up Israel. We spoke with artists, journalists, educators, politicians, and citizens who want a peaceful coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians.

We were allowed to venture into the Palestinian territory in the West Bank where we met with residents who talked to us about the desire for a peaceful existence with Israel and a desire to live a full life. We spoke to Israelis who expressed the same desire. 

I have told my students that Hamas does not represent Palestine; it is a radical splinter group that is more concerned with power than with human life. It is a group that wants to gain power through fear; a group that does not want democratic rule. I remind my students that Palestinians and other Arab groups are not the enemy.

There is not enough space to go into the history of Israel or talk in-depth about Theodore Herzl, the Hungarian Jew who, in the late 19th century, dreamt of a homeland for Jews, or to talk about Israel as the birthplace of many of the world’s religions or about how humbling it was to walk down the same street Jesus walked as he carried his own cross on the way to his crucifixion or the awe as we gazed at the very spot where Jesus was born in Bethlehem.

What I can do as an educator who cares about my students and the world my generation will be leaving them, is create teachable moments where students can examine what is happening in Israel from different perspectives and learn empathy and understanding. As I read and watch the news, view video and photographs of the death and carnage being caused by one group of power-hungry militants and listen to other groups blame the Jews for trying to keep 11,034 square miles of land for themselves (including the Gaza Strip and the West Bank), of the approximately 197 million square miles of land that make up the earth, I hope for a peaceful end to the turmoil in Israel. I hope for a peaceful world for future generations and for my students.

The Jews are a people that have faced racism and displacement since the beginning of time. They are often the scapegoats for the death of Christ. Hitler believed all the problems in the world could be solved by getting rid of Jews, hence the Holocaust and the displacement and murder of millions of Jews in Europe.

The dispute is about what all wars are about: land and who has the right to own it, to live on it, to mine it, to farm it. Except, in this land which is the birthplace of most religions, this dispute has roots that go back to before the birth of Christ, before Moses, before Cleopatra, before the Roman empire. Who does have the rights to this land? Jews? Christians? Muslims?

At the end of our 10-day trip, we were asked if we, as educators with so much new information about Israel and Palestine, thought peace could be accomplished in our life-time. The eternal optimist in me wants to say yes, peace can be achieved. The realist in me shakes my head sadly and says no, it won’t happen.

This is the world we are leaving to a new generation with new ideas and new optimism. Hopefully, they can find a solution.

Janice Luckey is The Aztec advisor and an English teacher at Mark Keppel High School. She is a former journalist who covered education issues in Colorado, Texas, and Arizona before becoming a teacher. Her trip to Israel was sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles as part of their Holy Land Democracy Project.