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Abstract

This thesis explores how travel to Israel/Palestine affects young liberal American Jewish tourists’ identity, feelings of attachment to Israel, and political opinions about the Israeli occupation. In order to investigate these topics, I conducted twenty in-depth interviews with young liberal American Jews who have been to Israel/Palestine. Based on this research, I have found that travel to Israel/Palestine affects both one’s beliefs and sense of self through introducing tourists to narratives about Israel being a safe place, sparking new relationships between tourists and other Jews, showing travelers that Judaism is not monolithic, and instigating contact with people living in the region. Travel to this region also has larger political consequences that harm Palestinians; from the Palestinian perspective, this tourism is exploitative. While my research is specifically about young liberal American Jewish travel to Israel/Palestine, it also gives insight into the ethics and implications of tourism more generally. My main argument about tourism is that while it seems like a leisure activity, it is inevitably a political practice.

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