Monday, April 30 (we fell  behind!) We started the Day with a lecture  by Khaled Abu Toameh, who describes himself as an Isreli Arab Muslim Palestinian.  He is a journalist and video producer who is currently a columnist for the Jerusalem Post; he has written for many publications over the past 30 years, including the New York Times and the Washington Post! As well as producing for NBC.  He feels that the peace processes increased the Simons while propping up an incompetent and corrupt Palestinian Authority (P.A.) regime.  He feels that the peace process has actually reduced freedom of the press in Palestine, and that the best policy for now is to manage the conflict with as little violence as possible rather than seeking a near term resolution.  He feels that the present situation is tolerable and that work should be focused on continuing cooperation while maintaining the status quo. After the lecture, we went on a bus ride to view the security wall Alta number of places, and to take route  433, which connects Jerusalem to Tel Aviv while traversing P.A. Territory.  We were led by Dany Tirza, a retired Colonel in the IDF who participated in the Oslo and Annapolis peace negotiations, and who was the officer responsible for the construction of the barrier between Israel and the West Bank (which consists mostly of barbed wire fences and lookout posts except in urban areas, where it is cement walls).  The barrier was started in 2002 built in response to escalating violence which started when the Second Intifada broke out in 2002.   We spent the rest of the day in Tel Aviv, having lunch in the Old Port area, which is being renovated in somewhat the manner of the Quincy Market area in Boston.  We looked over a model of the original town of Tel Aviv, founded as a suburb of Jaffa by 60 families in 1909.  It included the first Hebrew high school anywhere in the world.  We then visited Independence Hall to learn about the declaration of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948.  President Harry Truman recognized Israel immediately; the U.Swas the first action to do so. After Independence Hall, we drove through modern Tel Aviv to RabineSquare, where our guideAmir described the day Yitzak Rabine was assassinated on November 4, 1995, by a right wing fanatic who opposed the 1993 Oslo peace process.  It was at the scene of a massive demonstration in support of the peace process and Rabine's leadership. We visited the old city of Joppa, visiting the overlook looking toward Tel Aviv, and seeing some of the gentrification happening there.  We ended the day in the Yemeni quarter with dinner at the Magando restaurant, and the n returned to Jerusalem.