Hartsville student travels with study mission to Israel

Moses Dixon is the kind of young man who is likely to have a lot of influence on Hartsville’s future.
The 21-year-old 2006 Hartsville High School graduate is majoring in political science and economics with a minor in community development at Howard University in Washington, D.C., where he will be a senior this fall.
He’s considering law school.
He could probably pursue a career anywhere he wanted. But he says he wants to come back to Hartsville and make a difference in the life of his hometown, maybe even run for political office some day.
“I was raised here. I know the issues and the problems here. I want to return to Hartsville to help improve the community,” he said.
“I used to be one of those who thought one day I would leave. I used to think Hartsville was too small,” he said. “But I’ve found over the years since I been away at school, a lot of younger people leave town, and issues never get resolved.”
Dixon said he sees issues as challenges that should encourage people to do better.
Last year Dixon spent the month of June working as an intern in the Washington, D.C., office of U.S. Rep. John Spratt for the House Budget Committee, which Spratt chairs.
Dixon recently returned from a two-week visit to Israel, where he had the opportunity to meet and talk with a number of that country’s leaders.
He said the trip was a life changer.
He was one of 40 student activists from 30 U.S. college campuses who traveled to Israel as part of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC)’s Campus Allies Mission.
The group included 12 national leaders of College Democrats of America and the College Republican National Committee and 15 from historically black colleges and universities and Christian colleges.
The 40 were selected from about 3,000 applicants, according to Dixon.
The students spent about 10 days learning about Israeli history, culture and society and studying issues such as the U.S.-Israel relationship, Israel’s security challenges and pluralism and coexistence.
The met with and discussed policy issues with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli President Shimon Peres, among other leaders.
“The trip was to go over and really explore why Israel is so important to the Jews and to America and to talk about ways to strengthen the U.S-Israeli relationship,” he said.
The trip wasn’t all study, he said. The students toured Tel-Aviv, the West Bank, visited historic sites like Masada and swam in the Dead Sea.
Dixon said it was a visit to the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem that proved to be the most profound part of the trip. “That was very sad. It brought tears to my eyes,” he said.
Particularly moving, he said, was the memorial to 3 million Jewish children who died in Hitler’s carnage.
“It renewed my commitment to continue to support the State of Israel,” Moses said.
“I’m coming at it from a Christian standpoint. I think we have a moral responsibility to support Israel and the Jews.”
“For someone like Iran’s president to applaud what Hitler did and say he wants to finish the job, that’s unacceptable. The notion that Israel should be wiped out as a nation is unacceptable. Israel has a right to exist as a state.”
He said he believes a two-state solution can be achieved.
Dixon is the son of Tammie Lisa Dixon and Rufus Cherry of Hartsville. He attends Hartsville Community Fellowship and said he considers Steve and Ginger Avant of Hartsville his “spiritual parents”.