Raised in a secular Muslim family in Marmaris, Turku had never met a Jew or Israeli, yet she grew up hearing that “Jews are the most powerful people, and they control the world.” Israeli society was portrayed as snobbish and exploitative, while Palestinians were idealized as victims of imperialism. Friends warned her against studying in Israel, claiming she’d be isolated. But Turku’s curiosity deepened as she saw the Palestinian cause used by Turkey’s Islamist government for political gain. “They are using the Palestinian cause in a strategic way,” she says. In college in Istanbul, she met pro-Palestinian activists who struck her as overbearing. “They just want to control your life... boycott whatever they say.” The contrast struck her: “They always say that Israel is going to control our country,” but it was the pro-Palestinians, not Israelis, that constantly tried to tell her what to believe. Ironically, Turku’s first interactions with Israelis came in Marmaris, where Israeli tourists often docked near her family’s boat. “We became neighbors and started connecting,” she says. Her Jewish friends turned out to be ordinary, warm people who encouraged her to study in Israel. This is a woman with an open mind, who trusts her experiences and evidence, facts, truth. A visit to Israel worth a thousand words and beliefs. She was stunned to learn that Israel funds Palestinian students and permits protests and Palestinian flags on campus — hardly the “apartheid” state she’d been warned about. Visiting the Al Aqsa Mosque revealed yet another falsehood. Turkish media claimed Jews barred Muslims from the site, but she discovered that both the Israeli soldiers and the Muslim guards “really need to be sure that you're Muslim and then they let me in.” In contrast, Jews are the ones restricted from entering Al Aqsa and certain Arab neighborhoods.