For 16 Israeli students, an exchange trip to America proved to be the perfect opportunity to break religious barriers at home and learn about life abroad.

Five Palestinian and 11 Jewish high schoolers made the 12-hour journey to the D.C. area Sept. 19 as part of a regional effort to cultivate mutual understanding between the groups.

The exchange students each stayed with a host family throughout their 11-day stay. They attended classes for three days and participated in cultural activities including attending a varsity football game and seeing a movie. Many students, however, said they were most fascinated by their scholastic experience.

Jewish exchange student Dor Hoffman said that he believes Whitman students show more respect to their teachers than at his school, Ben Leit High.

The students spent the rest of their time touring the D.C. area, including visits to the Capitol, Library of Congress, Holocaust Museum and various monuments. They also spent time at D.C. Central Kitchen to perform community service.

“They expect to learn about America, they expect to have fun and they expect to come home and say ‘wow, that was very important,’” said Ilan Ramati, a chaperone for the trip.

The Jewish and Muslim students attend separate schools in the Jerusalem suburb of Mate Yehuda.

In Israel, Jewish and Muslim teens are unlikely to form friendships with each other, Ramati said. However, the exchange has helped to foster bonds that cross religious lines.

“It is important for these guys to see that Arabs and Israelis are not so different,” chaperone Eran Ohman said.

The exchange dates back a year and a half ago when a mixed Arab and Jewish soccer team came to Whitman in March 2012, social studies resource teacher Robert Mathis said. After a small Israeli delegation came last November, the exchange expanded to its current trip of 16 students.

Over 40 Israeli students applied to participate in this year’s exchange before 16 were selected nearly six months ago, Ohman said. Before they left Israel, the students participated in numerous activities to get to know each other better and prepare for American life.

Ohman and Ramati said that they hope these preparations and going on the trip has given students a new outlook on both America and Israel.

Jewish exchange student Shaked Refua said he believes the exchange was a unique opportunity to meet kids with whom he would not normally interact.

“Not everyone in Israel can have an Arab friend,” he said. “And I will never forget that I have one.”