6-11-2019 Birthright Trips, a Rite of Passage for Many Jews, Are Now a Target of Protests - Farah Stockman New York Times

 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/11/us/israel-birthright-jews-protests.html?smprod=nytcore-ipad&smid=nytcore-ipad-share

 

…Over nearly two decades, a nonprofit organization called Birthright Israel has given nearly 700,000 young Jews an all-expense-paid trip to Israel, an effort to bolster a distinct Jewish identity and forge an emotional connection to Israel. The trips, which are partly funded by the Israeli government, have become a rite of passage for American Jews. Nearly 33,000 are set to travel this summer.  But over the past year, some Jewish activists have protested Birthright, saying the trips erase the experiences of Israeli Arabs and Palestinians living under occupation in the West Bank. Activists have circulated petitions, staged sit-ins at Hillels on college campuses and blocked Birthright's headquarters in New York. But no protests have generated more publicity and outrage than the walk-offs from a handful of Birthright trips…Just 6 percent of American Jews over the age of 50 believe that the United States gives Israel too much support, according to research by Dov Waxman, a professor of political science, international affairs and Israel studies at Northeastern University. But that view is held by 25 percent of Jews aged 18 to 29, the cohort that goes on Birthright trips…

 

Posted by Judith Ferster, AIME member

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