Welcome to the Forward’s coverage of Taglit-Birthright Israel, a free 10-day trip to Israel for young adults with Jewish heritage.
Birthright
The Latest
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Fast Forward Zoroastrians Can Travel To India On Birthright-Inspired Trip
Young Zoroastrians now also have a chance to connect with their heritage with a Birthright-inspired trip. Return to Roots is an organization that caters to the once-thriving religious minority, offering a 15-day trip through western India to discover and connect with their heritage, Religion News Service reported. There have been five trips so far, which…
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Opinion Birthright Will Fail If It Doesn’t Evolve With Young Jews
On New Year’s Day, a young woman rushed the stage at the “MegaEvent” held in Jerusalem for participants in Birthright, the program that takes young American and other Diaspora Jews to Israel on a free ten-day trip. BREAKING: Young Jew disrupts Birthright’s ‘MegaEvent’, a nationalist rally in Israel with all Birthright participants, holding a sign…
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Opinion Walking Off Birthright? Check Your Privilege
The activist group IfNotNow has a webpage devoted to arranging disruptions of Birthright trips. At notjustafreetrip.com you can sign up with them if you’re attending a Birthright trip and fill out a form letting them know what kind of support you need. One of the options is, “I want to take action on my trip.”…
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Israel News After Getting Kicked Off Birthright, Trio Regroups In West Bank
A day after being kicked off a Birthright Israel trip, three young American Jews went to the exact place Birthright would never take them: the West Bank. They are meeting with residents of a Bedouin village to ask them about living under Israel’s occupation of the territory, Emily Bloch said. Bloch, 29, along with Shira…
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Opinion Birthright Alumni Reflect On The New Trip Guidelines
Last summer, 13 activists staged dramatic walkouts from their Birthright trips. To prevent more, Birthright added a clause to their Code of Conduct, that participants commit not to “highjack” discussion by turning it toward the occupation. Last week, they made good on the new contract when several Americans were kicked off their Birthright program for…
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Opinion Of Course Birthright Is One-Sided. That’s What Makes It Great.
In 1987, my Jewish day school wanted me to experience what it means to be Israeli, to appreciate the labor of the Zionist pioneers who had returned home after 2,000 years in exile to till the soil and live under the perpetual threat of violent Arabs out to destroy our Holy Land. So I spent…
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Opinion I Was Kicked Off Birthright For Asking Questions About The Occupation
On the fifth day of my Birthright trip, as we drove south from a Kibbutz up north to Tel Aviv, I asked our trip leader if the towering concrete wall I could see from my window was the wall that separates the West Bank from Israel. Two hours later, I stood on a street corner…
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Opinion Birthright Is Chasing Away Engaged Jews To Please Pro-Israel Hardliners
Picture the scene: A group of young American Jews, visiting Israel for the first time on Birthright, demand more education about the country and its politics, trying to realize an age-old Jewish ideal of sharp, open debate. They form new organizations and movements around Jewish political activism, and they form links with groups of Israeli…
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