This is 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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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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Fast Forward Birthright Said To Expel 3 For Questions About ‘Wall’
Updated December 24 Fresh from its PR disaster after announcing vague new anti-free speech conditions, Birthright Israel has reportedly thrown three young Jews off their trip for asking about the separation barrier between Israel and the West Bank past which they were driving. In a Facebook post, participant Shira Leah said that she and two…
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Israel News Birthright Blasted By Activists For New Ban On ‘Hijacking Discussions’
Birthright Israel has sparked fresh outrage from critics by imposing vague new conditions barring participants from “hijack[ing] a discussion” during its flagship trips. The critics say the new clause in the contracts that all participants must sign could be used to squelch any discussion of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands — even though Birthright insists…
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News Birthright Bans ‘Hijacking Discussion’ After Anti-Occupation Walkouts
After a series of highly publicized walkouts on Taglit-Birthright trips this summer, the organization has included a ban on “hijakck(ing) a discussion” in the contract participants are required to sign to be accepted on its free 10-day trips to Israel. A new clause included in the contract appears aimed at preventing a recurrence of such…
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Israel News Sharp Decline In Number Of American Jews On Birthright Trips
Birthright is experiencing a sharp drop in participation rates this current winter season, according to five providers who spoke to Haaretz. The downturn is mainly being felt in the United States, which is by far the largest provider of participants to the program that brings young Jewish adults on free trips to Israel. According to…
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Opinion I Walked Off My Birthright Trip. I Applaud Rashida Tlaib For Walking Off AIPAC’s.
On April 10th 1967, Marian Wright, a lawyer working for the NAACP’s Legal Defense Fund in Mississippi led then senators Joseph S. Clark and Robert F. Kennedy on a tour of the Mississippi Delta. Wright hoped to expose the realities of severe poverty and hunger which sadly, many did not know existed in the United…
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Community The Answer To Keeping Kids On Birthright? Honesty
This past spring I accompanied my school’s graduating seniors on their trip to Israel. We arrived a few days before the U.S. opened its embassy in Jerusalem and the violent protests in Gaza. “I guess we didn’t pick a great time to come,” one of the students told me. I answered that it’s always and…
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