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’m A Settler Who Defends The Birthright Walkouts
Twice this summer, a number of students have filmed themselves walking off their Birthright trips. The much debated walkouts are part of a campaign called “Not Just A Free Trip” organized by the American Jewish activist group IfNotNow. But while many believe that IfNotNow’s left-wing walkouts of Birthright trips may be nothing more than a…
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Fast Forward Birthright Walkout Leaders Create GoFundMe For Canceled Flights, Lost Deposits
Eight Birthright participants who walked off their tours Sunday created a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to cover their canceled flights and forfeited deposits. The participants were on two separate trips, according to the GoFundMe page. Birthright didn’t approve of them deviating from their itinerary to meet with a Palestinian family that lived in East…
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Opinion The Real Reason People Are Upset About Birthright Walkouts
The Jewish world is in an uproar over what are being called “Birthright walkouts”. Twice this summer, a number of students have publicly announced that they would be leaving their Birthright trips midway to learn more about the plight of the Palestinians. Filming themselves, they then abandoned the trip. Both times, the resulting brouhaha dominated…
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Opinion Playing Politics With Birthright? That’s Like Stealing A Free Trip To Israel.
Are Jewish 20-somethings entitled to a free trip to Israel? For decades, the donors behind Birthright Israel have gifted thousands of young Jews from around the world with 10-day immersive experiences in the Holy Land. The heritage and culture trips sometimes center around a particular theme, like Israeli food, Russian culture, or Israel’s LGBTQ commuity….
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Opinion Walking Out On Birthright Was The Right Thing To Do
Last week, five participants of Birthright walked out on the program and straight onto a tour of the segregated city of Hebron with IDF veterans from Breaking the Silence, where they saw what Birthright desperately tried to hide. They saw the checkpoints, the streets Palestinians aren’t allowed to walk on and the caged windows that…
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Opinion Have Your Say: Is It Ok To Walk Off Of A Birthright Trip?
Have Your Say is your chance to tell us what you think. Comment below or on Facebook and let us know what you think about the question posed in the headline. In recent weeks, Birthright participants affiliated with both IfNotNow and Peace Now have staged walkouts from their trips, in protest of Birthright’s policy of…
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Fast Forward Another Group Leaves Birthright To Visit Palestinians
JERUSALEM (JTA) — A group of American Jews visiting Israel on a free Birthright trip walked off the tour during a visit to the City of David in Jerusalem to visit a Palestinian family who is facing eviction from their eastern Jerusalem home. Six of the young people came from one Birthright tour and two…
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Fast Forward U.K. Jewish Group Gives Info About Occupation To Birthright Groups At Airport
The debate over how Birthright Israel trips talk (or don’t talk) about Palestinians has gone global, with the latest action taking place in London. A new British Jewish group called Na’amod: British Jews Against Occupation traveled to Luton Airport on Sunday to hand out informational materials about the occupation to departing Birthright participants. The group…
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