OPPORTUNITIES TO VISIT ISRAEL AND
PALESTINE
There are many different ways to visit Israel and the
Occupied Territories: with tour groups, on professional visits, and with
activist organizations. Also, see the U.S. Campaign to End the Occupation's
page for an updated list http://www.endtheoccupation.org/article.php?id=95 .
Although
an entry below may occasionally appear out of date, it's worthwhile to
check out each organization's web site, as a most accurate way to find out what
is planned.
AFSC Olive Harvest
Delegation
November 8-22, 2008
Join the American
Friends Service Committee and Interfaith Peace-Builders (IPFB) this fall to
travel to Israel/Palestine. Your participation as an eyewitness to the
situation will enrich your understanding of the conflict and empower your work
back in the United States.
This delegation provides
an excellent opportunity to participate in the Palestinian olive harvest
season—generally a time of great community activism, where people of all
ages from Palestine, Israeli peace and justice groups, and international groups
join farmers as they reap their harvest. International support for the
harvest in many cases makes the harvest possible. In addition to
expressing solidarity, participants in the delegation will learn about
obstacles that impact the harvest.
In addition to
several days helping with the harvest, the delegation will meet with 'ordinary'
Israelis and Palestinians, and people and organizations working for peace and
justice. Delegates will confront and analyze the US role in the conflict
and wrestle with ways to translate your experience to others when you return
home. In Fall 2006, IFPB and AFSC began working together to plan delegations to
Israel/ Palestine. Since then, we have sent 4 delegations and 76 people to the
region.
Who is Leading the Delegation?
Jennifer
Bing-Canar is the National coordinator of the
Middle East Peacebuilding Program for AFSC. Her involvement in Middle
East issues began in 1982, when she lived in Israel and Palestine and
researched
the Israeli peace movement. She later volunteered as a teacher for three years
at the Palestinian Quaker schools in Ramallah and worked with Save the Children
during the first Palestinian intifada. Since 1989, Jennifer has worked for AFSC
in their Middle East program. She has organized hundreds of speaking tours,
conferences, advocacy campaigns, exhibits, and workshops on Israel, Palestine,
and Iraq. Jennifer also produced two documentary films on the Arab-American
community in Chicago.
Alta
Schwartz is the director of outreach for the Middle East Institute at Georgia
State University. She has been involved with Middle East Peace issues since
1995, and has worked with organizations that are Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and
Arab based. Alta serves on the national board of Interfaith Peace Builders and
has been a member of the Middle East Peace Education Program of the AFSC
Committee (South Eastern Regional office in Atlanta, GA) since 1995. She has
traveled through much of the Middle East, and has been both a delegation member
and co-leader with IFPB, most recently in 2006.
What
We Offer on the delegation. . .
*
Attend one-day pre-departure orientation in Washington DC.
* Travel in
the West Bank & Israel.
* Travel with experienced delegation leaders
& professional local guides.
* Assist and support Palestinian
farmers with their annual olive harvest.
* See how the continuing Israeli
occupation of Palestinian land & the current cycle of violence affect
Palestinians & Israelis.
* Learn from Palestinians about their
nonviolent resistance to the occupation.
* Learn from Israeli peace
activists about their work for a just end to the occupation.
* Visit
selected religious and cultural sites.
* See how the Separation Wall
impacts Palestinian communities & livelihoods.
* Visit and/or stay in
Palestinian & Israeli homes.
* Dialogue with Israelis &
Palestinians who have a variety of cultural, religious, & political
perspectives.
* Examine the US role in the
conflict.
After
your return. . .
*
Support for your efforts in your community
* Educational resources on the
conflict
* Ongoing contact with delegation alums.
* Speaking tours
and delegate reunions.
What
We Ask of You
* An
open mind and active, compassionate listening.
* Commitment to
nonviolence on the trip.
* Ability to participate in olive harvesting
activities, which may include strenuous activity.
* Commitment to
education in your local community about your experience, the occupation, and
changing US policy to support a just resolution.
What
Does it Cost?
The
cost of $2,000 includes: 14 days, hotel and home stay accommodations,
breakfasts and dinners, local transportation, guides, speaker/event fees, basic
tips and gratuities. The cost does not include domestic and international
airfares.
Deadline
To Apply
Applications
will be accepted on a rolling basis until September 29, 2008. Apply early to
reserve a space.
Download an Application (Word)
Download an Application (PDF)
FRIENDS OF SABEEL FAITH-BASED TRIPS AND
CONFERENCES:
ABOUT
SABEEL: Sabeel is an ecumenical grassroots liberation theology movement among
Palestinian Christians. Inspired by the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, this
liberation theology seeks to deepen the faith of Palestinian Christians,
promote unity, justice and love. Sabeel also works to promote a more accurate
international awareness regarding the identity, presence, and witness of
Palestinian Christians as well as their contemporary concerns. It encourages
individuals and groups worldwide to work for a just, comprehensive, and
enduring peace informed by truth and empowered by prayer and
action.
For
a listing of faith-based travel and conference opportunities see Sabeel's site:
http://www.fosna.org/conferences_and_trips/AlternativeTravelOpportunities.html.
7th International Sabeel Conference
Nov. 12-19, 2008 (Jerusalem)
Beyond
Remembrance:
Facing the Challenges of the Future Sixty Years After the
Nakba will focus on the complex issues of memory, narrative, and identity
raised by the events of 1948. The conference will include: 4 nights in
Nazareth, with trips to villages that were destroyed in 1948 and visits with
the local Christian community; 4 nights in Jerusalem, with trips to Jaffa,
Ramle, and Lidda. Lectures, workshops, discussions, and cultural events
focusing on the last 60 years and the future for Christians living in Israel
and the Occupied Palestinian Territories; optional pre-conference travel to
holy sites in the Galilee; optional post-conference travel to understand the
Occupation, including visits to holy sites in Bethlehem and
Jerusalem.
For information: conf2008@sabeel.org or call
(972) 2-532-7136.
Contact: Sabeel-Jerusalem
youth@sabeel.org
P.O.B.
49084 Jerusalem 91491
www.sabeel.org
World Council of Churches
Ecumenical Accompaniment Program
The Ecumenical
Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and Israel (EAPPI) is a World Council of
Churches (WCC) initiative which was established in 2002 in response to a call
made by the Heads of Churches in Jerusalem, and Palestinian and Israeli NGOs.
The mission of the EAPPI is to accompany Palestinians and Israelis in
their nonviolent
actions and concerted advocacy efforts to end the
occupation.
The role of participants
in the programme includes:
-Monitoring
and reporting violations of human rights and international
humanitarian law
-Supporting
acts of nonviolent resistance alongside local Palestinian and Israeli
activists
-Offering
protection through nonviolent presence
-Engaging
in public policy advocacy
-Standing
in solidarity with the churches and all those struggling against the
occupation.
Since
August 2002, hundreds of Ecumenical Accompaniers (EAs) from fourteen countries
have served in Israel-Palestine. The EAPPI is co-ordinated internationally by
the World Council of Churches. Visit the WCC's EAPPI website for more information about
the programme as a whole. More information can be found on the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme in Palestine and
Israel factsheet.
PALESTINE SUMMER ENCOUNTER -- HOLY LAND
TRUST
Now entering its 5th year,
PSE offers three sequential 1-month sessions that can be combined for one, two
or three month stays.
PSE includes Home Stays, Arabic Study,
volunteer Service-Learning and meeting with a wide variety of Palestinian and
Israeli nonviolence, peace-with-justice and reconciliation
groups.
Sessions for 2008 are finished, but check this site for
information on activites in 2009:
www.palestinesummer.org
The Health and Human
Rights Project (HAHRP) Delegation to Israel/Palestine
HAHRP sends specialized delegations
to Palestine consisting of medical and human rights workers, journalists, labor
organizers and others. HAHRP participants work closely with Palestinian health
and human rights organizations to provide care, material aid, and exchange
information. Participants return from trips committed to making presentations
and/or sharing their experiences, and become part of a vital network of alumni
who share stories, support and information, largely through the HAHRP email
list. Most people who participate in the program are Jewish, but it is not a
requirement.
Check these sites for information on activites: http://www.jewishvoiceforpeace.org/publish/article_428.shtml
www.holylandtrust.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=42&Itemid=125
CHRISTIAN PEACEMAKER TEAMS DELEGATIONS TO
PALESTINE/ISRAEL:
Upcoming 2008 Delegations:
2008:
October 14-27, November 19-December 2,
2009: January 6-19, March
17-30, May 19-June 2
During the
first several days, delegates will meet with representatives of Israeli and
Palestinian peace and human rights groups in Jerusalem and Bethlehem to gain
perspective on the conflict. They will tour the "security
wall" separating
Israel from the West Bank. Then they will travel to the tensely divided city of
Hebron, where CPT has been based since June 1995, and to the village of
At-Tuwani in the South Hebron Hills, where CPT has had a team since 2004. They
will visit Palestinian families whose homes and livelihoods are threatened by
expanding Israeli settlements. They will experience firsthand CPT's work of
violence deterrence and human rights documentation and challenge the structural
violence of the Occupation through nonviolent public witness. Delegates raise
$2100 US ($2500 Cdn) to cover costs.
For more information or
to apply, contact CPT, (PO Box 6508,
Chicago, IL 60680; phone
773-277-0253; fax 773-277-0291;
e-mail
delegations@cpt.org
<mailto:delegations@cpt.org>
) or see CPT's
website at: http://www.cpt.org/.
COMPASSIONATE LISTENING
DELEGATION
JOURNEY TO THE HEART ~ A
COMPASSIONATE LISTENING DELEGATION
OCT 26 - NOV 7 In Israel and
Palestine
with Leah Green & Yael Petretti.
For more
info: http://www.compassionatelistening.org
INTERFAITH PEACE-BUILDERS DELEGATIONS
Fellowship of Reconciliation Interfaith
Peace-Builders Delegation Fellowship of Reconciliation's Interfaith
Peace-Builders sends delegations to Israel and Palestine so that U.S. citizens
can see the conflict with their own eyes. Participants have the opportunity to
learn directly from Israeli and Palestinian nonviolent peace/human-rights
activists, to spend time in Palestinian and Israeli homes, and to experience
the situation of Palestinians living under military occupation. Visit the
Fellowship of Reconciliation for more information.Upcoming Delegations in
2008:
November 8 - November 22 (Co-Organized with
AFSC)
See:http://www.interfaithpeacebuilders.org/upcoming.html
Apply today: http://www.ifpbdel.org/upcoming.html
For more information, contact the
IFPB office directly by phone (202-244-0821) or email office@ifpbdel.org.
INTERNATIONAL SOLIDARITY
MOVEMENT
The International
Solidarity Movement (ISM) is a Palestinian-led movement committed
to resisting the Israeli occupation of Palestinian land using nonviolent,
direct-action methods and principles. Founded by a small group of activists in
August, 2001, ISM aims to support and strengthen the Palestinian popular
resistance by providing the Palestinian people with two resources,
international protection and a voice with which to nonviolently
resist an overwhelming
military occupation force.
International Volunteers stand side by
side with villagers in places like Bil'in as they continue their struggle to
save village land from Israel's apartheid wall.
With rapidly
escalating levels of settler violence in the West Bank, the International
Solidarity Movement is issuing an urgent call for volunteers to participate in its 2008 Olive Harvest
Campaign. The campaign will begin on the 15th October and run for approximately 6-8 weeks, depending on
the size of the harvest.
For
information on this campaign, see http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/2008/08/19/join-the-2008-olive-harvest-campaign/
For further information on the ISM, go to the ISM
website www.palsolidarity.org
and http://www.palsolidarity.org/main/about-ism/
E-mail: contact info@palsolidarity.org
ISRAELI COMMITTEE AGAINST HOUSE DEMOLITIONS DELEGATIONS
Every year hundreds of
Palestinians are forced from their homes, homes built on land they own.
Annually since 2003, ICAHD has made it possible for internationals and Israelis
to join together with Palestinians in Anata, East Jerusalem, to resist the
Occupation and rebuild the demolished home of a Palestinian family. In the
summer of 2008, ICAHD will once again rebuild a Palestinian home during our
two-week camp. We invite you to participate in the incredible
opportunity to learn
first-hand about life under Occupation.
"Creating
Alternative Facts on the Ground," ICAHD's 2008 Summer Rebuilding
Experience, takes place from July 14-29, 2008. In addition to construction,
there is a full program including field trips, cultural events, films and much
more.
For
more information and an application form, please visit:
http://icahdusa.org/projects/summer-camp or contact Richard Wark -- summercamp@icahdusa.org.
ICAHD's
Autumn
Study Tour to Israel, Palestine & Jerusalem - November 2008
2008 marks 60
years since the state of Israel was established. It also commemorates 60 years
of displacement for the Palestinian people.
In order to strengthen
the voice of the international community, the Israeli Committee Against House
Demolitions (ICAHD) and Experience Travel Tours (ETT) encourage people to visit
the Occupied Territories and Israel to be an eye-witness to the situation on
the ground. No amount of reading, attending lectures or watching films can
convey an accurate understanding of the "facts on the ground", which are
crucial to any program of advocacy. Our study tours bring visitors to meet with
key people from both sides of the divide examining several aspects of life
today in Israel, Jerusalem and Palestine. The tours provide a unique
opportunity to gain first-hand, in-depth knowledge of some of the latest
analysis.
A ten-day study tour will take place in November. It
will be based in Bethlehem, giving support to the community imprisoned behind
the Wall. There will also be a stay in Jerusalem, day trips visiting Jaffa, Tel
Aviv, Hebron, Ramallah and villages in the Occupied
Territories.
Experience the olive harvest. Be guided by ICAHD's
staff and receive the latest political analysis. Also meet other organisations
such as Women in Black, Machsom Watch, Sabeel, Breaking the Silence and
Zochrot. Visit with local people. Cost per person sharing a twin-bedded room is
£900 including flights from Heathrow, the full tour programme, three-star hotel
rooms with private facilities on half-board (bed, breakfast and evening meal),
tour guides and tips. Not included: lunches, supplement for single room (£120),
insurance. Separate land fee available. To receive an application
form contact tours@icahduk.org.
GLOBAL EXCHANGE'S DELEGATIONS TO PALESTINE
& ISRAEL
Global
Exchange's delegations to Palestine & Israel provide first-hand exposure to
the daily struggles and realities of Palestinians living under Occupation. The
delegations strive to further the US public's understanding of the conflict by
listening to the aspirations and frustrations of Palestinians, by examining the
dimensions of the human rights crisis under Israeli rule, as well as learning
from Palestinians and Israelis who are working for a just peace and an end to
the Occupation.
Prospects
for Peace with Justice Tours
November 6-November
17
December 06, 2008 - December 16, 2008
July 25,
2009 - August 4, 2009
For more information you can
contact Global Exchange
See
also http://www.globalexchange.org/tours/byCountry.html#15
and http://www.globalexchange.org/tours/957.html
(800-497-1994 x. 251) or email palestine@globalexchange.org
JOINT ADVOCACY INITIATIVE
The Joint Advocacy
Initiative has initiated campaigns to highlight the daily oppression and
injustice suffered under Israeli occupation. These campaigns target local and
international partners to help raise awareness and solidify our partnership in
the struggle for peace and justice. By sponsoring an olive tree, participating
in the Boycott - Divestment - Sanctions call or purchasing local Palestinian
products, you can help the Palestinians Keep Hope Alive.
www.jai-pal.org
The Joint Advocacy
Initiative of the East Jerusalem YMCA and YWCA of Palestine (JAI) and the Alternative Tourism Group
(ATG) are organizing the annual Olive Picking Program in Palestine
which will take place from the 25th of October to the 3rd
of November 2008. This agricultural event is of special significance to the
Palestinian economy when all energies and efforts are mobilized.
See
http://www.jai-pal.org/content.php?page=695
SIRAJ CENTER FOR HOLY LAND STUDIES
Siraj is a non-governmental organization based in
Beit Sahour, Palestine.
Siraj aims to create links between Palestinian
people and people from around the globe through educational tourism, interfaith
and ecumenical dialogue, and culture and youth exchange
programs.
Through its many local connections, Siraj works directly
with communities and organizations in Bethlehem and the West
Bank.
Through its connection with the Rapprochement Center and the Greek
Catholic Church, Siraj has broadened its impact, reaching out to grassroots
communities throughout the Holy Land.
Come and celebrate Palestine, learn
Arabic, study history, know the people and their culture, share some time with
local families and volunteer with a local community
organization.
Programs include: studying Arabic, History and
Theology at Bethlehem University, living with local families, volunteering with
local community organizations in addition for touring Palestine and enjoy its
beauty and culture and have a firsthand experience of the political
situation.
Participants will have the chance to have Palestinian
Cooking classes, Palestinian Debkeh Dancing training, and during the program,
eight films will be screened in the Siraj office.
For
more information
and listing of many opportunities to vist Palestine:
http://www.sirajcenter.org/
MECA DELEGATION
Middle
East Children's Alliance Delegation to Palestine/Israel
On MECA's
delegations take you on a geographic, political, historical and cultural tour
of Palestine/Israel by MECA staff people. We travel by van to witness the
impact of the Israeli occupation and visit organizations working for justice
and equality. You learn about refugees, land confiscation, political prisoners,
women's initiatives, mental and physical health issues, civil rights in Israel,
and the lives of children. Group generally stays at the guesthouse of MECA's
long-time partner Ibdaa Cultural Center in Dheisheh Refugee Camp, near
Bethlehem. Ibdaa is a lively place in the heart of the community with great
food and comfortable accommodations.
For more up-to-date
information on upcoming activities, see http://mecaforpeace.org/article.php?list=type&type=52
Contact: Deborah Agre at 510-548-0542 or
Deborah@mecaforpeace.org
PALESTINE SOLIDARITY PROJECT
PSP
is envisioned as a project dedicated to supporting Palestinian communities
resisting the Israeli Occupation. We also believe firmly in the
concept of sumoud—steadfastness—as a form of resistance.
For many of the communities we work with, simply remaining on their land in the
face of intimidation, violence, economic strangulation, and a history of forced
displacement, is an act of resistance.
What We
Do
1) Demonstrations against the continuing
construction of the Apartheid Wall, Israeli-only roads and Israeli settlements
in villages in southern Palestine.
2) Removing illegal roadblocks and
other structures designed to isolate one Palestinian community from another,
and preventing Palestinian freedom of movement.
3) Joining farmers as
they work their land which is in constant danger of being
"confiscated" by Israel.
4)
Replanting Palestinian crops that have been destroyed by Israeli settlers, with
the aim of enabling those Palestinian communities directly affected by settler
violence to remain on their land.
5) Working closely with families
affected by frequent violence from nearby settlements by documenting the
violence and providing an international presence to deter settler
assaults
For information on
how you can participate, see http://www.palestinesolidarityproject.org/,
http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/about/,
and http://palestinesolidarityproject.org/join/
BIRTHRIGHT UNPLUGGED
Are
you thinking of going to Palestine/Israel this summer? Are you interested in
meeting Palestinian families, activists, community leaders, and political
figures, and learning about life under occupation? Are you committed to turning
education into action and working for justice? Then BIRTHRIGHT UNPLUGGED is for
you!
Join us for a 6-day educational trip through the West Bank
to visit Palestinian cities, villages, and refugee camps. The trip is designed
to put you in conversation with people who you may not otherwise have the
opportunity to meet and equip you to return to your community and work for
change.
Birthright Unplugged trips dates are subject to
change.
For more information contact info@birthrightunplugged.org
(Please, note Birthright Unplugged is in no way affiliated with Birthright
Israel).
http://www.birthrightunplugged.org/