Apply by next week!!

 

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Please note that this e-mail includes 2 announcements for education and travel opportunities in Palestine and support for organizing and activism in participants' home countries:

 

1. Birthright Unplugged trip plus Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions against Israel and Investment in Palestine Institute (June 23-July 3)

2. Birthright Unplugged trip (June 2-7)

 

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1. Birthright Unplugged trip plus Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions against Israel and Investment in Palestine Institute:

 

Calling all student and faculty activists, faith-based organizers, community leaders, and justice seekers!

 

Are you currently involved in, or planning to launch, a campaign of boycott, divestment, or sanctions against Israel and/or investment in Palestine?

 

Are you interested in spending time in Palestine this summer to gain firsthand experience, build relationships, develop skills, and solidify campaign strategies? 

 

Birthright Unplugged announces its first Boycott/Divestment/Sanction (BDS) + Investment Institute!

 

Dates:

June 23-July 3, 2008

 

Application deadline:

April 4, 2008

 

Travel component (June 23-28):

In six days, we will visit Palestinian cities, villages and refugee camps in the West Bank and spend time with internally displaced Palestinian people living inside Israel.  Throughout the journey, we will help participants develop an understanding of daily life under occupation and the history of the region from people profoundly affected by and under-represented in Western discourses about the occupation. 

 

Institute (June 30-July 3):

The following week, we will have a series of workshops, presentations, and meetings designed to support organizers and activists to be better able to apply their knowledge to campaign work.  We will invite colleagues who are activists in the movement and experts in campaign planning, and we also expect participants to take an active role in preparing presentations and conducting research that will help with the launching or continuation of their own campaigns.

 

The Institute's focus is to support the 2005 Palestinian civil society call for BDS as a nonviolent strategy that has been critical in bringing about the end of other systems of oppression, most notably apartheid in South Africa.  Our effort to encourage investment in the Palestinian economy comes from the concern that Israeli imposed barriers to Palestinian work opportunities, production and trade are turning a historically self-sufficient economy into an economy based on international aid and exploitative labor practices by Israeli companies.  We feel that the international community can and should help to thwart this development.

 

It is our hope that institute participants can learn from past examples, invigorate current efforts and bring their ingenuity to bear in their own communities. 

 

Costs:

Participants are responsible for their own airfare.  A sliding scale contribution of $500-$800 covers expenses during the week of travel, and lodging, breakfast, and lunch, during the institute.  Participants should plan to spend about $15-25 per day on dinner, transportation, internet, etc.

during the institute.  Total costs should be between $600-$1000 plus airfare.  Feel free to consult with us about your fundraising plan.  A limited number of partial scholarships are also available for those in need.

 

To apply or for more information about Birthright Unplugged, please visit www.birthrightunplugged.org.

 

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2. Birthright Unplugged trip:

 

Are you thinking of going to Palestine 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 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 justice.

 

Trip dates: JUNE 2-7, 2008

Application deadline: APRIL 4, 2008

Cost: Sliding scale $350-$500 covers all food, lodging, and transportation for the 6-day trip. It does not include airfare.

 

While most Birthright Unplugged participants are Jewish people from North America, we welcome people of all backgrounds on our trips.  We also welcome individuals of all ages, and have traveled with people ages 9-70. 

 

Micah Bazant, summer '06 Unplugged participant, says:

"Through Birthright Unplugged I met some of the most amazing, heroic and inspiring people I've ever met in my life. I felt my politics about Israel and Palestine were set before I went on the trip, but experiencing it first-hand made me understand the realities of occupation and resistance so much more deeply. The program gave me new perspective and renewed passion to work for justice in Palestine and at home in the U.S. It was truly a life-changing experience."

 

Trips run every summer and winter.  For more information about the itinerary, trip leaders, and application materials, visit www.birthrightunplugged.org.

 

We look forward to hearing from you!

 

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