Apply by next week!!
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WIDELY**********************
Please note that this e-mail includes 2
announcements for education and travel opportunities in
activism in participants’ home countries:
1. Birthright Unplugged trip plus
Boycott/Divestment/Sanctions against
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
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
Are you interested in spending time in
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
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
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
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
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
people of all backgrounds on our trips. We also welcome individuals of
all ages, and have traveled with people ages 9-70.
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
home in the
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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