Birthright Palestine: Don't Be Fooled By Imitations

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, what are we to make of Birthright Palestine?

A new Palestinian NGO is taking a page out of the Jewish educator's handbook in its search to strengthen the connection of Palestinians overseas to their "historic homeland" and Palestinian society.

The name of the program leaves no doubt as to its intent, or its inspiration. Birthright Palestine is described on its Web site as a "program created by native Palestinians for diaspora Palestinians."

The program, which will begin its first session in May, is run by the newly established Palestine Center for National Strategic Studies, which says it is a "nonprofit, nongovernmental Palestinian organization" based in the Dehaishe refugee camp in Bethlehem.

Of course, one of the hurdles that the program will face is the growing problem of emigration, resulting from--among other things:

terrorism and counter-terrorism, the Hamas-Fatah war, unprecedented (over 30%) unemployment, the rise in the price of oil and a corresponding rise in demand for manpower in the Arab oil producing countries, intensive UNRAW and PCBS-led family planning, an unprecedented reduction of teen-pregnancy, a swift urbanization process, an all-time-high Palestinian divorce rate, an impressive expansion of the education system and the increase in Palestinian median wedding-age...

While the 2007 census ignores the bolstered emigration phenomenon, Israel's
Border Police and the European observers have documented net-emigration of
12,000 in 2004, 16,000 in 2005 and 25,000 in 2006, with expectation of a
significant rise in the scope of 2007 net-emigration. The extent of
1997-2003 average annual net-emigration was over 10,000, which has
characterized the entire period since 1950!

Another difference is the overall approach. Jews go to visit the land of their ancestors, visit places mentioned in Tanakh, learn in a Yeshiva--you get the picture. Why will Palestinians want to come and take part in the offered 3-month program? The Birthright Palestine website puts it this way:

Simply coming back to visit the land that your parents or grandparents were forced to flee from is a form of active nonviolent resistance against the illegal Israeli occupation. This is because this simple act opposes everything that the 'State of Israel' was founded on (the idea to ethnically cleanse the Holy Land/Palestine of all Arabs, so as to create a purely Jewish state).

Instead of visiting the land of their ancestors, they are invited to visit the land of the land of their grandparents. Isn't that an odd way to put it if Palestinian Arab ties to the land are supposed to stretch back for century upon century? No mention of visiting the sites or connecting with the land of their ancestors--which is for an obvious reason: The Arabs have no real bond to the land itself. The best they can muster is to ask people to visit as a form of protest. Pretty thin gruel.

There's nothing like the real thing.

And all of this for up to $2,900!
Birthright Israel is free.

Israel is home.

[Hat tip: Baruch Who]

Crossposted at Soccer Dad

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