A Powerfull Shabbat

We began Shabbat with a concert with Anders Nerman that really put us in the mood of Shabbat and helped infuse its spirit. Following the entertainment we had a meaningful Friday night experience at the Kotel. The girls came together to sing the traditional Friday night song “Lecha Dodi” and then we each went our separate ways to have a moment of individual reflection and connection with the Western Wall. After meeting back up we enjoyed a delicious dinner. Rabbi Yosef Salomon shared a few words of wisdom and students shared their reactions and experiences to the trip thus far. The fun and festivities continued with a tisch filled with sweets and treats. Shabbat day we had the unique experience of eating with families in and around the Jewish Quarter of the Old City. It was so interesting getting to know one another and having a traditional (homecooked!) meal! Later on we discovered the “Five Levels of Pleasure” with Rabbi Gavin Balsam and concluded Shabbat with the Third meal and a beautiful Havdala service complete with drums and guitar with Anders Nerman.

The South

We woke up bright and early on Wednesday morning to head down south to enjoy the sun and learn about the political issues in the Negev. We arrived to Ein Gedi and hiked to a beautiful waterfall in the middle of the desert. After cooling off in the water and hiking back to the bus, we made our way to the Dead Sea. We spent the greater part of the afternoon appreciating the wonders of the Dead Sea. We barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs and took in the desert sun. Then we made our way to the Ein Gedi hostel where we checked in and relaxed before our only session of the day. Jonathan Cohen ran the session Communicating for Israel Role Playing. We talked about the current trends that we will likely be dealing with on campus this year. Then we practiced our advocacy skills by engaging in debates with our peers. To wrap up such a wonderful day, we made our way to Chavat Mamshit where we appreciated some Bedouin hospitality and learnt about the Bedouins and their role in Israeli society. We ate a traditional Bedouin dinner and drank Bedouin tea. Anders Nerman joined us with his guitar and we concluded the evening with a "kumzitz". By the time we returned to the accommodations we were all wiped from such a long day in the sun.

The next day we went straight into sessions and had a full day of learning. Jonathan Cohen led the session Defeating Anti-Israel Propaganda. We watched clips of incidents of anti-Israel propaganda that we have seen in recent years on the university and college campuses. We discussed ways to counter these types of propaganda. Then we broke up into groups and each group was given a hypothetical anti-Israel situation on campus and we brainstormed how we would deal with these types of situations; from a lecture from Norman Finklestein, to professors spewing anti-Israel rhetoric in class, to a student group setting up simulation check-points in the student union building. Then we loaded onto the bus and made our way to a lookout of the Dead Sea and the Jordanian border. While eating lunch Jonathan Cohen taught us about the relationship between Israel and Jordan. Next we visited the Air Force Museum in Beer Sheva. We saw many of the old aircrafts used by the Israeli Defense Force. Afterwards, we heard from Noam Bedein who has documented the events of Sderot. Noam told us about the reality the people of Sderot, the closest town to the Gaza Strip, are living through. They are constantly the targets of ketusha rockets. We saw videos, giving us a true account of what the people are experiencing. Finally it was time for dinner. We stopped at pizza place in Beer Sheva before heading back to Jerusalem. Once we arrived in Jerusalem, the students had the option of taking another Krav Maga class with Moshe Katz. Most of the students attended the class and received a certificate as proof of the new skills they acquired. It was defiantly another wonderful and fun filled day.

Fellows debated and argued the reasons for anti-Semitism today with direction of Rabbi Yosef Solomon.



Today started with another round of mind-blowing sessions. Rabbi Yosef Solomon of Aish HaTorah led an interactive and engaging session on the reasons for why anti-Semitism exists and the ways in which we can defeat it. Later, the group participated in the third part of the Hasbara Fellowships Everyday Activism sessions, led by Campus Coordinator Elysha Ames about coalition building within the university. After lunch, the group met with advocacy expert David Olesker, director of the Jerusalem Center for Communications and Advocacy Training, who spoke to them about different advocacy and speaking techniques, using an entertaining mixture of humor and activism training to teach them how to sharpen their communication skills.

Then, Palestinian Affairs correspondent for the Jerusalem Post, Khaled Abu Toameh, spoke to the group about the REAL situation with the Palestinians today, explaining what was actually going down on the ground in the Palestinian Authority and breaking down the political situation between Hamas and Fatah (and the Israeli and international reaction to it). On the subject of Palestinians, Itamar Marcus next showed a presentation about what happens within the Palestinian media. Marcus is the executive director of Palestinian Media Watch, an Israeli non-profit organization that monitors and exposes the hatred and indoctrination within the Palestinian media on a day-to-day basis. After dinner, the group had a chance to unwind during a Krav Maga session with expert Moshe Katz, who taught the participants this amazing Israeli martial art. The students trained with each other and learned different moves from Moshe, who is an experienced martial arts expert and holds a black belt in Judo.

Tomorrow we depart for the Dead Sea. “Sea” you later!!!

Magnificent Monday

Fellows visit the bedside of SACH patients being treated at Wolfson hospital.



Fellows play with SACH patients at the SACH house in Azur. There were 4 children in the house and two at the hospital. The group had lunch with the children after singing and dancing up an appetite.



Fellows posing for a group picture outside the solar panel display at the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot. The Fellows heard from senior scientists at the institute and got an up-close look into the newest and most advanced innovations in the physical sciences today.


On Monday Hasbara took an exciting trip to Tel Aviv and Rehovot to learn about some of the great contributions organizations and institutions are making to Israeli society and the rest of the world. Our first stop was Wolfson Hospital in Tel Aviv where we watched a video about Save a Child’s. Save a Child’s Heart is an Israeli humanitarian aid organization that brings children from third world countries and Israeli doctors perform heart surgery on the children. These are children that would otherwise not have access to any treatment. We had the opportunity to speak directly with one of the pediatric heart surgeons and we visited the children who are in the hospital.

Afterwards, we visited the Save a Child’s Heart house in Tel Aviv. The Save a Child’s Heart house is where the children who are receiving surgery live during their time in Israel. We had a great time playing and dancing with the kids. We stayed for pizza and ate lunch with them.

Finally, we made our last stop of the day at the Weizmann Institute. Upon our arrival we watched a short film about The Weizmann Institute. We learnt that it is an interdisciplinary research and education institution that has made huge contributions to the fields of genetics, agriculture, environmental sustainability, and other areas of science. We visited The Weizmann Institute’s museum and saw exhibits, giving us a hands on approach to physics. It also gave us the opportunity to enjoy the sun as this is the only open air museum in the world. At last, we saw The Weizmann Institute’s solar panel field and heard from an expert on solar energy. This was a great segway into the Hasbara staff talking to the students about Hasbara’s new campaign, Think Green, Think Israel. The campaign highlights Israel’s technological contributions to the field of environmental sustainability.

By the end of the day we were exhausted! Yet, we were equipped with experiences and knowledge to bring back to campus.

An Awesome Week Ahead

Campus Coordinator Jenn Cogan teaches a part of "Answering the Most Difficult Questions" to the Hasbara Fellows in the Old City of Jerusalem.



Shavua Tov! This week sure did start off right, with an interestingly diverse line-up of speakers and activities ahead of us. On Sunday morning, the group reconvened in the Old City to meet with Risa Zoll, spokeswoman for B’Tzelem, the Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. Risa gave the group an interestingly different perspective on the Arab-Israel conflict, speaking about the Israeli army’s repressive actions toward the Palestinian population in the disputed territories – let me tell you, she woke them up!!! Students had a chance to hear the far left’s opinions about Israeli policy, and some of them even took up the opportunity to debate and question the legitimacy of B’Tzelem’s reports.

Later, the group heard from Dr. David Luchins, professor of Political Science at Touro College in New York, who spoke to the group about the upcoming 2008 US elections, focusing on the importance of what candidates are right for the Jewish people and for Israel in the upcoming years.

After lunch, Jerusalem Post reporter Gil Hoffman spoke to the group about the Israeli internal political situation, and described the key players currently playing on the field. Hoffman gave the group a rundown of the current politics of Israel, focusing on key issues such as the Winograd Report and last summer’s war in Lebanon. Before dinner, the Hasbara Fellowships staff led a session on “Answering the Most Difficult Questions”, in which participants were given a breakdown of the anti-Israel issues on campus and the Hasbara Fellowships framework for how to deal with the key issues and points within them. In the evening, the group sat down to desert (popsicles) and a movie, “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West”: not the usual pick, but still a vital must-see. After the film, “Obsession” director Wayne Kopping spoke to the group about the importance of the topic and the threat that radical Islam poses to our fundamental way of life, and answering questions about how to deal with the issue back on campus.

To the North we go!

Early Wednesday morning, the group departed for the North, on the way stopping at various strategic sites, being guided by tour educator Zev Jacobson. Stopping points included Latrun (the military museum), Alfei Menashe (having lunch overlooking the central coast of Israel), and Givat Chaviva, where they met and spoke with journalist and peace activist Lydia Eisenberg, who broke down for them the lives of Israeli Arabs within Israel since 1948 and 1967. Lydia then guided the group on a bus-tour of the Arab village of Barta’a, which was divided when Israel took control of the West Bank after the Six Day War in 1967; she explained how the lives of those living on the respective sides changed over the years and how they view themselves today. Before evening, the bus made its way through the Hula Valley on its way to the Kinar Hotel on the Kineter, where the group enjoyed a scrumptious buffet. At night, the participants shared their thoughts about their individual campuses, after which they hung out (but not too much – they needed to catch up on sleep for the next day).

On Thursday, the group continued touring in the North, where they had the opportunity to participate in the “Livnot U’Lhibanot” Project, for which they physically helped rebuild destructed buildings and walls in the ancient Jewish town of Tzfat. Students got dirty carrying buckets of cement, lifting stones, and driving wheelbarrows. Later, the group headed to the northernmost Israeli town of Metulla, where they stood on the edges of the Israeli-Lebanese border, and met with active IDF soldiers who spoke about their experiences on the front lines.

We then headed to Emek HaBacha (the Valley of Tears) and Mount Ben Tal, where Zev Jacobson explained the Syrian-Israeli situation throughout the 1967 and 1973 wars. After the group saw the documentary short-film at Emek HaBacha, which showed real video and audio of tank radio conversations during the 1973 War, Zev explained the importance of the Golan Heights to Israel’s security and strategic military policy. At night, the group enjoyed another delectable dinner at the Kinar Hotel, after which they met on the beach of the Kinneret for a bonfire-type hangout (without the fire – or bon – of course).

On Friday morning, the group learned from Campus Coordinators Elran Tsabag and Jonathan Cohen about how to build a proper Israel group and utilize the media in effective pro-Israel advocacy on campus, before departing off to their free weekends in various places around Israel.

Shabbat Shalom!





Students learn form tour educator Zev Jacobson during their visit to Laturn.

Fellows helping rebuild the North during their visit to Livnot U'lhibanot.

Welcome Hasbara Fellows

Last Monday night, sixteen excited students geared up for the best two weeks of their life! They were escorted into the Old City of Jerusalem by the amazing staff, who hosted them for dinner and broke down the structure of the program during orientation.

The next morning, the participants regrouped in the Old City for ice-breakers, the Hasbara Fellowships premier advocacy session, “Communicating for Israel,” and sessions by Rabbi Ken Spiro on the History of the Land and State of Israel.