Day 7 - May 20th Trip

Today we began our day with a class taught by Natalie Menaged called Answering the Most Difficult Questions. She taught us the ways to address the most common anti Israel topics many students may face back on campus. After her class we heard from Jessica Montell, executive director of B'Tselem: The Israeli Information Center for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories. Ms. Montell spoke with us about human rights issues in Gaza and the West Bank. After lunch we returned and heard from Dovid Goldstein. The class was full of laughs and very meaningful for many of the students.

Following a short break Itamar Marcus the director of Palestinian Media Watch joined us and spoke to us about PMW and their monitoring of Anti Semetic and anti-Israel propaganda. Before dinner we heard from one of the campus coordinators on how to build up the leadership and organizational skills of our Israel groups on campus. After a free dinner in the Old City three of our staffers role-played as anti-Israel speakers and we were able to try out some of the tools we have been taught.

Day 6 - May 20th Trip

Monday morning we spend our time volunteering with Livnot Ulhibanot, an organization of volunteers helping to rebuild the north of Israel. Many of us got messy painting the Synagouge that also functions as a bomb shelter. After cleaning up we traveled to Metulla, watched a film OZ 77 and then took a wonderful hike where we ended up at a waterfall. Once everyone finished the hike we headed back into Jerusalem for a free night.

Day 4 and 5 - May 20th Trip

Saturday night the students returned from their free Shabbats. They spent their Shabbats doing many different things, some stayed in the Jerusalem area and stayed with friends, other went into Tel Aviv to relax and sunbathe while others went to visit family all over the country.

Sunday morning we woke up early and had a class taught by Ken Spiro. Mr. Spiro taught the second part of a class we had earlier in the week, History of the State of Israel. Spiro is an expert on many topics like, the roots of Arab/Muslim conflict with the Western world, Anti Semitism, and Jewish and Israeli history. Along with his talk he gave us dozens of book recommendations.

After the class we got back on the bus and headed north. We stopped at Latrun and the Alfei Menashe overlook. In Latrun there were many pictures taken on the tanks after learning about their roles in Israel's military history. After lunch at the Alfei Menashe overlook our tour guide, Yisrael Neeman continued his talk about Israel's military history.

We later went over to visit Lydia Aisenberg at Givat Chaviva. Givat Chaviva is a kibbutz where people from all different backgrounds, Israelis, Israeli-Arabs, Palestinians, soldiers and students come together for the purpose of dialogue and understanding. Lydia is responsible for the creation of the International Department at Givat Chaviva and has been working there for more then fifteen years. She took us on a tour into Barta and showed us a city that is split by the green line, part of the city is in Israel proper and then rest is in the West Bank. After our packed day we checked into the hotel.

Day 3 - May 20th Trip

Today in the morning we heard Khaled Adu Toameh, an award winning independant Israeli-Arab journalist. He has been covering Palestinian issues in the West Bank and Gaza for over 2 decades. He spoke out against the lack of free speech and press within the PA controlled areas and its effect on the foreign press. He now writes for the Jerusalem Post, as does our next speaker, Gil Hoffman. is the chief political corespondent and analyst for the Jersualem Post. He gave us a behind the scenes look at the intrigue and humor in the Israeli political arena. Now we are heading off to our Shabbat plans and will be back together tomorrow night.

Day 2 - May 20th Trip

Our second day was a full schedule that kept us on our feet. After a morning class with Natalie, Communicating for Israel we had a discussion about our campuses. In the discussion we addressed many problems that we face on our campuses and talked about possible resolutions. After lunch in the Old City we went on a bus tour that kept us moving and taking pictures. Yisrael Neeman gave us an in depth History of the land of Israel, followed by Krav Maga. But do not worry all the students promised to use what they learned for good.

Day 1 - May 20th Trip

After arriving in Israel Wednesday afternoon we all traveled into the Old City for orientation and dinner. Natalie, Hasbara's managing director, spoke with us about all the exciting things we will be doing, people we will be hearing, and opportunities in front of us. In order to get to know one another we played some fun games that produced many laughs and a good time. To continue the good time we quickly checked into our hotels and then many students and the campus coordinators meet up and hung out by Ben Yehudah with many other Israelis watching football (soccer).

Day 5 - Meeting Jerusalem Post Reporters

We drove to the Old City where we heard from Yaakov Katz from the Jerusalem Post, who spoke about Israeli Defence and Security. The topics ranged from kidnapped soldier Gilaad Shalit to the Iranian quest for nuclear weapons. Then we heard from Khaled Abu Toameh who also writes for the Jerusalem Post who spoke about Palestinian Society Under Hamas. Khaled enlightened us with the internal problems of the Palestinian Authority and his personal story of working for Yasser Arafat’s newspaper. After an informative morning we were given the afternoon off to prepare for our free Shabbat.

Day 4 - Continuing the Strategic Tour of the North

After an amazing night in Chispin we had breakfast and got on the bus to start our activity filled day. We drove to Kiryat Shimona where we paint a bomb shelter with Livanot Ulhibanot in an effort to rebuild Northern Israel. Then we headed to Metulla where we learned from Yisrael Neeman atop a look out point into Lebanon. Afterwards we drove to the border fence between Israel and Lebanon where we witnessed UN vehicles drive by in the distance. We ate a packed lunch were we were able to talk to soldiers who were on break from patrolling the border. They shared there experiences and were kind enough to tell us about the security concerns they deal with. Then we headed to a Oz 77 where we watched a documentary about the Yom Kippur war which gave a personal account of what the soldiers experienced. Later we went on a water hike in the Golan Heights. Finally we finished our fun day with a ride back to our accommodations in Jerusalem.

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Day 3 - Our Strategic Tour to the North

We woke up to a very warm day in Jerusalem where we departed for the Old City where we heard a class, History of the State of Israel by Yisrael Neeman. Directly after, we departed on our trip to the North. On our way we stopped at Latrun which is the largest tank museum in the world. We were able to view tanks dating back to the British rule and the newest Israel tank known as the “Merkava”. We drove to Alfei Menashe where the we were able to see the security fence.After we drove to Givat Chaviva where we heard Lydia Aisenberg who educated us about the security fence as well as its impacts. Lydia then joined us on the bus to give us a tour of the Arab city of Barta which is split between Israel and the Palestinian Authority. We were able to meet an Arab-Israeli teenager who answered our questions on his views of the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Later we drove to our accommodations in Chispin where we enjoyed a delicious dinner. Finally we sat under the stars playing the guitar and schmoozing about all the things we observed.

Day 2 - Our Activism Begins

On the second day of Hasbara Fellowships, we got right into the bread and butter of the program. After breakfast, we headed into the Old City where we had our first class¸ Communicating for Israel led by campus coordinator Elysha Ames. We were introduced to Hasbara Fellowship’s advocacy strategy. Then, historical and political analyst, Yisrael Neeman taught History of the Land. Yisrael gave a brief historical overview of the land of Israel since the time of Abraham. After lunch, Itamar Marcus from Palestinian Media Watch spoke to us about the incitement of hatred towards Israel in the Palestinian media. Itamar brought clips from children television shows, music videos, etc. Afterwards, we did krav maga, an Israeli martial art that the IDF is trained in. After dinner, we ended the day by hearing from Yohanan Plesner, a member of Knesset from the Kadimah party. Yohanan spoke to us about the current situation and answered all of our questions. It was a fantastic first day, giving us a firm foundation in which to launch into our trip up North.

Hasbara Canada Has Arrived!

We landed in Israel, grabbed our luggage and hopped on the bus on our way to the Old City in Jerusalem. Happy to finally be in Israel, we arrived in the Old City where we ate brunch and went through orientation. We had a few minutes to explore the Old City and get acquainted with the area. Then we did some ice breakers, taking an opportunity to learn each other’s names. Afterwards, we hopped back on the bus for a bus-tour of the city of Jerusalem. We had the opportunity to visit incredible overlooks of the holy city, including Mount Scopus. Finally, exhausted and ready for a shower, we arrived to our respective hotels for some down time. After some much needed rest and relaxation, the entire group met up for our first session, What’s Up On Your Campus. The session was led by campus coordinator, Sammy Katz. We talked about each of our campus environments and learned that we each come from unique campus cultures. Everyone who was still up for a little adventure went out for a night on the town. It was an excellent first day and a great way to start our time in Israel.