Needs

Need / Opportunity

Since her inception, the State of Israel, a center of attraction to many religions and the only homeland for Jews who have been persecuted for millennia, has been attacked and maligned. Nowadays it has become the norm to apply baseless criticism and double standards when it comes to Israel and it is expected of the Jewish State to conduct herself like no other country would agree to behave. The animosity towards Israel is based on misinformation, deception, rewriting of history, and Jew hatred-anti-Semitic sentiments that have been filtering through media and educational institutions the world over, even reaching into high schools. This attitude and behavior toward Israelis stands diametrically opposite Western Values.

When Jewish and Non-Jewish youths enter universities such as UCLA, Berkeley, Northwestern, Yale, and more, they are often exposed to a plethora of negative information about Israel, Jews, their history, and the history of how their homeland came about, which can even include denial of the Holocaust in which 6 million Jews perished in the hands of the evil Nazis.

The extent to which the above has permeated our western culture mandates educating children of younger ages so that when they enter higher learning, they are more prepared and better informed to be able to question and respond to such inaccuracies. Through a hands-on program that enables middle-school-aged children to experience Israel first hand, students will gain much needed concrete knowledge of their heritage and the Jewish homeland, where western civilization was first practiced. Students will experience many aspects of Israel while touring the country, including interacting with Israeli students their age, engaging in cultural activities, and interacting with a variety of Israeli individuals & organizations. Furthermore, the youth will gain the opportunity to develop lasting relationships with their Israeli peers.

Israel needs to cultivate friendships for the long-term. While many in the non-Jewish community support Israel, given current cultural conditions in America, the non-Jewish community is becoming confused, leading to a division on this issue. The strongest relationships are built on truth, which is best delivered by seeing and believing. Non-Jewish youths need to get to know their commonality with the people and country of Israel. While the program “Birth Right” takes Jewish teens from all over the world to introduce them to the Jewish homeland, C.H.I.P focuses on bringing middle-school-aged children from outside the Jewish faith to Israel, to connect them to their Western heritage and building bonds of support.

Resources Needed:

Total of $450,000.

/ Travel expenses (airfare, tours, meals and accommodations) for 30 students and 8 adult chaperones.

/ Travel expenses (airfare, tours, meals and accommodations) for a film crew of 3-5 individuals, including an award-winning documentary filmmaker, to produce the documentary film capturing and promoting the experience of Whitwell middle school students, as well as advertising the C.H.I.P Educational Tours Project.

/ Travel expenses (airfare, tours, meals and accommodations) for project staff consisting of a director, an educator, and an assistant.

/ Resources to maintain a small support staff in Israel including a coordinator/assistant, a medic, security, guide, and educators, as well as expenses related to activities.

/ Resources for overhead costs including staff of a full-time director, a part-time assistant, a part-time coordinator living in Israel, a graphic designer to produce educational and promotional materials, computers and cell phones (2 each), printing and other administrative costs.

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