American Jews, Don’t Go on Birthright

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Aaron Freedman writes in the Jacobin about how Birthright trips to Israel manipulate Jewish identity into support for an apartheid state, and lists USCPR’s comprehensive resource about challenging apartheid tourism through ethical alternatives for travel to Palestine.

For those looking to see the reality of life in Palestine, the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) has a helpful list of morally responsible tours of all different styles. One, run by the UK-based Zaytoun, brings tourists to both help Palestinian olive farmers collect the annual harvest, and to offer “protective presence” in the face of Israeli military and settler harassment. Far more than any Birthright trip ever could, this truly embodies the spirit of socialist internationalism.