Since 2000, Birthright has provided free 10-day educational and cultural trips to Israel for more than 500,000 Jews ages 18-26. Niche Birthright trips like the LGBTQ trip ensure that all eligible participants feel they have a place in the often transformative experience of discovering Israel. Bex Zank: “I came to Israel in attempt to get […]
Ellis Furman, a participant on Canada Israel Experience’s first LGBTQ Birthright Israel trip in June, says that the trip was the first step of her journey to explore how her Jewishness, queerness and passion for activism can intertwine. One month ago, I spoke with my madricha (leader) on the phone, before I embarked on Canada […]
First-Ever Canadian LGBTQ Birthright Israel Trip Wants Participants to ‘Embrace Jewish State as Region’s Beacon of Acceptance’ The first-ever Canadian LGBTQ Birthright Israel trip wants participants to “embrace and be proud of the Jewish state as a beacon — the only openly country in the Middle East that accepts the gay community,” one of the organizers told […]
Simultaneous campaigns to both traditional, religious tourists and the global gay community isn’t a problem, Tourism Ministry says: ‘Contradictions make us unique.’ Israel has retained a new public relations agency in the United States and is embarking on a plan to tap two new markets – American Hispanics and gays. MWW PR, which represents blue […]
Zoe Schlanger, a young Newsweek writer, took part in Birthright’s LGBT trip to Israel, but didn’t go on the trip a blank slate. “My image of Israel has been shaped by an anti-war upbringing and by learning my trade in newsrooms where stories about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict routinely feature a lot of dead Palestinian kids.” What did […]
A group of lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Jews departed from New York to Israel on Monday as a part of one of Birthright’s niche-trips. Birthright LGBT group in Israel. (photo credit: Hannah Simpson) Each year, Birthright organizes around 10 similar trips for the LGBTQ community. The initiative begun eight years ago, following high […]
UChicago gay alum Jonathan Paul Katz explores Birthright Israel trip advertisements and “sexy hasbara:” could it seem that we are going through a “bro” phase in Jewish media? After I weighed in on the brouhaha over racist emails at the Alpha Epsilon Pi chapter at the University of Chicago, I arrived on campus at my […]
Students and young adults now have a new travel opportunity to Israel- in an LGBT vibe: Experience the energy of Tel Aviv’s legendary Pride Parade and celebrate Israel’s diversity on LGBTQ Israeli Pride Experience trip on the free trip of a lifetime! In summer 2016, LGBTQ Israeli Pride Experience will run for the second year in […]
Birthright Israel Excel aims to identify future leaders within Jewish communities from across the United States. Taglit-Birthright brought together a delegation of students from some of the United States’ most prestigious universities on Wednesday to learn about improving Israel’s image on the global stage. Students from Princeton, Stanford, Yale and, Pennsylvania State participated in the […]