Naomi Chazan Fellowship
The New Israel Fund Australia has announced the Naomi Chazan Fellowship a unique program for young community members in their 20s and 30s.
Last year’s participants with Naomi Chazan
The Fellowship runs for ten months and brings young leaders to Israel for a ten-day program to experience the full spectrum of the social justice and human rights movement in Israel.
On their return, Fellows participate in leadership and professional development training, as well as run programs for the Jewish community to share what they learnt.
Executive Director Liam Getreu said: “We’re proud to be building the capacity of our community – upskilling young Jews who have a passion for Israel, and fierce sense of social justice, and bringing their voices into the Jewish community.
“This program is for people who have a deep love of Israel, but also understand it is a challenging place. There’s no other program that brings young Australian Jews up close and personal with the complexities of ArabIsraeli society, the fissures between Jewish and Palestinian society, or the very difficult questions of civil and human rights in the West Bank.”
In Israel, Fellows will meet with journalists, lawyers, activists and politicians. Last year’s sessions included a tour to Hebron with Breaking the Silence, meetings with refugee rights activists, a tour of an unrecognised Bedouin village in the Negev, and a panel discussion about LGBT issues in Jerusalem.
As they did last year, the Australian Fellowship cohort will be joined by participants on a parallel Fellowship program from the New Israel Fund in the United Kingdom.
Getreu added: “The Fellowship is a holistic point of engagement for young Jews with Israel. Today, we know that supporting Israel means more than just attending Yom Ha’atzmaut parties. By fostering a meaningful connection with Israel, which fuses together tikkun olamand Zionist values, the Fellowship is redefining the lens through which young people see Israel.”
Previous Fellowship participants have run Shabbat dinners, written opeds for Jewish media, hosted community gatherings, and are planning exciting new programs in 2017, including a major initiative around Pesach themes of freedom and liberation.
Applications for the Naomi Chazan Fellowship close on March 31st. More details at www.nif.org.au/fellowship
This is the Naomi who referred to a violent Arab riot as “a peaceful demonstration.”
This is the New Israel Fund that indeed wants “a new Israel,” that is, a non-Jewish one.
These are the people who know what “new” is: they use it all the time; George Orwell called it “Newspeak.”