FFIPP-I Summer 2013 Academic Delegation to Gaza

Co-sponsors: FFIPP-International and the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, GCMHP

Dates: June 17 - 26, 2013
For faculty and students from around the globe.

The Delegation will be hosted by the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, GCMHP
Faculty and Students for Israeli-Palestinian Peace-International, FFIPP-I, is now accepting applications for its summer educational delegation to the Gaza Strip, Palestine. This unique program offers an intimate, intensive, and experiential education on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and its people’s struggle for freedom and justice.
The delegation consists of 9 busy days of traveling around Gaza and meeting with leaders from grassroots organizations, research centers, and human rights organizations. Meetings may include the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, the YMCA, the Bader Society for Community Development, the Women’s Affairs Center, and faculty and students from Islamic University of Gaza, Al-Azhar University – Gaza, Al-Quds Open University and University College of Applied Sciences
 
Due to the constantly changing and, at times, risky conditions in Gaza, only applicants with demonstrated maturity, flexibility, high motivation, and understanding of the situation in Gaza will be considered.
 
Application Process:
1) Apply by downloading an APPLICATION and send it with a $50 application fee to FFIPP-USA, P.O.Box 2091, Amherst MA 01004. You can also email your application to info@ffipp.org  or fax it to 413-586-9647 (c/o Kris). You can use the donate button at the FFIPP website to pay the application fee. 
2) Sign and send or fax the WAVER AND DELEGATION AGREEMENT.  



Cost: Faculty: $1200; Students: $800. Airfare, food and other living expenses are NOT covered by FFIPP-I.
Deadline to Apply  : May 22, 2013
 
Accepted participants are encouraged to fundraise from their communities.
For more information email us at info@ffipp.org or call us at 413-992-7355

FFIPP-I Summer 2013 Educational Tours/Delegations to Palestine/Israel

For international students.

Dates: June 1 - June 6, 2013

Participate on a daily basis or for a whole tour of 7 days. The precise itinerary will be determined at a later date and will be similar to previous educational tours.
Cost:  $175 per day.
FFIPP will provide transportation, guides, lodging, and arrange all meetings. Airfare, and food are NOT covered by FFIPP.
 
Example: Itinerary of Summer 2010 Educational Tour/Delegation
* Meeting with Johara Baker, MIFTAH
* Hebrew University meetings with Professor Daphna Golan, Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Yonathan Mizrachi, an archaeologist
* Yad Vashem with Amos Goldberg, Professor of History, Hebrew University
* Ayn Karim, and the destroyed village of Suba
* Briefing at International Peace and Cooperation Center (IPCC) in Jerusalem
* Tour of "Greater Jerusalem" with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)
* Ramallah, Meeting with Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the BDS campaign
* Workshop and meeting with students at the Al Quds University in East Jerusalem
* Briefing at the Ibdaa Community Center at Dheieshe refugee camp
* The village of Bilin
* The village of Beit Omar
* Hebron
* Tent of Nations, Nahalin
* Tel-Aviv University, meeting with Professor Yehouda Shenhav and with students
* A meeting with Dr. Jad Isaac the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem
* Jaffa and Tel-Aviv
* Ramallah, meeting at the Palestinian Hydrology Group and the Palestinian Working Women Society
* Birzeit University meeting with Professor Salah Jawad
* Um al Faham, Israel
* Haifa, meeting with Juliano Mer Khamis, director of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin

Application process

1) Apply by downloading Application and send it with a $50 application fee to ffipp-usa, P.O.Box 2091, Amherst MA 01004. You can also email your application and use the donate button at the FFIPP website to pay the application fee.

2) Sign and email or fax the Waver/Agreement.

Download a Summer 13 Brochure.
For more information, call FFIPP-USA, 413-992-7355 or email us at: info@ffipp.org. Fax: 413-586-9647 c/o Kris

 FFIPP-I Summer 2012 Educational Delegation to Gaza

Co-sponsors: FFIPP-International and the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, GCMHP

Dates: June 13th to June 22nd, 2012

The delegation included faculty and students from the University of Vermont, Harvard University, Ithaca College, University of California Berkeley and Cambridge University in the UK.

The delegation met with:

Palestinian Non-Governmental Organization (PNGO): an NGO established in 1993 during OSLO.  They work on a variety of different project such as lobbying for laws pertaining to agriculture, labor, women’s rights, and disabled rights.  In addition, they have a family reunification program for Palestinian families separated in Gaza and the West Bank.

Women’s Affairs Center (WAC): the organization’s goal is to empower Palestinian women and fight for women’s rights.  They run various training programs such as teaching women an employable skill or trade, learning how to start a business, and providing grants to start a business.  They raise awareness about women’s issues through publishing reports.  In addition, they held a film festival on women’s rights in 2009.

United Nations Development Project (UNDP): this UN organization works for the economic and social development of Gaza through internationally funded projects to build houses, build and staff schools, and provide medical care.

St. Porfiros Church: a Greek orthodox church built in 407 ad.  The church was used to shelter Muslim and Christian civilians during Cast Lead.

Near East Council of Churches: the council was founded after the 1948 war and offers health and education services to refugees.  They have three health clinics in Gaza and they offer vocational training programs.

Qattan Childrens Center: established in 2005, the center is a creative learning space for Palestinian children.  They have a library (30,000 library materials are checked out each month), a computer center, and a space for children to create art.  The center is open and free to children of all ages.

Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR): established in 1995, PCHR is the leading human rights organization in the occupied territories.  Their goal is document human rights abuses of both Palestinians and Israelis.  Their primary activities are conducting field work to document abuses and providing legal counseling and intervention in Israeli and Palestinian courts.

World Health Organization (WHO):  started in 1994 during OSLO, the WHO is charged with coordinating the healthcare system in Gaza including building clinics and securing the necessary medical supplies from abroad.

United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF): the goal of UNICEF is to provide adequately for Palestinian children in all areas of life: water/sanitation, heath, education, protection, food security, and shelter.

New: FFIPP-I Summer 2012 Educational Delegation to Gaza

Co-sponsors: FFIPP-International and the Gaza Community Mental Health Program, GCMHP

Dates: June 13th to June 22nd, 2012
For faculty and students from around the globe.

The Delegation will be hosted by the (co-sponsor) Gaza Community Mental Health Program, GCMHP
Faculty and Students for Israeli-Palestinian Peace-International, FFIPP-I, is now accepting applications for its summer educational delegation to the Gaza Strip, Palestine. This unique program offers an intimate, intensive, and experiential education on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and its people’s struggle for freedom and justice.
The delegation consists of 9 busy days of traveling around Gaza and meeting with leaders from grassroots organizations, research centers, and human rights organizations. Meetings may include the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme, the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organizations Network, the Palestinian Medical Relief Society, the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights, the YMCA, the Bader Society for Community Development, the Women’s Affairs Center, and faculty and students from Islamic University of Gaza, Al-Azhar University – Gaza, Al-Quds Open University and University College of Applied Sciences
 
Due to the constantly changing and, at times, risky conditions in Gaza, only applicants with demonstrated maturity, flexibility, high motivation, and understanding of the situation in Gaza will be considered.
 
Application Process:
1) Apply by downloading an Application and send it with a $50 application fee to FFIPP-USA, P.O.Box 2091, Amherst MA 01004. You can also email your application to info@ffipp.org  or fax it to 413-586-9647 (c/o Kris). You can use the donate button at the FFIPP website to pay the application fee. 
2) Sign and send or fax the Waiver and Internship Agreement.
 



Cost: $900. Airfare, food and other living expenses are NOT covered by FFIPP-I.
Deadline to Apply (extended to) : May 15, 2012
 
Accepted participants are encouraged to fundraise from their communities.
For more information email us at ffippusa@gmail.com or call us at 413-992-7355

Brochure

FFIPP-I Summer 2012 Educational Tours/Delegations to Palestine/Israel

For international students.

Dates: June 15 - June 21, 2012

Participate on a daily basis or for a whole tour of 7 days. The precise itinerary will be determined at a later date and will be similar to previous educational tours.
Cost:  $175 per day.
FFIPP will provide transportation, guides, lodging, and arrange all meetings. Airfare, and food are NOT covered by FFIPP.
 
Example: Itinerary of Summer 2010 Educational Tour/Delegation
* Meeting with Johara Baker, MIFTAH
* Hebrew University meetings with Professor Daphna Golan, Professor Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Yonathan Mizrachi, an archaeologist
* Yad Vashem with Amos Goldberg, Professor of History, Hebrew University
* Ayn Karim, and the destroyed village of Suba
* Briefing at International Peace and Cooperation Center (IPCC) in Jerusalem
* Tour of "Greater Jerusalem" with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)
* Ramallah, Meeting with Omar Barghouti, a founding member of the BDS campaign
* Workshop and meeting with students at the Al Quds University in East Jerusalem
* Briefing at the Ibdaa Community Center at Dheieshe refugee camp
* The village of Bilin
* The village of Beit Omar
* Hebron
* Tent of Nations, Nahalin
* Tel-Aviv University, meeting with Professor Yehouda Shenhav and with students
* A meeting with Dr. Jad Isaac the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem
* Jaffa and Tel-Aviv
* Ramallah, meeting at the Palestinian Hydrology Group and the Palestinian Working Women Society
* Birzeit University meeting with Professor Salah Jawad
* Um al Faham, Israel
* Haifa, meeting with Juliano Mer Khamis, director of the Freedom Theatre in Jenin

Application process

1) Apply by downloading Application and send it with a $50 application fee to ffipp-usa, P.O.Box 2091, Amherst MA 01004. You can also email your application and use the donate button at the FFIPP website to pay the application fee.

2) Sign and email or fax the Waiver/Agreement.

Download a brochure.
For more information, call FFIPP-USA, 413-992-7355 or email us at: info@ffipp.org. Fax: 413-586-9647 c/o Kris.

Past members of FFIPP Educational Tours have said:

"I was fortunate enough to participate in the FFIPP orientation tour this past summer...I wanted to see as much of Israel and the West Bank as possible in less than two weeks, and I cannot believe how much I saw with the FFIPP tour. We had five or six meetings with different interesting people every day, and we toured around the entire area."
Dina M. Shahrokhi, Vice-President, Student Government, The University of Texas at Dallas, Summer 2010 FFIPP Educational Tour

The first hand exposure to many different issues opened my eyes in a way that textbooks and newspapers simply cannot. I now feel that I have a much greater understanding of many topic, specifically the security fence/separation wall, the ideological belief in settlements, check points, access to water and education, refugees, housing demolitions, the effects of BDS and the division of Jerusalem. Everything we saw increased my knowledge, but the experiences that gave me the most unique insights included speaking to Dr. Kevorkian about the effects of militarization of women, the politics surrounding Palestinian cities like Um El Fahem and the effects of a divided Palestinian Authority. I was continuously humbled by what the people endure, their compassion and generosity. The people we met believed in the power of words to share their experiences in order to help create peace.
Julie Kuras, Carleton University, Canada, Summer 2010 FFIPP Educational Tour

" I cannot in my lifetime tell you how meaningful to me were my days with all the brave Israelis and Palestinians I met and heard.  What a deepening experience for me.  I have been studying the Middle East for half a century, living in it for 20 years, but this experience in Israel and the West Bank really made a profound impression."
John Livingston, William Paterson University, Professor of History

The program in summer 2008 was outstanding in its variety of experiences and
places visited and hosts, who gave explanations. High points were the
conference at AL QUDS University, the tour of Hebron, Nabuls and Bilin...It was a remarkable, unique and moving experience, an emotional roller coaster at times.
Reinhard Mayer, Professor of German Wheaton College, Norton, MA

FFIPP 2009 Educational Tour/Delegation in Hebron

Past delegations visited: Birzeit University , Haifa University, Al-Najah University, Tel-Aviv University, Al-Quds University, Ben Gurion University, Arab-American University in Jenin, Hebrew University, Hebron University, Nazareth, Akka, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Jaffa, Lod, Shaknin, Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot, al-Ghabisiyya, Suhmata, Dheisheh refugee camp, Jewish Settlements in the West Bank, Bil’in, the separation wall, Jericho.

Discussions and meetings with academics and leaders. Past delegations met with: • Eyad el-Sarraj, Gaza Community Mental Health Program • Rochama Marton, Physician for Human Rights • Juliano Mer Khamis, Freedom Theatre • Ziad Abbas, Ibdaa, Dheisheh Refugee Camp • Saleh Abdel Jawad, Birzeit University • Moshe Zuckerman, Tel Aviv University • Salim Tamari, Birzeit University • Omar Barghouti  • Sari Bashi, Gisha • Salem Jubran, writer, editor, journalist • Norma Mosi, Zochrot • Ilan Pappe, University of Exeter • Isaac Ben Israel, Tel-Aviv University • Azmi Beshara, Knesset member • Yuval Steinitz, Knesset member • Yassar Arafat • Saeb Erekat, Palestine Authority • Ami Ayalon, Kenesset member • Uri Avnery, former Kenesset member • Mustafa Barghouthi • Sari Nusseibeh, President of Al Quds University in East Jerusalem • Hanan Ashrawi • Jad Issac, ARIJ • Johara Baker, MIFTAH • Daphna Golan, Hebrew University •  Nadera Shalhoub-Kevorkian, Hebrew University • Yonathan Mizrachi  •  Yehouda Shenhav, Tel-Aviv University

Invitation to join the FFIPP Delegations/tours from Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Prof. Yehuda Elkana

Dear Colleague,
The Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace-International (FFIPP-I) is an International network of faculty, with an affiliated international student network, whose objectives are an end to the occupation and a just peace between Israel and Palestine. The networks include faculty and students from universities in America, Europe, Palestine and Israel.
Among the efforts to achieve its objectives, FFIPP-I has organized seven fact-finding delegations of faculty and students to Israel/Palestine. Almost unanimously, the participants’ experience was ‘‘extraordinary’’, ‘‘once-in-a-lifetime experience’’, ‘‘lifechanging’’. All, including the experts among the participants, said they had learned a tremendous amount from the trip.
The objectives of FFIPP’s delegations, however, are not only to educate the educators and students, but also to encourage the participants to become more involved in future activities, and to improve coordination among existing academic groups. The critical situation in Israel/Palestine and the region led us to call on faculty and students worldwide to join the next delegation. We want a large delegation that will attract attention to the increasingly difficult situation of the Palestinians under occupation in Gaza and the West Bank, and facilitate coordination for larger future campaigns.

We hope you will join the next delegation, and urge your colleagues to join too.

Sincerely,
Dr. Eyad El-Sarraj, President FFIPP- International
Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Co-chair Advisory Board FFIPPI
Prof. Yehuda Elkana, Co-chair Advisory Board FFIPPI

Invitation to join the delegation from Noam Chomsky
Dear Colleague,
FFIPP delegations to Israel/Palestine have helped educating many educators about the real situation in Palestine/Israel and, perhaps more importantly, they have served as a mobilizing vehicle for an academia-centered international movement to end the occupation. I strongly urge you to join the next delegation.’’
-Noam Chomsky

Palestinian students learn photography near Hebron with FFIPP 2009 delegation member, Donna Bassin

What participants of past FFIPP educational tours say about their experiences:

I cannot in my lifetime tell you how meaningful to me were my days with all the brave Israelis and Palestinians I met and heard.  What a deepening experience for me.  I have been studying the Middle East for half a century, living in it for 20 years, but this experience in Israel and the West Bank really
made a profound impression.  I will have much rich material to inform my lectures on the struggle in my modern Middle East course next spring semester.    
John Livingston, William Paterson University, Professor of History. Summer 2009 delegation.

The program in summer 2008 was outstanding in its variety of experiences and
places visited and hosts, who gave explanations. High points were the
conference at AL QUDS University, the tour of Hebron, Nabuls and Bilin.

It was a remarkable, unique and moving experience, an emotional roller
coaster at times. We were often faced with a kind of cognitive
dissonance. Although we all knew and could anticipate the information
we were given by various guides, government officials, activists in
peace groups, I think none of us could have fully imagined what we
experienced by being there. The courage and persistence of the
activists for peace in both Palestinian and Israeli peace groups is
inspiring and the only real hope to counter the contradictions and
dilemmas we encountered.

Reinhard Mayer, Professor of German Wheaton College, Norton, MA

"The FFIPP tour early in July 2007 was a rich, wonderfully organized
introduction to the present situation in Israel/Palestine, remarkable
for the number of places and people we got to see and listen to in a
brief five days. Whether we were walking around the old Palestinian
cultural center in Yafo, or touring the refugee camp of Deheisha,
outside Bethlehem, or touring the edges of Jerusalem to see the extent
of various settlements' encroachment on territory in the West Bank and
the obstacles to circulation introduced by the Wall, or being given an
overview of the relation between (Jewish-Israeli) Upper Nazareth and
(Arab-Israeli) Lower Nazareth, or listening to presentations by
informed Israelis and Arabs, I was struck by the energy and clarity of
our guides, as well as by the coherence of the picture of the situation
on the ground that emerged. It's one thing to read about that situation
in news reports or books and quite a nother to see it vividly unfolded
before your eyes. I would recommend the tour to any interested American
faculty and students."

Neil Hertz, English and humanities professor emeritus, Johns
Hopkins University.

Itinerary of the FFIPP Educational Tour to Palestine/Israel, Summer 2009

Day 1, June 28, 2009
* Hebrew university meeting with Daphna Golan, Professor of Law at Hebrew University, and Coordinator, Minerva Center for Human Rights Internship Program. Dudy Tzfati a peace activist who teaches Genetics at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Students who work at the Minerva Center for Human Rights. Yonathan Mizrachi, an archaeologist and a founder of the archaeological tour From Shiloah to Silwan: An Alternative Archaeological Tour of Ancient Jerusalem
* Yad Vashem, the Jewish people's living memorial to the Holocaust, and the world center for documentation, research, education and commemoration of the Holocaust
*Ayn Karim, and the destroyed village of Suba

Day 2, June 29, 2009
*A Meeting with Jeff Halper, Director of The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, ICAHD
* Tour of East Jerusalem
* Visit to the settlement of Maleh Edomim
* Anata to the house of Salim Shawamreh, a Palestinian whose house has been demolished four times by the Israeli authorities and who is still unable to inhabit his rebuilt home
* The village of Bilin

Day 3, June 30, 2009
* The city Sakhnin
* The destroyed village of Kafr Bir'im
* The city of Akka
* A Meeting in Haifa with representatives from the  youth organization Baladna, the feminist organization Isha L'Isha and a Palestinian student leader from Haifa University

Day 4, July1, 2009
* Hebron and a tour of the city by members of the Temporary International Presence in the city of Hebron (TIPH), who later explained their presence and work
* A meeting with Dr. Jad Isaac the Director General of the Applied Research Institute Jerusalem (ARIJ) in Bethlehem
*  Dheisheh refugee camp

Day 5, July2, 2009
* Tour of the Separation Wall
*  Ramallah. A Meeting with representatives from the Palestinian Hydrology Group and the Palestinian Working Women Society

Itinerary of the FFIPP Educational Tour to Palestine/Israel, Summer 2008

Day 1, June 30, 2008

Visit to The Ghetto Fighters' House – Itzhak Katzenelson Holocaust and Jewish Resistance Heritage Museum, and The Center for Humanistic Education, Kibbutz Lohamei HaGetaot
Visit to the remains of the destroyed 1948 village of Suhmata
Visit to the town of Karmiel and the Bedouin enclave in it
Visit to the town of Shaknin ( dinner and music at the freedom tent)
Sleep in Kibbutz Gan Shemuel

Day 2, July 1, 2008

Visit to Jericho and meeting with Saeb Erekat, chief negotiator for the Palestine Authority
Visit to Ramallah and meetings with:
Dr. Luay Shabaneh, President, Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics
Khaleda Jarar, member of the Palestinian National Assembly.
Dr Allam Jarrar, of the Palestinian Medical Relief Society
Visit to the village Bilin and meeting with members of the village Popular Committee
Sleep in Jerusalem

Day 3, 4, July 2,3, 2008

Conference at Al Quds University
First Day

The Gaza Blockade:
Eyad el-Sarraj, President of FFIPP-International, Founder and Director of Gaza Community Mental Health Program
The Architecture of Occupation:
Eyal Weizman, University of London
The Sociocide of the Palestinian Society:
Saleh Abdel Jawad, Professor of Political Science, Birzeit University
Solidarity and Political Activity:
Salim Tamari, director of the Institute for Jerusalem Studies, Board Member of FFIPP, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, Birzeit University
Gaza Video Conference
Issam Younis, Director of Al Mizan Center for Human Rights, Gaza
Dr. Albert Ahela, Health provider, Gaza

Second Day

Moderator: Sari Bashi, Director of Gisha
European Union Policy on the Palestine/Israel:
Eric Rouleau, former bureau editor of Middle East for Le Monde, former France Ambassador to Morocco and Tunisia
US Policy in the Middle East - Challenging Pessimism:
Richard Falk, FFIPP Advisory Board, Professor Emeritus at Princeton University, Visiting Distinguished Professor in Global and International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara
Discussant: Phyllis Bennis, Institute of Policy Studies
Sleep in Jerusalem

Day 5, July 4, 2008

Visit to The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Jerusalem
Tour of the settlements around Jerusalem with the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD)
Sleep in Jerusalem

Day 6, July 5, 2008

Visit to Bethlehem and Dheisheh Refugee Camp.
Meeting with Ziad Abbas, co-director of Ibdaa Center
Attending a dance show and dinner at the Ibdaa Center
Sleep in Bethlehem

Day 7, July 6, 2008

Visit to Hebron including the Old city and the Ibrahimi Mosque in the Cave of the Patriarchs.
Visit a Palestinian family next to the settlement of Kiryat Arba
Sleep in Bethlehem

Day 8, July 7, 2008

Visit to the city Nablus
Meeting with the director of Project Hope
Visit to Askar Refugee Camp and a new theatre there.
Visit to the Old city of Nablus
Sleep in Jerusalem

Day 9, July 8, 2008

Meeting with Norma Mosi, deputy director of Zochrot in Tel-Aviv