One of Israel's most successful initiatives peddling state propaganda has suffered a major blow following the decision by major donor, the Adelson Family Foundation, to pull millions of pounds from ...
www.middleeastmonitor.com
The news is likely to be welcomed by critics of "Birthright", who are increasingly vocal about its whitewashing of Israel's human rights abuse. Increasing numbers of young Americans are questioning the motives behind the all-expense paid trip to a country which human rights group have labelled an apartheid state.
The assertion is that by birth, Jews across the world have the right to visit Israel, despite having no familial connections to the territory. This right is not extended to non-Jews that have been ethnically cleansed from Historic Palestine, even though they have centuries of direct unbroken connection to their ancestral land.
"Birthright" mirrors Israel's Law of Return. This law grants all Jews, regardless of where they were born, the right to settle and eventually become citizens of Israel. The racist implication of the Law of Return means that a Palestinian born in the city of Haifa in 1945, who was displaced by Zionist militias in 1947/1948, would not be allowed to return to Haifa today, but a Jewish person from Michigan whose family has never stepped foot in or near Haifa, can be invited for free via "Birthright" Israel.