OUR MISSION
The David Project Center for Jewish Leadership is a non-profit educational organization whose mission is to promote a fair and honest understanding of the Arab-Israeli conflict. The rise of anti-Israel sentiment and the surge of campaigns against the Jewish state and her supporters have produced an unexpected wave of anti-Semitism around the globe. We work to develop educated, skilled and courageous leaders to combat this growing animus, to advocate effectively for Israel on the campuses, in high schools, with churches, and in the general community. We work to bolster the Jewish community’s response with effective training, easy to implement campaigns, and a spirit of collaboration with other community agencies. We do not endorse any political agenda beyond Israel’s right to exist securely and peacefully among its Arab neighbors.
OUR APPROACH
Our approach provides a unique, multifaceted analysis for understanding and communicating to others the nature of the Arab-Israeli conflict. We highlight key values and logic that shape moral judgments about the conflict and teach effective strategies and techniques that enable individuals to advocate for Israel and engage in constructive discussions.We:
- Educate high school and college students and community members to understand the Arab-Israeli conflict by providing historically accurate facts and critical thinking skills.
- Offer lectures and workshops to provide the pro-Israel community with training in the skills and strategies to effectively advocate to Israel and the Jewish people.
- Develop and provide leadership training to create capable, effective and courageous leaders for the Jewish community.
- Work with pro-Israel and pro-Jewish allies in the Christian community to counter anti-Israel sentiments and campaigns.
OUR INITIATIVES
Educational Workshops: Our Understanding the Arab-Israeli Conflict (UAIC) workshop offers a unique approach. Rather than asking participants to memorize facts, we provide a three-dimensional framework—physical, historical and moral—for understanding the nature of the conflict. Our workshop provides rhetorical techniques for advocates to use when making Israel’s case. Our David Project educators offer other workshops focusing on Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and the Apartheid Myth.
Campus Fellows: Our four-day intensive seminars on leadership skills and Israel advocacy provide incoming college freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors from around the country with the highest levels of scholarship and strategies for effective Israel activism on campus. Graduates become part of our network of informed campus leaders who can fight anti-Israel and anti-Semetic bias at their own institutions. The Senior Fellows program provides advanced leadership education and training.
High School Curriculum: This pioneering curriculum and our intensive Teacher Training Institute for Jewish high schools, supported by the AVI CHAI Foundation, enables students and educators to understand the Arab-Israeli conflict in ways that promote critical thinking, historical accuracy, moral decision-making and social activism.
Christian Outreach: Our work with Christian groups aims at countering anti-Israel bias in mainline churches, educating pro-Israel Christians about the Arab-Israeli conflict, and providing them with advocacy skills and strategies to support Israel. We work to create and develop alliances, and to advance other common agendas, including addressing the plight of persecuted Christian communities around the world. Our Christian Outreach Campus Coordinator works on campuses around the country.
Campus Support: We work with pro-Israel students to develop strategies and programs to overcome anti-Israel and anti-Semitic problems on campus. These include the growing movement to boycott and divest from Israel, professors hostile to Israel, and anti-Semitic harassment and bias. The David Project’s film Columbia Unbecoming brought the problem of politicized classrooms to international attention and helped prompt action from a previously unresponsive university administration.
The Forgotten Refugees: This groundbreaking documentary—with its own curriculum—explores the history and destruction of Middle Eastern Jewish communities in the second half of the 20th century. The film weaves personal stories with dramatic archival footage of rescue missions, historical images of exodus and resettlement, and analysis by contemporary scholars to tell the story of how and why the Jewish communities, some of which had existed for over 3,000 years, were destroyed in mere decades.
For more information:
Phil Brodsky, Campus Team Manager
Telephone: 617-428-0012
Email: pb@davidproject.org
Web site: www.davidproject.org