Our Annual Free Invitation to Visit Israel!
Each year for as long as I can remember, I've been invited to go to Israel for free, to see the country: the discos of Haifa! The towers of Tel Aviv! The horrible, horrible weather! Sometimes this solicitation comes from the government or the foreign ministry or its tourist bureau; sometimes from various nonprofits, or sometimes from the Emergency Committee for Israel. It makes a lot of sense, of course: you go over, you see some beautiful countryside, you meet some nice people—and suddenly you feel personally interested and even invested (if you aren't already) in the future of Israel. And then you're all like: Palestine? What Palestine? So this year's solicitation comes today from an outfit called Stand With Us, which has produced some nice anti-flotilla propaganda. (Remember last year? When Israeli soldiers boarded aid boats bound for Gaza and killed nine passengers, inflaming Turkey-Israel tensions?) They also opposed the Tony Kushner honorary degree at CUNY recently, and are "disappointed" by Obama's recent speech on Israel. They've also published a pamphlet called "The Nazi Roots of Middle Eastern Anti-Semitism." And they run a website called Librarians4Fairness! And many others! What I can't find anywhere, which is odd for a nonprofit based in Los Angeles, is an annual report.
But hey.
This is how the solicitation goes. Usually they're a little more formal, when they come from the state's agencies directly. This one's personalized… ish!
My Name is [REDACTED], I'm a student at the Technion, Israel Institute of Technology, in Haifa Israel.
I'm a big fan of your blog http://www.theawl.com/ and I would like a few minutes of your time to tell you about the "Once in a lifetime 2.0" project.
My Fellow students and I are representing the StandWithUs fellowship, a public diplomacy leadership program that trains selected students to advocate Israel.
StandWithUs is a non-profit organization which ensures that Israel is accurately portrayed and justly represented on college campuses, in the media, and in communities around the world. http://www.standwithus.co.il/ .
As a part of this project I would like to offer a once in a life time opportunity for famous bloggers and influential media people, like yourself, to experience the real Israel in a ten day trip that would take place on August 21st, 2011 to the Holy Land! All expenses paid!
Our Visitors will experience the reality of being an Israeli, whether it's through cultural diversity, exquisite food, technology and progress, security and the holy sites that only Israel can offer.
All you have to do is fill out the attached form and agree to document your trip to the "Jewel of the Middle east"- Israel on your blog.Please find attached our project one pager, that will be able to explain more about us and our project!
Also please check out our Facebook page-
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Once-in-A-Lifetime-20/155399707857622
our website:
http://www.onceinalifetime.org.il
We are looking forward to hearing from you, and we will be happy to show you around Israel, from the Golan Heights in the north through Haifa, Tel Aviv, and Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.
But do we get to see the checkpoints???
Well I do love free trips! The application is really easy! They just want to know a few things.
What do you know and what have you heard about Israel? :
What is your personal opinion about what you heard? :
Why are you interested in joining us for the "Once in A Lifetime 2.0" experience? :
In a few words tell us about yourself and about your blog/activity:
What's most interesting to me is: who goes on these trips? I do need a vacation….
Huh. "Famous" and "influential," eh? This explains why the only one of these I ever get is from a bunch of Holy Rollers who want $4,500 from me to see Eight Treasured National Parks in Six Days and promise to stick my head in the Great Salt Lake.
@KarenUhOh: Maybe if you blogged more you'd get the upgrade to free continental breakfasts?
Well, I like librarians and I also like fairness! Sounds like these guys are A-OK!
@Gef the Talking Mongoose Simple logic! I guess they have that in the "Jewel Of The Middle East" as well. Who knew?
do they understand that "all expenses paid" implies they will pick up the tab for hookers and blow?
@roboloki For any trip to Tel Aviv, that goes without saying.
"…we will be happy to show you around Israel, from the Golan Heights in the north…"
After you read the small print, go for it.
My sister went on a trip with Birthright a few years ago. (They're the org that does free trips for any Jew aged 18-26, or something like that.) I sorta kept meaning to sign up – I mean, free vacation, archaeological sites, float in the Dead Sea – but I never got around to it, and now am too old.
"Never got around to it" for me, for a free vacation, there must've been some nice resistance going on in my subconscious.
Also: free vacations for hundreds of American kids every year? Is there nothing better your organization could spend its money on??
Can The Awl (Tony Kushner?) someday write a guide for Jewish people who want to smartly talk to their parents' and grandparents' blind Zionism and anti-Palenstinianism? I don't know what the right answer to "They want us all dead" is. (Because "So don't sink to that level" and "Not ALL of them, have you met them all?" haven't worked. And none of them will read Joe Sacco.)
@jaimealyse yes! I have had phone conversations with my dad where my end is "Dad, Palestinians have mothers too, who cry when they're dead" just to try to make it more personal and less monolithic. With family friends I leave it at "I am against oppression/apartheid, in whatever form" and move along to less contentious subjects. A guide would be lovely, because it's so hard when an otherwise kind, compassionate, smart person loses all rationality because of the magic word Israel.
(disclaimer: I went to Israel on the temple teenagers trip, mostly it was endless schnitzel, archeological sites, getting drunk on Sabra liqueur and watching the older high school kids switch rooms so they could do it in the holy land)
@dokuchan also dad's from Istanbul which just makes it that much more fun and complicated.
@dokuchan Stepdad's from Israel! Yay!
Take the trip. Note the glaring omissions. Invite concerned response from your minders. Publish said response.
You can do all of this and still have a pretty good time.
I can offer you a free trip (except gas money) to Central New Hampshire! You will experience the reality of being a New Englander, whether it's through cultural diversity, roadside clams, technology and DEET, security and liquor stores directly off route 93 that only New Hampshire can offer.
All you have to do is fill out the attached form and agree to document your trip to the "Non Rapey Weekend"- New Hampshire on your blog.
@NotAndersonCooper: Don't forget the Betty and Barney Hill Mural on the gas station just outside Lincoln!!!
@NotAndersonCooper I've always wanted to see the Old Man of the Mountain!
@NotAndersonCooper Can I use flash photography when I come in contact with the WASPs?
@NotAndersonCooper: Just don't get drunk with any Free Staters, or you may find yourself in a town hall advocating the abolition of public education.
Me, kind of. Went on a press trip (the big work is junket) sponsored by Israeli Ministry of Tourism in January: Tel Aviv, Haifa, Galilee, Dead Sea, Jerusalem. Six of us were on the trip, mostly freelance travel writers, 20s-30s. Saw some settlements, checkpoints, etc. Beautiful country. Fun, friendly people. Most expenses were paid—we were on the hook for lunch and booze. Didn't change my politics (I agree with Obama on '67 borders), but I did discover what a great travel destination it is.
@Zach: And really, isn't tourism what will save the middle east?
"Once in a Lifetime 2.0" – I need to mull over that for a minute.
Also: this is just to get you to buy a timeshare.
@HiredGoons And you may tell yourself, my god!…what have I done?
Keep trying to make a Ham and Turkey joke based on that image, but it's not coming.
@deepomega It's the thought that counts!
Israeli Embassy: I would like to smoke cigarettes and watch satellite TV in one of your hotel rooms. Please contact me.
I've participated in several trips to Israel and moved to Tel Aviv after living in NY my whole life. I like it here even though it has it's problems. You're being offered a free trip, yes. Some of it will be propaganda but you're human and can make your own decisions about what is or isn't a valid point. If you have extra time, see if you can extend your ticket for a few extra days after the trip is over for and travel on your own. See the checkpoints you've always wanted to see! Talk to the Arab Muslim community in Nazareth! Kiss the rock that most Christians agree is the site of Jesus' crucifixion. This church is the creepiest place I've ever been in my life. The weather here is hot but the sun is always out. You always complain about the depressing weather in NY, but you know, maybe you should quit whining about something no one can change.
Also, I'm not sure if this is relevant to you, but it is acceptable to smoke cigarettes just about anywhere here.