Lee Kaplan, writing last week in Frontpagemag.com, reports that the radical group International Solidarity Movement has now hit upon a new idea: "using international student exchanges in its campaign to aid the cause of Palestinian genocidal terror."
Kaplan writes that the ISM has been going through hard times, following the exposure of the ISM, the much-publicized deaths of two ISM-affiliated students, American Rachel Corrie and Englishman Tom Hurndall, heightened scrutiny of terrorist organizations, and a recent Israeli crackdown on ISM leaders like Kate Raphael. In response, the ISM has now been renamed the Palestine Summer Encounter (PSE).
The new/old group, working together with Bethlehem Bible College, will offer U.S. academic credit in Arabic. "This will make the 'educational' program of value to Middle East study centers across the U.S.," Kaplan writes, "many of which have been turned into de facto lobbying and propaganda bases calling for the dismantling of Israel."
Kaplan notes that generous Saudi and PLO grants are funding these programs. The PSE program, specifically, will be financed by the California-based Holy Land Trust. The trust is run by Executive Director Sami Awad, who formerly headed the Palestine Children’s Welfare Relief Fund, an outfit that routinely featured photos and praise of suicide bombers on its website. According to Arab-American Christian journalist Joseph Farah, editor of World Net Daily, "The lies this group tells in the name of Christianity are big and bold. They include the standard lines about Jews robbing the homes of Arabs, stealing their land and brutalizing them in a repressive state of military occupation. These so-called Christians even rationalize terrorism.”
"But if the background of the Holy Land Trust is alarming," Kaplan continues, "the program it is intended to underwrite is even more so. An article on the PSE program that appeared in the leftist Israeli newspaper Haaretz states, 'The PSE program includes an Arabic course at the Bethlehem Bible College, with credits going toward a U.S. college degree; volunteer work with Palestinian aid organizations as well as Israeli peace groups; and trips, mostly in the West Bank, but also within the Green Line. The students are hosted by Palestinian families which lowers the price for participants; the hosts also receive some payment.... [R]egardless of background, after a summer in the Palestinian territories, participants come away with a clear political picture.”
A significant PSE attraction is its low price – which is connected to "subsidies paid by the PLO to import their radical cheerleaders," Front Page states. "ISM formerly transported most of its volunteers over to Israel free of charge by abusing a Birthright Israel program, which was set up by wealthy Jewish philanthropists to encourage immigration to Israel and appreciation for the Jewish state. Rather than supporting this mission, however, the ISM’s volunteers focused their energies on denouncing Israel as an “apartheid state” while excusing terrorism and violence against Israelis as “legitimate resistance.” As a consequence of such revelations, Birthright Israel applicants have come under greater scrutiny."
Funds for the ISM’s free rides have consequently dried up, but, Kaplan writes, this hasn't stopped the organization: "In Bethlehem Bible College, the ISM seems to have discovered a new way for an even wider group to gain entrance into Israel while cheering its destruction. Indeed, the program is in some ways even more convenient than Birthright Israel. Whereas the Birthright program could only be used for free transportation by anarchists and communists of Jewish ancestry, the Bethlehem College is far more inclusive: any student radical who favors Israel’s demise is welcome."
Kaplan raises some question marks regarding the Christian organization's willingness to cooperate with Moslems, in light of Moslem treatment of Christians in Israel in recent years. He notes the takeover of the Church of the Nativity by Arafat’s thugs in 2002, and "Muslim desecration of non-Islamic shrines, both Jewish and Christian, is well documented. Indeed, Christians are considered dhimmis, or second-class citizens, in Islamic society, and as such are subject to Muslim whim. Christian businessmen and shops are frequently shaken down by PLO members in protection rackets. Small wonder, then, that the Christian population in Bethlehem has decreased from 80% percent to just 5% since the creation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994."
Kaplan sees additional proof that the PSE program is intended to serve as a recruitment arm for the anti-Israel cause in the fact that it offers students housing with a Palestinian family. "Despite the PSE’s extremist agenda," he concludes, "it is billed under the postcard-pleasant mantra: 'Come to Palestine, Stay with Friends.' But a more accurate description of the PSE program would read like this: 'Come to a war zone. Learn how to promote Muslim hegemony over the Jews and Christians. And get college credit, too.'"
Kaplan writes that the ISM has been going through hard times, following the exposure of the ISM, the much-publicized deaths of two ISM-affiliated students, American Rachel Corrie and Englishman Tom Hurndall, heightened scrutiny of terrorist organizations, and a recent Israeli crackdown on ISM leaders like Kate Raphael. In response, the ISM has now been renamed the Palestine Summer Encounter (PSE).
The new/old group, working together with Bethlehem Bible College, will offer U.S. academic credit in Arabic. "This will make the 'educational' program of value to Middle East study centers across the U.S.," Kaplan writes, "many of which have been turned into de facto lobbying and propaganda bases calling for the dismantling of Israel."
Kaplan notes that generous Saudi and PLO grants are funding these programs. The PSE program, specifically, will be financed by the California-based Holy Land Trust. The trust is run by Executive Director Sami Awad, who formerly headed the Palestine Children’s Welfare Relief Fund, an outfit that routinely featured photos and praise of suicide bombers on its website. According to Arab-American Christian journalist Joseph Farah, editor of World Net Daily, "The lies this group tells in the name of Christianity are big and bold. They include the standard lines about Jews robbing the homes of Arabs, stealing their land and brutalizing them in a repressive state of military occupation. These so-called Christians even rationalize terrorism.”
"But if the background of the Holy Land Trust is alarming," Kaplan continues, "the program it is intended to underwrite is even more so. An article on the PSE program that appeared in the leftist Israeli newspaper Haaretz states, 'The PSE program includes an Arabic course at the Bethlehem Bible College, with credits going toward a U.S. college degree; volunteer work with Palestinian aid organizations as well as Israeli peace groups; and trips, mostly in the West Bank, but also within the Green Line. The students are hosted by Palestinian families which lowers the price for participants; the hosts also receive some payment.... [R]egardless of background, after a summer in the Palestinian territories, participants come away with a clear political picture.”
A significant PSE attraction is its low price – which is connected to "subsidies paid by the PLO to import their radical cheerleaders," Front Page states. "ISM formerly transported most of its volunteers over to Israel free of charge by abusing a Birthright Israel program, which was set up by wealthy Jewish philanthropists to encourage immigration to Israel and appreciation for the Jewish state. Rather than supporting this mission, however, the ISM’s volunteers focused their energies on denouncing Israel as an “apartheid state” while excusing terrorism and violence against Israelis as “legitimate resistance.” As a consequence of such revelations, Birthright Israel applicants have come under greater scrutiny."
Funds for the ISM’s free rides have consequently dried up, but, Kaplan writes, this hasn't stopped the organization: "In Bethlehem Bible College, the ISM seems to have discovered a new way for an even wider group to gain entrance into Israel while cheering its destruction. Indeed, the program is in some ways even more convenient than Birthright Israel. Whereas the Birthright program could only be used for free transportation by anarchists and communists of Jewish ancestry, the Bethlehem College is far more inclusive: any student radical who favors Israel’s demise is welcome."
Kaplan raises some question marks regarding the Christian organization's willingness to cooperate with Moslems, in light of Moslem treatment of Christians in Israel in recent years. He notes the takeover of the Church of the Nativity by Arafat’s thugs in 2002, and "Muslim desecration of non-Islamic shrines, both Jewish and Christian, is well documented. Indeed, Christians are considered dhimmis, or second-class citizens, in Islamic society, and as such are subject to Muslim whim. Christian businessmen and shops are frequently shaken down by PLO members in protection rackets. Small wonder, then, that the Christian population in Bethlehem has decreased from 80% percent to just 5% since the creation of the Palestinian Authority in 1994."
Kaplan sees additional proof that the PSE program is intended to serve as a recruitment arm for the anti-Israel cause in the fact that it offers students housing with a Palestinian family. "Despite the PSE’s extremist agenda," he concludes, "it is billed under the postcard-pleasant mantra: 'Come to Palestine, Stay with Friends.' But a more accurate description of the PSE program would read like this: 'Come to a war zone. Learn how to promote Muslim hegemony over the Jews and Christians. And get college credit, too.'"