Recent seminars

College Media - December 2009

Turkish Media - December 2009

European Parliament Senior Staff - October 2009

International Counterterrorism Experts - September 2009

Upcoming seminars

Presidents and Foreign Ministers from the Pacific Islands - January 2010

Latin American Journalists - February 2010

Indonesian Journalists - February 2010

American Latina Leaders - March 2010

American Energy Leaders - March 2010

PI board member to JPost: "A Hasbara birthright exists"

The Jerusalem Post published a letter by Ambassador Richard Schifter praising Project Interchange. Schifter, a longtime PI board member, writes:

“Michael Freund’s column ‘Time for a Hasbara birthright’ (Jerusalem Post, January 6) calls for developing a birthright equivalent ‘geared toward key decision-makers… in the US, Europe, and elsewhere.’ In fact, an extraordinarily successful program of this sort already exists.”

[Note: According to its website, Taglit-Birthright Israel, commonly known as Birthright, "provides the gift of first time, peer group, educational trips to Israel for Jewish young adults ages 18 to 26."]

To access Richard Schifter's letter, click here.

U. of Georgia editor on Sderot and Gaza

Daniel Burnett, the managing editor of The Red & Black, a student newspaper serving the University of Georgia, expresses compassion for the residents of Sderot and Gaza, urging his readers, “immerse yourself in the situation… [it] is not black and white.” To access the article, published in both The Red & Black and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and based on Burnett’s recent visit to the region with Project Interchange, click here.

Duke and Cornell journalists report from Israel

Two participants of PI’s recent college media seminar have filed stories from Israel with their campus newspapers. To access posts by Emily Cohn, the editor-in-chief of The Cornell Daily Sun, click here . For posts by Sabrina Rubakovic of The Duke Chronicle, click here.

PI alums Eğin and Yinanç author series of articles on Turkey-Israel relations

Turkish journalists Oray Eğin and Barçin Yinanç, who visited Israel with Project Interchange in December 2009, have each written numerous articles on the challenges and opportunities surrounding the Turkey-Israel relationship. Eğin’s six-part series was published in the Turkish language daily, Aksam; Yinanç’s six-parter, published in Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review, is available in English here.

Turkish news editor: Turkey “Bashing Israel, total silence on Egypt”

PI alumna Barçin Yinanç describes the recent “inconsistencies and double standards” applied toward Israel by Turkey’s political leadership. Responding to an “unofficial boycott against Israel,” which the Turkish government ties to the situation in Gaza, Yinanç writes,

“If [Turkish Prime Minister] Erdoğan acts out of humanitarian concerns, why isn’t he asking Egypt to ease its siege on Gaza? Why does President Gül see nothing wrong with providing a red carpet welcome to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarek, while he refuses to go to Israel because of Gaza?”

Yinanç visited Israel with Project Interchange in December 2009 as part of a Turkish media delegation.

To access the article, published in Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review, click here.

SFSU president voices disapproval over calls for academic boycott of Israel

Dr. Robert A. Corrigan, president of San Francisco State University and a PI alumnus, issued a statement expressing concern over an on-campus event which “called for an academic and cultural boycott of one nation, Israel.”

Corrigan states, “An academic boycott is a wrongheaded tactic that diminishes any institution that would pursue it. It is antithetical to this University’s values of inclusion and mutual respect.”

Corrigan visited Israel twice with Project Interchange, first in 1993 as a part of a leadership delegation from Northern California, and again in 2008 on a University Presidents seminar.

To access the statement, click here.

NY governor Paterson signs R&D accord with Israel

Israel Gateway reports that,

“Israel has signed a memorandum of understanding with the state of New York on industrial cooperation in the area of research & development. The cooperation agreement was signed by New York’s David Paterson and Israel’s Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer.”

Governor Paterson traveled to Israel with Project Interchange in 2007 as Lt. Governor of New York State.

To access the article, click here.