Group showing Jews Arab West Bank

This July Dunya and Hannah took groups of young Jews to the West Bank on a tour they call "Birthright Unplugged." They aim to tell the Palestinian narrative to Jews who do not normally venture across the "Green Line" on trips with mainstream organizations, such as Birthright Israel, the organization from which Birthright Israel took its name. Dunya, an Iraqi-American whose parents are of Jewish and Muslim ethnicity, says her organization's trip is about taking people to see the Palestinian Territories, meet the people and hear of their experiences living under occupation. Birthright Unplugged is principally intended for Jews, though not exclusively, as it is meant to provide an alternative to the regular Jewish tours of Israel. "You get a pretty slanted view from only doing an Israel tour. The classic Israeli narrative is already told in many more ways than the Palestinian." Refugee camps Birthright Unplugged takes people on a six-day tour of the West Bank, seeing Bethlehem, Hebron, Jerusalem and Ramallah. They also see such sites as refugee camps, security checkpoints, the security fence ("Wall") and former Palestinian towns. This year they took one group of four people another five, all from North America. Dunya says eight is their capacity on any tour so that they can all fit in the transport and conversations can be intimate. The tour costs USD 350 and is subsidized by Jewish philanthropists and Jewish educational organizations. Itineraries are provisional and subject to revision - particularly according to Israeli security restrictions. Dunya and Hannah are both part of IWPS (International Women's Peace Service), which opposes Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and the "apartheid wall." Not political Yet Dunya says Birthright Unplugged is non-political. "There is no political agenda whatsoever in this trip. Hannah and I are both from a background of human rights," she says. Critics allege that Birthright Unplugged gives participants a one-sided view of Palestinian society, with Israel as the sole aggressor and violator of human rights. Dunya accepts that issues such as the rights of women or gays afforded by Palestinian society were barely discussed this year, with the main topic being living under Israeli occupation. "Participants are encouraged to ask whatever they want but most largely wanted to listen to whatever the speakers had to say, asking questions like "what do you think is not being told?" or "tell us about your life," she says. Birthright Unplugged also does not visit Jewish settlers. "We have gone with other trips to meet settlers but we decided against for this one as there isn't enough time," Dunya says. She says this year the tour groups were spat upon and stoned by settlers while visiting a Palestinian family living opposite the Jewish settlement of Tel Rumeida . Birthright Unplugged, though, denies that the trip is unsafe. Controversial name Dunya says all the danger is from "aggression on the part of the Israeli army and settlers," and her group's Palestinian contacts are "good at negotiating risk as they live with it every day. They are more protective of us than we ourselves would be." Birthright Unplugged has proved highly contentious, and not just on account of its content. Even the trip's name is controversial. Taglit (Birthright Israel) says that Birthright Unplugged makes inappropriate and illegal use of their name. Taglit International Marketing Director Gidi Mark says Birthright Israel is "the most successful brand in the Jewish world, and one that we have built over the last five years. 'Birthright Unplugged' comes with a different message to us but uses our name." Taglit Birthright started five years ago and has since brought 88,000 Jews, aged 18-26 to Israel on 10-day trips.These tours are free for participants and are paid for by a partnership of private philanthropists, the Israeli government, the Jewish Agency and other Jewish organizations. Jewish links Birthright Israel, like most Israel trips, has a set-piece itinerary that includes Jerusalem's Old City, Holocaust memorial and museum Yad Vashem, mystical Tzefat (Safed), hiking in the Gallilee and the Negev, floating in the Dead Sea, as well as spending time in Eilat and Tel Aviv. Taglit Birthright aims to be politically neutral, studiously avoiding going beyond the Green Line into the West Bank and Gaza. Partly this is for security reasons and to reassure anxious parents, but it is also because the trips' aim is for people to develop links with their Jewish homeland. This is often successful - many return to campus filled with pride for Israel and wearing Zionist T-shirts ("Don't worry America: Israel is behind you."). Many more stay on or return to get a more genuine experience of the country, through ulpans and internships. Naomi from Sydney, Australia, who went on Birthright in 2004, says Taglit has political aspects but is very pluralist: "Many of the exercises were about understanding different groups' point of view, such as the Palestinians and the settlers, without saying one is right and the other is wrong."

Group showing Jews Arab West Bank

Dunya and Hannah started taking groups to West Bank to give people Palestinian narrative of Arab-Israeli conflict. Despite charges they teach Jews to hate Israel, they say they are promoting human rights and instilling Jewish values