- The David Project
-
The David Project 
Motto Educating Voices for Israel Formation 2002 Headquarters Boston, MA Executive Director David Bernstein Website www.davidproject.org The David Project, is a non-profit educational organization located in Boston, Massachusetts, with satellite offices in New York and Israel. The David Project's stated aim is "to educate and inspire strong voices for Israel through dynamic educational seminars, workshops, and curricula."[1] It was founded in 2002 by Charles Jacobs, who served as its president until August 2008. The current Executive Director is David Bernstein.[2] Bernstein, previously Program Director of AJC, began leading the David Project in July 2010. Marilyn Goldman serves as the Assistant Executive Director Operations and Finance, Lori B. Gans serves as the National Director of Institutional Advancement, and Todd Young serves as the Director of Education. [3]
Contents
Mission
From the website of The David Project, "The David Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring strong voices for Israel through dynamic educational seminars, workshops, and curricula." They offer curricula on Israel for over 100 Jewish high schools and middle schools. According to their website, The David Project "provides students and adults with the knowledge, strategies and skills to ensure that effective support for Israel thrives on campuses and in our communities."[1]
In 2010 the David Project hired David Bernstein, from the American Jewish Committee, as executive director. The Jewish Telegraphic Agency described this as a "continuing bid to transition from campus rabble rousers to more mainstream educators".[4] The founder and former head of the David Project, Charles Jacobs, opposed this change in direction, writing "It was precisely the failure of Jewish mainstream organizations on America’s campuses that inspired the David Project’s birth."[5]
Activities
Campus
- Campus Fellows Seminars - four-day Israel education, activism and leadership seminars
- Campus Support - Regional campus coordinators work closely with students to develop and implement effective strategies for Israel activism[6]
Curricula
- "The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Educating Ourselves, Educating Others" curriculum for Jewish high school students
- "Jewish Identity Curriculum" for Jewish middle schools
- "The Forgotten Refugees" curriculum for Jewish high schools and middle schools[7]
Community education
- Films
- Speakers Bureau
- Israel education workshops[8]
Documentaries
The Forgotten Refugees
Jewish exodus from Arab countries 1947-1972 
Main articles Jewish exodus from Arab and Muslim countries
Immigrant camps · Maabarot
1948 Arab-Israeli War
Operation Magic Carpet (Yemen)
Operation Ezra and Nehemiah
1956 Expulsion of Egyptian JewsBackground Nazi relations with the Arab world · Farhud · Tripoli (1945) · Cairo (1945) · Immigration during and after World War II
Israeli Declaration of Independence · Suez Crisis · Algerian War · Six Day WarKey incidents Aleppo (Syria) · Aden (Yemen) · Oujda and Jerada (Morocco) · Tripoli (Libya) · Baghdad (Iraq) Arbitration WOJAC · JIMENA · Babylonian Jewry Heritage · JJAC · The David Project Resettlement Aliyah · Law of Return · Development towns · North African Jewry in France Related topics Jewish history · Jewish diaspora · History under Muslim rule
Mizrahi Jews · Sephardi Jews · Arab JewsThe David Project and IsraTV produced the documentary film "The Forgotten Refugees" in 2005. The film "explores the history and destruction of Middle Eastern Jewish communities, some of which had existed for over 2,500 years. It chronicles the impact of the Arab Muslim conquest, the development of Judeo-Arab culture, and the modern rise of Arab nationalism that drove out hundreds of thousands of Jews from their homes and communities."[9]
The film has been screened at numerous film festivals, winning the "Best Featured Documentary" at the Warsaw Jewish Film Festival in 2006 and "Best Documentary Film" at the 2007 Marbella International Film Festival.[10][11]
Columbia Unbecoming
In 2004, the David Project produced a documentary film entitled "Columbia Unbecoming". The purpose of the film was to respond to Columbia University's Middle East studies program that, according to the organization, prevented "free and open [academic] inquiry." The film featured the testimony of "students charging that they were intimidated and harassed by professors" in order to give "voice to students who have experienced incidents of academic abuse and intimidation" at the school. Ultimately, "the goal of the film was to alert Columbia University to the issue so that they could resolve it internally" since "students could not lodge complaints through the appropriate channels at Columbia."[12] Opponents of film characterized it as "academic intimidation" and an attempt to stifle open academic debate,[13][14] although the David Project argued that "the video supports academic freedom by exposing the suppression of dissenting views in the classroom."[12]
The contents of the film spurred Columbia's President Lee Bollinger to create an ad hoc faculty committee in order to address student charges "that they were being intimidated by faculty members and being excluded from participating fully in classroom discussions because of their views."[15] While the committee's findings did not lead to any broad-based change in university policy, Columbia Professor Joseph Massad was criticized for inappropriate classroom conduct in an incident in which he reportedly yelled at a student, "If you're going to deny the atrocities being committed against Palestinians, then you can get out of my classroom!"[15] After investigation, all allegations against Professor Massad were found to be unsubstantiated.
Harvard University
The David Project was instrumental in pressuring Harvard University to reject funds from Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, ruler of the United Arab Emirates, who funded and lent his name to an anti-American, anti-Semitic think-tank based in Abu Dhabi. The campaign, led by The David Project's Rachel Fish and her student supporters, contributed to Zayed's decision to shut down the Zayed Center in August 2003, saying that it "had engaged in a discourse that starkly contradicted the principles of interfaith tolerance."[16]
In July 2004, the campaign concluded when Harvard decided to reject the $2.5 million donation from the Sheikh "in light of the Zayed Center's having promoted activities in evident conflict with the purposes of the gift."[17] Through her activist work, Rachel Fish was named one of the "Forward Fifty," a list of the 50 most influential Jews in America, in 2003.[18]
References
- ^ a b About Us | The David Project Website
- ^ " The David Project Website
- ^ | The David Project Website
- ^ Kampeas, Ron (July 19, 2010). "With hiring of AJC veteran, David Project consolidates its mainstream status". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. http://jta.org/news/article/2010/07/19/2740114/with-bernstein-hire-david-project-consolidates-mainstream-status.
- ^ Jacobs, Charles (July 22, 2010). "Why the David Project should not turn ‘mainstream’". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. http://blogs.jta.org/letters/article/2010/07/22/2740162/david-project-not-turning-mainstream.
- ^ The David Project | Israel on Campus Coalition
- ^ The David Project Teacher Training Institute | Jewish Portal of Teacher Education
- ^ "Educational Initiatives for Adults" | The David Project Website
- ^ The Forgotten Refugees Website
- ^ 2006 Awards | Warsaw Jewish Film Festival
- ^ Film Awards 2007 | Marbella International Film Festival
- ^ a b About | Columbia Unbecoming Website
- ^ "'Columbia Unbecoming' in the clear light of day," Nov. 5, 2004 | Electronic Intidafa
- ^ "The Mideast Comes to Columbia," March 16, 2005 | The Nation
- ^ a b "Ad Hoc Grievance Committee Report," March 28, 2005 | Columbia News
- ^ "Harvard to return $2.5m given by Arab president," July 28, 2004 | The Boston Globe
- ^ Harvard Returns Gift to Arab President," July 30, 2004 | The Harvard Crimson
- ^ "Forward 50," Nov. 14, 2003 | The Forward
See also
- The Forgotten Refugees
- Israel Campus Roundtable (member)
- Israel On Campus Coalition (member)
External links
- The David Project Official website
- The Forgotten Refugees Official Website
- Columbia Unbecoming Official Website
Categories:- Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli–Palestinian conflict
- Israel–United States relations
- Zionist organizations
- Educational organizations based in the United States
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