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Home , Sderot

Solidarity Mission to Southern November 22-27, 2014

Please note that all listed activities and speakers are subject to change.

Saturday, November 22 Departure from U.S. . Depart the US on LY26 at 10:30 PM from EWR.

Sunday , November 23 Political Seminar . Arrive in Israel on LY26 at 04:05 PM and transfer to the hotel. . Check into the hotel and take some time to freshen up. . Walking tour of Jaffa and a visit to the I24 news studio (time permitting). Dinner with Issam Saad, a Palestinian from Gaza who now lives in Ramallah who is working to create dialogue among Israeli and Palestinian teenagers. . Overnight: Renaissance Hotel,

Monday, November 24 The South of Israel . Breakfast at the hotel. . The long way home: Meet with soldiers at the Beit Levenstein Rehabilitation Hospital in Ra’anana. . Tour of bomb shelters with Lev Echad, an Emergency Civilian Aid national volunteer organization that has operated over 15,000 civilian volunteers. . Drive to to visit the with an IDF representative. . Lunch on own in Ashkelon. . How do you treat the wounded under fire? A visit to the Barzilai hospital in Ashkelon and a meeting with local psychologists and social workers. . Dinner in Ashkelon with Rabbi Bill Berk - Wrestling with Tohar Haneshek (the ethical use of weapons): From the Bible to the IDF in Gaza. . Overnight: Leonardo Ashkelon Hotel

Tuesday, November 25 IDF and Security . Breakfast at the hotel. . Drive to Moshav Netiv Ha'asara, located only a few dozen meters from the Gaza perimeter fence, this moshav took a huge amount of rocket hits from before the ground operation and throughout the Protective Edge Operation. Meet with moshav resident and IDF Gaza combat soldier, Barak Benjamin, to hear about his personal experiences in the war and feelings about living on a moshav where one of the major terror tunnels was exposed. . Continue to to visit the reinforced concrete pillars that surround the kindergarten to protect children from rocket and mortar fire. . Continue to Sderot for a tour with Noam Bedein, Founder and Director of the Sderot Media Center for an insight into life under constant missile threat. . Lunch on your own in Sderot - empower local businesses! . Volunteer at the Chesed Center in Sderot to help pack and distribute food packages to the needy families in the . Meet with Avichai Amusi, the Director of the Center.

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. Meet with Alon Davidi, the Mayor of Sderot to hear from him about the difficulties of living in a city that is constantly under fire. . Return to Ashkelon. . Dinner with Adiel and Chana Levi. This unique Ashkelon couple will give us an intimate glimpse into the challenges and moral dilemmas faces by them and other Ashkelon families during Operation Protective Edge. . Overnight: Leonardo Ashkelon Hotel

Wednesday, November 26 on the Line . Breakfast at the hotel. . Travel to Shvil Hasalat, an experimental agricultural farm that uses cutting-edge desert agriculture technologies to grow a large variety of fruits and vegetables. Meet with Uri Alon, the founder, to discuss the challenges of living life and running a business on the border. . Continue to Kfar Retamim in the Ramat Regional Council to meet with representatives from HaShomer HaChadash movement whose volunteers work to ensure a strong Jewish presence in the Negev. The volunteers serve as guardsmen to protect Jewish property from the Arab and Bedouin villagers and help farmers maintain their farms and repair the damage caused by marauders. . Picnic lunch. . Drive to an IDF Base for a lively discussion with IDF soldiers who fought in Operation Protection Edge. The program will be led by a rabbi from Beit Morasha on the topic of ethical warfare when fighting a terrorist organization. . Return to Ashkelon for a free evening. . Overnight: Leonardo Ashkelon Hotel

Thursday, November 27 . Breakfast at the hotel. . Drive to Nof Ayalon to meet with Rachel Frankel, mother of Naftali Frankel, one of the three teenagers who were kidnapped and murdered by terrorists. . Drive to Efrat in Gush Etzion to pay condolences to parents of Second Lieutenant Yuval Heiman who fell during Operation Protective Edge. . Lunch at the Gush Etzion Winery, including wine tasting. . Visit the Makor Chaim Yeshiva where Naftali and Gilad studied, and meet with the head of the Yeshiva, Rabbi Dov Zinger. . Drive to to meet with an MK for a discussion on Israel’s strategy looking forward and what we all can do to help. . Summary discussion with Yitzhak Sokoloff and farewell dinner in Jerusalem . Transfer to Ben Gurion Airport to catch flight LY27 at 12:30 AM arriving at EWR at 06:00 AM.

Not ready to go back yet? Check out the Friday and Shabbat options. Also, please consider the Jerusalem & Tel Aviv excursion that starts on Sunday. Ready to experience Israel hands on? Work on an IDF base for 5 days through the Volunteers for Israel program.  Listed activities and speakers are subject to confirmation.  Program will be staffed by a Keshet Israel Tour Educator  All breakfasts plus underlined meals are included in the package price.  This itinerary is proprietary to Keshet and is intended for the promotion of and to inform those considering joining this Keshet trip. It is not to be transmitted to any other party without prior authorization from Keshet

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