Birthright extension tells Palestinian story to young Jews

Published: 11 November 2022

Last updated: 5 March 2024

Birthright’s studied avoidance of the occupation and cheesy tourism prompted a former participant to create a controversial extension.

Ten years ago, Sam Sussman was a political science student in the United States. He came to Israel on a Birthright tour and says he was shocked that the conversation on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was “extremely right-wing”, and that the leader “banned me from asking political questions to speakers when it became clear I had a critical perspective.”

After his Birthright tour ended, Sussman travelled independently to the West Bank to try and better understand the conflict and the occupation. “If the other Birthright participants would have met the young Palestinians living under military occupation in the West Bank, they would have had serious questions about Israeli democracy,” he says today.

When he returned to the United States, Sussman founded Extend – a small organisation that offers Birthright participants a chance to expand their trip and stay in Israel for an extra five days, touring the West Bank to complement their trip.

Last year, 300 Americans took part in Extend, of the 40,000 who annually participate in Birthright. The numbers are small but Sussman says Birthright is losing the monopoly on how American Jews regard Israel.

“[Birthright] is a government-affiliated organisation, a right-wing one that perpetuates Trumpism in Israel,” he says. “Birthright avoids dealing with the occupation and violations of Palestinian human rights.

“Tell me: Why are American Jews coming to Israel to ride a camel in the desert when twenty miles away Palestinians are living under military occupation? Furthermore, why do progressive, liberal, democratic and Leftist Judaism have almost no representation on these tours?

“Every day, American Jewish community leaders reach out to Extend for an understanding of the conflict that includes Palestinian voices.”