David Project

The David Project in its own words from its Web site is "The David Project is a non-profit organization dedicated to educating and inspiring strong voices for Israel through dynamic educational seminars, workshops, and curricula. Our groundbreaking Israel education curricula are taught in more than 130 Jewish high schools and middle schools, impacting thousands of students across North America and Israel. Each year we educate and prepare hundreds of college students to assume leadership roles and bring Israel programs and events to their college campuses. We are guided by a commitment to provide students and adults with the knowledge, strategies and skills to ensure that effective support for Israel thrives on campuses and in our communities."

The David Project offers schools curricula for educating middle school and high school students about Israel and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Each curriculum includes fully-scripted lesson plans and supporting multimedia files. The curricula are not stand-alone products; they come with intensive training, a plethora of additional materials and sustained support from our expert team of educators and researchers. This empowers schools and educators to take Israel education to the next level in their own teaching environments. Curricular items currently offered include:

• The Arab-Israeli Conflict: Educating Ourselves, Educating Others
• The Forgotten Refugees
• Israel in Jewish Identity

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The David Project was launched in August, 2002 in Boston, Massachusetts in response to the growing ideological assault on Israel. We train people to be pro-active in their Israel advocacy - to counter the unfair and dishonest discourse in our universities, media, and communities.

What others say

The group gained notoriety when it produced a film purporting to prove bias by Columbia University Middle Eastern Studies (MEALAC) professors, in particular, Professor Joseph Massad. The group seeks to influence the composition of the Middle East Departments at universities around the U.S. It also features speakers on "terrorism" and "anti-semitism," or, as Sara Roy, a senior research scholar at the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University, explains:

Meanwhile, Columbia University is embroiled in a controversy involving its Middle East and Asian Languages and Cultures Department. The David Project, a pro-Israel group based in Boston, made a documentary called Columbia Unbecoming, which presented a series of interviews with student supporters of Israel who said they had been intimidated and harassed by members of the department who are allegedly hostile to the Jewish state. After hearing about the film, Anthony Weiner, a Democratic New York congressman, called on Columbia's president, Lee Bollinger, to dismiss Joseph Massad, an assistant professor who is accused in the documentary of anti-semitism, and of verbally abusing Israeli and Jewish students. Massad has long been the target of a campaign of intimidation against academics --Jewish and non-Jewish -- who criticize Israel. Deluged by hate mail calling him a "camel jockey" and "pathetic typical Arab liar," he has decided not to teach his course on Palestinian and Israeli Politics and Societies this semester.

A recent article by Scott Sherman provides further background:

The roots of the Columbia conflict can be traced back to campus political developments in 2001 and early 2002. In March, 2002 a network of national Jewish organizations met to evaluate what they saw as an alarming rise in anti-Israel activity on campus. From those meetings emerged the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC), which is a partnership of Hillel and the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. (The three organizations share a building in Washington.) According to a 2002 article for the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, a Jewish-oriented news service, top-flight talent was brought in to advise the ICC and assemble a battle plan. "Pro-Israel professionals from the elite consulting firm McKinsey & Company offered pro-bono services," the article noted. Those professionals created a document for the ICC arguing that "the primary goal for this year should be to 'take back the campus' by influencing public opinion through lectures, the Internet and coalitions." The ICC -- which recently received a $1,050,000 grant from the Schusterman Foundation, and whose speakers list includes Daniel Pipes -- has an impressive array of "members": AIPAC, ADL, Americans for Peace Now and the Zionist Organization of America, among others.

The ICC has a single "affiliate member": the David Project. The David Project is led by Charles Jacobs, who is a co-founder of CAMERA, the pro-Israel media watchdog group; the founder of the American Anti-Slavery Group, which calls itself "America's leading human rights group dedicated to abolishing modern day slavery worldwide"; and, along with Richard Perle, Charles Krauthammer and Bill Kristol, among others, a member of the board of advisers of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. The ICC's website lists a number of "regional ICCs" that receive "strategic advice and guidance" from the Washington headquarters. The regional ICC representative in New York is none other than Rachel Fish, the director of the David Project's New York office. Jacobs was tight-lipped in a recent interview: He refused to provide details about his financial backers, referring only to unnamed "individuals and foundations"; and he declined to elaborate on the extent to which the David Project receives tactical advice from professional pro-Israel lobbyists and operatives allied with the ICC.

Affiliations

• Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC), which is a partnership of these organizations:
• Hillel
• Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation [3]

Funding

Since The David Project began in 2002 it has grown to embody excellence and innovation in the field of pro-Israel advocacy. The David Project works with thousands of high school and college students around the world growing the pro-Israel leaders of tomorrow. As The David Project continues to grow – working with more high schools and colleges around the country, educating and supporting pro-Israel students on campuses – the need for more funding is vital. In order to be successful and populate the campuses with strong student leaders, The David Project cannot say “no” from a lack of resources. The funds donated help The David Project grow their programs and needed services that improve Jewish life on campuses and in our communities. They have solid investment strategies to better manage their donations and offer a variety of ways to give.

Principals

Principals

• David Bernstein – Executive Director
• David Dabscheck – Director of Strategic Initiatives & Special Projects
• Marilyn Goldman – Assistant Executive Director Operations & Finance
• Todd Young – Director of Education

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References, Resources and Contact

External Resources (alpha order)

• Junaid Alam, "Columbia University and the New Anti-Semitism", CounterPunch, 2 March 2005. Presents an overall discussion of the nature of the group, its principals, and its activities.
• Sara Roy, "Intimidation", London Review of Books, Vol. 27, No. 4, 17 Feb. 2005.
• Scott Sherman, "The Mideast Comes to Columbia", The Nation, March 16, 2005.
• Bob Feldman, "The Israel on Campus Coalition and the David Project: Sponsored by US oil and Israeli bank profits?", ElectronicIntifada, 25 April 2005.

Contact

The David Project
P.O. Box 52390
Boston, MA 02205
Phone: 617.428.0012
Fax: 617.428.0013
info@davidproject.org
www.davidproject.org