NEW YORK- Thirty Jewish student activists have returned from a special two-week Jewish activist leadership training mission in Israel co-sponsored by the Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)’s Masada youth movement and the Betar Zionist Youth Movement.

The mission was organized and led by Cleveland ZOA president Dennis Seaman and Julie Sager, director of the ZOA’s Campus Activism Network (ZOA CAN). Their activities included:

* Volunteer work in the front-line community of Kedumim in Samaria and with youth in Judea.

* Visits to hospitals to present gifts to Jewish children injured in Palestinian Arab terrorist attacks.

* Meetings with leaders of the Jewish communities in Judea-Samaria, American immigrants to Israel, and professors from the College of Judea & Samaria.

* Bringing school supplies for the children of Ethiopian Jewish immigrants.

* A visit to the beleaguered Jewish community of Hebron, the second holiest city in Judaism, and to the Cave of the Patriarchs, burial site of the biblical patriarchs and matriarchs.

* A tour of Masada, the site of the Jewish fighters’ last stand against the Roman army in the First Century CE.

* A tour of the museum of the Jewish underground fighters who helped create Israel in 1948.

The program included Israel advocacy seminars in which the students received training in campus activism and learned techniques to combat pro-Arab propaganda at American universities. At the conclusion of the trip, the students returned to their campuses prepared to implement the strategies they learned on the ZOA-Betar program.

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, “We are pleased to have worked with Betar to put together this important and informative trip for these young people. It was gratifying to hear numerous reports from the participants of the great joy, excitement, and inspiration they experienced from this trip.”