The Justice

CORRECTION APPENDED (SEE BOTTOM):

Almost eight months after former President Jimmy Carter encouraged Brandeis students to visit the Palestinian territories in his address to the campus last January, a group of students is making that idea a reality.

A weeklong trip initiated by Students Crossing Boundaries, a new student organization, will send a delegation of eight to 10 students to the Palestinian territories during February break. Carter, the 39th United States president, offered $25,000 of the his 2002 Nobel Peace Prize money to help defray the costs of the trip, Carter Center spokeswoman Deanna Congileo wrote in an e-mail to the Justice Monday.

It hasn't been determined yet whether the students will also visit Israel, said Justin Kang '09, who is organizing the trip. SCB, which is made up of 13 students, wants to document Palestinian life through this trip, Kang said. He explained that the initiative is an academic endeavor without a political goal.

"We want to make sure that people understand that this isn't a political thing, but a personal and an academic thing to explore for ourselves," he said.

"We want to see and understand the living conditions in socioeconomic Palestine," Deborah Laufer '08, another SCB member, said.

Carter encouraged students to visit the Palestinian territories during his speech on campus last January, when he discussed his book on Middle Eastern politics, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid. A group of students headed by Kevin Montgomery '07 tried to take Carter's lead by organizing a trip at that time, but the initiative ultimately failed after support from the administration fell through.

"This was entirely unexpected," Kang said about the smoothness of planning the trip. "I just followed through to see what would happen and what could be accomplished."

The money for the trip is coming from Carter personally, Kang emphasized. The Center will advise on the trip's logistics.

Carter wants his gift to serve as a motivation to other donors, Congileo wrote in the e-mail.

The trip isn't affiliated with the University, Kang said.

"We are all proud Brandeis students, but the University has no affiliation with this trip," he said.

SCB is composed of a diverse group of student leaders who have joined to empower each other, as well as other students to explore the realities of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict firsthand, according the group's Web site. Upon arriving in the Palestinian territories, the group plans to visit local schools, farms and religious communities and professors to learn about the conditions under which those in the area are living, according to Kang.

"You could talk to each of us and get such a different answer about what this trip will mean," Laufer said.

The group is attempting to create an itinerary for the week in February and is also looking for more members to help with the process. Kang said he received a call in early August from a senior Carter aide, telling him that Carter would be willing to sponsor half of the trip's costs. Once the project became clearer, however, Carter offered $25,000, which will now fund nearly the whole trip.

To prepare for the trip, members are working to educate each other about the Middle East region and its conflict.

"We are creating a bibliography of different books, we have two meetings with outside organizations that are used to planning a trip of this magnitude," club members said.

Applications for the trip are available on the club's Web site. Kang explained that applicants apply to be on the planning committee of the trip, once this committee is formed, the decision of who gets to go on the trip will be made "internally and democratically." As of now the deadline for applications is set at Dec. 1. Applications will be reviewed on a weekly basis.

After the trip, the group wants to pass on the knowledge and understanding they will have gained with the Brandeis community as well as the greater Boston community.

"We want to share what we learn with people that don't have this type of exposure or opportunity," Kang said. "We're talking about creating a documentary to share what we learn with as broad a group as possible."

Correction: Students Crossing Borders was incorrectly referred to as a campus club. The organization is not affilitated with the University and is not a club.

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