Israel 101

How Katie Knapp became an
enthusiastic ambassador for her heritage

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Katie Knapp's maiden voyage
to Israel turned out to be quite
an adventure. She went in
2010 with the Birthright Israel
program, which sponsors first-
time educational trips for young
adults. The purpose, as the
organization's website explains,
is "to strengthen participants'
personal Jewish identity and
connection to the Jewish
people."

"It was great," Knapp says. "It's
kind of a word of mouth thing,
sort of 'Do you want to go to
Israel for free?' She laughs.
"We went rafting down the
Jordan River, spent the night in
a Bedouin tent in the middle
of the Negev, and hiked up
Masada at 3 a.m. to catch the
sunrise. I was there for 10 days
— even got to ride a camel. It
was awesome!"

Born in Milford, the 21-year-old
Knapp now lives in Ferndale. At
WSU she's an Honors student
with an interdisciplinary research
internship in the biomedical
engineering department. She
hopes to graduate in 2012, go
to medical school and specialize
in something having to do with
"world health." Ultimately she'd
like to practice overseas — Africa,
perhaps — among underserved
populations.

Knapp says she first heard of
Birthright Israel through Hillel
of Metropolitan Detroit. After
coming home she eventually
became part of Hillel's Israel

Fellows program, which is built
around 10 weeks of sessions
at the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit in
Bloomfield Hills.

me. It was good preparation
for us, not just for our own
information but also in case we
ever needed to speak on behalf
of Israel."

Her selection as Hillel
of Metropolitan
Detroit's Grinspoon
Advocacy Intern was
a logical follow-up.
"While the fellowship
gave us a lot of facts,"
Knapp explains, "this
training taught us how
to network, how to
portray Israel positively
and how to cooperate
with campus leaders
and the media."

The operative word
in this progression of
opportunities seems
to be "advocacy," and
Knapp agrees. "I've
learned
a lot," she says.
Katie Knapp:
"I
hope
to be able to
Today Ferndale, tomorrow the world.
raise people's awareness
of Israel and eliminate
"Each week we had a different
misapprehensions about the
topic," she says, "all pertaining
country
and its political and
to Israel. We had guest speakers
social
situation."
who taught us about particular
subjects or talked about what
For now, Knapp says, she's
they did. Things like technology
"working on a grant for Real
developed in Israel, or the history
Partners Real Peace, which
of Zionism. Some Israelis came in
is a great organization. They
and talked about their culture. It
spoke at the internship training.
was really enlightening.
Just because you're pro-Israel
doesn't mean you're anti-
"It was really good for me, too,
Palestine, and Real Partners is
because before the Birthright
all
about trying to get reliable
trip I didn't know a thing about
people
to discuss a two-state
Israel. So the two of them
solution."
together were like Israel 101 for

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BFF: Mort Harris, left, and
Mandell "Bill' Berman have
been friends for a long, long
lime. So it was only natural
that they pose together after
receiving honorary Doctor
of Laws degrees from Wayne
State in May. A major gift
from Harris resulted in
the university's naming its
recreation and fitness center
for him; Berman established
a scholarship in the Irvin
D. Reid Honors College and
has encouraged friends to
support Honors students.

N ale44° et,

of metro detroit
GZIMEMEEMSEMED

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Wayne State University
Showcase

SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

Editorial
Jessica Archer
Beaufort Cranford
Michael Hicks
Rebecca Jones
Michelle Martinez
Tom Nugent
Phil Van Hulle

Design
Jo Click
Christa Mowry

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