In the leadup to this week’s municipal elections in Israel, Tzafrir Rinat, the respected environmental correspondent of the daily newspaper Haaretz, discussed the local environmental political parties in his article “The Green Party – mostly bluster“. Since the other player in the field, “the Israel Green Movement” is brand new, Rinat evaluated the 10 year old “Green Party“:
But in Israel, experience shows that the green parties’ environmentalism is sheer pretension, especially if compared to the green parties in Europe, which have become significant social and political factors with broad worldviews on many issues. [. . .]
The two main characteristics, in recent years, of the green parties in Europe are their democratic institutionalism and their broad political platforms. However, the local Green Party is totally different.
College students don’t usually need a justifiable reason for studying abroad. And study abroad in Israel? There’s the sun, the beach, the good food, the beautiful people… all very educational, of course. But for those students who are looking for a justifiable reason (at least one they can tell their undergraduate advisors or parents), how about a study abroad program with a conscience?