New York, N.Y., August 7, 2001… Eighteen campus editors from across the country will soon be in Israel to examine the current situation firsthand. The ninth annual Anti-Defamation League (ADL) Albert Finkelstein Memorial Study Mission for Campus Newspaper Editors will provide the student journalists with day-to-day experience in the lives of Israelis and Palestinians and a valuable lesson in history with visits to Poland and Bulgaria beforehand.

"This is an important mission as it will present a group of aspiring journalists with a personal picture of Israel as well as of Poland and Bulgaria," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "They will see for themselves how Israelis - both Jewish and Arab - and Palestinians live beyond what the television cameras show. The overwhelming response to this year's trip is not surprising considering the applicant pool is made up of future journalists who want to judge the situation for themselves."

The ADL Mission, which will run from August 12th through August 26th, is designed to broaden the campus editors' knowledge of European and Jewish cultural history by taking students through different religious and historic sites in Israel, Poland and Bulgaria. Meetings with scholars, policymakers and journalists will supplement excursions in all three countries.

Student editors representing the following colleges and universities will participate in this year's mission: Bucknell University; University of California-Los Angeles; University of California-Santa Barbara; University of Chicago; Columbia University; Dartmouth College; Georgia State University; University of Kentucky; University of Michigan; University of Nevada-Las Vegas; Northwestern University; University of Pennsylvania; Rice University; Stanford University; Syracuse University; Washington University in St. Louis; Wayne State University and Yale University.

The program was established through a gift from Bidi Finkelstein, a Philadelphia and Palm Beach philanthropist and honorary life member of the ADL National Commission, in memory of her late husband. Additionally, Mr. Gerson Fabe, Ms. Maxine Wainman and an anonymous donor from Michigan helped to make this year's trip possible.

For the complete list of participants, to arrange interviews or for more information about the Mission, please contact ADL Media Relations at 212-885-7749.

The Anti-Defamation League, founded in 1913, is the world's leading organization fighting anti-Semitism through programs and services that counteract hatred, prejudice and bigotry.