New York, NY, July 31, 2002 ... A group of college newspaper editors from the United States will travel to Poland, Bulgaria and Israel for an intensive two-week seminar designed to educate aspiring journalists about the history of the Holocaust, the Jewish State and the current Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

For the 10th year running, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) will send students to visit cultural, religious and historic sites in Poland, Bulgaria and Israel as part of the ADL Albert Finkelstein Memorial Study Mission for Campus Newspaper Editors, August 5 - 18. Along the way, the students will meet with high-ranking government ministers, diplomats, policymakers, historians and journalists and hear firsthand briefings on breaking developments in the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

"After the attacks on 9/11 and the ongoing campaign of terrorism against Israel, it is imperative for journalism students to have a foundation of knowledge about the history of Israel and the complicated issues facing the Middle East region," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "Professional journalists in today's changing world must be well-versed in foreign affairs, and especially issues surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The ADL mission was conceived to enable student editors to bear witness to the consequences of unchecked racism through the lessons of the Holocaust, and to experience the Jewish State and understand the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the context of history."

In Israel, the student editors will meet with foreign and defense ministry officials, members of the Knesset, representatives of the Arab Druze community, Palestinians, and correspondents from the Israeli and American media.

In Poland, the students will visit Auschwitz and the areas once occupied by the Warsaw and Krakow ghettos. They'll learn about traditional Jewish life in Europe before the Holocaust, and attempts to revive Jewish communities after the fall of communism. In Sofia, Bulgaria, they will meet with Bulgarian government officials and Jewish community representatives to examine how the government, the church and the people of Bulgaria united to save the entire Bulgarian Jewish community during the Holocaust.

The mission includes student editors from American University, University of Michigan, Harvard University, the University of California - Irvine, Oregon State University, Syracuse University, Wayne State University and Texas A&M University.

The mission is made possible by a gift from Bidi Finkelstein, a Philadelphia and Palm Beach philanthropist and honorary life member of the ADL National Commission. She established the program in memory of her late husband, who conceived the idea.

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.