Ambassador Huckabee: “Bringing future Christian college leaders to Israel is the most critical thing to strengthen US-Israel relationship.”
On a solidarity mission to Israel, Passages, a pro-Israel Christian student organization, has donated $100,000 to honor the victims of last year’s Hezbollah rocket attack on a soccer field in Majdal Shams, which claimed the lives of 12 Druze children.
The donation came from Passages’ Israel War Relief Fund, a campaign organized by Passages Alumni after the attack on October 7th, to the “12 Stars of Majdal Shams Foundation,” supporting community youth pursuing higher education and leadership roles, a memorial soccer tournament, and community infrastructure projects within Majdal Shams.
At the meeting, which was facilitated by the Founder of Yakir: Diversity, Unity, Community Rabbi Yaakov Kermaier, a plaque was presented by the Passages delegation describes the donation as “a commitment to honoring lost lives, uplifting the next generation, and fostering a resilient community.”
Nicknamed the “Christian Birthright”, Passages was formed in 2016 and has brought over 11,000 Christian students from North America to visit Israel for the first time to strengthen their religious identity and to build bridges of friendship with Israel and the Jewish people. Last year, Passages donated $500,000 to Israeli communities bordering Gaza on another special solidarity trip.
“In bringing our students to Israel, we try and help them understand the full spectrum of Israeli society and its complexities,” said CEO of Passages Zach Bauer. “The Druze community underwent a deeply traumatic event in July last year when it lost 12 of its beautiful children, so we wanted to come and express our solidarity as Christian Zionists, show them they have deep support in the U.S., and to make a small gesture to help them, not just recover, but to help them build a better future for their children.”
Mayor of Majdal Shams Dolan Abu Saleh thanked the group for the donation and said: “The meeting of the Passages delegation with the families of the victims gave them great strength, and the hope to carry on. They also asked for Passages to bring its students here to promote greater ties and understanding between our communities.”
The day before, the Passages delegation met with U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee where they presented him with a 1728 French map of the Promised Land, drawn from the vantage point of pilgrims arriving by sea, titled “Map of the Promised Land for the Nation of God.”
“What Passages is doing, bringing future Christian college leaders to visit Israel and engage with its people, is the most critical thing we can do to strengthen the future of the US-Israel relationship,” said Ambassador Huckabee. “Passages not only understands the impact traveling to Israel can have on one’s Christian faith, but they recognize the importance of our shared Judeo-Christian values that are foundational to Western Civilization.”
“Throughout your career you have long championed the truth of the longstanding ancestral connection of the Jewish People to their indigenous and ancestral homeland,” Rivka Kidron, Co-Founder and Board Member of Passages said to Ambassador Huckabee. “At Passages, we see the impact of that truth and vision every day. Young Christian leaders return from Israel transformed, rooted in Scripture and inspired by the modern miracle of Israel.”
