Jewish Dialogue Group (2006)

Founded in 2001, the Jewish Dialogue Group (JDG) is a Philadelphia-based grassroots organization that promotes constructive intra-Jewish dialogue about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other vital Jewish issues. For Natan's Campus Initiative, JDG has created a pilot mediation-and-dialogue program that was launched at several campuses throughout the Philadelphia area in the fall of 2006.

The program is engaging small groups of students in open dialogue about Israel and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with a special emphasis on attracting people who are not normally drawn to Israel-related programs. As students meet repeatedly over the course of the year, the program will help them to develop communication and facilitation skills that they can utilize throughout their lives, and it will enable them to learn about issues that affect modern Israel in a non-political, non-judgmental arena. This pilot program is being extensively monitored and evaluated, with longitudinal research on the participants, in order to gauge the program's effectiveness and impact on students' lives.