The United Jewish Appeal is now booking trips to Jordan.
The addition to the UJA’s long roster of possible destinations around the world comes at the request of the United Jewish Federation of Tidewater, Virginia.
Members of the Virginia federation will be heading to the Arab country this October, in conjunction with a visit to Israel.
“This is not a tourist trip to Jordan; it is a trip of Jews trying to get a sense of the geopolitical field in which Israel is playing,” said Mark Goldstein, the federation’s executive vice president.
After getting initial information about tours to Jordan and contacting a group of Reform rabbis who visited earlier this year, Goldstein passed the information on to the UJA missions office in New York.
Last month, Nechemia Dagan, executive director of UJA Overseas Programs, notified federation campaign directors that the organization has contracted land agents in Jordan who are capable of arranging pre-missions there.
Dagan said UJA has current prices for mission services to Jordan and that they run slightly cheaper than services in Israel.
While Israel is at the center of UJA missions, there is often an optional “pre-mission” to other countries. Such visits are generally to countries where UJA, through the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, aids the local Jewish community.
Past pre-missions have included Berlin, and, prior to attacks against foreign tourists, Egypt.
Among the other groups now planning a UJA-arranged visit to Jordan this fall is the leadership of the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council.
The American Jewish Congress also plans to add Jordan to its travel program and, according to AJCongress officials, has received assurances the Jordanians will allow tourists with Israeli stamps on their passports to enter the country.
UJA itself is considering sending a mission of its top donors to Jordan and Morocco, long a UJA destination.
Dagan cautioned, however, that “because of the sensitivity of the political situation in the Middle East, I do not recommend considering Jordan as a standard mission destination.
“We will look into it as a mission option on a case by case basis,” he said.
A sample itinerary for Jordan drawn up by UJA includes a visit to Mount Nebo, believed to be the site where Moses died; meetings with members of Parliament and businesspeople; and a tour of Petra, the ancient city carved from stone which is one of Jordan’s major tourist attractions.
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