Tel Aviv to Lake Wobegon: Getting settled in the Twin Cities

By Ami Kaufman August 11, 2013 | Edit

A series of posts where I’ll be updating readers on my trip to the U.S. as 2013 World Press Institute fellow.

Tel Aviv to Lake Wobegon: Getting settled in the Twin Cities

The mighty Mississippi (photos: Ami Kaufman)

I haven’t really won many things in my life, so it was quite the pleasant surprise when I was awarded a 2013 World Press Institute Fellowship. I’ll be roaming all across America with nine other journalists from Australia, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Finland, Ghana, Kuwait, the Philippines and Russia. We’ll be visiting some of the biggest newsrooms in the States, meet politicians and federal officials, examining press and media innovations and learning about social and cultural diversity. Following three weeks in the Twin Cities, based at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, we’ll travel to New York, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Miami, Texas and California, among other places, before returning to Minnesota for the final week of the program.

Actually, I’m pretty excited about seeing this part of the country. It’s a region I probably would have never set foot in if I wasn’t invited, like I was for this program. I don’t know much about Minnesota. The only things I do know are probably from joining my parents when they would listen to Garrison Keillor and the News from Lake Wobegon – and that place isn’t even real!

Turns out I’m the first Israeli in the program since 1999. Some other journalists who took part in the program in the past include Dov Gilhar, Rafi Reshef and Yaron Dekel. I hope to write as much as I can about the trip for +972, but this depends on the spare time I have and on the frequency and interest of new insights I hope to obtain.

Anyway, I just landed in the Twin Cities on Friday, and after a few hours got my first glimpse of the mighty Mississippi.

The Mississippi River, with downtown Minneapolis in the background

The campus of the University of St. Thomas is small yet beautiful. Very green and very well kept. And pretty empty – all the students are on summer vacation.

This beautiful church is right behind our rooms. There seems to be a wedding there every couple of hours. In fact, during our short trips off campus, as we passed the many churches in St. Paul, there seemed to be a wedding going on in almost all of them.

Well, that’s pretty much it for the first installment. The real program begins on Monday. It’s packed with a lot of sessions, visits to places I’ve dreamed of seeing the insides for years and more. Wish me luck, folks!

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Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

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TEST TEST GAL Our team has been devastated by the horrific events of this latest war. The world is reeling from Israel’s unprecedented onslaught on Gaza, inflicting mass devastation and death upon besieged Palestinians, as well as the atrocious attack and kidnappings by Hamas in Israel on October 7. Our hearts are with all the people and communities facing this violence. We are in an extraordinarily dangerous era in Israel-Palestine. The bloodshed has reached extreme levels of brutality and threatens to engulf the entire region. Emboldened settlers in the West Bank, backed by the army, are seizing the opportunity to intensify their attacks on Palestinians. The most far-right government in Israel’s history is ramping up its policing of dissent, using the cover of war to silence Palestinian citizens and left-wing Jews who object to its policies. This escalation has a very clear context, one that +972 has spent the past 14 years covering: Israeli society’s growing racism and militarism, entrenched occupation and apartheid, and a normalized siege on Gaza. We are well positioned to cover this perilous moment – but we need your help to do it. This terrible period will challenge the humanity of all of those working for a better future in this land. Palestinians and Israelis are already organizing and strategizing to put up the fight of their lives. Can we count on your support? +972 Magazine is a leading media voice of this movement, a desperately needed platform where Palestinian and Israeli journalists, activists, and thinkers can report on and analyze what is happening, guided by humanism, equality, and justice. Join us.

Make a Donation

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