UC Irvine News Brief: Olive Tree Initiative to host annual student send-off

UCI’s Olive Tree Initiative will host its annual bon voyage luncheon at noon Sunday, Aug. 21, in the Student Center. The event raises money for and bids farewell to the fourth OTI group to visit the Middle East. Amir K. and Mike Batayeh of the Sultans of Satire: Middle East Comic Relief will perform. This year, students from other University of California campuses – Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz and Los Angeles – make up a large part of OTI’s traveling delegation, which departs Monday, Aug. 29. Since its founding in 2007, OTI has won awards for outstanding leadership from the U.S. Center for Citizen Diplomacy, the Orange County Human Relations Commission, and the UC Office of the President. Additional OTI branches are in the works at other universities where students want to promote dialogue and understanding about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through experiential education.