(JNS) - It is being dubbed the "Christian Birthright."

The group of 120 American college students had just crisscrossed Israel on a nine-day journey, visited the requisite sites including a Friday night at the Western Wall, stops in Bethlehem and Nazareth, and must-see places such as the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, before diving into the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with its diversity of narratives, security and multi-faith briefings, and visits to border areas.

At first glance, the boisterous, 20-something students gathered for a farewell event at a banquet hall in a Tel Aviv suburb, munching...