Rimon Club, a Zionist youth group based in the South Bay, held a three-day conference in Calistoga over the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend that drew 27 high school students.

Mordechai Kedar teaches the teens.

Held Jan. 16 to 18 at Mayacamas Ranch, the conference included talks by experts on Israel and Zionism.

Rimon Club founder and retreat organizer Masha Merkulova said the event was intended to “educate participants about the Jewish people’s right to the land of Israel and to put it into historical context. It was important for them to hear the facts from experts.”

Guest speakers included Israeli professor of Arabic literature Mordechai Kedar, Zionist Organization  of America Western regional director Sam Levine, campus pro-Israel organizer Chloe Vidary and Stockton-based Zionist Christian pastor Dumisani Washington, founder of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel.

Topics included origins of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Arab culture and strategies for combatting the boycott, divest and sanction movement on college campuses.