Posted June 13 2008 by Dani Klein
The State of Israel Advocacy on and off Campus
Yesterday I awoke at 4:30am in New York, to attend a 9:30am meeting in D.C. Not fun. However, the meeting that took place was a lot more enjoyable and energizing than previously anticipated.
The ICC (Israel on Campus Coalition) hosted its end of the school year meeting, which brought in representatives from 33 Israel related organizations that work on college campuses. I, of course, represented StandWithUs, an Israel education and advocacy organization, of which I am the North American Campus Director. At these meetings we typically go over the year’s events, trends, achievements, and errors.
It was unanimous that the 2007-2008 academic year was a huge success for Israel advocates on college campuses across the U.S. Hundreds of campuses ran events related to “Israel @ 60″ (Israel’s 60th birthday), and engaged tens of thousands of students in the process. The success of many of the coalition’s member organizations, including my own, is due to numerous factors. One of them being the emergence of a grant provided by the Legacy Heritage Fund, which provided a few hundred campuses with grants to run these Israel-themed celebrations and educational events. They were awarded yesterday by the ICC for their efforts.
However, while a pat ourselves on the back is nice, it is also worth discussing issues the pro-Israel community faces. Anti-Israel, anti-Zionist, and similar groups have been loud this past year, and we don’t expect them to die down anytime soon. Events referring to Israel’s creation (”al Nakba” the disaster) were visible on many campuses throughout the world. We should never become complacent that all is well; that just our efforts are enough. We should constantly be striving to educating our peers about Israel, and not let her detractors hijack our message.
Education all over the world is key for Israel’s survival. Mis-education in the Palestinian territories has poisoned the minds of the Palestinian youth to hate Jews, Christians, etc. Global media bias and the academia’s indoctrinations of our population are contributing to misinformation and sometimes flat out hatred toward Israel, and often the U.S. It is important that everyone educate themselves, as well as their friends, family, and peers, about the wonderful place Israel is. I am not suggesting blindly support Israel because you are Jewish. Rather, if you learn the facts, you will come to support Israel for its commitment to democracy & human rights, the amazing technological and medical innovations that you most likely use daily, and the many other reasons to love the tiny Jewish state. Don’t get me wrong. There are many problems that exist within Israel, its government, military, and society. But what country doesn’t face similar problems?
It is important for the world to step back and say Israel is imperfect like every other nation on the map. Once we understand that, we can come to love all the positive aspects about Israel, while allowing Israeli citizens to properly protest its government, change the societal issues, and deal with its unfriendly neighbors.
It is our job in the Diaspora to promote and educate others about Israel when we can. If those of us who love Israel won’t do it, who will?
Dani Klein is the Campus Director for StandWithUs and can be contacted by emailing: dani@standwithus.com
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