Focus On Israel
MSU conference offers students training and tools to talk
more knowledgeably about the Jewish state.
KAREN SCHWARTZ
Special to the Jewish News
hen Israel is-in the news, 19-year-old
Western Michigan University sopho-
more Ari Katz knows he's supposed to
be the expert in his group of non-Jewish
friends, who ask him, "How's it going over there?"
And Katz, one of 50 students from universities
around the state who attended Michigan State
University Hillel's second annual Conference on
Israel Feb. 8-9, said he would like to have more
answers for himself as well as others on campus who
see him connected to Israel because he is Jewish.
After spending a weekend listening to speakers dis-
cuss Israel, politics and activism, Katz said he now feels
more prepared to help others understand the situation.
"I don't know as much as I want to and this a
great place to start building on to it," Katz said.
"Now I'll be able to tell them more in-depth what
they don't show on the news, the This is happening
for that reason."'
Students came from Western Michigan University,
MSU, University of Michigan and Oakland University.
Featured speakers included Ben Harris of New York, a
speech writer for the Israeli mission to the United
Nations; Chicago-based Israeli Consulate Deputy
Cons.ul General David Roet; Michael Schneider, presi-
dent ofl2th House, a New York-based training network
for Jewish college students; and Neil Lazarus, director of
Awesome Seminars, an Israeli firm providing effective
communication and Israel advocacy training.
"I think what's really important about this is that
A New Role
With party down, Natan Sharansky
lands on his feet on Sharon team.
MATTHEW GUTMAN
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
Tel Aviv
0
n a brisk February night in 1986, a short,
pale and balding man, who gained inter-
national acclaim as the leader of the
Jewish refusenik movement in the Soviet
Union, stepped off a plane at Ben-Gurion Airport
and into Israeli legend.
Ten years later, when he decided to leverage his
reputation for courage and integrity into political
candidacy, Natan Sharansky shocked Israel's political
establishment when his new immigrant-rights party,
Yisrael Ba'Aliyah, won seven seats in its first election.
Since then the party's fortunes have steadily
Michigan State University Hillel's second Conference on
Israel was held at the new Hillet
it gives all of the college students the opportunity to
come together, discuss issues that are very important
to them and benefit as a Michigan region from these
speakers," said MSU junior Sherie Rappoport, 21,
of West Bloomfield, a conference coordinator.
She said she felt the speakers also provided unique
and beneficial perspectives students would not have
been able to find elsewhere.
"Hearing what's going on through the media does-
n't always tell the truth — the truth can be
stretched. Hearing personal stories from the speak-
ers, those types of issues really hit home with the
students. It's something different than what we'd
normally hear," she said.
The conference, started last year and held this year
in MSU's new Hillel building, was open to students
and community members and also featured a panel
declined, and on Jan. 28 the myth of Natan
Sharansky seemed shattered: Yisrael Ba'Aliyah won
just two seats in Israel's latest elections, and
Sharansky resigned from the Knesset.
Israeli politicians never die, however, they just
reincarnate.
Following a short post-election vacation — and 17
years to the day after he stepped onto the Ben-Gurion
Airport tarmac — Sharansky struck a deal with Prime
Minister Ariel Sharon to merge Yisrael Ba'Aliyah into
the Likud, the Knesset's most powerful party.
A cartoon in the mass circulation daily Yediot Achronot
showed a gnome-like Sharansky scurrying up a ladder
leaning against a giant Sharon. Playing on the name of
Yisrael Ba'Aliyah — which can mean "Israel on the rise"
— the cartoon said Sharansky really was the one rising.
Under the terms of his agreement with Sharon,
Sharansky will become a minister without portfolio,
responsible for Jerusalem and diaspora affairs. He
also is expected to have a seat in the small inner cab-
inet that authorizes Israeli military operations.
In exchange, the addition of Yisrael Ba'Aliyah's
two seats increases the Likud's representation to 40
in the 120-seat Knesset.
Sunday morning that discussed various political
stances on Israel.
"Issues in the Middle East, specifically Israel, do
not just affect Jews, they affect everyone,"
Rappoport said. "Things.that are happening there
are closely related to things that are going on in the
U.S., and we want to let students know that we are
here as a resource."
Having a conference that brings together students
from different campuses also is a positive way to
show Michigan college students' support for Israel,
Rappoport said.
She hopes the conference will serve as a spring-
board for Michigan colleges to work together on
further Israel programming.
"We all have a passion for Israel," she said. "We all
have seen what's going on. What's important is that
hopefully we can stay connected after this and who
knows what can be done," she said.
Erin Pearlman, 21, an Oakland University stu-
dent, said she came to the conference because of the
connection she feels with Israel.After having gone to
Israel and experiencing such an amazing country, it's
important for us to be here and to learn," she said.
"I think it's really important that students from
other schools are here because we can bounce ideas
off of each other. It helps me see what other campus-
es are doing so I can go back to my campus and say,
`Why don't we try some of these things?'" she said.
Making connections on campus with individuals of
other religious and cultural backgrounds could also
lead to greater understanding and support for Israel,
said WMU student Jodi Beals, 19.
"A lot of times we'll do activities with other Jewish
organizations, but we surround ourselves with peo-
ple who are more alike and we should also surround
ourselves with people from other cultures," she said.
"It's a good way to build friendships and connec-
tions and create understandings about our similari-
ties and differences, to give us a chance to under-
stand them and vice versa." ❑
Aides and pundits called Sharansky's decision to
resign his Knesset seat a magnanimous decision. And
joining Sharon, at a time when Yisrael Ba'Aliyah has
the support of only about 2 percent of the Israeli
electorate, was a wise one, the pundits said.
Despite what may seem a demotion from his post
in the last government, when he oversaw an annual
budget of hundreds of millions of shekels in the
Housing and Construction Ministry, many say
Sharansky is perfect for the diaspora affairs post.
Bobby Brown, an adviser to the chairman of the
Jewish Agency for Israel and a senior adviser on dias-
pora affairs to former Prime Minister Binyamin
Netanyahu, praised the move.
"Most Knesset members now serving were born and
raised in Israel. They don't have the experience of living
abroad and making aliyah, and so can't really under-
stand what that entails," Brown said. Sharansky is sen-
sitive to the plight of immigrants, but not only those
hailing from the former Soviet Union, Brown said.
For example, Sharansky managed to push through
amendments to new tax laws that would have taxed
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2003
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