Editor's Letter
THE
Overcoming Campus Hate
says, "you can't make it resonate!'
n a dreary Sunday in the dead of winter at Milk &
Says the report: "The most disheartening result of this
Honey Restaurant of West Bloomfield, I broke bread
study
is how so many of these future leaders began their cog-
with a bright, young advocate not only for countering
Jew hating on our campuses, but also for staying connected to nitive awareness as supporters of Israel, how quickly they
have drifted away and how their support for the Palestinian
our heritage no matter how assimilated we are in secular
cause at the expense of Israel continues to grow"
America. It was well worth venturing into the rain that
Wissot was heartened by the caliber of Jewish students in
evening. I was energized and enlight-
Michigan who have taken up a cudgel of knowledge to beat
ened. I left understanding why human
back the.hyperbole spewed by Jew haters among peers.
experience trumps pass-along emotion.
"When you talk to the ones who.are empowered;' he says,
Michael Wissot, a political analyst and
"they truly believe that one person can make a difference. It's
professor, spoke at the Holocaust
really extraordinary when you see students saying they are
Memorial Center in Farmington Hills on
going to be part of the solution despite the challenges ahead."
behalf of the new Michigan chapter of
It's downright inspiring.
StandWithUs, a proactive Israel educa-
Still, the report points up the inability of many. Jews to
tion organization-based in Los Angeles.
defend Zionist and Jewish support for Israel against propa-
Robert A. Sklar With national pollster Frank Luntz,
ganda-trained pro-Palestinians who come across as more
Wissot co-prepared the report "America
Editor
passionate and convincing in their account of what triggered
2020: How the Next- Generation Views
ongoing Palestinian terror against the Jewish state.
Israel!'
To help expand the pool of informed student Zionists, we
The groundbreaking report identifies the warped impres-
adults. must get our act together, harden our resolve, learn
sions that non-Jewish graduate students at nine top U.S. uni-
how
to respond compellingly to hatredand become worthy
versities have about Israel and Jews as well as about America's
role
models.
The idea is simple yet poignant: to help timid
role in the volatile Middle East. It found anti-Zionist senti-
students
gain
the confidence to speak out against intolerance
ment morphing into similar feelings about American Jewry
and
tell
the
Jewish
side of the story. This need isn't under-
and its influence. Students were surveyed at Harvard, MIT,
scored
nearly
enough
around our state. This is where
Columbia, Georgetown, George Washington, Johns Hopkins,
) will help.
StandWithUs
(wwwStandWithUs.org
UCLA, the University of
Chicago and Northwestern.
The report, commis-
"Most people don't take the conditions
• sioned by the Israel Project,
is blunt: "It's time for
that are so prevalent on campus to
American Jewish leaders
and the Jewish community
heart until they hear about them from
in general to wake up and
face facts: Many of the
the students directly."
young elite in America are
openly hostile toward the
— Michael Wissot, political analyst and professor
perceived power of Jews in America!'
The report talks to us through the
viewpoint of young elites who have nur-
There's no knockout punch in just recognizing the types of
tured the rising tide of anti-Zionism on campus "despite
feelings that the anti-Zionist young elite harbor. Jewish stu-
organized and heroic efforts by organizations like AIPAC and
dents must be equipped to confront these antagonists with
Hiller When young elites flex their opinion-shaping muscle
truth and candor to suppress the vitriol.
and say that Israel's security measures create more problems
The report "America 2020" also recommends seeking out
than solutions — and that the fence is "a particularly ugly
non-Jewish,
pro-Israel professors and student leaders on
symbol of division, oppression and occupation" —' we'd be
campus
to
help
spread the right message outside of class.
reckless not to listen.
The
upshot:
Israel
needs Jewish as well as non-Jewish
Pundits often depersonalize campus challenges for Jews*
defenders.
Jews
can't
go it alone. ❑
because it's easier then to generalize conclusions. "Most peo-
ple don't take the conditions that are so prevalent on campus
to heart until they hear about them from the students direct-
ly," Wissot says.
Why is there so much apathy in the
And I agree. Professionals can be extremely insightful, but
Jewish community toward campus anti-
there's something uplifting about unfettered thoughts of stu=
Zionism?
dents experiencing what others can only interpret.
Wissot is just 31. So that gives him an edge in relating to
Is there a communal obligation to help
students at Pepperdine University in L.A., where he is an
Jewish students on campus fight this
adjunct professor. More than that, as a communications
antipathy?
adviser to Fortune 500 companies, he knows what it takes to
engage people. He knows the power of personalizing,
E-mail: letters@thejewishnews.com
empathizing and humanizing. "Until you actually tell a story
that gets to the heart of what people are experiencing:' Wissot
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