Opinion
Our Special Community
I
t is said that you don't know what
you have until it's gone.
I was born and raised in Oak Park;
after getting married, I moved to Israel for
about a year. I came back home and start-
ed working for the National Conference
of Synagogue Youth as its Detroit chapter
director.
When I was growing up, I thought I'd
never live in Detroit. So much so, that
when I was being recruited for the posi-
tion, Rabbi Tzali Freedman had to con-
vince me as to why I should want to live
here. He mentioned several times about
the sense of community that was here.
Sure, you'd hear people talking about how
great the community is, but doesn't every-
one say that about their own city?
It is a bittersweet situation that I am
dealing with now For a variety of reasons,
my family and I will be moving to New York
in the summer. On the one hand, I
six times a year, there is a
know that it is the right move for
meeting of all the Jewish
us; on the other hand, it will be
youth professionals in the
very sad to leave the friends and
Detroit area. Organized
community that we have become
by Lisa Soble Siegmann
a part of.
of the Jewish Federation
At a recent meeting in Oak
and chaired by Rabbi Josh
Park, Scott Kaufman, CEO
Bennett of Temple Israel in
of the Jewish Federation of
West Bloomfield, the Youth
Metropolitan Detroit, mentioned
Professional Council (YPC)
two characteristics that Detroit
is made up of members from
Kuti Roberg
has: commitment and unity.
BBYO, ATID, NFTY, NCSY,
Corn munity
When one joins these words
Frankel Jewish Academy,
View
together, you get community.
Tamarack Camps, Hillel Day
We in Detroit have a drive that
School as well as a few others.
is unmatched anywhere else. At a time
We meet and discuss how we can work
when many of our friends and family may together to be more productive as a com-
be going through a rough patch, we unite
munity and to share ideas of what pro-
as a cohesive group; we put aside our dif-
grams are successful. Seeing how we all
ferences and support each other.
have the same goal of keeping the children
Most people are not aware of this, but
of our community aware of their Jewish
roots and heritage, it makes sense that
we have a group of this nature. Yet when
I speak to anyone outside of Detroit, they
are amazed that we have such a cohesive
group.
As a community, we have put together
major events, including J-Text and, most
recently, J-Serve, the international day
of Jewish Teen Service, bringing 175
teens together from 30 youth groups,
synagogues, camps and schools. This is a
remarkable experience.
So as I am leaving, I truly understand
the unique community that we have here in
Detroit. It is something that I will always be
proud of. I hope that it will continue in this
same direction for many years. ❑
Kuti Roberg, the chapter director of Detroit
NCSY, will move from Southfield this summer
with his wife, Miri, and their two daughters.
Engaging With Israel On Campus
Washington/JTA
A
s the pro-Israel community
addresses blockade-running
Gaza flotillas, the vast majority
of U.S. campuses already are on summer
break. Certain campuses, including the alma
mater of pro-Palestinian activist Rachel
Corrie, Evergreen State College, have seen
anti-Israel protests and resolutions, but
most campuses still in session experienced
relatively muted events as they turned atten-
tion to exams and summer plans.
The campus discussion this fall will
doubtless include the Gaza blockade. But
these recent events emphasize an important
point: Campuses are different. Campuses
operate on different schedules, engage in
different discussions and require different
approaches regarding Israel.
As executive director of the Israel on
Campus Coalition, an umbrella group of
more than 30 national organizations dedi-
cated to pro-Israel campus engagement,
education and advocacy, I hear from stu-
dent activists, campus professionals and
others about their experiences. Several
trends for the coming year — and the
needs of the campus pro-Israel commu-
nity to be successful — have become clear.
First, Israel's campus detractors have
and will continue to focus on three D's —
divestment, disruptions and demonization
— as part of a global effort to delegiti-
mize Israel and paint it as a pariah state.
This effort to delegitimize Israel among
the constituents and future leaders of
the United States, Israel's chief ally, poses
34 June 24•2010
a threat to Israel's long-term
Divestment and disrup-
security equal to many of the
tions coincide with attempts
threats Israel faces in its region.
to demonize Israel. Israel
Anti-Israel campus activ-
Apartheid Week, now in its
ists for nearly a decade have
sixth year, makes "apartheid
attempted to push campus
walls'" and "Israel apartheid"
boycott, divestment and sanc-
lectures all too commonplace
tions efforts against Israel, but
on many campuses. In some
those efforts peaked this spring
places, naive, misinformed and
in unsuccessful, but highly
possibly ill-intentioned faculty
publicized, divestment battles
departments have co-spon-
Stephen
in the student governments
sored such events.
Kuperberg
of the University of California
Against this disturbing back-
Special
at Berkeley and San Diego.
drop, the pro-Israel campus
Commentary
Prominent international Israel
community continues to build
critics, including Richard Falk, Desmond
relationships on their campuses to promote
Tutu and Naomi Klein, wrote the student
a positive message around Israel, and to
senators to support divestment. Even
marginalize and negate the falsehoods
some Israeli and Jewish Berkeley students, popularized by Israel's detractors.
faculty and community members joined
Savvy pro-Israel advocates understand
the divestment effort.
that relationships stand at the heart of effec-
While the resolutions were entirely sym-
tive engagement. By building relationships
bolic — university regents committed not
with the key decision-makers on their cam-
to divest from Israel — the Israel detrac-
puses — administrators, department heads,
tors' prime objective succeeded in obtaining student governments, campus newspaper
a public forum to defame the Jewish state.
editors and leaders of student organiza-
Anti-Israel activists also gained notoriety tions — the pro-Israel campus community
this year for disrupting pro-Israel speak-
is far more likely to succeed in defusing or
ers, from former Israeli Prime Minister
deflecting anti-Israel activity and promoting
Ehud Olmert at the University of Chicago to a positive campus environment.
Israel's U.S. Ambassador to the U.S. Michael
Relationship-building cannot be any-
Oren at the University of California, Irvine.
thing less than authentic and lasting. But
The detractors use the tactic to portray
smart activists expand upon these rela-
Israeli speakers as war criminals beyond
tionships by creating opportunities simul-
the pale of campus discussion and attempt
taneously to enhance the campus environ-
to deprive the speakers of a platform
ment and provide more opportunities for
through which to share ideas with the cam- engagement around Israel.
pus community.
By creating Israel investment clubs;
promoting joint programs with Israeli
universities; demanding and attending
opportunities for Israel study; supporting
administration efforts to protect the aca-
demic environment and ensure speech free
from harassment and intimidation; and
emphasizing opportunities for immersion
in Israel experiences through programs
such as Taglit-Birthright Israel, alternative
break trips and long-term study and work
programs in Israel, pro-Israel activists who
start with effective relationship-building
can enhance the campus community's level
of engagement with, understanding of,
and desire and ability to stand with Israel
against its detractors.
The Israel on Campus Coalition is ready
to train students and campus profession-
als to build the relationships that will
allow them to be effective in promoting a
pro-Israel campus environment, but we
cannot accomplish this work without the
support of the broader community.
The challenges facing the campus pro-
Israel community are real and will con-
tinue to mount in the coming academic
year. But a coordinated, strategic approach
both to counter Israel's detractors and to
enhance a pro-Israel environment — one
that is authentically oriented to the unique
needs of campus and aimed at building
effective relationships for the long term
— can and must be achieved. The campus
community deserves the broader commu-
nity's support to achieve these goals. ri
Stephen Kuperberg is executive director
of the Israel on Campus Coalition.