proactive, not reactive'
Cindy Hughey, executive director
of MSU Hillel and the Hillel Campus
Alliance of Michigan
(HCAM, which
includes Western
Michigan, Grand
Valley State, Central
Michigan, Albion
Kalamazoo and Alma
colleges) agrees.
Cindy Hughey
"On the MSU and
HCAM campuses, our
strategy is to provide
pro-Israel activities throughout the
school year. We do this in concert with
our Israel Fellow and student-led Israel
groups. We. showcase Israel in positive
ways and get our message out."
Toward that end, the Jewish
Community Relations Council of
Metropolitan Detroit worked with
Israel's Midwest consulate to arrange
and implement a one-day whirlwind
itinerary on Feb. 29 for expert Israel
advocacy trainer Neil Lazarus to train
Jewish students and meet Jewish
student leadership. Lazarus trained
students at MSU Hillel, Frankel Jewish
Academy and Akiva Hebrew Day
School, and met with Jewish student
leadership from Wayne State and
Oakland universities.
In addition, during the winter
semester, JCRC's Allan Gale served as
a presenter at HMD's Israel Fellows
study sessions, designed for students
learning to become better advocates for
Israel. Gale also spoke at MSU Hillel's
"Talk Israel" event during the fall 2011
semester and provided advice to U-M's
American Movement for Israel student
group.
Gale says he believes that Jewish
students on campuses across Michigan
need to "grab the bull by the horns"
to create a visible Jewish presence on
campus, building community, respect
and influence by establishing relation-
ships with the university or college
administration, campus newspaper,
university police, student government
and other student groups. In this way,
he says, Jewish students can impact
the attitude toward and image of Jews,
Judaism and Israel on their campus.
Neil Cantor, HMD's director of Jewish
Student Life, explained why Jewish stu-

dents don't hold similar walkouts and
demonstrations at Muslim-sponsored
events.
"Our students
generally don't
protest because it
legitimizes their
[Muslim] causes:' he
said. "Instead, we do
pro-Israel activities
to educate students.
Neil Cantor
Generally, we find
that many of the
speakers that come
in from Muslim studentgroups are
brought in by outside organizations and
don't draw much of a student turnout."
The ZOA — an outside organiza-
tion that often works with on-campus
groups like Hillel — supports that
approach.
"One thing we're completely against
and will never condone is organized
Jewish walkouts of anti-Israel pro-
grams:' Nayfeld said. "As supporters of
Israel, we value democracy and support
discourse. As such, we will never sup-
port impeding anybody's rights. This
does not mean, however, that students
should not protest outside with signs,
flags, fact sheets, etc., and students
must attend anti-Israel programs in
order to present the other side of the
conflict when the time is appropriate
[the question-and-answer period]."
But while Nayfeld believes the dem-
onstrations have inhibited discussion,
Cantor doesn't see it that way.
"Following the Gil Hoffman lecture,
there were dialogue and conversations
between Jewish students and Muslim
students:' he says. "Nothing is cur-
rently stifling or preventing pro-Israel
programs and speakers. I have not seen
any increased tension. The atmosphere
on campus is not hostile at all.
"Jewish students from Hillel of
Metro Detroit recently participated
in a flash mob on campus with Arab
students in support of Syrian citi-
zens currently under attack by the
Syrian government. Universities and
college campuses are ideal places
for the free exchange of ideas and
healthy debate."

❑

Positive Portrayals

MSU Israel Peace Week educates
students about Israel's efforts.

Michigan State University students: freshman Corey Rosen, Farmington Hills; Felix
Shoihat, MSU Hillel Israel Fellow; sophomore Danielle Brickner, Walled Lake; senior

Tracey Moskowitz, Northbrook, Ill.; junior Alex Waldman, Bloomfield Township; speaker

Neil Lazarus; sophomore Michael Siegel, Farmington Hills; junior Shayna Danto, West
Bloomfield; senior Marnie Beals, West Bloomfield.

Danielle Brickner
Special to the Jewish News

A

t Michigan State University during
Israel Peace Week (Feb. 21-29), three
programs were planned by the Team
Israel Programming Committee (TIP-C) of
the Jewish Student Union to show that Israel
wants peace and is willing to make sacrifices
to obtain it.
The first program, Israeli Soldiers Speak
Out, featured two Israeli soldiers who talked
about their personal experiences in the
Israeli Defense Forces. Itzik Yushuvaev and
Jossi Hertzog shared their backgrounds, life
in Israel and answered questions. During
their presentation, a silent protest was held
by Students Allied for Freedom and Equality,
a pro-Palestinian student group. This was
the first time I have experienced anything
anti-Israel and this furthered my desire to
continue to advocate for Israel. This event was
hosted by TIP-C, MSU Hillel and the MSU
ROTC.
The second event was a screening of the
film Israel Inside: How a Small Nation Makes a
Big Difference, a documentary that shows pos-
itive aspects about Israel's society: humanistic,
physiological and emotional viewpoints. This

movie illustrates how Israelis have made the
world a better place through their advance-
ments in science, environment, medicine and
technology. Hasbara (a pro-Israel campus
activism organization) and StandWithUs
provided the film. Daniel Cohen, Midwest
Hasbara coordinator, answered student ques-
tions after the movie.
Our final program had Israel advocacy
trainer Neil Lazarus speak to Jewish leaders
on campus. His seminar, "Talking Israel: The
Five Rules of Effective Israel Advocacy, Public
Speaking and Communication Training,"
engaged the audience about Israel advocacy
and provided tools to strengthen our skills
in representing Israel positively. The student
leaders look forward to building coalitions
with others on campus.And, after the pro-
test by SAFE, we now see that it is extremely
important to continue advocating for Israel.
Lazarus' talk was sponsored by the
Jewish Community Relations Council of
Metropolitan Detroit and the Israel's Midwest
consulate. ❑

Danielle Brickner of Walled Lake is a sophomore

in the School of Engineering at Michigan State

University. She was a Hasbara Fellow in Israel last
December.

Story Development Editor Keri Guten
Cohen contributed to this report.

March 15 • 2012

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