American Movement for Israel at
U-M hosted College Republicans
and College Democrats to debate
and discuss their candidates'
views on Israel leading up to
the election. Jeremy Borison of
Beachwood, Ohio, and Danielle
Rapp of Bloomfield Hills organized
and moderated the debate.
Diverse
And
Dedicated
U-M Hillel's Israel Cohort keeps Israel a daily priority.
T
his fall, the student leaders of the
University of Michigan Hillel's
Israel Cohort developed a mission
statement that presented who they are and
what they want to achieve as Israel leader-
ship on campus:
The Israel Cohort is an umbrella collabo-
ration of student groups from the University
of Michigan that promotes student support
for and engagement with Israel. We encour-
age and nurture diverse ways for students
to share their perspective and raise aware-
ness regarding Israel on campus. With dif-
ferent events happening on a regular basis,
the Israel Cohort strives to create an open
and vibrant environment for interested stu-
dents on campus. (University of Michigan
Hillel 2012)
While I recognize this does not make for
a witty T-shirt campaign, the Israel Cohort
statement gets to the conversation, com-
plexity and nuance behind the bumper
sticker-sized slogans. Perspectives on how
to support Israel are so diverse that it is a
challenge for any community to adopt one
slogan, one label, one mission statement
or one individual approach. At Hillel, our
approach has to be pluralistic to represent
our diverse community and encourage all
of our students to engage with Israel in a
meaningful way during these formative
years.
This semester our students are embrac-
ing their Israel diversity in ways not
seen in most Jewish organizations today.
Our Hillel's Israel Cohort represents a
wide array of approaches and includes
American Movement for Israel, WOLV-
PAC (an AIPAC affiliate), JStreet U-Mich,
Hasbara Fellows, Tamid Israel Investment
Group, I-LEAD and MASA interns, all
of which embrace the messaging of their
Israel Cohort statement. These groups
are supported full-time by Ilan Ofir, U-M
16
November 22 • 2012
■••■•■
Art:,
masa
Israel Journey
U-M seniors Stephanie Horwitz of West Bloomfield and Ariella Yedwab of Commerce
Township answer questions about Masa Israel trips on campus.
Hillel's Jewish Agency Israel Fellow.
When CAMERA and StandWithUs have
fellows on campus, they are invited to join
the cohort as well. The Israel
Cohort, both as individual
groups and as one common
entity, offers programs that are
diverse (social, cultural, politi-
cal, educational and advocacy-
oriented) and pluralistic. These
groups support engagement
with Israel, experiencing Israeli
culture, learning about Israel,
wrestling with the idea and
ideal of Israel, and continuing
a relationship with Israel. Their
cohort statement cannot be
explained in a few words but
needs 67 words to celebrate
their differences and unite them in their
efforts and their common love for Israel.
Differences Of Opinion
Let's be clear: Every time this group meets
it is challenged by language, assumptions
and differences of opinion. The leaders
disagree often and challenge one another
on advocacy approaches and effective pro-
gramming. They also listen and
support one another, even when
they disagree, by attending
each other's events and learning
from the different ways Israel
is presented on campus. They
exhibit leadership, tolerance,
understanding and respect in
ways we hope will be replicated
by other communities beyond
our campus.
When we heard over the
summer that a national confer-
ence of pro-Palestinian activists
would be held on the U-M cam-
pus this fall, there was no hesi-
tation, no intimidation and no questioning
among our Israel Cohort. This conference
may have taken place on our campus in
early November, but it did not define our
campus nor represent our community.
The Israel Cohort remained dedicated to
organizing a semester of programming
and campaigns, as they always do, that
fully represented their diverse approach to
encouraging support for and engagement
with Israel. They recognized as far back
as August that if there would be national
media attention or campus press covering
this conference, students may be upset or
have questions and concerns, and would
look to them and their Israel leadership for
direction.
They planned additional discussion
groups around Shabbat dinners hosted
across campus and educational sessions
so that students could focus their atten-
tion, energy and efforts toward Israel. In
the weeks leading up to the conference,
it received no attention nationally or
locally and did not impact our community.
Regardless, the Israel leaders chose to
continue with their discussion-based and
educational programs, only adding to their
semester-long initiatives.
Truth be told, what the Israel leader-
ship did was no different than what this
cohort does on a regular basis — provide
a diverse array of opportunities for stu-
dents to engage with and support Israel in
a way that is meaningful for them. Their
programming — Israel Day on the Diag,
Artists 4 Israel, coffee talks, candidates'
views on Israel with the College Democrats
and College Republicans, movie nights,
Shabbat sponsorship, two-state semes-
ter campaign, advocacy sessions with
David Project, StandWithUs, Hasbara
Fellowships — all of these events would
happen regardless of what else is happen-
ing on our campus.
Any given week on our Hillel calendar,
we support three to five Israel-related
events — not counting the many Taglit-
Birthright Israel interviews, follow-up
coffee meetings and reunion events to
support the 200 students we take to Israel
every year.
In these times, Hillels may feel the
spotlight turns to them to show a reaction
by presenting a strong Israel day or week
around anti-Israel events. Fortunately
for our campus, the students leading the
groups of the Israel Cohort and our Hillel
drive forward a proactive agenda through-
out the year, making every day an Israel
day. When a spotlight shines on our "reac-
tion:' it can be found in what we do on our
campus every day.
❑
Tilly Shames is executive director of the
University of Michigan