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Israel On Campus

Hillels and advocacy groups work with students to counter anti-Israel activities.

I

Keri Guten Cohen

This year also marked the 10th anniver-
sary of MSU's Israel Fest, sponsored by MSU
Hillel and the MSU Jewish Student Union.
The evening was a celebration of Israeli cul-
ture, peoplehood and innovation attended by
hundreds of students.

Story Development Editor

F

()Rowing Israel's Operation Protective
Edge in Gaza this summer, anti-Isra-
el sentiments on American college
campuses heated up, prompting pro-Israel
organizations to step up Israel advocacy
efforts.
On some campuses across the country,
pro-Palestinian student groups erected mock
checkpoints, held rallies about Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against
Israel and ramped up their Apartheid Week
activities. Academic organizations continued
to try to boycott Israeli academic institutions
as well.
According to an October report issued
by the Anti-Defamation League, during
the 2013-14 academic year, student groups
hosted at least 374 anti-Israel events,
with about 40 percent focused on how to
effectively initiate BDS campaigns on cam-
pus. Additionally, at least 57 events were
sponsored by university academic depart-
ments over the past two academic years that
presented an extremely one-sided view of the
conflict. This represented an increase from
years past.
Also, at 15 colleges, student groups sub-
mitted divestment resolutions to their stu-
dent governments, the report stated. While
most were unsuccessful, including at the
University of Michigan, they contributed to a
tense environment for some on campus.
It has become clear that Israel is less
popular among students than it is among the
population at large, according to a statement
by the David Project's Executive Director
David Bernstein. While the majority of stu-
dents may not buy into the notion that Israel
is an apartheid state or that the country has
no right to exist, many do have serious ques-
tions about Israel's peaceful intentions and
about its human rights record.
A David Project report from 2012 states
"the central problem is that pervasive nega-
tivity toward Israel on key leading American
university and college campuses is likely to
erode long-term bipartisan support for the
Jewish state:' The report also says that cam-
puses serve as the most important venue for
disseminating anti-Israelism in American
society.
So, what are pro-Israel organizations in
Michigan seeing on their campuses and what
are they doing about Israel advocacy?

MSU Hillel/HCAM

"The first week of school we were already
bombarded with a protest at Eastern

12

December 11 • 2014

JN

U - M Hillel

This year marked the 10th anniversary of MSU Hillel's Israel Fest, enjoyed by
Jewish and non-Jewish students on campus.

U-M Hillel sponsored a Wolverines for Israel advocacy program on campus.

Michigan University, news of a BDS con-
ference at Kalamazoo College and a pro-
Palestinian speaker at Grand Valley State
University," said Cindy Hughey, executive
director, Michigan State University Hillel
and the Hillel Campus Alliance of Michigan
(HCAM). "We are planning on bringing pro-
Israel speakers to all our campuses as well as
training student activists ready to respond as
needed:'
Evyatar Ben Avi, Israel Fellow at MSU
Hillel and HCAM, said, "Returning to cam-
pus after a difficult summer, I was unsure
how involved our students would want to
be. Luckily, I found that many of our student
leaders were not only willing to help, but also
wanted to become more actively involved in
promoting pro-Israel activity on campus.
"In addition to our staff, our student lead-
ers are teaching their peers Israel advocacy
skills and working toward educating our
various campus communities on the conflict.
Programs are being planned to help inform
and prepare both our students and com-
munities, and we are 100 percent behind
our 11 campuses in promoting a pro-Israel
presence:'
At Eastern Michigan, Grand Valley State,

Michigan State and Western Michigan, stu-
dents have held Ask Big Questions conversa-
tions with other campus groups in response
to anti-Israel activities. These conversations,
with questions such as "Who is in your com-
munity?" and "What does Israel mean to
you?" help build supportive Israel campus
coalitions.
"The overall mission of this approach is to
create a unified campus community where
we can recognize and respect each other's
differing opinions in a supportive and safe
environment:' Hughey said.
In response to a BDS conference at
Kalamazoo College, the Jewish studies
program hosted a panel discussion titled,
"Boycott Divestment Sanctions: Alternative
Narratives:' The program added to the cam-
pus discussion of boycotts and divestment
targeting Israeli companies and academics
by placing the current conflict between Israel
and the Palestinians into a broader political
and historical context. The panel, including
Kenneth Waltzer and Yael Aronoff of MSU's
Jewish studies program and Amy Elman of
Kalamazoo College, considered the implica-
tions of some of the rhetoric surrounding the
BDS movement.

U-M Hillel Executive Director Tilly Shames
said, "Bringing Israel to campus in a proactive
way is not new to us, and is something we do
actively and proudly in times of conflict and
times of peace. We have a strong and active
Israel cohort that is comprised of diverse
Israel groups whose leaders all pursue sup-
port for and engagement with Israel. They
run an active calendar of public- and partner-
ship-oriented events as well as internal advo-
cacy training and dialogue programs.
"We will continue to work with our com-
munity partners, in particular the David
Project, to help our students develop their
own narrative and build their confidence
in sharing what they know about Israel on
campus.
"What is unique about Hillel's approach is
our ability to convene students of many dif-
ferent backgrounds and ideas. In addition to
our Israel activism, we also convened spaces
of intra-Jewish dialogue and learning to sup-
port our Jewish students after an emotional
summer.
"We are grateful we are able to bring our
students around the table again to express
how they are feeling in a supportive and
safe space, find opportunities for collabora-
tion and partnership, and disagree with one
another in constructive and respectful ways:'
Recent U-M Hillel campus activities
included a gathering of Wolverines for
Israel across campus, a Festifaith event that
celebrated all religions, and a recent talk by
Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human
Rights. U-M Hillel — as well as MSU and
EMU Hillels — also hosted Professor Cary
Nelson, a leading expert in combatting aca-
demic boycotts, to offer advice to students in
managing the presence of BDS movements
on campuses.
"In one week, we supported Rabbi Arik
Ascherman, who was criticized by the
Jewish right-leaning community; Cary
Nelson, who was criticized by the Jewish
left-leaning community; and an IDF soldier
who was protested by the anti-Israel group
on campus:' Shames said. "We know we are
doing something right when we are getting
people's attention and providing a diverse
and balanced array of viewpoints on Israel to

Israel On Campus on page 14