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24

May 7 • 2015

• _

Black college
student travels
the country as an
advocate for Israel.

Chloe Valdary

Harry Kirsbaum
Contributing Writer

C

because of the influence of this teacher.
The turning point in the film is when
the teacher teaches them about the
Holocaust.
I thought that all I have to do is learn
about the Holocaust and then teach it
to my peers, and they will also change.
That didn't actually happen but, in the
process, I began to do my own research
into the Holocaust, and it led me into
more Jewish literature.
In college, I took a class in interna-
tional studies theories and wrote a paper
on the Arab-Israeli conflict. I studied
the cultural roots of the conflict and
decided to change my major to interna-
tional studies.
There was also a lot of news about
anti-Semitism rising in France and
violence against Jews in Israel, and I
just felt compelled to change
my major. I had also read The
Town Beyond the Wall by Elie
Wiesel, which is all about not
being apathetic or indifferent,
so I changed my major, and a
semester later established my
student organization "Allies of
Israel."

lawn and did a silent protest. None of
them were students.

hloe Simone Valdary, 21, an
African American college
student just weeks away from
graduating with a bachelor's degree
in international studies from the
University of New Orleans, does not fit
the mold of the typical Israel advocate.
Born to a Baptist family in New
Orleans, her father switched to a non-
denominational Christian church
that looked at the roots of the New
Testament, and follows Jewish customs
and religious holidays, just like Jesus
would have. She has been absent from
school on Yom Kippur since she's been
going to school, and her love of Israel
began in high school when she read
Mila 18 and Exodus, pro-Jewish novels
by Leon Uris.
Now Valdary is a consul-
tant to the Boston-based
Committee for Accuracy
in Middle East Reporting
in America (CAMERA),
and occasionally travels
around the country with
the support of the Zionist
Organization of America
Chloe Valda ry
(ZOA) to give her views on
IN: What was the seed for your
what needs to be done to
organization?
advocate for Israel on college campuses.
CV: It was a result of the things going
Recently, she sat down with the JN
on in the news. There was no anti-Israel
during a whirlwind speaking engage-
sentiment in my school. It's a com-
ment weekend, when she spoke at
muter school and no one cares about
Congregation Beth Shalom in Oak
fraternities, let alone the Middle East,
Park, Congregation Shaarey Zedek in
so I wanted to introduce the narrative of
Southfield, and Congregation B'nai
Israel on campus. I believe that whether
Moshe and Temple Shir Shalom in West
something good or bad is going on with
Bloomfield.
regards to Israel, the Jewish story should
be told on campus, just because it's so
inspiring.
Jewish News: What was the seed that

IN: Do Israel supporters do a good job in
standing up to the anti-Zionist and BDS
movements on campus? Is the pro-Israel
message making a comeback?
CV: There is a comeback in the mak-

made you decide to become an advocate
for Israel?
Chloe Valdary: When I was 14 years
old, a Spanish teacher showed our class
Freedom Writers, a movie that mirrors
the school I was in. It was about a teach-
er at a school with children who come
from gang-related backgrounds, broken
homes and, basically, they become the
first in their family to graduate from
high school and some even from college

answering the question, and you're
insulting the intelligence of the audience
who wants an answer from you.
The idea of the BDS movement is
basically that Jews are foreigners and
colonialists; that they don't belong, in
terms of sovereignty in Israel. To me,
the only way you can do that is by giv-
ing expression to the indigenous roots of
the Jewish people to this land. This gives
people something to fight for.

JN: How was it received?
CV: The first year, sophomore year

2013, we had our first festival, "Declare
Your Freedom:' a pro-Israel event. We
invited speakers, and I wanted it on
campus, to get people's attention. At the
time, there was no Students for Justice
in Palestine organization on my campus,
but they found out the day of our event
and made signs and came out to the

ing, but it has a long way to go. I see at
UCLA, the Bruins for Israel launched a
new campaign to try to take back the
term Zionism.
We just had our third annual pro-
Israel festival at Tulane, over 1,000
people came, Matisyahu headlined, but
the majority of people who came were
non-Jews. It was very upfront about
being pro-Zionist. We had tents set up;
each tent represented a different aspect
of Zionism.
One tent talked about the indigenous
roots of the Jewish people and displayed
artifacts. Another tent talked about the
totality of the great saga of the story of
Zionism, and talked about the leaders
and the underground fighters. No one
thought it was controversial because it
was expressed in the form of art and
culture.
That to me is an indication of where
we want to be in terms of where we
want pro-Israel sentiment to go on col-
lege campuses, especially where it's a big
problem, at UCLA, at USC Irvine. That
is an objective I want to see in the next
five years.

JN: The answer to the BDS and anti-Isra-
el movement on social media is always
Israel's technological advances — isn't it a
shame that people think about Israel in a
negative way when it does so much good.
How do you answer the critics head-on?
CV: It's a huge problem. You're not

❑

