for college students by college students

April 6, 2017 / 10 NISAN 5777

Peace By Piece

Battling BDS

GVSU’s Israeli/Palestinian group offers
students chances to learn and share.

StandWithUs conference offers tools.

A

Josh Kornblum

jewish@edu writer

s senior year nears its end, the
daunting atmosphere of a college
campus quickly approaches. I find
myself wondering what I can do to stand
up for Israel on my future campus. That’s
why I decided to attend the third annu-
al StandWithUs Anti-BDS Conference and
learn current, working techniques to combat
anti-Semitism.
Held in Los Angeles March 4-6, the confer-
ence brought hundreds of high school and
college student leaders as well as communi-
ty members from North America and Israel
together with professionals from organiza-
tions working on the front lines to stop the
anti-Semitic BDS campaigns.
StandWithUs aggregated top international
experts who examined the movement’s
latest tactics, including how its activists
infiltrate and pressure various sectors of
society. It addressed BDS on college cam-
puses, in the legal arena and within legis-
lation, academia, business, cultural arts,
churches and also unveiled the money trail
that contributes to organizations that work
to undermine Israel in all ways.
Former Harvard law professor Alan
Dershowitz spoke about BDS in the legal
arena and what students can do to protect
themselves. U.N. authority Anne Bayefsky,
director of the Touro Institute on Human
Rights, explained how the U.N. foments BDS.
Just as exciting was the student track of
discussions and training provided by SWU
campus and research staff, together with
campus Hillels. Many students gave in-depth
descriptions of the current state on their
campus regarding Israel.
At first, hearing personal anecdotes of
pro-Israel students threatened solely for
their love of Israel brought up feelings of
trepidation. One student depicted the mock
eviction notice on his dorm room, and then
described the apartheid wall erected in the
heart of the campus.
Fortunately, my fears diminished with
the next speaker, who spoke of unity on her
campus, while emphasizing how far the pro-
Israel community has come. She explained
that pro-Israel students passed anti-BDS

Allison Egrin } jewish@edu writer

Victor Hasbany, who is Palestinian American, and Allison Egrin, who
is Jewish, have created Peace by Piece at Grand Valley State.

P

alestinian American Victor Hasbany and
I created a new student organization,
Peace by Piece (Palestinian Israeli Effective
Change through Education) at Grand
Valley State University and, for our first event, co-
hosted “Between the Lines: Voices of Israel, Stories
Untold.”
Sponsored by StandWithUs, this annual tour fea-
tures two reserve-duty Israeli soldiers who discuss their
backgrounds, life in Israel and their military service. We
want our club to focus on supporting and humanizing
both sides and their right to exist, while still educating

Ranya Hwail, member of the Muslim
Student Association, Allison Egrin,
StandWithUs Emerson fellow, and
Ziv Zelinger, Hillel Israel fellow

people and engaging in dialogue.
The soldiers, Ashager, an Ethiopian Jew, and
Mohammed, a Muslim Bedouin, spoke to the diverse
crowd. Student attendees ranged from zero knowledge
on the conflict to asking important, relevant questions.
The “big questions” at first stressed Victor and me,
but we soon realized they needed to be asked and
answered for both sides to understand each other. For
example, someone brought up the settlements and
wondered how Israel can be a Jewish state and still
a democracy? The soldiers answered these questions
calmly to keep the event peaceful and educational.
Difficult situations are also beneficial to people
uneducated about the conflict because it provides an
opportunity to learn and see that although we may not
agree on everything, we still support each other.
“It was refreshing and really eye-opening to hear
the other side of the story rather than just what the
media has to say,” Victor said. “The event didn’t go
entirely as we had planned because we didn’t want it
to become political, but, of course, it did. However, I
really enjoyed that we were surrounded by people
who had the same aspirations for peace in Palestine
and Israel as we do. I look forward to seeing how far
our organization will grow in our short time at Grand
Valley, and I am very excited to make progress on our
campus.”

continued on page 78

continued on page 78

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