30 February 21 • 2019
jn

continued from page 28

for college students by college students

Zaback at the 

Western Wall 

during his Hasbara 

training program

ership skills, network with their peers, 
meet Israelis and Palestinians from all 
sides of the political spectrum, and 
travel to strategic locations throughout 
the Jewish state. Soon after applying, 
I was interviewed and accepted. I 
attended one of this past winter’
s trips 
before beginning a two-semester fel-
lowship as a Hasbara Fellow.
In addition to becoming a Hasbara 
Fellow, I’
ve benefited in several other 
ways from my involvement with the 
Jewish community. My presence in 
the JSU, coupled with taking a course 
on modern Jewish thought, assisted 
me in redefining my Jewish identity 
and relationship with Israel. I contin-
ued these internal transformations 
as a participant in the Israel Training 
Program, discovering new ways to 
combat anti-Semitism and advocate 
for Israel.
Just as 18-year-olds in Israel have 
the responsibility to fight the threat 
of anti-Semitism physically, it is my 
responsibility to fight this battle on 
my college campus. For that reason, 
I was excited to learn how to open 
dialogues with those who are anti-Is-
rael or anti-Semitic or who are unsure 
about their feelings toward Israel. Now 
that I’
m back at school, I’
m looking 
forward to employing the tools I’
ve 
learned to educate my peers on the 
subject — to go beyond “preaching to 
the choir.
”
Since returning from Israel, I feel 
empowered with the necessary tools to 
succeed in promoting Israel on cam-
pus. The experiences I had far exceed-
ed my expectations, from standing 

next to the Gaza border to traveling 
through “
Area A
” in the West Bank. 
A concern I had before attend-
ing the program was only receiving 
pro-Israel information and not having 
the opportunity to listen to the Arab-
Israeli or Palestinian point of view. 
Within the first 48 hours of being in 
Israel, however, this worry complete-
ly dissipated as I had an enormous 
amount of exposure to different per-
spectives. These experiences allowed 
me to look inward and decide how 
I personally felt about current issues 
and controversial topics. This proved 
to be the most beneficial aspect of the 
trip; understanding various arguments 
for and against Israel has significantly 
improved the quality of my pro-Israel 
advocacy.
Rather than focusing on contro-
versies about the state of Israel, the 
aspects I am choosing for my advo-
cacy campaigns are positive ones. My 
first initiative is with Save a Child’
s 
Heart, a humanitarian organization 
that helps Israeli volunteers provide 
free life-saving heart surgeries for 
children in developing countries who 
don’
t have access to the healthcare 
they need. The organization has 
helped children around the world 
in places such as Rwanda and Gaza, 
saving more than 5,000 lives to date. 
By focusing on positive aspects about 
Israel and Israelis, I can educate others 
while diffusing the anti-Israel stigma 
on campus. @
 
Kyle Zaback of Farmington Hills is a junior at 
Michigan State University.

 

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Possible is everything.

Impact.

When 
you 
become 
a 
Laker
, 
you 
l
ook 
outward, 
f
ocusi
ng 
on 
others 
i
nstead 
of 
yoursel
f
.
 
Wi
th 
prof
essors’
 
cari
ng 
gui
dance, 
you 
l
earn 
how 
to 
make 
a 
meani
ngful
, 
l
asti
ng 
di
fference.
 
Then, 
as 
you 
go 
f
orward 
i
nto 
the 
worl
d, 
you’
re 
ready 
to 
tackl
e 
chal
l
enges 
and 
make 
meani
ngful
 
contri
buti
ons.
 
Li
ke 
Mi
chi
gan 
i
tsel
f
, 
your 
posi
ti
ve 
i
mpact 
wi
l
l
 
be 
f
ar 
reachi
ng.
 
That’
s 
the 
Laker 
Effect.

gvsu.edu

