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Jews in the D

continued from page 26

based on who they are, in air 
travel or anywhere else,” Ryberg 
said. 

ANTI-ISRAEL PROTESTERS 
AT SAN FRANCISCO 
STATE UNIVERSITY 
The other lawsuit was against 
San Francisco State University 
(SFSU), an institution which 
has had problems with 
anti-Semitism for the past 30 
years that hit an all-time high 
when anti-Israel student pro-
testors disrupted a public event 
featuring former Jerusalem 
Mayor Nir Barkat. They were 
yelling so loudly the event even-
tually had to be shut down, and 
the school administration did 
nothing to stop it. 
“We learned there were cam-
pus police and administrators 
on the scene, and the standard 
practice was for the campus 
police to remove the disruptors 
and inform them they could 
protest in a specified area that 
would allow them to express 
themselves without inhibiting 
Barkat from conveying his mes-
sage to the audience,” Ryberg 
explained. “However, it was 
revealed that administration 
broke from that protocol and 
told the police to just let it 
happen.” 
Another anti-Semitic instance 
at this university was when 

Hillel — the only recognized 
student organization at SFSU 
that represents all Jewish stu-
dents as Jews, regardless of 
political viewpoints or other 
considerations — was excluded 
from participating in a “Know 
Your Rights” fair on campus 
on the basis of Hillel’
s Zionist 
viewpoint, a decision that was 
sanctioned by high-ranking uni-
versity officials. 
“I find a lot of people, 
including a lot of Jews who 
support Israel, really don’
t know 
that Zionism is the belief in 
Jewish self-determination,” 
Ryberg said. “It’
s a Jewish civil 
rights movement, the belief that 
Jews deserve a homeland, and is 
a core component of the Jewish 
religion. That’
s widely misun-
derstood.”
With the pro bono help 
of the law firm Winston and 
Strawn LLP
, the case finally 
reached a settlement in March 
2019 after three years of tireless 
work.
“The settlement is important 
because it requires the entire 
California State University 
(CSU) system to publicly 
acknowledge that Zionism is an 
integral part of Jewish identity. 
It is not merely a political view-
point for which students can be 
excluded from participating in 
campus activities,” Ryberg said. 
“On top of that, the settlement 

also requires SFSU to hire a 
coordinator of Jewish student 
life and to retain an indepen-
dent external consultant to 
continuously review the school’
s 
procedures for reinforcement of 
the CSU system’
s anti-discrimi-
nation policies.”
In addition, the school is now 
obligated to allocate $200,000 
to support educational outreach 
efforts to promote viewpoint 
diversity. 

ROI SUMMIT
Ryberg was accepted to partici-
pate in the annual ROI Summit 
that took place in Jerusalem in 
June. The ROI Summit gathers 
150 Jewish changemakers from 
around the world so they can 
network, learn from one anoth-
er and share their stories. These 
changemakers work in different 
fields, including climate change, 
world health issues, issues of 
discrimination both in the 
Jewish community and outside 
of it, and technology.
“The common thread was 
this tangible level of passion 
and motivation to changing the 
world in critical, strategically 
identified ways,” Ryberg said. 
“It was fascinating to learn what 
all these people were doing, to 
discuss how we could help one 
another and collaborate in var-
ious ways. I was also honored 

to be chosen to lead a peer-led 
session to educate fellow ROI 
attendees on their legal rights to 
hold demonstrations.” 
Ryberg left the conference 
with a pool of new friends and 
a strengthened sense of connec-
tion with the young professional 
Jewish community.
“A core goal of ROI, as I see 
it, is not just to have you show 
up for a few days and then go 
on your way, but rather to be 
part of this global community 
forever. I am beyond grateful for 
the experience.” 

GETTING INVOLVED
There are a few ways to get 
involved with the Lawfare 
Project. 
If you’
re an attorney (no mat-
ter where you live), you can sign 
up to be a part of the network 
of attorneys. Non-attorneys 
can learn more by going to the 
Lawfare Project’
s website, host-
ing attorneys for educational 
presentations or donating funds. 
“It is incumbent upon the 
Jewish people to demand and 
ensure that our civil and human 
rights be upheld, and that we be 
treated equally under the law. 
No one else is going to do it for 
us,” Ryberg said. 

Learn more at thelawfareproject.org.

Ryberg appeared on i24 News regarding the Kuwait Airways lawsuit.
Ryberg spoke at the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs’
 Global Coalition 
for Israel Conference.

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