JULY 18 • 2024 | 23
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establish a zero-tolerance cul-
ture for antisemitism on cam-
puses. Together, the students
met with Israeli leaders to
share their alarming college
experiences. Olami is a global
community of young Jews.
The Olami delegation to
Israel took place from May 29
to June 4 and was just a small
representation of the thousands
of Jewish university students
across the U.S. who have been
targeted and harassed for sup-
porting Israel or for simply
being Jewish.
From neo-Nazi graffiti
sprayed on college buildings
to threats against Zionists and
even anti-Israel protests disrupt-
ing college graduations, Jewish
university students have faced a
world of mounting antisemiti-
sim that doesn’t seem to belong
in today’s modern day and age.
Still, despite the fear and
unprecedented attacks on
Jewish culture, many Jewish
students are standing up to the
hate and advocating for better
governmental support both
near and far.
While meeting with senior
Knesset members in early June,
which included Netanyahu,
President Isaac Herzog, Benny
Gantz and other party leaders,
the Olami delegation urged
Israel’s parliament to take action
in combating campus-based
antisemitism in the U.S.
The mission to Israel followed
a successful Olami mission to
Congress, where students also
advocated for greater trans-
parency and accountability in
reporting antisemitic incidents.
One-by-one, students repre-
senting schools like Columbia,
Harvard, UCLA and Mich-
igan, which have been at the
heart of campus antisemitism,
shared their harrowing stories
of college life.
The Knesset promised to sup-
port Jewish university students
in the U.S. by providing access
to internal information on fig-
ures and statistics surrounding
the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
It’s an action the Knesset hopes
will break down misinformation
that may lead to antisemitism.
“We’re facing a world strug-
gle to fight slander against the
Jewish people and the Jewish
state,” Netanyahu told the
Jewish students during their
visit to the Knesset in early
June. “The most important
thing is you have to fight. And
how do you fight lies? With the
truth.”
Netanyahu also thanked the
students for standing alongside
Israel and said that he was
impressed by the struggle they
are leading against antisemi-
tism on campuses in the U.S.
“Many are reading the cur-
rent situation incorrectly,” adds
Rabbi David Markowitz, exec-
utive vice president at Olami.
“The U.S. campus is not just
where ideas that will impact
Israel in the future spread.
Campus is a reflection of the
shift in U.S. popular opinion
happening under our feet now,
[in which] Zionist has become
a dirty word.”
AN ONGOING FIGHT
For Rosenberg, who is staying
in Israel until August, meeting
with the Knesset was a “pow-
erful” and life-changing oppor-
tunity. “Israel represents the
nation of Jews,” he says from
Tel Aviv. “It’s all of us standing
together and having a safe
place. That realization hit me.”
Rosenberg says a key mes-
sage voiced by Olami-aligned
students during their visit to
the Knesset was the need for a
stronger relationship between
Israel and the United States.
The Knesset’s pledge to
provide factual war informa-
tion, he adds, will be critical
in allowing U.S. citizens and
students to “get access to
information and the truth
much quicker.”
The Olami delegation to
Israel also toured the Gaza
envelope area, including the
site of the Nova music festi-
val massacre. “It just hit very
close to home,” Rosenberg
says.
“Visiting the site was a
necessity and made what
we’re fighting for tangible.
How can we not fight for
this? How can we not do
everything in our ability to
change the rhetoric occurring
on campuses?”
Rosenberg says Olami will
continue to fight for a safer
campus environment for
Jewish students, while he also
plans to continue building
relationships with other stu-
dent leaders.
We’re ‘refueled’ now,”
Rosenberg says. “We need to
stand up for ourselves and be
strong warriors in the face of
all this hate.”
The Olami mission poses for a group photo.
A student is overcome at
the site of the Nova music
festival massacre.