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.