Israel – Pro-Israel Activism on Campus (2002)

Campus (Pro-Israel Activism on Campus) (2002)

College campuses are not always hospitable places for students who care about the well-being and fair treatment of Israel. Student publications and demonstrations often express attacks on Israel. Even classrooms are sometimes the scene of inaccurate charges against the Jewish state.

Palestinian advocates on the nation’s campuses have greatly intensified their anti-Israel efforts which include a campaign to press universities to divest their holding in companies doing business in Israel. Jewish students very often are ill-equipped to answer the hard questions about the Middle East. They often have a sense of “being under siege,” without the resources to respond.

Women’s League for Conservative Judaism recognizes the gravity of the need to improve Israel’s hasbara on college campuses and recommends to its affiliates the following actions:

1. Support the work of responsible agencies such as JCPA (Jewish Council for Public Affairs), Hillel, AIPAC (America Israel Public Affairs Committee) and those agencies which monitor media coverage, including the electronic media, which have provided resources and organizational skills on college campuses.
2. Invite local student activists to your meetings and events to educate local Jewish community leadership about the situation on campus.
3. Provide quality educational materials to the students in your community on the complex issues of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict for use on college campuses.
4. Encourage college-age children and grandchildren to join and become active in Koach (United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism), Hillel, AIPAC and other responsible Jewish organizations.
5. Promote opportunities for students to spend time in Israel, on their own, with Ramah Seminars, programs of United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism and Birthright Israel or other responsible organized groups; encourage your Sisterhoods and synagogues to organize and/or subsidize student trips to Israel.