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Hillel to Be Proactive about Israel Advocacy
by Sheri Shefa
 With the expectation that campuses across North America will face an increase in anti-Israel sentiment, in large part because of the Israel-Hizballah war, the Israel affairs director for Hillel of Greater Toronto said Hillel will be proactive in creating a safe space for Jewish students, while continuing to focus on Israel-positive programming. “We are expecting and bracing for increased tension on campus,” said Tilly Shames. “The first thing we’ve done to prepare for that is take advantage of the quieter time in August to set up meetings with campus security and administration. What we are trying to do is express the concerns and needs of Jewish students before any tension begins.” (Canadian Jewish News)
Georgetown: A New Perspective - ADL Takes College Editors to Poland, Israel
by Eric Fingerhut
 Moises Mendoza says he is "fascinated with Judaism." He's planning to visit a synagogue for the first time with a Jewish friend, take a class or two in Georgetown University's new Center for Jewish Civilization and is even talking about returning to Israel after graduation to study Hebrew at Hebrew University. The Georgetown University's senior interest in the Jewish religion was piqued after spending six days in Israel and four days in Poland as one of 10 college newspaper editors on the Anti-Defamation League's annual trip for campus journalists. (Washington Jewish Week)
Georgetown: Reflections on the Summer’s War
by John Lawless
Or Skolnik doesn’t live in Israel anymore, but the outbreak of violence in the Middle East this summer threatened his family in a very real way. In the heat of this summer’s war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hizballah, the region where he lived was the target of several hundred Hizballah Katyusha rockets. Two of Skolnik’s cousins live in houses that were hit by the rockets, and they escaped by narrow margins. “One failed to explode, and another landed far enough away in the back yard that nobody was hurt,” Skolnik wrote in an e-mail last Friday. “That wasn’t an accident; when Hizballah fired those rockets, they meant to hit people like my cousins.” (Georgetown Voice)
Muhlenberg College: Breaking Ranks With Reform Movement
by Steve Lipman
 Adrian Shanker, a college student from Westchester, spent this summer working as an intern in Washington. During his time in the capital, he took part in a training program run by the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. The other young participants in the RAC program shared Shanker’s support for Israel. And, like him, many of them, opposed Israel’s month-long war in Lebanon this summer. A war - spurred by Hizballah attacks on Israel and kidnappings of Israeli soldiers - that the leadership of the Reform movement supported. (New York Jewish Week)
Penn State & Technion: Israeli-US Student Design for Light Helicopter Wins International Competition
by Judy Siegel
 Thirteen engineering and aeronautics students at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, in cooperation with students at the Pennsylvania State University, have won first prize in an international competition for helicopter design run by Bell Helicopters and the American Helicopter Society. Dubbed "GrassChopper," the judges panel found the winning model much superior to the other designs in altitude and speed. It met the demands of the competition in having space for two pilots and cargo, and being able to remain static in the air for two hours. (Jerusalem Post)
Robert Morris: Israeli Scholar Holds RMU Chair, Offers Hope for Middle East
by Jo Marks Rifkin
  When Moshe Ma'oz began studying Islam as a young sabra in Tel Aviv, he found he was in for a surprise. "I wanted to understand the enemy," said Ma'oz, professor emeritus of Islamic and Middle East Studies at Hebrew University and a past advisor to Israeli prime ministers. "I came to appreciate part of it in a scholarly way and sort of developed a kind of empathy with the Arab culture. I'm trying to see Islamic-Jewish relations in a balanced, objective way." Ma'oz is in Pittsburgh for four months as the Rooney International Visiting Scholar at Robert Morris University. (Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh)
Webster: Rare Israeli Photos Shown on Campus
by Anna Forder
  Photographs can be forgotten as quickly as they are taken. Negatives can be stashed away in boxes in an attic, moments of history frozen in eternal anonymity. This was the destiny of some of Paul Goldman's photographs until Time magazine photographer David Rubinger pulled them out of anonymity and into the spotlight. The May Gallery is currently displaying Goldman's work in an exhibit, "The Forgotten Photographs." These black and white photographs, taken from 1943 to 1961, chart the creation and early years of Israel. (Journal)
Yeshiva: "A Different Type of Israel Experience"
Josh Lipowsky
 Ten students from Yeshiva University spent a month in Israel this summer in conjunction with the humanitarian group Meir Panim, running camps and other programs for the people of Yerucham and Dimona, two of the poorest cities in Israel. Three Bergen County psychology students in a four-week program worked in soup kitchens, painted houses, and ran a camp for teenagers in Yerucham. Batya Levine and her fellow students also spent a week and a half working in a soup kitchen and a shelter for battered women in Dimona. (New Jersey Jewish Standard)
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Chico State: Two Students Form Defending Democracy Club after Visiting Israel
by C. Jerome Crow
 Matthew Allwardt, 19, and John McClymont, 20, just returned from touring Israel as part of the Defense of Democracies Fellowship Program. "While we were there we took part in a wide variety of things, and it was absolutely incredible," said Allwardt. As part of the fellowship commitment both are now expected to serve as anti-terrorism/pro-democracy activists on their campuses and in their communities. "We also took part in extensive traveling throughout the country," said Allwardt (pictured). Not all of the of the time was spent studying the devastating effects of terrorism. Allwardt said they also had a chance to see how those who live in a region where attacks are a frequent and sad reality live. (Red Bluff Daily News)
George Washington: Mideast Conflict: Study Abroad Students Weather Attacks
by David Ceasar
 Heather Bentrum and Rachel Weismann are both undergraduates with a similar interest: studying the Middle East. This summer, one chose to go to Lebanon and the other Israel. The two students return with similar stories about their time abroad: bracing for rocket and bomb strikes exchanged between Hizballah and Israel and hoping to make it back to the United States alive. "What I experienced was an unexplainable life-changing event," Weismann, a sophomore studying at University of Haifa in northern Israel." (Hatchet)
Louisiana State: University Students Experience the War in the Middle East Firsthand
by Rebekah Allen
 James Bullman spent 11 days in Israel this summer. He watched tensions mount weeks before the explosive conflict erupted in what he called a war for Israel's existence. Bullman, political science junior, had never visited Israel before, but has been active in campus organizations targeted at Jewish students, serving as president of Tigers for Israel, a member of Hillel at LSU and is heavily involved in pro-Israel activism. (Daily Reveille)
Penn: Students Caught in Mideast War
by Meagan Steiner
 Penn’s Middle East Overseas Program Manager Shannon Connelly said she expects that students will be more cautious about traveling in the area. She added that she has heard of students canceling trips at other schools, but that this has not yet happened at Penn. College senior Livia Levine spent the summer interning in Israel and said that despite the war, she felt safe living in Jerusalem. “It was definitely worth it to spend a summer here,” she said, adding that it was safe to travel in areas outside of northern Israel. (Daily Pennsylvanian)
Temple: 'We Became Friends. We Clicked.'
by Jared Shelly
  Throughout his trip, Jesse Breitbart stayed with 24-year-old Dan Bouskila and his family in Netivot. "We were very cool together. We hung out every night, just talking and watching the news," relayed Breitbart. "We basically became fast friends. Within days, we clicked." Each morning, Breitbart - a kinesiology major at Temple University - teamed up with Bouskila and worked with developmentally challenged children from Roz Elementary School in Netivot, helping with their exercise, story time and music activities. Jesse was part of the Hillel Partnership 2000 Summer Service Project, which sent seven college students to Netivot and Sedot in the Negev. (Jewish Exponent)
Washington U, at St. Louis: Students Share Summer Experiences in Northern Israel
by Josh Hantz
 Junior Carl Johnson could see and hear katyusha rockets explode four miles from his dormitory at the University of Haifa in July. He, like some other Washington University students, was living in Israel when the conflict with Hizballah broke out. "They evacuated the program on Sunday," he explained, "and brought us all down to Hebrew University" in Jerusalem. Despite being so close to the violence, Johnson says he never felt in danger. (Student Life)
Weizmann: A Lebanese Cedar Takes Root in Israel
by Karin Kloosterman
  Being Lebanese in Israel is surprising for younger Israelis who don't yet know the history of the Lebanese allied with Israel, says Weizmann student Sharbel Salameh. But being the same age of the boys who did army service at the Lebanese border in 2000 puts him on a par with his peers. And having a father who was a military man has helped Salameh form his own opinions about the conflict, which he has witnessed first-hand from both sides. "I don't think the cease-fire was a good idea," he says. "Israel should have kept advancing on the frontline until they knocked out Hizballah. As long as Hizballah has weapons, there won't be peace." (Jerusalem Post)
Youngstown State: Students Speak of Middle East
by Renee Hardman and Adrienne Sabo
This summer the conflict that has been brewing for years between Lebanon and Israel reached its boiling point. Among the thousands of rockets that lit up the skies in the Middle East, death tolls began to climb between both countries. Homes were destroyed, families were separated, and the memories are still fresh. For some Youngstown State University students the conflict hits even closer to home. Israeli students speak out and share their thoughts. Student Mia Railing defends Israel claiming, "Israel is defending their territory." (The Jambar)
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