By Eliot Storch, ICB Contributor 
Students across the country have set out in recent weeks to demonstrate that a broad cross-section of representatives of their campus communities support a strong US-Israel relationship, and that support for Israel isn’t “just” for Jews.
Activists at Brandeis University, the University of Florida and UCLA collected signatures on statement in support of a strong US-Israel relationship, sent them to members of Congress and, in some cases, published them as large ads in their campus newspapers.
The signatures reflected widespread support for Israel on campus – support that went far beyond the leaders of Jewish student organizations. Alongside the names of the leaders of Israel and Jewish groups were the signatures of student council members, leaders of Greek life organizations, athletic teams and others.
At the University of Florida, members of Gators for Israel passed around a petition supporting continuing sanctions against Iran as well as supporting a strong U.S.-Israel relationship. “The petitions were signed by 13 leaders and 800 students,” Gators for Israel member Rafael Yaniz said. After sending the petitions to Florida’s Congressional delegation, he noted, “we received letters of commendation back. All were appreciative of our efforts.”
The diversity of signatories on each campus was a significant part of the success of the petitions, both in Congress and on campus.
“Publishing the leadership statement in the campus newspaper was important because it proactively showed a diverse support amongst campus leaders at UCLA for the US-Israel relationship,” said Bruins for Israel member Raquel Saxe. The statement showed that strong support for Israel extends “beyond just the Jewish community.”
“We wanted to be able to identify with a different type of crowd,” said Brandeis University student Sarah Geller. “People were impressed with the idea, and that so many people signed it.”
The effect on campus was noticeable. “In years past, the pro-Israel community [at UCLA] would come together in this way only after first feeling attacked,” said Saxe.
“We were able to show campus and off-campus detractors that Brandeis supports a Jewish state and that no BDS or occupation movement has an effect,” Geller said.
Yaniz echoed that sentiment. “Florida has the largest number of Jewish students outside of Israel,” he said. “And half of the Gators for Israel aren’t Jewish. We’re lucky to have a proactive mentality on campus.”
Groups around the nation took notice as well, sending copies of the letters to local congressional representatives and also asking for advice. “Pro-Israel activists from across the nation have contacted us to learn our best practices,” Saxe said. “We expect to see similar statements from their universities.”
Getting people to sign the letters was a positive experience for the participants. “It was a great way to have conversations about Israel and meet new people,” Geller said. “We had a great response.”
The activists all were trained by AIPAC, and they noted that AIPAC helped them appreciate the importance of this kind of outreach. “It made gathering support for the U.S.-Israel relationship from student leaders much easier,” said Saxe. “With many of the individuals we approached, it sparked their interest in supporting the relationship and they went on to gather more signatures for the statement from the leaders they work with.”
The widespread success of the campaign can help change not only the discourse on campus but popular opinions about who supports Israel on campus and in the general community. The fact that the programming manager of UCLA’s radio station affirmed his support for Israel, for example, helps show how much diversity there is in the pro-Israel community.
“Our greatest success was in the new conversations and relationships we developed because we approached campus leaders uneducated about the region,” Saxe said.
“It was a huge success,” Geller concluded.
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