By Elianna Mintz, ICB Reporter 
Operation Blizzard. The first thought that comes to mind when hearing such a phrase is a core-chilling snowstorm in Minnesota or Alaska. You need to lock the doors and stay inside for days to protect yourself from the bitter wind and frostbite.
For students at the University of Pittsburgh (Pitt), however, Operation Blizzard means a torrent of information about Israel that took campus by storm last semester and is continuing into this semester.
Two student groups, Pittsburgh Israel Public Affairs Committee (PIPAC) and Panthers for Israel (PFI), combined efforts to blanket the school with information and fun giveaways. While PFI focuses more on the cultural aspects of Israel and PIPAC is more concerned with Israeli politics, they joined together with a goal in mind: to broaden the campus community’s perception of Israel beyond the conflict – and it’s working.
Pitt's Operation Blizzard is an Israel advocacy campaign that blankets the campus with pro-Israel information to improve students’ perceptions of Israel. It’s a model that many other campuses can emulate.
In the early stages of the campaign, "agents" of Operation Blizzard left business card-sized fact sheets wherever they went: on tables, desks, walls and chairs.
"I would wake up around 6 am and go to the gym, run for a bit, then place a flyer on each machine," PIPAC president Noah Tankin told ICB. “I would then go to the cafeteria around 6:30 am when it opens and place flyers at every table. During classes I would leave a flyer on my desk and a few on the way out."
These fact sheets boasted of Israeli innovations, environmental achievements, medical and technological advancements and inventions, humanitarian aid projects across the globe and human/civil rights experienced by all Israelis, including Israeli Arabs.
It doesn't stop there.
The next stage of Operation Blizzard included giveaways that targeted the student body.
"We gave out shot glasses and condoms, and it was like giving away candy at a playground," PFI president Sam Mellits said.
The shot glasses said "Panthers for Israel" above an Israeli flag on one side and "Israel: the only democracy in the Middle East" on the other side. The condoms were blue and had "Israel: It's all about protection" written over an Israeli flag printed on the wrapper.
"They were definitely a hit," Mellits continued. "My friends still use the shot glasses--maybe even over use them."
“We got a lot of cheers from people when they saw them,” Tankin said. “Kids from other campuses such as Penn State, Towson University, Johns Hopkins, Carnegie Mellon and New York University sent me messages requesting some.”
This semester PFI has distributed free white draw-string bags that say "Israel's got your back" with an Israeli flag on them. Throughout the rest of the semester they plan to give out T-shirts, pens that say "Support Israel" and USB flash drives that say "The USB Drive: Invented in Israel."
The operation was more than a creative endeavor; it was effective.
Prior to Operation Blizzard, PFI surveyed more than 300 randomly selected Pitt students to determine the general campus view of Israel. The students were asked to write one thing they knew about Israel and to choose whether they were strongly pro-Israel, pro-Israel, neutral/unsure, anti-Israel or strongly anti-Israel.
After Operation Blizzard’s first stage, PFI repeated the survey to see if perspectives had changed.
While the number of students who defined themselves as pro-Israel rose slightly, the most noticeable change emerged from what information students provided about Israel when prompted.
When asked in the first survey what they knew about Israel, most students wrote something about the conflict and how Israel is constantly in the news. After Operation Blizzard, however, students answered with facts that had been disseminated on free items and on flyers.
“This showed us that our main goal was accomplished,” PFI’s business manager, Micah Toll, told ICB. “Whether or not someone defines themselves as 'pro-Israel' wasn't as important to us as their image of Israel. We wanted people to associate Israel with positive things instead of the conflict. That way, when they see something anti-Israel they could think, 'but I heard Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East,' instead of just thinking, 'that must be right because I always hear bad things about Israel.’”
Mellits added that, compared to last year, nearly 50% more students have added their names to PFI’s mailing list this year. The group’s first event of the year drew many more students than they've seen at first meetings in the past two years.
Who knew blizzards could be so beneficial for Israel?
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