Prepared for the Israel on Campus Coalition and the Conference of Presidents
of
Major American Jewish Organizations
by the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs
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March 10, 2003 |
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Inside this issue -
News and Comment:
Anti-War Demonstrations on 400 Campuses
The protests last week were part of a nationwide effort that organizers said included as many as 400 campuses. In the United States, the size of the demonstrations ranged widely. While some rallies drew thousands of protesters, others attracted only a handful.
(New York Times)
Oregon: Anti-War Sentiment Borders Hate Speech by Masha Katz, Joel Sokoloff, Robert Galinsky, Dan Gruber and nine co-signers
 On Feb. 18. at a nearby intersection, a swastika, a symbol of atrocity and anti-Semitism, was depicted with "Bush=Hitler" written nearby. As Jewish students, we feel that incident warrants commentary. Using a swastika for political discourse is offensive and unacceptable. The Nazi swastika has forever become the mark of anti-Semitism and hate. The comparison of Hitler to Bush marginalizes the horrors the Nazis committed. Any objective view of recent history and current events will show that this analogy is flawed in many ways. (Oregon Daily Emerald)
Majority of Haifa Bomb Victims Were Students
Sixteen people were killed and more than 30 wounded, several seriously when a Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up aboard a packed bus in Haifa's central Carmel district on Wednesday afternoon. The victims included Jews, Muslims, Christians and Druse. Most of the victims were under the age of 22.
(Jerusalem Post)
Issues on Campus:
Muslim Students Lead War Protests
Muslim collegians are quickly moving into the leadership of U.S. anti-war protests, such as last week's One-Day National Student Strike on 300 high school and college campuses. Muslim students are a major influence in today's anti-war movement. Some students with the Muslim Student Association and the American Anti-Discrimination Committee w
ere criticized by the Michigan Daily, a college newspaper, for "injecting anti-Israel sentiment" into the gathering. In October, a conference co-sponsored by the University of Michigan's MSA called for the United States to end its government aid to Israel. On other campuses, Jewish and Muslim students work together. Raef Haggag, a junior at the University of Maryland's College Park campus, represents the campus MSA and leads the outreach committee for today's student strike. He said Jewish and Arab Christian students helped organize the demonstration at McKeldin Mall. (Washington Times)
Students Face Complexities of Jewish Journalists
The role of the Jewish journalist is more complicated than ever, according to professional journalists who spoke to students from across the country at the recent Hillel AJPA Darmstaedter Journalism program at the Spitzer Forum. Reporters from NBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Jewish Telegraphic Agency and other leading media outlets told students that Jewish journalists face unique challenges, whether it is covering Israel objectively, reporting scandals in the Jewish community, or protecting oneself against anti-Semitism. (Hillel)
Voices from the Campus:
USC: Israel Week Kicks Off with Education
SC Students for Israel presented the celebration of Israeli culture on Trousdale Parkway from March 3 to 7. The event focused around creating awareness of Israel as a nation outside of the controversy between Palestine and Israel's religious and boundary disputes. The sponsors aspired to create an appreciation of Israel and its character without a background of politics. Gabriana Marks, SCStudents for Israel co-president and event chairman, hopes the celebration gives the community a new perspective on Israel. "Life goes on, and it's vibrant and beautiful and wonderful," she said. "The events are about raising awareness about the country. (Daily Trojan)
Georgetown: Students for Middle East Peace Hosts Conference
Students for Middle East Peace hosted a day-long conference to discuss peaceful resolutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to foster dialogue with people from various colleges nationwide. SMEP, a non-political and non-partisan group promoting tolerance and understanding, organized the conference. The conference featured panelists, speeches and a Jewish Arab cultural concert. Two Georgetown students
shared their experiences as participants in Seeds of Peace. Keynote speaker Forsan Hussain promoted the co-existence of Israeli Jews and Israeli Arabs. The conference was co-sponsored by the Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, the Georgetown Israel Alliance and the Am Kolel Judaic Resource Center Peace Fund. (The Hoya)
See Also:
Michigan: Israel Conference Aims for Balanced Dialogue
The 2nd Annual Academic Israel Conference, titled "Piecing Together the Puzzle," took place March 9 at the Michigan
League. The keynote address, titled "The Future of Israel: Challenges and Opportunities," featured Avraham Burg, speaker of Israel's legislative body, the Knesset. The focus of the conference this year is to promote an academic discussion about Israel-related issues and the conflict in the Middle East, the only conference of its kind in the United States. Benjamin Berger, a Berman fellow at Hillel, said although the conflict in Israel is an important issue, one goal of the conference is to present topics unrelated to the Israeli-Palestinian debate. "Israel as a democracy is a vibrant and flourishing country where there's a lot more going on besides conflict," he said. Berger said some of the sessions of the conference will focus on Israeli cultural, societal and environmental issues.
(Michigan Daily)
Vanderbilt: Advertising for Jews By John Bloom
Vanderbilt University, my beloved alma mater, is advertising for Jews. I'm wondering exactly how that works. Do they put up "Jews Needed" signs in the Catskills? They want more Jewish students because they're smart. Vanderbilt is not the first school to notice that Jews -- with only 2 percent of the population -- make up 33 percent of the Ivy League and consistently score higher on College Boards. I have to laugh, because one of my closest friends my freshman year was a Jew from Massachusetts who toughed out two semesters and then fled home to the comforting cloisters of Brandeis. He said he just couldn't deal with "The South," whatever that means. I think maybe he meant me. He was the first Jew I'd ever met. He got blackballed by Sigma Nu. He didn't want to join ZBT. Every Jew joined ZBT. If you were Jewish, you were automatically admitted to ZBT. I quit Sigma Nu. We both joined ZBT. (United Press International)
UCLA: Professor of Lies, Hate, and Terror by Rachel Neuwirth
Prof. Said leveled charges against Israel and America, barely mentioning the endless terrorism aimed at Israel by the Arab world and the Arab/Palestinians in
particular. Said presented the ''Palestinians'' as mere victims, never mentioning the countless acts of terrorism aimed at Israel and America. The world faces the diabolical threat of untethered militant Islam, and Mr. Said's biased words make naive young audiences believe that his utterances are ''profound insights.'' A rabbi asked whether Prof. Said would sign off for peace if the Palestinians were handed all the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem, and he said ''No!'' (ChronWatch)
Stanford: War Must Be Fought with Iraq by Elizabeth Gordon
Not one of the anti-war groups on campus has denounced the crimes committed by Saddam Hussein. The anti-war crowd likes to talk about peace, but they never mention that Hussein has been conducting a war against his own people for over 30 years. Absent from campus debate is any mention of the tragedy of Halabja, the Kurdish town where Hussein's forces murdered 5,000 people with poison gas in 1988. Also lacking is any discussion of the more than 1 million Iraqis murdered by the regime. The Iraqi people live in terror. Students who demonstrate in opposition to the war but refuse to face the hard moral question of allowing a tyrant like Hussein to remain in power are abandoning the Iraqis to a terrible fate. (Stanford Daily)
Campus Organizations:
Kansas: Group Practices Hebrew at Dinner
"Timsor li et ha schnitzel!" While many on campus might not be able to understand this, a group of Jewish students, professors and community members do. They understood that it is the Hebrew equivalent of "Pass me the schnitzel." Once a month, the group meets at the University of Kansas Hillel house to have a traditional Israeli dinner and hold Hebrew conversations. They call the dinner Shulchan
Irvit, or Hebrew Table. Ally Tash, Jewish campus service corps fellow, organized the dinners last semester in October. She wanted students from Israel to have the opportunity to speak their native language. "They really enjoy having the opportunity to speak in Hebrew," Tash said. For students who speak Hebrew as a second language, the dinners provide the opportunity to polish and practice it. (Daily Kansan)
Students in Israel:
Illinois: Zero Degrees of Separation -- Film Clip
 Three University of Illinois students, Nim Sharon, Foster Lewin and Josh Sandler, in addition to Hillel Director Alan Potash, went on a mission over their winter break to film a documentary movie on the daily life in Israel connecting alumni from their university together. The movie focuses on showing the real life in Israel and not what people view Israel to be from different media sources. The students are planning on airing the movie on Public Access t
elevision in Illinois. (Hillel)
Project Otzma: Beyond the Brochure By Roni Ben-David
 Since arriving in Israel five months ago, we've learned to expect the unexpected. No shiny pamphlet produced by Project Otzma could have prepared us for what we've experienced as participants this year. Living in Israel now, at a time when few tourists come to visit, makes our presence here unique. Israelis are warm and eager to talk about why we have come. Usually, an ordinary taxi ride turns into a titill
ating conversation with the driver -- about everything from politics to why I should marry an Israeli and make aliyah. While making dinner with my roommates, I offered to run to the nearby convenience store for some soda. Soon after, I returned with a 2-liter bottle and a bulging sack of tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions. "The owner of the store gave them to me as a gift," I explained, laying the bag on the sink with a thud. "When she realized I'm one of the volunteers from America, she insisted I take home half her produce section." (Birthright Israel)
Despite Fears, Young Jews Find Their Identity in Trips to Israel
For many young Jews in America traveling to Israel represents a rite of passage. Most Jews say visiting the Jewish state intensifies their identity with Judaism. But fear -- of terrorism, of war -- threatens to prevent Americans from experiencing Israel. Fear surely contributed to a lack of interest in Lafayette College's semi-annual study-abroad trip to Israel. The college's Jewish chaplain, Bob Weiner taught courses in Israel. "The academic trips I led to Israel were among my best experiences at the college, and it's everyone's tragedy that I can't do that anymore," Weiner said. Justin Sherline, an 18-year-old Allentown resident spent six weeks last summer in Israel with United Synagogue Youth. If given the chance, Sherline would go again. No question. The experience changed him for the better, he said. "It made me realize who I am, how I can change other people, how I can help them realize what's going on in Israel," he said. (Express-Times)
Israeli Students in the U.S.:
The Day Janis Ruth Coulter Died
 Eliad Moreh survived the terrorist attack at Hebrew University in July that killed West Roxbury resident Janis Ruth Coulter. Moreh was having lunch at the university's Frank Sinatra Cafeteria when a bomb planted by a Hamas terrorist exploded, killing nine, including five Americans and wounding more than 85. Moreh's photo was the one seen around the world. It shows her terrified face covered with blood. She's in the U.S. now on a speaking tour of local college and high school campuses. Moreh was a researcher at the Center for Jewish Arts at Hebrew University - a post she still holds. Born in Paris of Iraqi Jewish refugees, she moved to Israel at 18 to attend Hebrew University. She has a bachelors in history and English literature and a master in art history. Despite concerns for her safety by her anxious parents in France, Moreh has continued to live in Israel and speaks out against terrorism. Her trip to the Boston area was for the Victims of Terrorism Week sponsored by the Israel Campus Roundtable. Moreh got a chance to meet and speak with Janis Coulter's sister at one of the college campuses. (West Roxbury Transcript)
Oklahoma City U: Student Composes Score
Elad Katz, An Oklahoma City University student from Israel has composed four original pieces of music for a play about Anne Frank that will be staged by Oklahoma Children's Theatre. "It's not a usual play," said Katz. "I feel more honored than anything. It is important for me to do this because of my Jewish and Israeli background. In Israel, there are still Holocaust survivors living....They won't live forever, and we have to tell the story of the Holocaust, so history won't repeat itself." (The Oklahoman)
Observations: Expert Outlines Middle East Strategy
- Peace Negotiator Dennis Ross at Georgetown
Dennis B. Ross laid out a roadmap for American priorities after a war in Iraq, which he says is nearly inevitable, that includes stabilization, the war on terror and the resumption of the Israel-Palestine peace process. Ambassador Ross helped shape the Middle East peace process through diplomacy and negotiations under the first Bush and Clinton administrations.
Ross said that the environment now is different since both sides have lost faith in the process. "We have to reestablish the concept of believability in peacemaking," he said. Ross expressed optimism that Palestinian leader Yasir Arafat's decision to appoint a prime minister will allow for the peace process to proceed. Ross was not so optimistic about a peaceful resolution with Iraq. He put the chance of war at 95 percent. After the war, Ross urged America to rebuild Iraq with an eye toward stability and transformation. "There is no such thing as instant democracy." Ross stressed the importance of multilateral cooperation and local participation throughout the process. (The Hoya)
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The Israel on Campus Coalition is a partnership of the Charles and
Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish
Campus Life, in cooperation with a network of national organizations committed
to promoting Israel education and advocacy on campus.
To contact the Israel on Campus Coalition: info@israeloncampuscoalition.org
The Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations speaks for organized American Jewry on vital issues of international and national concern. Representing 52 national Jewish organizations, the Conference provides a common voice for affiliated American Jews from across the political and religious spectrum, forging diverse groups into a powerful, unified force for Israel's survival, and for protecting and enhancing the security and dignity of Jews abroad.
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