This week, several members of our leadership from the Women’s Philanthropy Board, including Heidi Monkarsh, Cece Feiler, Julie Gadinsky, Lesley Wolman, Dana Simon and Allison Gingold, met with Dan Gold, Vice President, Israel Education and Advocacy, to discuss our concern about the rise in anti-Israel and anti-Semitic activities and sentiments—both on college campuses and in our communities. As leaders in the community and parents of college-age children, we were alarmed about the demonization and de-legitimization of Israel that is rampant on college campuses, in the media and on social networking sites. We wanted to gain the knowledge and tools needed to teach our children, college students and other members of the community how to combat the aggressive behavior they may face in the near future.
In our roundtable discussion, we were joined by Robert Oliver, Program Coordinator for Campus Impact Network, and Gamal Palmer, Senior Director of Leadership and Development, to gain a better understanding of the reality that our children are facing and determine our short- and long-term goals. While the vast majority of Jewish students continue to feel safe and supported on campus, incidents of implied and overt anti-Semitism have become more frequent—from BDS movement forces vocalizing their disapproval of student government candidates to swastikas on and within Jewish fraternity walls to disparaging remarks on social networking sites like YikYak and Facebook. Most recently, a student was initially denied a seat on Student Council based on her Jewish identity and ties to Jewish organizations.
We want to do everything to promote the vibrancy and safety of Jewish students and allow them to feel a sense of normalcy on campus. We do not want them to feel they have to justify every political decision in Israel or have a “comeback” when they are forced into aggressive political discourse with anti-Israel protestors.
An important lesson we learned at our first meeting was how important it is to tell one’s story. It is clear that alliances are made with others when they understand each other better. We went around the room to discuss our personal connections to Israel. These stories are more meaningful than having to justify the politics of Israel—even within the borders of Israel, the citizens debate their political future. It is important to share our stories and to be authentic. These personal experiences facilitate conversations and build relationships. This is the first building block in creating meaningful dialogue with other students and other members of our community.
We are not here to try to change everyone’s mind about Israel. At least 10% of the anti-Israel protestors will never change their minds. But the way forward is to find commonalities between each other—to shift the focus to coalition building and forming alliances across the universities. If we support our Jewish students to work actively to become allies of their peers, we can potentially change the negative narrative. Through other social justice causes that our Federation is helping support on campus, like campus sexual aggression, we can empower our Jewish students to build vital relationships and ensure a safe and healthy campus atmosphere.
It was a great first step in understanding what role it takes to be facilitators in our community. We gained a better understanding of the initiatives that our Federation is putting in place to help support our Jewish students and what methods may promote stronger ties between them and other groups on campus.
With our mentoring and support, we will continue to try to instill in our college students the need to be of service to others and how their personal stories can create meaningful alliances and stronger bonds with the greater community once they graduate from university.
