Home » News » The Hasbara Campus Pulse

This past Sunday, I was absolutely blown away by the passion and commitment of the Ottawa Israel Awareness Committee (IAC) and the 35-plus advocates who filled the room at University of Ottawa’s law building for an intensive training session. The goal of this session was to teach IAC’s membership how to table effectively for Israel during IAW. Over 3 and a half hours were spent dissecting the issues, role playing typical “confrontational” situations, and providing tips on effective tabling demeanor.

I was honored to be an invited guest speaker at this session. I ran the Hasbara Fellowships seminar on “Communicating Effectively for Israel,” highlighting the key points of pro-Israel advocacy: Israel Wants Peace. Israel Has No Partner for Peace. Israel is a Beacon of Human Rights in the Region, and shares many liberal democratic values with Canada. The session was very well received, and I look forward to my continued work alongside the IAC exec for the remainder of the semester.

Etai Hilzenrat, was responsible for putting on this fantastic training event and leading many of the discussions and deserves a hearty kol hakavod. Additional appreciation goes out to IAC board members Emile Scheffel and Hashem Hamdy for their impressive leadership and depth of knowledge, running sessions on such oft discussed issues as “occupation,” “settlements,” “Cast Lead,” and “BDS,” amongst others. It is so heartwarming to see these two individuals standing up so proudly, as non-Jews, for Israel. They continue to see in Israel the democratic principles and support for Human Rights that we as Canadians cherish so deeply.

Shout outs to Hasbara Fellows Brandon Wallingford, Zane Colt, Adam Moscoe and NY2DC grad Shira Brass, for making their Campus Coordinator proud. Each of them took a turn debating the issues and readily chimed in with seasoned advice for their peers. At one point, Zane even whipped out his Hasbara Manual to make a point. That’s the way we roll!

Looking around the room at the wide array of people present – Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and other – one can only beam with pride at the accomplishments of the Ottawa IAC. Israel is a Liberal Cause, and Ottawa students are jumping on the bandwagon.

• Tonight, THURSDAY March 10^th at 6:30pm, McGill Friends of Israel will be screening the film “The Case For Israel” along with Prof. Harold Waller of the Political Science department, to mediate a Q&A immediately following. The event will take place in Leacock 232 of McGill University.

• Excellent article about Hasbara Fellowships, McGill Friends of Israel and yours truly in this week’s Canadian Jewish News! Read it HERE