By: Abram Shanedling

It’s mid-March and everyone knows what that means. Spring Break, Purim and of course, NCAA basketball. But for several schools in the Midwest and DC/Maryland – especially those whose teams didn’t make the tournament cut – pro-Israel students have been keeping busy with Israel Peace Week. Here’s the breakdown.

University of Illinois-Champaign/Urbana

This year UIUC’s men’s basketball team drew a solid nine seed in the Big Dance. Despite what will be a tight game coming up against eighth seed UNLV, it’s the Hasbara Fellows in Israel Illini that have been making headlines.

This week, UIUC’s main pro-Israel group has dished out Israel Peace Week (IPW) on campus with several events highlighting Israel’s commitment to democracy and human rights. According to Hasbara Fellow and Israel Illini board member Julie Levitt, IPW has already kicked off with a bang with a two-day fundraiser for Save a Child’s Heart, raising over $200 for the Israeli charity.

Levitt says Illinois’ IPW has been strong because of the new coalitions being cultivated. This includes partnering for a dinner with the local YMCA International chapter and other internationally-focused groups as well as a talk about Israeli Foreign Aid by UIUC Hillel’s Israel Shaliach Erez Cohen.

Looking forward to a strong end-of season, the Israel Illini are planning a screening of Iranium and later an Israel Fest at the end of the semester.

George Washington University

After a tough loss in the Atlantic-10 tournament, the GW Colonials stood no chance of a berth in the NCAA bracket. But that hasn’t dampened the team morale of Hasbara Fellows and members of the GW Student Alliance for Israel (SAFI).

With a weak and largely quiet Israel Apartheid Week on campus last week, SAFI took the opportunity and tabled about human rights, diversity and democracy in Israel, getting the assist from Hasbara Fellowships materials.

Capping on some of the good publicity, look for SAFI and GW Hillel to kick off an Israel Peace Week upon their return from Spring Break next week.

Johns Hopkins University

Ever heard of a sports team called the Blue Jays outside of Toronto baseball? I haven’t, and not sure the NCAA basketball tourney ever has either. At Johns Hopkins though, home of the Blue Jays, while the DIII team may never have March aspirations any time soon, the campus does sport an all-star team of Hasbara Fellows on the Coalition of Hopkins Activists for Israel (CHAI).

CHAI’s “Big 5” Hasbara Fellows – Aliza Fishbein, Ali Cohen, Bernie Hodkin, Rebecca Rubenstein and Rivky Stern – have been on top of their game these past two weeks with two great programs as part of a semester initiative of coalition building.

Last week kicked off with a look at minorities in Israel in an event with Ethiopian Israelis from Israel at Heart. The program was co-sponsored with the African Student Association and the Hopkins Ethiopian and Eritrean Society.

Then just this past week, CHAI teamed up with the local Environmental Action group and Engineers Without Borders for a presentation by Project Better Place, the Israeli company building the world’s first all-electric car networks.

According to CHAI President Aliza Fishbein, the goal of the programs has been to “engage students who would ordinarily not discuss matters pertaining to Israel or who don’t have much interest in learning about Israel.”

Drexel University

Last week I reported about Drexel’s newest student group, Dragons for Israel and its big event with Wall Street Journal columnist Bret Stephens.

Well Drexel has a writer of its own in Hasbara Fellow and DFI President Shani Wess, who published a great article on Israel in her campus paper!

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Stay tune for more updates as March Mad – ahem - Peace Week keeps up!