By: Galia Nurko

"Friend Request Pending" has taken The Ohio State Universtiy by storm. Today at the welcome week involvement fair, Buckeyes for Israel, successfully and passionately presented to the student body why the Palestinian unilateral bid for statehood is a deviation from the peace process rather than a step towards peace.

Yesterday The Ohio State University launches the "Friend Request Pending" campaign. Interestingly this campaign is likely to pan out a bit differently than the campaigns on other campuses given that classes have not started at Ohio State. Yesterday, is actually the involvement fair, but given that the Palestinian unilateral bid for statehood is just a few days away, Buckeyes for Israel felt it was necessary to promote their pro-Israel student group with a strong message- true peace can only be achieved by talking to your neighbors.

Ohio State and its politically active students have been passionately preparing for this week. By reading the news, checking out how other campuses are preparing for the UN vote, and encouraging recent birth right participants to continue to educate themselves about Israel, Buckeyes for Israel feels prepared for any challenges that might come their way this upcoming week.

Yesterday was a successful tabling day, and Buckeyes for Israel felt confident that through both advertising the student group and promoting  the "Friend Request Pending" campaign, students at Ohio State University began to critically think about the upcoming UN vote. At the end of the fair, Rebecca Wasserstein, the vice president of Buckeyes for Israel expressed that "while recruiting memebers for Buckeyes for Israel was our main priority, our board focued a lot of our efforts on educating Ohio State students to the potential concern facing Israel if the UN mandates a Palestinian state. Hasbara Fellowships was incredibly helpful at taking a complicated issue and simplifying it using a facebook-themed campaign. At the end of the day, I believe that our exec board walked out feeling optimistic for Israel future."

Yesterday was both an exciting and nerve racking day for the students at The Ohio State University, but I have no doubt that the executive board and members of Buckeyes for Israel they will motivate and inspire students to think about the peace process, Israel, and the Middle East differently.