By: Danielle Reich

Midterms? Jewish holidays?  No sweat!  Nothing stops Columbia University and New York University from advocating for Israel in full force on campus.

At Columbia University in particular, the pro-Israel community had quite a lot to deal with over the Jewish holidays, such as the first Students for Justice in Palestine National Conference and Noam Chomsky visiting campus.  To respond to these two events, LionPAC, run by Hasbara Fellow Eric Schorr, brought in Alan Dershowitz to speak the day following the SJP Conference, one day before Noam Chomsky’s arrival.  The event, entitled, “America, Israel, and the Palestinians: in Pursuit of Peace,” was a huge success and subsequently written about the Columbia Daily Spectator, by a member of the school newspaper’s editorial board.

Only a week later, LionPAC hosted an “Israel and the Media” event, where Yaakov Katz (Jerusalem Post), Ethan Bronner (New York Times) and Ari Goldman (Professor, Columbia Journalism School) spoke about the different types of media biases that Israel faces in the wake of current events.  This event attracted many students who had previously not been involved in pro-Israel activism, and served as a very educational event in regards to how the media affects Israel’s standing in world perception.  Additionally, LionPAC hosted Dr. Irwin Mansdorf on students’ perception of Israel, and will soon be hosting Daniel Gordis for their annual Israel Shabbat!

This abundance of events at Columbia is attributed to LionPAC’s shifting approach towards Israel activism, which focuses on attracting different types of students to Israel-related events, rather than focusing on attracting the same pro-Israel students to all of their programming. With this new approach, LionPAC hopes to form many coalitions with various student groups on campus.

Perhaps New York University serves as a great example of this new plan, where Gesher @ NYU, one of NYU’s Israel groups on campus, is cosponsoring its “Blue and White Ball” with groups such as the black student union on campus, LGBTQ group and environmental groups.  Because of Gesher’s initiative to educate a wider audience of students about Israel, Hasbara Fellowships is co-sponsoring this event with the Adam and Gila Milstein Coalition Building Grant.  This new grant awards funding for events to pro-Israel groups who co-sponsor them with other student groups on campus.  Additionally, Gesher is screening the film “Yossi & Jagger” with Keshet, NYU’s LGBTQ Jews and Allies group on campus, another great example of coalition building.

More to come from the city that never sleeps!  Keep up the good work!