By: Alexandra Cohen

October 25^th marked the 1948^th day after Gilad Shalit was captured by Hamas.  It was also a day that the Coalition of Hopkins Activists for Israel (CHAI) chose to celebrate human rights in Israel and discuss Shalit with a diverse cross section of the Johns Hopkins community.

As part of the Adam & Gila Milstein Coalition Building Initiative, CHAI partnered with the Black Student Union, Diverse Sexuality and Gender Alliance, Jewish Students Association, Delta Xi Phi, JHU AllNighters, Hopkins Hillel, and other pro-Israel organizations.

Each of these groups values human rights, so they eagerly participated, donning the tshirt and tabling with human rights information on the day of the big event.

The event itself had several components:

-JHU Allnighters performed the Star Spangled Banner and Senior, Ben Grossmann led Hatikva

-A video informing the audience of Gilad Shalit’s captivity was screened

-Shinshinim (Israeli Emissaries) Shani Yamin and Roi Dor shared personal experiences of growing up in Ashkelon

-JHU Political Science PhD student, Yoni Abramson spoke about all sorts of human rights in Israel, including gay rights, women’s rights, minority rights, and religious rights

-A video of JHU students reading Shalit’s short story was screened

-The AllNighters sang their rendition of “I’ll Be”

Overall, “Shark and the Fish” was a great success – the collaboration, attendance, and inspiration that we achieved on this campaign will allow us to pave the way for strong future Israel advocacy on campus.  We have already begun to attend the other groups’ events and meetings and have plans to work together again during the Spring semester.

Yamin and Dor have spoken at other college campuses, including at Georgetown University at an Israel-themed Shabbat. Georgetown Israel Alliance President, Daphna Katz shared the same feelings that Hopkins students did when they heard Dor’s story; “I think people were touched by the pride that Roi has for his country. We all got the sense that the Israeli government goes to great lengths to ensure that people living in Israel, and soldiers in particular, are not made to feel like they are constantly at threat.”