By: Leah Karchmer

The author is a freshman at DePaul University, a member of DePaul Students for Israel, and an incoming Hasbara Fellow. The following describes her reaction to an anti-Israel walkout at a "Israel 101" event last week, which she has since incorporated into a final presentation for one of her classes.

This past week, a presentation was put on by a member of the Students for Israel group, entitled “Israel 101”. At the event, members of various anti-Zionist groups staged a demonstration in which they voiced their opposition to the information presented, and then proceeded to leave the presentation as an act of unified defiance. Aside from the content of what was stated by the students, I was most frustrated by the fact that they refused to engage in dialogue. From this demonstration, it was clear that the potential for productive communication between the two groups was unlikely.

I left the presentation devastated, as I could not imagine how reconciliation could ever be achieved if even on a college campus, students with opposing opinions could not engage in dialogue. Because the experience had been so powerful to me, I decided to focus my final presentation for one of my courses on the event and how it had impacted me. The class, ‘International Conflict to Peace and Resolution’ had been based on the study of various methods of nonviolent conflict resolution. Therefore, in a reflection of what had happened at the presentation, I discussed the vitality of cross-cultural dialogue, and the necessity of communication in the peace building process. I then went on to speak of the thematic trend throughout the history of the Israeli-Arab conflict of Israel’s desire to engage in dialogue. In addition to a written reflection, my final also included a class presentation, in which I discussed the content of my final and showed the video recording of what had happened at the ‘Israel 101’ presentation merely days before.

To my great surprise, I found that my presentation was met with a great deal of interest and support from my classmates- none of whom were members of either the pro or anti Israel clubs. When I was finished presenting, many in my class posed questions, indicating their sincere interest and desire to know more about the nature of the conflict. From this experience, I learned an incredible lesson with regard to Israel advocacy, which I intend to pursue further. By communicating my message in a language fitting to my audience, I was able to engage the interest of a far broader population of students. Thus, I have come to firmly believe that in order to be a successful advocate for Israel on campus, it is necessary to branch out and engage students through creative channels of pro-Israel sentiment. Ultimately, this diverse involvement of the student population to build connections to the state will create a broad foundation of support for Israel and for the Zionist movement at large.