By, Galia Nurko

"Who's that Fellow?" is the the end of the semster blog highlighting one outstanding Hasbara Fellow. This semesters featured Fellow is Rebecca Wasserstein from The Ohio State University.

Rebecca Wasserstien has done an exceptional job to bring advocacy to The Ohio State University Campus this year.

Rebecca is in a unique position. As Vice President in the umbrella Israel advocacy student group, Buckeyes for Israel, she has taken the meaning of commitment to a whole new level. She began the year with a bang, first by committing the time to educating the executive board and general members about the Palestinians unilateral declaration for independence this past September. To further educate the campus community on the UDI, Rebecca decided to bring Hasbara Fellowships “Friend Request Pending” to campus. The poster, “you don’t get real peace with out talking to your neighbors” grabbed many students attention. But her efforts to spread the knowledge that Israel is the only party in the Middle making an effort towards peace, did not stop there. She participated in Hasbara Fellowships social networking campaign to get over 100 people to “Like” the Friend Request Pending youtube video. With in 30 minutes of her posting the video she had over 100 “likes!”

As the storm concerning the UDI began to settle in the public media’s eye, Rebecca turned her focus to other important Israel matters specifically on her campus. One hurdle Rebecca and Buckeyes for Israel wanted to overcome was the often popular stigma that Buckeyes for Israel was a student group that only focuses on the politics concerning Israel. Rather she wanted to express to the larger student community that Buckeyes for Israel is a student group that encompasses all aspects of any society, including Israeli culture and technological advancements. To better promote this, Rebecca suggested that Buckeyes for Israel start different discussion groups led by students who care about Israel to discuss subject that interest them. “Understanding Israel,” she concluded, “isn’t only about knowing the history of the conflict or current political developments concerning the conflict, but also appreciating that it is an established country with a unique culture, fascinating technological innovations, and a diverse population.” The hope is that these new discussion groups will begin after winter break.

Rebecca’s greatest achievement this year though has been her initiative to send out a weekly Israel update newsletter to the over 4,000 people registered on the Buckeyes for Israel listerv. The newsletter, in an effort to compliment the future discussion groups, highlights interesting articles, funny videos, and upcoming events. It has sparked the interest of Israel in many people.

In her year in a half as a Hasbara Fellow, Rebecca Wasserstein has inspired students to care about Israel and introduced innovative ideas to make Israel advocacy attractive to a diverse group of people. Rebecca, keep up the good work!