By Abram Shanedling

A crucial element of effective pro-Israel activism is coalition building. Developing strategic relationships with other students, leaders and campus organizations who share the interests and values that Israel epitomizes can lead to partnerships that benefit everyone in terms of recruitment, promotion, media coverage and accomplishing your overall semester goals.

CHAI members remember the victims of September 11th.

The key though to any solid relationship is working together, and with training and materials from Hasbara Fellowships, several pro-Israel organizations in the Mid-Atlantic are making strong new allies on campus.

At a ninth anniversary memorial for September 11^th, organized by American Red Cross Johns Hopkins University Chapter, members of the Coalition of Hopkins Activists for Israel (CHAI) showed their solidarity and also expressed the shared experience of Israelis with the physical and emotional toll of terrorism. The event, which drew a large group of students and organizations, was written up by the local Johns Hopkins News-Letter, specifically highlighting  the support by the CHAI members!

Led by Hasbara Fellows Aliza Fishbein and Rivky Stern, CHAI is also working hard to foster other relationships with other student groups. At its general meeting last week, the pro-Israel organization hosted members of the Students for Environmental Action (SEA), the umbrella group for all environmental organizations at Hopkins.

“In return we are sending CHAI representatives to the SEA meetings to speak about Israel and environmental action to their general membership so that we can begin to foster a tight relationship between members of both groups,” Fishbein said. “Many are unaware of the contributions that Israel makes to environmental technology and progress around the world, so the SEA is very excited to partner with us on programming this year.”

Fishbein says CHAI is also trying to merge some of its environmental programming with some of the engineering groups on campus, including Engineers without Borders.

In addition, CHAI has recently developed a new partnership with the African Students Association (ASA), sending CHAI members to the groups meeting to discuss humanitarian aid work Israel is doing in Africa.

Holocaust survivor Irving Roth speaks at Vanderbilt Monday.

Meanwhile on September 20^th at Vanderbilt University, Hasbara Fellows Hannah and Robin Simon with Dores for Israel partnered with Christians United for Israel (CUFI) to co-sponsor a speaking event with Holocaust survivor and international educator, Irving Roth. The program, which drew a large crowd, ironically came while President of Iran and Holocaust denier Mahmoud Ahmadinejad appeared at a UN summit in New York.

Roth recounted his personal story experiencing the rise of Nazism and the demonization of Jews prior and during to World War II. He then transitioned into a comparison to the current situation with Iran and Hamas and their similar stated intent on the death of Jews and the destruction of Israel.

As Simon explained, the underlying message from Irving was the dire need to support Israel and its legitimacy in the world.

If you have any additional success stories as a result of coalition building, feel free to email them to director@hasbarafellowships to include in future Campus Pulse posts!