By: Abram Shanedling

Students at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore showed their support for Israel’s efforts at peace Tuesday with the help of effecting tabling by the Coalition of Hopkins Activists for Israel (CHAI).

Spending the day on campus with CHAI members and Hasbara Fellows Aliza Fishbein, Rivky Stern and Jules Szanton, I had the opportunity to help the pro-Israel group collect student and faculty signatures for a petition declaring support for a peaceful solution between Israelis and Palestinians.

Approaching Hopkins students as they walked between classes, CHAI members effectively spread their message of peace and drew new interest in both upcoming CHAI events and Israel in general. Students of various backgrounds and academic interest stopped by the CHAI table and read about the long history of Israeli peace efforts as well as its many humanitarian and technological world contributions.

CHAI members eventually plan to publicize the results of their petition to the local and campus media in the upcoming weeks.

In addition, from 1:30 – 6 p.m. on Sunday, Oct 10, the Smokler Center for Jewish Life (Hillel) in partnership with CHAI and the Leonard and Helen R. Stulman Jewish Studies Program at Hopkins are sponsoring a colloquium on Six Decades of U.S. – Israeli Relations. The panel discussion, which will take place at Hillel, will feature several academics and experts, including David Makovsky from the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

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Next week, I’ll be off on a big tour of the Midwest, meeting students and hosting current event updates and workshops at the University of Wisconsin, University of Illinois and Michigan State.