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By: Alan Levine

In the wake of extremist attempts to encourage divestment from Israel at the University of Southern California, SC Students for Israel (SCSI) was led by Hasbara Fellows, Shanel Melamed and Stephanie Aziz, who spoke out on behalf of Israel in the campus newspaper and have continued to organize pro-active and positive pro-Israel initiatives. This month is officially "Israel Block Party" at USC, and the party is moving ahead at full speed.

As part of the "Block Party," SCSI held a successful multicultural event on campus with the Armenian Student Association earlier this month. The event included Israeli and Armenian food, music, cultural decorations, hookahs, and was decorated by Armenian, Israeli, and American flags.  Special thanks to Armenian Student Association board member Barsegh Barseghian.

USC's Christians United for Israel (CUFI) chapter, led by Emily Schrader, was in attendance as well, and followed up the event by hosting a lecture on campus by French politician/media analyst, Phillippe Karsenty about the Muhammad Al-Dura hoax and anti-Israel fabrications in the international media. Special thanks to our friends at CAMERA and CUFI for co-sponsoring the event.

This past week, Hasbara Fellow Kevin Javidzad led a campaign in the center of campus, handing out cookies to SC students with fact cards about Israel. The effort made the front page of the USC Daily Trojan.

The SC students for Israel and the Armenian Student Association teamed up for a cultural celebration on campus earlier this month.

Next week, SCSI will be hosting a Darfur awareness event. It's important to raise awareness about the plight of the people of Darfur, who have been victims of genocide committed by the Islamist, Iranian-backed regime in Sudan. SCSCI, who will also be educating the campus on Israel's efforts to take in Darfur refugees, will be joined by the USC College Democrats and other campus groups. As you can probably tell, SCSI has not been alone in showing their support for Israel this semester. Rather, they have teamed up with an ideologically and culturally diverse coalition on campus. It has truly benefited students, who have learned from each other as part of these experiences. Moreover, it sends the message that support

for Israel is not only a Jewish cause, but one that all people could and should endorse.

Thank you Adam and Gila Milstein for co-sponsoring this project, and to Hasbara Fellows, Shanel Melamed and Stephanie Aziz, for planning such a successful initiative.