Israel Advocacy on Campus, the Community Organizing Way

I believe that successful Israel advocacy is dependent on a vibrant pro-Israel community, given that, Rutgers Hillel provided me the opportunity to test this hypothesis as the director of recently established Rutgers Hillel Center for Israel Engagement (RHCIE). This hypothesis proved itself when in a few short months of Israel advocacy program development and implementation, Rutgers Hillel has drawn a remarkable amount of national recognition. How, almost overnight, has the synergy between Rutgers Hillel’s long-established mission to provide opportunities for Jewish students to deepen their connection to Jewish identity and the Jewish community and the need for strong student advocacy blossomed into a model strategy? The secret sauce beyond RHCIE immediate impact is the fit between Rutgers Hillel’s mission and Israel advocacy on campus. 

Tzvi Raviv, Director of Israel Engagement at Rutgers Hillel

 This past summer, Rutgers Hillel, with significant funding from New Jersey Jewish Federations, the Russell Berrie Foundation and the Maimonides Foundation established the Rutgers Hillel Center for Israel Engagement (RHCIE) to marshal and lead Israel engagement, education and advocacy on campus. Education and knowledge are the mantras of RHCIE’s fundamental plan. We believe that there is a positive correlation between the knowledge students have of Israel’s history, people and everyday life and the level of engagement in Israel advocacy. Increased knowledge and advocacy create a campus environment favorable to Israel, and reduce the impact and intensity of anti-Israel activities.

As the director of RHCIE, I crafted RHCIE’s working plan by defining the unique services the RHCIE can provide for the pro-Israel community at Rutgers University. My experience as a Jewish Agency Israel Fellow to Hillel and the education I received studying in the Hornstein Jewish Professional Leadership Program led me to a believe that successful Israel advocacy is dependent on a vibrant pro-Israel community. RHCIE uses the classic tools of community organizing to advocate for Israel at Rutgers University. In community organizing, people with a shared interest join to promote a cause. In the case of Israel advocacy, pro-Israel students join together to promote Israel in their community -- the college campus. This model presents the best match since Hillel already possesses the tools required for community organizing-- its presence on campus, leadership development, and the Jewish Agency Israel Fellows to Hillel

Leadership development for Israel advocacy translates on campus into the ability to plan and execute programs that engages other students about Israel combined with a framework for mentoring interested students.  The Jewish Agency Israel Fellows to Hillel are the ideal candidates to direct the leadership development aspects of this working plan. 

Approximately 50 Israelis serve as Fellows on college campuses across North America. These Fellows bring leadership skills honed while serving in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF). In addition, many have specific leadership development training experience. For example, Lihi Rothshild, Rutgers Hillel Israel Fellow, was an educator at the IDF’s officers school, where she helped to train the next generation of IDF officers. Lihi’s experience made her the ideal choice to mentor Rutgers’ pro-Israel community leaders. The hundreds of students taking part in Israel education and advocacy programs are the best evidence of the successful impact of an Israel Fellow. 

Hillel is the only Jewish organization with a strong pro-Israel agenda that has a permanent presence on campus. This allows Hillel to more quickly identify and engage pro-Israel students on campus. For example, Rutgers Hillel sends a large number of students on Taglit-Birthright Israel. These students have the opportunity to take part in Hillel’s Israel follow-through programming, such as the Hillel Israeli Leadership Initiative (HILI), funded by a grant from the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC). HILI uses a peer-to-peer education model, designed to engage students in creative learning about various of topics dealing with Judaism and Israel.

This semester, RHCIE established a strategic partnership with the David Project aimed at providing students with the tools and resources to form and cultivate relationships with student leaders and groups throughout the Rutgers community. At the core of this approach, is the David Project’s iEngage methodology which incorporates a series of training modules designed to equip pro-Israel students with sophisticated techniques and approaches to help them engage their less knowledgeable, friends and classmates about Israel. The best approach is not to respond but to promote.  By being proactive and strategically engaging influential leaders, campus conversations about Israel can be changed one cup of coffee at a time.

At Rutgers, recent RHCIE activities to defeat hate week present a case study for incorporation of community organizing into Israel advocacy on campus. On select college campuses across North America, Israel’s enemies sponsor an annual week devoted to spreading hatred towards the Jewish state. Called “Israel Apartheid Week,” it has also become known by the more accurate title, “Hate Week.” RHCIE staff and student leaders, developed a plan this year that we called “Defeat Hate Week.”

Our preparation and implementation strategy was threefold: (1) Prepare the community by providing knowledge; (2) craft smart pro-Israel messages based on the latest research, and 3) redirect attention from anti-Israel events. Defeat Hate Week student leaders collected more than 700 signatures from Rutgers students of diverse backgrounds on a petition created by the ICC-- “Real Partners. Real Peace” – a Pledge of Support for Peace in Israel. This petition included a call for direct negotiations, opposition to a Palestinian Unilateral Declaration of Independence, and for the Palestinian Authority to end its association with the terrorist group Hamas. The “Real Partners. Real Peace” positive message complemented Hasbara Fellowships’ Peace week activities on the Rutgers campus.  The clearly targeted message delivered an overall understanding among students that the pro-Israel community supports peace between Israelis and Palestinians.   

Hillel’s physical presence on campus, its highly professional staff and intense, creative programming involving all aspects of Jewish life, results in an excellent foundation for the development of an Israel advocacy apparatus. When combined with such programs as HILI, the partnership between Rutgers students and the ICC, educational and training opportunities available from The David Project, StandwithUs, Hasbara Fellowship, the World Zionist Organization and others, the on-campus advocacy strategies are optimized. As presented in the here, a strong, vibrant pro-Israel community under the right mentorship and equipped with the correct tools, such as iEngage methodology, can provide positive results in Israel advocacy on campus in a short time.

(By Tzvi Raviv, Director Rutgers Hillel Center for Israel Engagement)