Recently, CAMERA’s Emet for Israel supported organization, Smith Israel Alliance, brought Pnina Agenyahu, an Ethiopian Israeli, to Smith College. Agenyahu discussed the history of Ethiopians and their journey to Israel. After enlightening the audience about the issues at hand, including an analysis of the different protests Ethiopians participated in against discrimination,...
Simon Deng, former Sudanese slave speaks
“In May of this year, I went on a hunger strike for 45 days in front of the White House and the United Nations,” Simon Deng told me on Monday, Nov. 16, as we walked up College Avenue toward Murray Hall, where he would be speaking. He was referring to...
Letter to the Editor: Israeli and Palestinian leadership
These past few years, the Middle East has been exploding, figuratively and literally. But there is one country that has made news headlines since its foundation. Israel and her tumultuous relationship with her neighbors, especially Palestine, are at the forefront of the minds of most foreign journalists. Matti Friedman, former...
Smith Israel Alliance Hosts Ishmael Khaldi, Israel’s First Bedouin Diplomat
Last week, the Smith College Israel Alliance hosted Ishmael Khaldi, who delivered a lecture entitled, “Ishmael Khaldi: a Conversation on Israel’s Culture, Society and Politics from the Perspective of a Bedouin Minority in the Jewish State.” The lecture focused on Khaldi’s experience as Israel’s first Bedouin diplomat and first Muslim...
Letter to the Editor: On justice – Freedom for all
From Hollywood to the cornfields of Ohio, from the small liberal arts colleges in New England to the large universities throughout the country, I see one prevailing commonality: the struggle to understand the other and the fight for what freedom means to them. Former President Ronald Reagan believed that, “Freedom...
For Bassem Eid, Silence is not an Option
Returning home from a celebration in honor of the Jewish holiday of Sukkot, the car carrying Eitam and Naama Henkin and their four children came under fire as it slowly made its way through the windy roads of the West Bank. Spotting the vehicle’s Israeli plates, Palestinian terrorists unleashed a volley of bullets...
There’s a Hole in Our Map (and Our Sensitivity)
At Stanford, I checked my privilege. But not the way I was hoping to. Coming to Stanford from a largely white and affluent suburb of New York City, I am aware of my privilege. And that’s why I was excited to come to Stanford–to meet new people and to have my old...
A Breakup Letter to Europe
Dear Europe, You and I share a special bond. I, Leora, harbor only warm and fuzzy feelings of my studies in France (except, of course, when anti-Semitic protests raged through my sleepy town of Annecy) and pleasant memories of my trips to Italy and Greece (except when I counted...
