Contributed by CAMERA intern Shoshana Kranish
On November 6th, the Wildcats for Israel EMET for Israel group at Northwestern University hosted two notable African-American pastors for a talk on relations between Jews and the African-American community. Pastors Dumisani Washington and Chris Harris were able to shed light on this lesser-known cooperation.
In an effort to introduce the pro-Israel discourse to non-traditional supporters like the African American community, Wildcats for Israel found success in the impact of the event. For many students that attended, it was their first time being exposed to the cooperation between Jews and African Americans, and they found the information intriguing. Pastor Washington, one of the speakers, is the founder of the Institute for Black Solidarity with Israel, an organization created to foster the relationship between the two communities. Pastor Chris Harris, Sr. is a pastor at a church in Chicago and has previously been recognized for his work promoting the relationship between African-Americans and the State of Israel.
In its success, the event ran over the time limit originally allotted for it, thanks to an extensive question-and-answer session. The students were very much engaged with the speakers, and left the lecture with a new perspective. One student even requested contact information for the speakers so they could pass it on to friends at different universities, hoping to pass on the same transformative experience. CAMERA liaison Alyssa Kincaid reported a successful event that left students feeling ‘intrigued’ with new knowledge.
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