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Dear Friends,
As we begin a new year, we would like to shine light on some of our most successful and hard-working students. All of the students CAMERA supports work tirelessly to ensure the true face of Israel is shown on campus. They all deserve a standing ovation for voluneering their time to confront biased professors who use their podium to manipulate their students and challenging aggressive anti-Israel students who dedicate their time to demonize Israel and the Jewish people.
There are a few students who have worked far past our expectations and it is to those students who we are thrilled to honor at our Annual Gala in New York City.
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David Bar-Illan Awardees
 
On April 10, 2016 Reut Baer will receive the David Bar-Illan
for Outstanding Student Leadership and Misha Vilenchuk will receive the David Bar-Illan Award for Outstanding Campus Activism on behalf of CAMERA’s Emet for Israel supported organization at Brandeis University Judges for Israel (formerly SAIPA).
Reut Baer, a forceful advocate for Israel on the campus of Cornell University, began her activism at the end of her freshman year, when she helped defeat a BDS resolution in the Student Assembly. In her sophomore year, she became a CAMERA Fellow and served as Chair of Advocacy for Cornellians for Israel (then known as CIPAC). While a Fellow, Reut boldly stood up against Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the taunting and attempted intimidation of pro-Israel students, and was even falsely accused of vandalizing SJP fliers on campus. The Cornell Sun covered the story and in an interview with Reut, she was able to clear her name while explaining how the fliers were problematic. In the Cornell Sun, Reut co-wrote that “Every nation and people has a right to safety and security. We too have a right to feel safe and secure from harassment and intimidation.” For 2015-16, Reut continues as a CAMERA Intern and Co-President for Cornellians for Israel, an independent student-run organization supported by CAMERA through the Emet for Israel initiative since 2011.
Misha Vilenchuk is passionate about human rights, Israel advocacy, and dialog initiatives. He is the CAMERA Emet for Israel Intern and the liaison for Judges for Israel (JFI), an organization at Brandies University that CAMERA helped found in 2013 through Emet for Israel. This past October, Judges for Israel co-sponsored with the South Asian Student Association to bring an expert on the Indian community in Israel to campus. An engaged audience of both Jewish and Indian students learned about this important minority and subculture, furthering Israel’s identity as a diverse and accepting nation. Through Misha’s initiative, JFI organized with seven other area colleges to march against media bias. Cheers of “Am Yisrael Chai” and “open your eyes, stop the lies” were heard coming from the one hundred students marching. The passion of the students was echoed by passing motorists with honks and waves – made more meaningful as this event was held only a few days after the terrorist attacks in Paris.
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The Pen is Mightier than the Sword
Click above picture to view video of our Annual Leadership and Advocacy Training Conference in Boston!
The CAMERA Fellowship is a sought-after one-year Fellowship that is offered on a highly selective basis. Participants in our Fellows program are leaders on campus, proactively spreading the truth about Israel to fellow students, professors and the media.
CAMERA Fellows are selected based on their knowledge of the Arab-Israeli conflict, history of Israel and current events, experience in advocating for Israel on campus and portfolio of published work.
CAMERA Fellows monitor campus media and publish factual Op-Eds providing key information about Israel, refuting misinformation and injecting neglected facts. They heop change and improve the discussion of Israel on campus. Fellows receive a stipend, training and mentoring by CAMERA staff.
APPLY NOW to represent CAMERA on your campus as a CAMERA Fellow for the 2016-2017 academic school year.
Below is an excerpt of one of Reut Baer’s article published in the Cornell Daily Sun during her Fellowship.
“The day immediately following the synagogue massacre, Students for Justice in Palestine held a sympathy demonstration for Palestinians who have to be checked at these security checkpoints. Instead of condemning the killings of innocent civilians, they brought in an activist from outside the Cornell community to increase tensions and called for the boycott, divestment and sanctioning of Israel, specifically the severance of Cornell’s ties with the Technion, an Israeli university. SJP’s signs, banners, chants and curses mislead and inflame the opinion of the Cornell community with false and out-of-context information.
But one of the most threatening and terrifying quotes chanted repeatedly by the SJP protesters was, “We will respond to aggression with aggression.” Wednesday’s rally was not an isolated incident. Three weeks ago, SJP members followed students around Central Campus until the police thankfully stepped in to ensure these students’ safety. At the protest on Wednesday, police were on Ho Plaza to prevent the threats of violence and the harassment from escalating into physical attacks. SJP brings the Palestinian aggression against Israel to campus repeatedly and we, as Cornellians, won’t stand for it.”
With the help of her Emet for Israel supported organization, Cornellians for Israel, Reut hosted a CAMERA Researcher on campus to speak about bias in the media. You can read about the review of the event in the Cornell Daily Sun here.
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EMET for Israel
As partisan rhetoric intensifies on campus, pro-Israel students can join together and effectively counter hostile campaigns against Jews and Israel.
CAMERA’s Emet for Israel program provides educational and financial resources for student activists who want either to create a new pro-Israel activist organization on campus or to strengthen an existing, but under-funded, pro-Israel group.
Both David Bar-Illan awardees are active members of organizations supported by CAMERA’s Emet for Israel at Cornell University and Brandeis University.
This past fall, the Brandeis group, Judges for Israel, under their former name SAIPA, organized a city-wide March for Truth with nearby universities including MIT, Harvard, Boston College, Boston University, Northeastern University, Tufts University, and Clark University. The false media coverage and distorted national and international headlines regarding brutal terror attacks against Israeli civilians pushed the students to take a stand and call for truth in the media, a rallying call fully supported by CAMERA staff and CAMERA’s mission. Our CAMERA Fellow at Northeastern University reported on the rally in the University’s campus paper, The Huntington News.
APPLY NOW to receive support from Emet for Israel and:
- Get thousands of dollars in resources for speakers, films, and other programming
- Build an effective, pro-Israel autonmous group
- Learn life-long skills in debate, writing, public speaking
- Benefit from close collaboration with CAMERA scholars
- Receive intensive training at CAMERA’s student leadership conferences
- Join and network with an international community of like-minded students and activists
- Speak out for Israel!
“Thank you CAMERA for empowering me to overshadow ignorance and incompetence,” Misha Vilenchuk
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CAMERA on Campus is Hiring!
CAMERA seeks to hire full-time Campus Coordinators to join a growing team of young professionals providing support and guidance to students across North America interested in Israel and pro-Israel advocacy.
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