FIRST EVER CAMERA STUDENT LEADERSHIP
CONFERENCE HELD IN LONDON
Some 20 students from the United Kingdom and Ireland participated in the first high-level training conference that prepares students to respond to campus anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activism of its kind.
The inaugural CAMERA on Campus UK Student Leadership Conference, which was held on Oct. 14 in London, placed a heavy emphasis on empowering students to be proud, informed Zionists.
“CAMERA fills an important void on campus and provides unique tools for students,” says Israel activist David Collier. “If we are to fight back against the industrial anti-Israel distortion taking place, we need to reclaim the word ‘Zionism,’ and ‘Zionize’ students by providing them with our true history, and thus enable students to both unapologetically provide positive messages and engage to counter the lies.”
Recently, John Cheney-Lippold, an associate professor in the American Culture Department at the University of Michigan, declined a student’s request for a recommendation letter for a study abroad program, with vocal support from multiple activists on campus. The reason? The student’s intention to study in Israel. Claiming that some departments (not necessarily at the University) support an academic boycott against the Jewish state, Cheney-Lippold insisted his actions are “in support of Palestinians living in Palestine,” and driven by “solidarity.”
To continue reading Campus Coordinator Zac Schildcrout’s response in campus paper the Michigan Daily,click here.
On October 4th, during an installment of the Penny Stamps Speaker Series (a required lecture series for all art students hosted by the Stamps School of Art and Design), guest speaker Emory Douglas gave a presentation that focused on intentionally provocative art. Unfortunately, he gave rise to one of the most anti-Semitic incidents we have ever observed on this campus. The lecturer displayed a slide with a picture of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Adolf Hitler side by side, with the words “Guilty of Genocide” written across their foreheads. No matter how you feel about Middle Eastern politics, this is blatantly anti-Semitic imagery disguised as “art.”
Continue reading Campus Coordinators Zac Schildcrout and Alex Rittenberg’s response to the anti-semitic slide at the University of Michigan here.
BDS RESOLUTIONS PROPOSED AT NYU AND
SWARTHMORE COLLEGE
The statement above was made by CAMERA-supported group Swarthmore Students for Israel. We are working closely with the students at Swarthmore College to provide support and resources.
Students at New York University plan to promote a resolution supportive of the BDS campaign in November.
The resolution will be brought forward on November 1 by three students senators including Rose Asaf, a co-founder of Jewish Voice for Peace at NYU, the student-run Washington Square News reported. It will be voted on through a secret ballot on December 6, after six speakers from each opposing side of the debate will be given two minutes to speak, and only NYU students will be allowed to attend.
CAMERA
“It’s very alarming that an entire demographic is excluded from representation on student government, and the resolution is being presented that affects that group directly,” she said. “We can argue the political points of BDS all we want we want, but if we take a step back and look at our student government, the way that it is functioning and the way that it excludes voices, we should realize that this is not a representative body of the university,” said Adela Cojab, president of CAMERA-supported group Realize Israel are working diligently with students at NYU to address the situation.
For the full story covered by the Algemeiner, click here.
CAMPUS COORDINATOR YONI MICHANIE
VISITS WEST COAST CAMPUSES
Campus Coordinator Yoni Michanie visited seven campuses this month, including Santa Monica College, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Santa Cruz, where he met with CAMERA Fellows and CAMERA-supported groups. He also gave a talk called “Obstacles to Peace”, which touched on the Israel-Arab Conflict, his service in the IDF, and CAMERA at California Polytechnic University San Luis Obispo, UC San Diego and at Tarbut V’Torah High School in Orange County. At an event in Orange County, Yoni spoke on a panel called “Knowledge for College” to 45 community members.
This November 16-18, Students for Justice in Palestine is holding their Annual National Conference at University of California, Los Angeles. Despite the notorious anti-Semitic rhetoric used by this group, UCLA is facilitating the conference by hosting the three-day summit on its campus.
On September 27th, CAMERA Fellow Justin Feldman appealed to the UC Regents, voicing his concern over UCLA hosting the conference, and enabling for the spread of hatred. The National Students for Justice in Palestine conference gathers students from across the country that are complicit in the spreading of lies and propaganda rooted in anti-semitism on campus. You can watch Justin’s speech to the UC Regents by clicking here.
The aim of the conference, according to SJP, “is to remind us that Zionism is not an insurmountable force. We know that Zionism is ethnic cleansing, destruction, mass expulsion, apartheid, and death, but it is also something very tangible. The reason we can have hope is that Zionism is a human ideology and a set of laws that have been challenged and can be destroyed.” Language like this suggesting that Zionists and by extension, Jews, need to be destroyed is nothing short of anti-semitic.
CAMERA is assisting students at UCLA to organize an Israel Pride Week, which will feature an educational display with information about Israel and Zionism for the general student body. Libel and lies, the students believe, should be addressed with education and accuracy. Students will be available for questions throughout the week preceding the conference.
