Camera on Campus

Donate

2015-2016 Fellows

Back to Fellows Main

Fellows

Binghamton University

Joshua Seed is a senior at Binghamton University double majoring in Urban & Regional Planning and Judaic Studies. A graduate of TanenbaumCHAT in Toronto, he is deeply devoted to the principles of Judaism and Zionism, currently serving as the President of Bearcats for Israel, Hillel at Binghamton’s Israel group. Joshua is a weekly panelist on the Religious Roundtable, an interfaith radio show where he seeks to build relationships and foster understanding among members of different religious communities. He is also a member of the JLIC at Binghamton Executive Board and a student representative on the Board of Directors of Hillel at Binghamton.

Following high school, Joshua spent a year in Israel studying at yeshiva and volunteering as a first responder with Magen David Adom. He plans to fulfill a lifelong dream and serve in the Israel Defense Forces following graduation from college. When he’s not busy fending off Canada jokes, Joshua can be found singing nigunim and smiling.

Published Articles:

Baruch College

Sivanna Shusterman is a junior at CUNY Baruch College, studying Biological Sciences and History. She hopes to attend medical school and one day, and be a cardiovascular surgeon. She is the president of the Youth Organization for Israel (YOFI), which is the only pro-Israel group on campus.She has always had a passion for

Israel and hopes that being a part of the CAMERA team can help her spread the truth about Israel and be a positive Zionist force on campus. She has always believed that a strong advocate is one who is equipped with facts, and she hopes she’ll be able to flourish as an Israel advocate with the CAMERA team.

Published Articles:

Boston University

Lindsey Cohen is a film student at Boston University. She has worked for various Israel advocacy organizations and has film experience in Israel, Peru, and Atlanta. Lindsey worked in Israel as an au pair and had a solo exhibition of her photography in Israel on display at Boston University.

Published Articles:

Clark University

Patrick Fox is a junior at Clark University majoring in Military History. As a passionate Christian Zionist, Patrick feels adamant about building strong partnerships between the Christian and Jewish communities and fighting persecution against both. To Patrick, Israel is not only a beacon of democracy and hope for the world but also a safe haven for Christians in a region that is beginning to appear very unfriendly towards them. As a military history major, Patrick is excited to travel to Israel and learn more about the IDF and their operations. Patrick hopes to someday be a part of the US Intelligence community or work in Foreign Service.

At Clark, Patrick serves as the treasurer for CHAI (Clarkies Helping and Advocating for Israel), is a voting member of Clark Hillel, and writes a column for the Scarlet, the student newspaper at Clark.

Published Articles:

King’s College London

Joelle Reid is a first-year student from London reading Political Economy at King’s College London. Despite gaining fluency in Modern Hebrew and avidly following Israeli Politics throughout secondary school, her interest in Middle Eastern studies was piqued after she spent a year abroad in Israel studying Talmudic law and philosophy at Midreshet Lindenbaum.

During her gap year, she was accepted into the Jerusalem U Oz fellowship programme, where she interacted with top Israel experts and acquired a deeper and broader understanding of Israeli politics while touring around the country. Joelle also participated in a four-week social media workshop run by BOMAH in Jerusalem, focusing on the utilization of social media in marketing and on social network advocacy training. She honed her skills by attending many political and cultural events during her year in Israel, including the 5th Global Forum for Combating Antisemitism, the National Yom Haatzmaut beacon lighting ceremony, and the annual reception celebrating Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday hosted by the British Ambassador to Israel.

Joelle has been dancing ballet from the age of three with the Royal Academy of Dance, is a hiking enthusiast, and recently managed her school basketball team to league victory.

Published Articles:

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Suri Bandler is a junior at MIT double majoring in Math and Computer Science and minoring in Literature. Before coming to MIT, Suri lived in Rishon Le’Tzion for a year, doing Sherut Leumi (National Service). During her service, she taught at an elementary school and volunteered in a community center for new Ethiopian immigrants. Suri is currently the Vice President for MIT’s pro-Israel group, Friends of Israel, and has been a fellow for various Israel advocacy organizations such as StandWithUs and the David Project. In addition, she also is a staff opinion-editorial contributor for MIT’s newspaper, the Tech. Suri loves reading, playing sports, and listening to music on repeat in her free time.

 

Published Articles:

Northeastern University

Kaila Fleisig is a Sophomore at Northeastern University majoring in International Business. Kaila has always been passionate about Israeli politics and Israel’s portrayal in the media and has been involved in pro-Israel groups on and off campus. In high school, Kaila was the founder of the Jewish Cultural Society, and in college, Kaila is on the Huskies for Israel board and is involved with Hillel and the TAMID Business group.

After her participation in the Write on For Israel program, Kaila became dedicated to battling the anti-Israel movements on campus. Kaila can’t wait to begin her partnership with CAMERA and looks forward to educating others about the truth about Israel.

NYU Polytechnic

Raizy Cohen, a Brooklyn native, will be matriculating as an honors student at NYU Polytechnic this fall, pursuing a double major in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering. She spent her formative years studying at the Yeshiva of Flatbush, a school known for its deep-seated Zionist values, from which she graduated as valedictorian. Post-high school, Raizy spent a year living in Jerusalem while studying in Midreshet Lindenbaum, learning Jewish texts and experiencing Israel’s people and culture firsthand. While in seminary, Raizy was accepted to and participated in the Jerusalem U Oz fellowship, where she truly culled her passion and ability to advocate for the State of Israel and met a network of like-minded peers. Raizy also participated in the BOMAH four-week intensive social media workshop, where she learned to utilize modern technology in our largely media-centric society.

While in Israel, Raizy also volunteered during the 2015 Knesset elections, campaigning and playing a proactive role in the future of a country which she hopes to officially call home immediately after university. Upon completion of her gap year, Raizy spent three weeks on an army base for the Israel Defense Forces volunteering and interacting with the service men and women who defend the country on a day-to-day basis.

Raizy hopes to continue to strengthen her advocacy skills and help those around her become less susceptible to the media bias, which distorts Israel’s image on campus and in society at large.

In her free time, Raizy enjoys playing tennis, reading, singing, and, of course, debating politics and Middle Eastern affairs with friends and family.

Published Articles:

Ohio State University

Robyn Frum is a native of Cleveland, Ohio and is currently a senior at The Ohio State University studying Microbiology. Since her freshman year, she has been a part of the Mount Leadership Society, a scholars program whose mission is to foster an ethic of community service and to help develop leaders for a diverse society. Within the program, she serves as the community service chair, planning and coordinating a variety of community service projects for students at OSU. When she is not volunteering, she is a research assistant in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and also does research on Oral Cancer in the College of                                            Dentistry. Robyn is also involved in the Jewish community, serving as the President of the Jewish Studies Students Association. In the past, she has served as the Grinspoon Morningstar Intern with the Israel Campus Coalition. Last winter, she traveled to Israel with the Zionist Organization of America and is currently the senior Hasbara fellow at OSU. Last year, with the help of a few passionate friends, she helped to reinvigorate the Buckeyes for Israel group into an intelligent group of Zionists and proud representatives of the American-Israeli relationship. She currently serves as the Vice President of the group.

Published Articles:

Rutgers University

Deborah Shamilov is a sophomore at Rutgers University studying Biological sciences on a pre-med track. As her parents and grandparents are refugees from Communist Russia and passionate Zionists, Deborah’s love for Israel began from a very young age.It was her junior year of high school, at Kohelet Yeshiva, when she had what she refers to as a “wake-up call.” An Israeli speaker at her school asking the audience questions about Israel made Deborah realize that she had absolutely no knowledge about Israel and the Middle East. Today, Deborah is an administrator of Israel News Group, a Facebook group she created last summer amidst the war in Israel, which now has 480 members from all over the world. Deborah also had the honor of attending the 2015 AIPAC Policy Conference as a student delegate. On campus, Deborah serves as Scarlet Knights for Israel’s social media chair and is a Middle East Contributing Writer and Analyst for the Rutgers Chabad newspaper.This summer she was in Israel for two months learning Jewish subjects, traveling, and working at Melabev Alzheimer’s Center. Deborah hopes to bring her knowledge of Israel and the Middle East, as well as her strong passion for Israel, to good use during her term as a CAMERA fellow.

Published Articles:

Stanford University

Michal Leibowitz, 18, was born and raised in White Plains, NY. After high school, she spent a year in Israel, where she studied, worked, and traveled. During her time in Israel, Michal interned at the Kohelet Policy Forum (KPF), a Jerusalem-based political think tank. Her work at the KPF catalyzed her passion for promoting accurate press and unbiased treatment of Israel.In recent years, Michal’s writing has been recognized by the National Young Arts Foundation, the Scholastic Art and Writing Awards, and the British Poetry Society. Her work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in the Winter Tangerine Review, Cleaver Magazine, Up the Staircase Quarterly, and The Jewish Week. Michal will be attending Stanford University in the fall of 2015.
Published Articles:

SUNY Buffalo

Andrew Meyer is a sophomore business administration major at the University at Buffalo. He is from Long Island, New York, where he was raised with a strong Jewish background. Through his family, Hebrew school, and Jewish extracurricular activities growing up, he learned the importance of Israel to the world and the Jewish people. Meyer is connected to Israel through his extended family living in Haifa and his mother, who lived in

Israel for several years when she was younger. He is a proud and staunch Zionist.Andrew is actively involved with Jewish life and Israel on campus. He is the current president of the Jewish Student Union, secretary for the pro-Israel club, UB for Israel, and actively involved with Hillel. Israel advocacy is important to Andrew because he believes people need to learn the truth and not hear the false media bias against it. He plans on going to Israel for the first time this winter though Taglit Birthright along with many more trips to come throughout his college career and future.
Published Articles:

Syracuse University

Shoshana Kranish, 20, was born in Boston and raised in the suburbs. She is an International Relations major at Syracuse University, focusing on security and diplomacy in the Middle East and North Africa. At Syracuse, she is involved in Chabad and is also a new student mentor in the College of Arts and Sciences. She spent this past spring semester at Tel Aviv University. She studied political systems and interactions in the Middle East, and was lucky enough to attend several political events, as she was there during the elections. Post-graduation, she hopes to work in PR or foreign relations.

Shoshana spent the summer interning in the CAMERA office, where she spent her days reading the news, writing, editing the website, and running CAMERA on Campus’s twitter. She is the president of her school’s pro-Israel group, Syracuse Students for Israel.

 

Published Articles:

University of Alaska

Maria Lilly is a Junior at the University of Alaska Anchorage pursuing her BA in Journalism and Public Communications and minoring in Political Science. Maria has been interested in Israel from a young age. At some point became so frustrated with media bias that she gave up her study of Israel. As she entered college, she came across Christians United for Israel, a pro-Israel organization dedicated to advocating for Israel. Maria found herself again immersed in the study of Israel, but this time the facts she was finding were verifiable and she had found support and resources from a plethora of pro-Israel organizations, one of which was CAMERA. Now as President of
her campus’ only pro-Israel organization, Maria seeks to provide students on her campus with the resources and fact-based knowledge about Israel which she had herself once sought but was unable to find.
Published Articles:

 University of Chile

Vanessa Hites lives in Santiago de Chile. She spent her primary school education in The Grange School, a British and secular school that prepared her to enter as a law student at the University of Chile. Her participation in the local Jewish community began with Bet-El, a Masorti tnua where she was madrija.

In 2013 she became a member of the Chilean Federation of Jewish Students as Director of Education and is the current President.
As a federation, we represent Jewish students within the community organizing cultural and educational activities and outside the community, we try to fight anti-Semitism on campus and defamation of Israel. She is a speaker on her community facing debates on universities; a columnist of the community’s virtual newspaper “El Diario Judio” and also takes part in different political activities. Being part of the Federation gave her the opportunity to attend WUJS Congress (World Union of Jewish Students) were Chile is part of the executive board.
These past years have been extremely formative, she has empowered herself as a Young Jewish and Zionist woman defending Israel in her country.
Vanessa wants to continue studying, learning, working, traveling and enjoying new experiences.

University of Central Florida

Ben Suster was born in Key West and raised in Miami, FL by Israeli parents and is thus quite used to ‘loud and pointless yelling.’ His Hebrew name is Ben Tsion, or “Son of Zion,” and he is very proud of this and feels as though the name represents him well in his pursuits to persistently stand up for Israel.

Ben is the incoming President of UCF’s sole Zionist organization, Knights for Israel, and is beyond excited to lead and work so that students from all walks of life can see and appreciate Israel.

Standing up for Israel is something Ben does with all of his heart, and he looks forward to facing the challenges that lay ahead as part of a strong and healthy pro-Israel community.

Published Articles:

 University of Illinois—Urbana-Champaign

Hayley Nagelberg is a rising freshman at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She was Hagalil USY’s Regional Executive Board Executive Committees/Israel Awareness Vice-President. She was on the board of her high school’s Israel Advocacy Club and Israel Club. She has also been involved with StandWithUs and AIPAC. Her article, “Today I Was Asked by CNN if I am Brain Dead”—demanding accuracy in reporting about Israel—earned her the Honest Reporting Watchdog of the Week, as well as numerous other accolades.

Hayley volunteers at Special Strides, Inc., a therapeutic riding center for children and adults with special needs. She has received certification in Animal Welfare and Basic Pet First Aid through the Humane Society. She has taught English and repaired homes in Laos and Thailand, on a Cheyenne Indian Reservation and in New Orleans, LA. She has been a counselor at Camp Yachad of the Scotch Plains JCC. Hayley runs fundraising races to raise money for diabetes research at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel. She has also raised money for the Israel Guide Dog Center for the Blind. She was recognized by the Federation of Jewish Men’s Clubs as a Youth of the Year.

Published Articles:

 University of South Florida

Jesse Davidson is a Criminology major at USF. After graduation, he plans to happily run off to Israel to enroll in the army. After studying in a Yeshiva and touring Israel’s cities and wonders, it has become his goal to bring a little slice of that back home to Tampa.

He serves as the Treasurer for Chabad at USF, Vice President of Hillel USF, the AIPAC Cadre leader, and the President of the Israeli Culture Club.

Published Articles:

 Vassar College

Jason Storch is a junior at Vassar College on a premedical track, studying Chemistry, Russian Studies, and History. He hopes to one day be a cardiovascular surgeon. He is dedicated to academic freedom and feels obligated to spread health and education as opposed to vitriol and misinformation.

As such, he is very excited to work with CAMERA and help inform others of the bias that so blatantly exploits Israel. From a lack of understanding of facts to conspiracy suspicions, Jason has seen much of the wide spectra of anti-Israel propaganda that liberal arts schools often serve as a breeding ground for.

It is with his knowledge of said propaganda coupled with his desire to have tough conversations, and ultimately create a more cohesive, approachable discourse, that Jason hopes he can add to the CAMERA team.

 Yeshiva University

Michael Osborne is a senior at Yeshiva University majoring in Management with two minors in marketing and political science. He has been active in Israel advocacy since arriving on campus, resulting in his running of the Yeshiva University Israel Club last academic year.

Aside from having spent a gap year in a Yeshiva in Israel prior to college, he has traveled to Israel multiple times, most memorably the summer of the Gaza war, Operation Protective Edge, when he volunteered in the south teaching English to underprivileged Israeli teens. Michael plans on making Aliyah soon after graduation. He looks forward to his time with CAMERA, hoping to find new ways to accurately portray the situation on the ground in our homeland.

Published Articles:

 York University

Danielle Shachar is a senior at York University and the recipient of the Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence. Born and raised in Toronto, she feels fortunate to call both Canada and Israel home. Danielle is the incoming Vice-President of York Students for Israel, the Vice-President of Communications for Campus Conservatives, and a contributing blogger for the Times of Israel. Her writing has been featured on the Canadian Jewish News, Honest Reporting Canada, and Aish.com. Danielle is also the youngest winner of the Stephen Leacock Short Story Prize, named after Canada’s foremost humorist and political scientist. She is passionate about Judaism, Israel, and human rights advocacy for indigenous peoples.
Published Articles:

 

Back to top

 

arrow-rightArtboard 2arrowArtboard 1awardArtboard 3bookletArtboard 2brushArtboard 2buildingArtboard 2business-personArtboard 2calendarArtboard 2caret-downcheckArtboard 10checkArtboard 10clockArtboard 2closeArtboard 2crownArtboard 2documentArtboard 2down-arrowArtboard 2facebookArtboard 1gearArtboard 2heartArtboard 2homeArtboard 2instagramArtboard 1keyArtboard 2locationArtboard 2paperclipArtboard 1pencilArtboard 2personArtboard 1pictureArtboard 2pie-chartArtboard 2planeArtboard 2presentationArtboard 2searchArtboard 2speech-bubbleArtboard 1starArtboard 2street-signArtboard 2toolsArtboard 2trophyArtboard 1twitterArtboard 1youtubeArtboard 1