SSI Student Spotlight: Federico Abolsky

Did you know that Students Supporting Israel has a chapter in Argentina? Meet Federico Abolsky, Vice President and Event Coordinator for SSI at the University of Buenos Aires! Federico is in his fifth year, studying Industrial Engineering. He wanted to join SSI because of,

“the amount of young, educated people that hate Israel and are outspoken about it.”

SSI at the University of Buenos Aires chapter was established just last year, and they have not wasted any time. About one week ago, Federico gave an impressive presentation on zoom about the Arab-Israeli conflict (View that here). SSI at UBA has also tabled and made an impression on campus. Similar to universities in America and Canada, the “pro-Palestinian” groups are, more than not, very anti-Israel in Argentina. Federico explains the presence of intersectionality on campus with anti-Israel groups mixed with ignorance amongst the students. With that said, Federico’s plan is to bring education to Buenos Aires by “having a Jewish Studies seminar or course available at the university.”

Federico has taken the responsibility of supporting Israel even when it is difficult. He says,

“I support Israel because it is the only country in the world being attacked on a racist basis: Antisemitism.”

Federico does a beautiful job explaining the Jewish connection to Israel, Zionism, and how Anti-Zionism is Antisemitism. He explains,

“Zionism is one of the core elements any Jewish person should have. The Jewish people have the right to have their own nation, and I try to explain this to people this every time. Being against Israel is being against the Jewish people, attacking Israel is attacking the Jewish people.”

We are thankful for the leadership Federico provides in Argentina and that Students Supporting Israel has strong Zionists all over the world to continue standing up for and supporting Israel.