Van Campaign 2019
Like most controversial topics, different locations call for different strategies. But location alone isn’t the only variable to take into consideration when trying to win the hearts and minds of college students on the topic of Israel. It is important to note that different campuses value elements different from each other — even when in the same general vicinity.. Students Supporting Israel took on this challenge during the annual Van Campaign; this time heading to the campuses of the great Midwest.
SSI began their tour in Ann Arbor, where the college town revolves around the University of Michigan. In true grassroots fashion, the SSI national team got up early to load the van with posters, tabling materials, and of course, Insomnia cookies for the experimental run of the (anti) Hamas Bake Sale. Upon entering U of M’s campus, of which SSI is currently not established on, the SSI national team set up outside on the Diag — University of Michigan’s notorious spot for foot traffic. As most campuses, Michigan’s rules for tabling required a permit of sorts, so the center for student involvement asked the SSI team to head indoors to a hall that was already hosting a bake sale of various other groups.
In the midst of this occasion, students were shocked at the sight of a bake sale for Hamas. The intention was to start conversation, and help people understand that Hamas is a terrorist organization, which focuses on the destruction of Israel and her people. Upon donating to the bake sale, SSI would explain what Hamas stands for, and what the charter in Hamas says about Jews —
“The hour of judgment shall not come until the Muslims fight the Jews and kill them, so that the Jews hide behind trees and stones, and each tree and stone will say: ‘Oh Muslim, oh servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him,’ except for the Gharqad tree, for it is the tree of the Jews.” [Recorded in the Hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim]. (Hamas Charter, Article Seven)
The SSI table was the most popular table amongst all other bake sale participants, raising $21.00 in the short amount of time SSI was permitted there. The initial reactions to the bake sale stirred students with discomfort. One student’s reaction, of instinctive negativity, later caused him to donate $5.00 to the sale, whose contributions were reallocated to an organization that helps build bomb shelters for children affected by Hamas terror.
With outrage for the bake sale, the Campus police were eventually called, and Students Supporting Israel’s team was asked to leave the premise of University of Michigan’s campus for failure to provide a permit to table. The outrage of the bake sale showed that students DID, in fact, believe that Hamas was a worthy enough cause to get the police involved in. Apathetic students, who otherwise wouldn’t discuss Israel, were defending Israel against Hamas and the bake sale that fronted support for the terrorist organization. This sparked hope in the Van Campaign that perhaps even apathetic students were coming to terms with having a pro-Israel outlook based on the knowledge of the hate geared towards Israel. But that hope was challenged at the next few schools SSI encountered.
The next stop was Michigan State University, where, again, Students Supporting Israel is not present on. The campus was quiet, with few students passing by. The few students who did pass by, were willing to donate to the anti-Hamas bake sale, providing the children affected by Hamas with humanitarian aid. With the sign “Anti-Zionism = Anti-Semitism” presented at the front of the table, a student who was a part of the Muslim Student Association, typically an organization that Students for Justice in Palestine adheres to, stopped at the bake sale and donated to the cause. Her donation was given without an exchange for a cookie, but to the cause itself, noting that she wanted her cookie to be given for free to another student who came to the table. This encounter was refreshing and unexpected, as another student, who identified as Jewish, asked why the SSI sign, “Anti-Zionism = Anti-Semitism,” was encouraging genocide. It was explained to her that Zionism, by definition, is “the right to self-determination of the Jewish people.” After the discussion with the Students Supporting Israel national team, the student left the table with a new perspective, and a change of thought. Her misconceptions of the Zionist Movement were paved by what the media and outside sources have brainwashed people, especially students, to believe. Re-establishing a Jewish identity, and strengthening the outlook on Israel was an important factor of this Van Campaign.
The next campus, at the University of Notre Dame, where SSI is not an established student group, SSI was welcomed immediately with three sales in support of Israel during the set up of the table, followed by a plethora of sales from both staff and students throughout the day. Though the campus doesn’t have a pro-Israel group present, nor did SSI have a permit for the secured tabling location, both the students and staff at Notre Dame were receptive and excited about Israel.
A campus where Israel is a more controversial topic is University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign. The Illini Students Supporting Israel club, was most recently recognized for the work they did during a student government referendum, where Students for Justice in Palestine set out to define what Anti-Semitism means for the Jewish people. Students Supporting Israel at Urbana Champaign led a walk-out with the message that NO ONE would define Anti-Semitism for the Jewish people EXCEPT for the Jewish people. An interview with President of SSI Urbana Champaign, Michael Faibishenko, can be seen here.
After a day of tabling with the SSI group, the nationals team and local SSI chapter attended a Students for Justice in Palestine event on campus festively titled, “Debunking Spooky Zionist Myths,” in honor of Halloween. During this event, SSI was respectful, and attentive to the messages that this small SJP event attempted to convey, however, throughout the entirety of the event, Students for Justice in Palestine students attempted to defend terrorist attacks, slander Israel, and promote blatant and proven myths of their own that would frame Israel in a poor light. When attempting to host discussion, the SJP members failed to provide evidence for their claims, and were set strictly on the talking points they had written in their presentation.
The last stop, before returning home, was one of the newly established SSI chapters at Benedictine University, who has been struggling with the administration’s approval of their status as a campus recognized student group. Chapter leader, Amanda Severson, hosted SSI Founder and President, Ilan Sinelnikov as a speaker for a Sports of Politics lecture on campus. Upon arrival, Amanda noticed that the fliers for the event had all disappeared, and that the SJP group had set up right outside of the lecture hall that the first SSI event was taking place. In attendance, were SSI members, some of the Benedictine administration, and SJP group members. Communicating sports, as a means of unity within the audience, allowed for a meaningful discussion about Israel and sports. Towards the end of the lecture, an SJP member began discussing misconceptions from headlines in media that framed Israel as the perpetrator against the Palestinian people. He concluded his argument by neglecting the exile of Jews from Israel, stating that they “left willingly,” while claiming that Hamas was a key-holder in the rights of defending the Palestinian people.
Coming from the outrage of the (anti) Hamas bake sale at the University of Michigan, where students condemned Hamas, to the praise of Hamas as a “freedom fighting organization” at Benedictine University, SSI packed up the Van Campaign and headed to the University of Minnesota, where National Students for Justice in Palestine was heading their annual conference on campus.
University of Minnesota’s Students Supporting Israel chapter hosted a Tree of Life Synagogue Vigil in response to the anti-Semitic Students for Justice in Palestine conference. The event was held across from the building SJP used for their conference. The Vigil served as a reminder that anti-Semitism, in all forms, is not permitted on any campus, community, or anywhere on Earth. SSI President at the University of Minnesota, Oren Rosenberg, who hosted the Vigil, commented on the vigil’s purpose, noting “Enough is enough,” the full interview can be viewed here. The Vice President, David Dobkin, of the UMN’s SSI chapter also commented, stating that SSI is the leader in countering conflict on campus, securing safety for all students on campus. His interview can be viewed here. Students attending this vigil hoped to bring unity and peace amongst the campus, addressing that the campus’ hostile atmosphere for the NSJP Conference would not place a burden on the intent for the Vigil. Daniel Ish-Shalom, board member at the University of Minnesota SSI Chapter, questioned the divergence that the NSJP conference caused, adding that the conference caused more of a barrier to the unity that the vigil was attempting to obtain, as Students for Justice in Palestine doesn’t represent Palestinian rights as much as it represents the delegitimization and demonization of Israel and her people. Daniel’s comments can be seen here.
But despite the positivity radiating from this Vigil, participants at the Students for Justice in Palestine conference didn’t bother to attend. Upon completion of the Vigil, Students Supporting Israel’s national team in collaboration with Reservists on Duty, headed over to the building that the NSJP Conference was being held in.
The building’s windows were masked, and covered up, as to not show what was going on inside. Students exiting the building covered their faces, as would a criminal, avoiding both eye contact and conversation.
Photos were also published of screenshots inside of the conference, praising terrorist organizations such as the PFLP, in the Palestinian Youth Movement workshop held inside the conference.
Students Supporting Israel and Reservists on Duty were the only groups front-lining the opposition to the conference.
All-in-all, the Van campaign concluded with the message that anti-Zionism is anti-Semitism, and Students Supporting Israel will always defend the right of Israel and her people. With the help of our many campus advocates, the 2019 Van Campaign was a success! Join Students Supporting Israel on the next Van Campaign, by joining the movement and fight against anti-Semitism, and promoting the State of Israel. Go to: https://www.ssimovement.org/contact.html for more information.
