[Peace-discuss] Hillel responds to the apartheid wall

Mon Apr 30 14:33:29 UTC 2012

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jeff Kaminsky - Illini Hillel <jeffreykaminsky at gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 8:00 AM
Subject: Important Update on Recent Events at UIUC
To: naiman.uiuc at gmail.com

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          [image: Israeli flag]

   *Important update on recent events at UIUC*
Dear Robert

As you have been and continue to be an important part of our Illini Hillel
community, we want to share the following update with you:

For many years, our Illini Hillel, supported by JUF's Israel Education
Center (IEC), has celebrated Israel's independence through a week-long
series of events both on and off campus called Israel Week, marking
Israel's many achievements in its short history.  This week of programming
is the pinnacle of the year's worth of Israel education at UIUC.

[image: Apartheid wall 2012]This year, the week that preceded our
celebration was marked by a series of events organized by a Registered
Student Organization (RSO) called "SJP - Students for Justice in
Palestine," the local chapter of a national organization by the same name.
As part of a campaign to delegitimize the State of Israel, they built a
large wall in the middle of campus and organized events that tried to
establish a parallel between Israel's policies in the West Bank, and
South-African Apartheid. While the comparison is a blatant
misrepresentation, the truth is that the wall did attract attention from
our campus community.

How Hillel and JUF's Israel Education Center responded:

   - We increased our Israel-related programming, organizing a professors'
   panel about the crisis in Syria, a lunch session about the Israeli myth of
   Masada and a candle vigil at the quad for the commemoration of *Yom
   HaShoah*, which attracted more than 100 people. Altogether, over 250
   people attended the events organized by Hillel - many more than the numbers
   SJP attracted to their three events;
   - IEC Israel Interns and other Hillel students had their letters
   published by the Daily Illini, the students newspaper (click
here<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001fXy7Eie3QkbX-Tx6g4Q00uE7uDPnBn9ts2y8KBxTv5GNUmFGBn-4WByVKgQ5D0z1LZYTb6WRezqZPmdo-zNPrEELvxUlsCF0I2UDL82eNRoSRbSGS8XwXjQ7tPoXAoDVGoMu4WeiN_s=>to
read them);
   - We organized our events in cooperation with other student
   organizations, such as Interfaith in Action, College Democrats, Illini
   Conservative Union, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and Amnesty International -
   focusing our efforts on helping people develop a deeper understanding of
   the conflicts in the Middle East, and of the potential effects of
   anti-Semitism;
   -  We are working with University officials to understand how the wall,
   a semi-permanent structure, was allowed to be built and remain in the quad
   for five days.

We have been strategic about our response, avoiding actions that would only
bring more attention to the aggressive message put out by SJP and other
Israel detractors. We have also been strategic in placing more emphasis on
our positive Israel programming than in reacting to provocations.

This past Friday we finished the celebration of Israel Week that was led
and planned by Hillel and the Israel Illini RSO. During this week....

   - We tabled on the quad and interacted with over 2,000 students and
   faculty; we had a number of RSOs tabling with us on campus including: AEPi,
   AEPhi, SDT, ZBT, Students for Environmental Concerns, AISC, Tamid,
   KravMaga, Israel Illini and the Illini Conservative Union.
   - Our *Yom HaZikaron* ceremony was attended by over 100 students and
   community members who came together to remember Israel's fallen
soldiers;[image:
   Israel on the Quad 2012]
   - We celebrated *Yom HaAtzmaut* all day long - starting with a communal
   event at Sinai Temple, continuing with a party throughout the night and
   ending with a barbecue party on the deck of the Cohen Center. A total of
   500 people attended the *Yom Haatzmaut* Events;
   - We partnered with the Israeli community in Champaign-Urbana and
   welcomed them for a significant part of our celebrations;
   - We had a special Israel-themed Shabbat dinner, attended by over 120
   students;
   - We strengthened our partnership with organizations on and off-campus,
   co-sponsoring events with, among others, AISC, TAMID, ZBT, SDT, AEPi,
   AEPhi, Students for Environmental Concerns, Environmental Brigades,
   Illinois Dance Department, African Cultural Association, the Jewish Studies
   Program, Sinai Temple, and the Champaign-Urbana Jewish Federation.

We are extremely proud of Hillel's Israel programming at the University of
Illinois. Our students are engaged and are knowledgeable about the issues
at stake; we are building partnerships and educating the broader campus
community; and we celebrate a positive agenda for Israel all year long!
When Israel's detractors come to campus with the aim of denying Israel's
right to exist, we respond in a strategic and effective way.

[image: Donate button]<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001fXy7Eie3QkY6ZYvrrvmPybCHRAnmDHSR615QWDwF8PZP_t_gPQwIF-JoRierO3ca8Kguz5mshpQ-qSir0fdLWb7PRWdvfnIBTGZXRUId7S1-ea8SWYuOyCHMyZuv0hyZ01Ba4HZNGXt1Re1W3-w6dw==>

We are able to do all this because of the generous support of community
members like you. Your gifts help provide our students with a safe place to
learn about Israel, and the tools to educate others.

We appreciate your support and care. Please let us know if you have any
more questions.

Jeffrey Kaminsky

Chairman of the Governing Board

Rabbi Rogério Z. Cukierman

Executive Director

Erez Cohen

Israel Fellow

*Many people have asked how they can help and what they can do. *
 *Support us financially so that we can continue the work all year round.*
To make a contribution, please click
here<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001fXy7Eie3QkY6ZYvrrvmPybCHRAnmDHSR615QWDwF8PZP_t_gPQwIF-JoRierO3ca8Kguz5mshpQ-qSir0fdLWb7PRWdvfnIBTGZXRUId7S1-ea8SWYuOyCHMyZuv0hyZ01Ba4HZNGXt1Re1W3-w6dw==>
.* *
*
*

        [image: Hillel - Israel logo]
Cohen Center for Jewish Life

Hillel at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

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  UIUC Hillel | Margie K. and Louis N. Cohen Center for Jewish Life | 503
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-- 
Robert Naiman
Policy Director
Just Foreign Policy
www.justforeignpolicy.org
naiman at justforeignpolicy.org
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