Pro-Israel Advocacy Requires Knowing The Other Side

by Irwin Mansdorf
Special To The Jewish Week

With the continued rise of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic campus activity across the United States and the prevalence of “Israel advocacy” seminars, courses and activities designed to combat the attacks, protests and rallies that target the Jewish state, is there any evidence that advocacy has actually made a dent in the anti-Israel attitude in academia?

Complicating the issue is the mixed bag of what “advocacy” actually is. While many see advocacy as the ability to effectively challenge and respond to an anti-Israel lecturer or to know what to say in a debate with a pro-Palestinian student, a look at what some advocacy organizations promote paints a different picture. What we often see is a focus on activities that are designed to shore up Jewish identity in those that lack it. We see falafel fairs, Israeli music, and even an activity called “camels on campus” designed to bring a feel and look of Israel to colleges.

There is no doubt that encouraging identification with Israel and Judaism is an important tool for Jewish activism on campus. Considering the large number of apathetic, uninformed Jewish students in college today, identifying with Israel and Jewish causes is a first step in getting them to show interest in what Israel faces. But notwithstanding the good intentions of those that plan some of these activities, having camels on campus is not likely to change the course of an intellectual discussion on Israel as a vestige of colonialism, if Jerusalem Arabs suffer from discrimination or whether the behavior of IDF soldiers at checkpoints violates human rights.

For a smaller yet important group on campus, advocacy efforts may need a retooling. Students who identify themselves as “Modern Orthodox” or “Traditional” who have attended day schools all their lives, visited Israel many times and live a full Jewish life, tend not to need being convinced to side with Israel. They do, on the other hand, want to know why so many academics claim that Israel is making life unbearable for Palestinian Arabs or whether any of what Israel does resembles, as some claim, what took place in apartheid South Africa.

They also need to be armed with arguments that make sense and appeal to the vast majority of “persuadable” students on campus. When, as I heard on a recent campus tour in the U.S., Orthodox students say that Israel was promised to the Jews by God or that Jews were in Israel first, they are using ineffective arguments. When they respond to accusations of human rights violations against Israel by insinuating that all Palestinians are potential terrorists, and generally not showing empathy for the suffering they endure, self-inflicted or not, it serves to turn off the average college student.

To be a true defender of one’s beliefs and understand the justice of Israel, one must fully appreciate the beliefs of those who think differently. It is not enough to simply teach the “facts” without challenging students to reach their own conclusions. Students should be taught the history of the conflict and learn about Zionism, but they also need to explore Palestinian literature. They must hear from Israeli experts on military matters, but they also need to meet proud Palestinian activists and even those who may have voted for Hamas. Students should visit the security fence to see firsthand what Israel claims has reduced terror attacks, but they also need to visit Arab villages to see the impact this has had on everyday life.

Rather than turn these students away from Israel, such an approach, for day school graduates, is sure to strengthen their Zionism and enhance their ability to defend Israel’s cause. Students also need to meet pro-Palestinian activists with whom they can discuss, debate and present views they surely would otherwise have difficulty with.

For students with strong backgrounds in Judaism, it is not enough to simply spoon-feed a list of “facts” and rebuttal arguments. To truly help Israel one must actually see what it is about Palestinian life that so many academics sympathize with. Absent this one may create a legion of students who will show up for rallies, raise the flag, dance the hora and eat falafel, but not be able to hold their own against the tide of anti-Israel activity prevalent on campus.

Without the presentation of the truth as others see it, no “advocacy” course is complete. Centuries ago, Rabbi Judah Loew, the famed Maharal of Prague, referred to the Arab philosopher Averoess in saying that in order to understand one’s own dogma, you must first understand the beliefs of those who look at things differently.

That is one lesson today’s Israel advocates should study well.

Irwin J. (Yitzchak) Mansdorf lives in Ra’anana, Israel, and directs the leadership program in Israel-Arab Studies at Midreshet Lindenbaum in Jerusalem.

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