College Students Learn How to Advocate for Israel

Annie Le, a rising sophomore at UC Santa Cruz, considers herself an Israel advocate, but when you ask her why, she has trouble answering.

“I’ve never been there before, I don’t know anyone from Israel, I have no Jewish friends,” she said. “But I just have a random fetish with the state.”

This seemingly indefinable interest prompted Le to get involved with the pro-Israel group on her campus during her freshman year, but she wanted to expand her limited knowledge of Israel. That is why she attended one of The David Project’s annual Campus Fellows seminars this summer. The five-day seminars, held in Boston, help students “develop the knowledge, context and skills they need to be successful campus advocates for Israel,” according to the Campus Fellows webpage.

Of the 19 students who traveled to Boston for the June seminar, three were not Jewish. Some were new to Israel advocacy, while others had been involved for years. They came from campuses across the country, from UCLA in the west to the University of Alabama in the south to Brandeis University in the east.

Phil Brodsky, Campus Team Manager for The David Project, said the program caters to the diverse backgrounds of the attendees.

“Campus Fellows is set up so that anyone who comes to it can learn something about Israel,” he said.

For the full article: Israel Campus Beat

To learn more about Campus Fellows: David Project