Student Leaders Visit Israel: ‘We Have a Responsibility to Speak Up’

The sponsored trip seeks to improve dialogue about Israel and the Middle East on US college campuses.

By United with Israel Staff

A broad cross-section of students who hold leadership positions on US university campuses recently visited Israel under the auspices of Jewish National Fund-USA (JNF). The mission seeks to improve knowledge and dialogue about Israel and the Middle East in light of unchecked rampant and vile anti-Israel sentiments on American campuses.

The 10-day program, called Caravan for Democracy Student Leadership Mission to Israel, is supported by the JNF Boruchim Center.

“JNF facilitates Caravan for Democracy because it’s important for college students to understand the positive impact Israel has had, and continues to have, on the world,” Jewish National Fund CEO, Russell F. Robinson said in a statement. “We are showing students a side of Israel they may not see in the media, and we are doing it in a way where participants can form their own views.”

Before the trip, the students were gifted with the book, Be Strong and of Good Courage: How Israel’s Most Important Leaders Shaped Its Destiny, by Dennis Ross and David Makovsky. “The book talks about Israel’s history, and I became aware of how much I didn’t know about what existed there before 1948,” Jake Horton, a Ohio State University student participant, said, according to the statement.

The trip proved eye-opening and inspiring to its 70 participants.

“When we visited Yad Vashem [Israel’s Holocaust Museum], we realized the true meaning of how those who forget history are doomed to repeat it,” Marvelouse Guerrier, student at George Washington University said. “As I grow, as a student leader, and as someone who wants to become involved in government, I have a responsibility to speak up for those who are marginalized.”

Cornell University student John Dominguez said he fought the Ivy League’s anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) resolution successfully.

“Last year, the BDS resolution at Cornell served as a turning point in my life,” he said. “At the time, I was running for student body president and I knew I had a responsibility to support efforts to block the bill. By organizing more people to come to the student government vote, we were able to defeat the bill.”

The students hold leadership positions on college campuses in areas such as government, ethnic and minority groups, LGBTQ groups, women’s groups, service groups, and Greek life.