JERUSALEM – Two weeks after an American academic group voted to boycott Israel, 100 Jewish university students from around the globe will gather in Jerusalem on Monday, December 30, in order to learn the best methods to combat attempts to boycott, divest from, and sanction (BDS) Israel. The training is part of the Global Campus Initiative (GCI), a joint project of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), the European Union of Jewish Students (EUJS) and the World Union of Jewish Students (WUJS).
“The Global Campus Initiative was founded to give the engaged, activist students of WUJS and EUJS the tools they need to help put a stop to BDS movements on campus, which are a growing concern worldwide even, as we now see, in the United States,” said World Jewish Congress CEO Robert Singer. “Through their networking and student activism, we hope to spread the best practices of how to combat the political, economic, cultural and ideological campaign against Israel.”
The students’ training takes on new urgency in the wake of the 16 December 2013 vote to boycott Israel by the American Studies Association (ASA), a 5,000 member group of academics who teach American studies at US colleges and universities.
Starting their day at the Knesset, the students will hear greetings from several Knesset members before participating in a session on “What is Delegitimization and BDS?” with Asher Fredman, a Senior Coordinator for Diaspora Affairs in Israel’s Ministry of International Relations and Strategic Affairs, and Avi Mayer, who oversees new media operations at The Jewish Agency for Israel. After gaining 'A View Inside Israeli Democracy', the students will participate in workshops on “Advocating for Israel at Your University” and “Communicating to Influence.”
In the evening, the students will attend a gala dinner with a keynote speech by Robert Singer and greetings by Shai Hermesh, Chairman of WJC Israel, and Benzi Bar Lavi, a representative of the Jewish National Fund.
About the Global Campus Initiative
Launched in Summer 2013, the Global Campus Initiative is a proactive global campaign that aims to counter the attempts to boycott, divest from, and sanction or delegitimize Israel across universities and campuses worldwide. The initiative is a joint project of the World Jewish Congress, the European Union of Jewish Student (EUJS) and the World Union of Jewish Students.
