CHAI educates through Israel Peace Week

Coalition of Hopkins Activists for Israel (CHAI)'s Israel Peace Week took place this week at Hopkins to campaign about the Israeli desire for peace. Hasbara Fellowships, StandWithUs, JerusalemOnlineUniversity and Hopkins Hillel, in addition to College Republicans, Foreign Affairs Symposium, Sigma Iota Rho and Students for Environmental Action (SEA) sponsored the week of events.

"Reaching a variety of students in the community, we hope that they have gained a glimpse into Israel through the lenses of quests for peace and incredible accomplishments despite adversity. We hope that the JHU community will continue to stand strong with Israel and recognize not only the obstacles it faces, but the great things it has accomplished, too," senior Ali Cohen, President of CHAI and Campus Coordinator for Hasbara Fellowships in the Greater Washington DC Region, wrote in an email to The News-Letter.

The Israel Advocacy Organization Hasbara Fellowships supports Israel Peace week, which is a nationwide movement spanning 75 college campuses in the United States and Canada. The week is officially held from Feb. 20 to Mar. 9 to emphasize Israel's dedication to achieve peace.

CHAI began Israel Peace Week on Feb. 28 with a Dinner Discussion with two Israelis that featured their perceptions of diversity and security within Israel.

Next, in collaboration with Sigma Iota Rho, the National Honors Society for International Studies, CHAI held a Lunch N Learn with Hasbara Fellowship's Managing Director, Alan Levine.

Hasbara Fellowships is a pro-Israel campus activism organization. The group has members in over 120 universities in North America. The organization allows students to travel to Israel and learn about the country and equip them with strategies for spreading their knowledge.

"As a Hasbara Fellow, I feel extremely prepared to go out there and have any discussion about Israel and the peace process. Israel Peace Week really focuses on one main message: Israel and Israelis want peace, they just need to have a legitimate partner for a sustainable peace. The education I received while I attended the Hasbara Fellowship is crucial in answering these tough questions on campus," freshman Arie Grunberg said.

Following this trend, Levine instructed the audience about current events in the Middle East and answered their questions on the issues.

"The events were intimate, allowing for meaningful discussion and personal attention to attendees.  Our outreach campaign on the Breezeway reached a larger section of the community, which was effective in spreading positive messages about Israel," Cohen wrote.

Cohen helped to coordinate Israel Peace Week activities at George Washington University and University of Maryland-College Park.

Additionally, Israel Peace Week featured a lecture from Gregg Roman, Political Advisor to Danny Ayalon, Deputy Foreign Minister and Member of Knesset of the State of Israel. Roman is the Director of Development at the Global Research in International Affairs (GLORIA) Center at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya.

CHAI, Foreign Affairs Symposium, College Republicans and College Democrats co-sponsored the event, and it was brought to Homewood by the Hasbara Fellowships.

Roman spoke on the future of Israeli and Palestinian Statehood. He described the potential of peacemaking in Israel with the Palestinians and other Arab neighbors. He illustrated that peace would be attainable if Israel were to ally with a serious power by providing past examples of success through alliance. For example, Israel and Egypt cooperated to forge a peace treaty in 1979, just as Israel and Jordan did in 1994.

He also discussed the Iranian nuclear program.

CHAI partnered with Students for Environmental Action to screen the JerusalemOnlineUniversity produced and Hasbara Fellowships and StandWithUs sponsored film "Israel Inside" on Tuesday.

The film's narrator, Dr. Tal Ben Shahar, came to speak about the film, lending a unique perspective checkered with personal anecdotes about Israel to the audience.

"Both speakers are experts in their respective fields, and were able to bring faces and voices of different aspects of Israel to our community at JHU, enhancing the accessibility and legitimacy of the Israel Peace Week program," Cohen wrote.

CHAI aims to educate and directly engage the Hopkins community aside from its events by passing out chocolate bars with wrapping featuring facts about Israel as well as informational pamphlets. Also, students were able to offer their responses to the prompt "Peace means. . ." in order to decorate a poster, to be hung in Hillel.

On Friday night, CHAI is co-hosting a Shabbat dinner with the Queer Bagel Society to address gay rights in Israel.