As summer wanes through August, with its powerful back-to-school vibe, young people are looking to resuming their education with eagerness and anticipation, and perhaps a bit of anxiety.
Unless they happen to be Jewish students who support the state of Israel, in which case a measure of dread might be added to the mix.
As they head back to their university campus, or perhaps their first foray into the collegiate world, they might well enter an environment in which the very idea of Israel is likely to be criticized and savaged, delegitimized and sanctioned.
As part of the toxic concoction that has developed on many American campuses, covert or overt anti-Semitism might join anti-Zionism as part of the new reality that Jewish students, and their supporters, are likely to face.
Are they aware of that possibility, and prepared for it?
Will they recognize anti-Israel activism on campus if it rears its head, and how will they respond?
Will they march and carry flags and signs in support of the Jewish state, or keep a low profile?
Will some of them, perhaps, ally themselves with those who believe that Israel should be divested from or boycotted?
It’s a daunting list of considerations, especially when added to the challenges that go along with being a college student in the first place.
Thankfully, students are not alone in facing them.
The Colorado Jewish community, recognizing the new campus climate when it comes to Israel, has put people in charge of assisting Jewish high school and college students as they navigate this potentially adversarial environment.
One of them is Jillian Feiger, who for the past four years has been leading two of JEWISHcolorado’s primary projects focused on Jewish youth in the high school and college age brackets.
The activities she leads, the Jewish Student Connection and the Joyce Zeff Israel Study Tour, have many applications and purposes, but helping students face anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism has increasingly become a priority, she said in an interview with the Intermountain Jewish News last week.
At this point, Feiger reports, the effort remains a work in progress.
“I don’t think that we are fully prepared, but we’re definitely moving in the right direction with our Jewish and non-Jewish teens in being able to support them and adequately prepare them for any anti- Zionism or anti-Semitic incidents or rhetoric that they might hear or see on college campuses.”
The Israel Study Tour, a 52-year-old tradition in Denver, brings Jewish high school students to Israel for an intensive, activities-packed, five-week trip. Earlier this summer, the tour, which resumed after a pandemic hiatus, brought 72 teens to the Jewish state.
The Jewish Student Connection incorporates clubs at 11 metro Denver high schools that focus on Jewish and Israeli culture and values.
Aspiring to develop social connections and alliances between students, and including educators and advisors as mentors, JSC clubs involve hundreds of students, both Jewish and non-Jewish.
Those overseeing these programs, as well as the youths involved in them, have been aware of the growing antagonistic climate toward Israel on campus for some time, Feiger says.
“I know this has been a concern in the community at least since I’ve been active in this, which has been over four years — and I’m pretty sure it’s been a concern since long before that.”
Youth professionals and parents, and the teens themselves are the ones advocating for pre-college preparation.
Equipping students to counter anti-Zionism, and protecting themselves from the intensive incorrect information that Israel’s opponents have grown adept at disseminating, requires, first of all, education, Feiger says. Both for students who are knowledgeable about Israel and those less familiar with its historical, political and religious dynamics, knowing the basic facts is essential.
The same is true, she adds, when it comes to anti-Semitism.
“We talk a lot about what to do if, unfortunately, an anti-Semitic act happens, whether it’s somebody saying something, a symbol or graffiti somewhere, or somebody ripping down a poster in high school.
“We talk about how to recognize it and the meaning behind it, like, why is a swastika anti-Semitic? Why is calling this person this name derogatory?
“There is history that goes into it and I think that teens are interested in the ‘why’ and that’s important.”
Recognizing a statement or act as anti-Semitic, and reporting it as such, is the first line of defense in countering campus anti-Semitism, Feiger says. Through Jewish Student Connection clubs in particular, this is something that both Jewish students and their non-Jewish friends can initiate.
Some 40% of JSC students are non-Jewish, she estimates. Some have family members who have married into the Jewish community, some have close Jewish friends, and some are simply interested in Judaism for personal reasons.
Whatever their motivation, their participation is invaluable.
“The non-Jewish students are there because they’re allies,” Feiger says.
“They love the culture. Their friends are Jewish. They’re interested to learn and be an ally, so if there’s an anti-Semitic or anti-Zionist act at a school, it’s not just the Jewish kids who are reporting it. We’re creating larger communities at these public schools . . . and when these non-Jewish teens are off to college, they can also be advocates for their Jewish friends and family.”
Interestingly, Feiger reports that public school students, both Jewish and non-Jewish, seem more knowledgeable and prepared for anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism than students who attend Jewish day schools.
“I feel that public school kids are actually more informed because they’re dealing with a lot more incidents happening at their own schools, whereas DAT and DJDS students don’t have as many incidents happening right there in their own schools, because they’re not as diverse.
“At East High School, there could be a swastika etched into a desk, or something against another minority group said out loud, so there’s a reason to talk about it and explain it and constantly to be learning in the public school setting.”
JSC brings in Anti-Defamation League professionals to discuss anti-Semitism in school, and the most effective ways to respond to it.
When the problem has more to do with anti-Israel incorrect information or propaganda, Feiger similarly relies on knowledgeable professionals to discuss the issues.
“When we’re talking about anti-Zionism specifically,” Feiger says, “we have four shinshinim (emissaries) who work at JEWISHcolorado. They’re Israeli teen emissaries and we bring them to every one of our clubs every single week, all year. So both the Jewish and non-Jewish teens get to meet real Israelis who are their age.
“They get to see not what’s in the news, but hear firsthand from an 18-year-old Israeli, right before they join the army, what it’s like to live in Israel.”
The emissaries work to correct the incorrect information about Israel that commonly appears in the general media and, more egregiously, on social media platforms, without necessarily advocating any particular agenda, Feiger says.
“I think that exposure to the real Israel, both good and bad, whether about politics, culture, religion or peoplehood — all of the above — is important. It’s important to educate on all aspects of Israel, not just what the news or social media are reporting, and to talk about it. You don’t have to be anti- or pro- anything. You can be just learning and educating and creating.”
When it comes to the “real” Israel, Feiger says, nothing is more authentic than actually being there, which is why the IST is such a valuable educational experience.
After she returned with tour participants this summer, Feiger held an exercise in which she asked them whether they would view anti-Israel social media posts in a more critical and informed manner after their trip then they would have before spending five weeks in Israel.
“One hundred percent of them agreed,” she says, “because they didn’t know that what they were reading was misinformation until they were actually there and heard it from people and saw it on the ground.”
That wasn’t because IST participants may already have had a pro-Israel predisposition before they went on the tour, Feiger adds.
“I wouldn’t say that all of them are self-proclaimed as pro-Israel, or even knowledgeable,” she says. “We have a lot of kids coming because they just want to do something for the summer or their friends are going or they might not know very much about Israel.
“What makes it easy is that it’s a choice, they all want to go and they all want to learn. They want to explore the land and find out why it’s so important to the Jewish people.”
IST youths do learn about that, as a rule, and a great deal more about Israel, warts and all, Feiger says. The tour is deliberately designed not to be a public relations or propaganda exercise.
Such problems as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the divide between secular and religious populations are acknowledged and explored.
“We’re very open and up front,” Feiger says.
“We go up to the Gaza border wall and we talk about the relationship between Israel and Gaza, both the history and the present, and potential future options.
“We go to Gush Etzion, an area in the West Bank, and we actually meet a Palestinian and an Israeli settler. We hear about both of their perspectives, what it’s like to be a Palestinian on the West Bank living under Israeli army control and what it’s like to be an Israeli settler on the West Bank.
“We meet people from all different backgrounds, from those who have immigrated to Israel or live in East Jerusalem, from people who think that there should be a two-state solution to people who think it should be all Israel, to people who think there shouldn’t be an Israel.
“My number one goal is to just educate, educate, educate the teens on all of the perspectives and not lean them toward one way or the other.”
That approach, Feiger says, not only builds credibility among the IST youths but educates them as to the often harsh realities — and incredible complexities — inherent in modern Israel.
“It’s working great,” she says, “because there’s no hiding anything. It’s not one-sided. I mean, obviously, we’re a Jewish trip. We support Israel. We want Israel to be the Jewish homeland, but we want to show everything and have the kids make their own opinions.
“Through our education they see some of the negatives that are happening but they also see a lot of the positives and how it is really cool to have a Jewish homeland and how you can be proud to be Jewish, even though everything in Israel is not always great, just like everything everywhere is not always great.”
While in past decades, most Jewish youths could almost automatically be expected to be pro-Israel, that’s not necessarily the case in the 21st century.
The influence of a pervasive anti-Israel social media, the publicly anti-Zionist stance taken by many popular celebrities and the effectiveness of anti-Israel activism on many campuses pose significant challenges today, including for Jewish youths.
Feiger does encounter anti-Israel attitudes among youthful Jews, both on the IST and in JSC activities.
“I think a lot of it is from bias put upon them through the news or social media, or not understanding the depth of the history of the conflict.
“Most of the anti-Zionism I see from Jewish teens is because of a lack of education or lack of critical thinking when it comes to what they read.
“It’s not because they actually feel that way, it’s because they don’t know better and they haven’t experienced it and they haven’t had a good conversation.”
One way that Feiger tries to have that conversation is by asking students whether they agree with every single policy or act of the US government, or any other government for that matter.
“My response to them is always, well, you’re still an American, you still believe in the US, you still live here, but do you agree with everything that the United States government does?
“That can be the same in Israel. You can support the Jewish homeland, you can support Israel as a place, but you don’t always have to agree with every single thing that they do in the government.
“That usually flips the switch.”
In any case, Feiger doesn’t believe that blind support for Israeli policy should be a given for anyone, including Jewish young people.
“I think it’s good that people are critical and thinking for themselves and that it’s not automatic,” she says.
“Once you dive in and you become a proud Jewish person, then in turn, you become proud of Israel or at least supportive of a Jewish homeland. It goes hand in hand.
“Like I know for me, I loved Israel after I went there. I also loved it before I went there, but it changed once I got to experience it and be there. Now I’ve been there 11 times and I just want to keep going back.”
For Jews, the concept of Israel as a Jewish homeland, and, for non-Jews, the importance of the Holy Land as a spiritual home for Christianity and Islam, are themselves powerful reasons to support Israel, regardless of the particular policies or issues of the moment.
“Your own perspective,” she says, “is so important.”
This fall, as Jewish students head back to their high school or university campuses, Feiger hopes they have the educational, personal and moral assets to help them face the challenges they might be confronted with.
Whether they received help from IST or JSC activities, or through other means, she feels that the most valuable advice she can provide has to do with who they are.
“Most importantly,” she says, “don’t hide your Judaism. You don’t have to flaunt it, but you should be proud of it and you shouldn’t hide it.
“And you should find a place in college, whether it’s Hillel or Chabad or some other organization on campus. You should find somewhere where you can find your fellow Jewish friends or allies to the Jewish people. That will help you create a very positive college and beyond experience.”
Whether a student chooses to become a pro-Israel activist on campus or to express their support for Israel and Jews in a more private way, the same advice applies.
“They don’t have to be activists,” Feiger stresses. “They don’t have to flaunt it. They just shouldn’t hide it. You shouldn’t have to be afraid to be Jewish. If somebody asks you, ‘Are you Jewish?’ you should say, ‘Yeah, I am.’ That’s really cool, but you don’t have to be an advocate. You don’t have to wear a Star of David, but you should never hide that you’re Jewish.”
It really is as simple as that, she says.
“I’m a big proponent of what can we do to continue to fight anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, and have the truth be out there. Be proud of Israel, be supportive of Israel and be proud to be Jewish. That’s my whole thing.”
Copyright © 2022 by the Intermountain Jewish News