Over 123 campuses throughout North American are participating in Israel-Awareness Week, Nov. 2-9. The week, coordinated by the North American Jewish Students’ Network, will offer a wide variety of programs aimed at creating a better understanding of Israel.
“The purpose of Israel Awareness Week,” according to the coordinator, Judy Moch, is to “make students and the general community more aware of the realities of Israel life. People are accustomed to thinking of Israel only in reference to the Mideast conflict. Rarely do they have an opportunity to examine the diverse elements within Israeli society, its culture, its people, its progress and its needs. Israel Awareness Week will afford people this opportunity.”
Campuses from New York to Berkeley, from Boston to New Orleans, and from Tucson to Toronto are planning local activities with resources, speakers, and programming ideas provided by Network. Programs vary from campus to campus. Many campuses will feature an Israeli marketplace and crafts fair, films, art exhibits, speakers, shesh besh (backgammon) tournaments and panel discussions. Several of these programs are being co-sponsored with non-Jewish groups.
At the University of Hartford, “Christian Responses to Israel” is being co-sponsored with the Christian Fellowship. The State University of New York at Binghamton will sponsor a program on the communal experience in Somalia, China, the USSR and Israel with speakers representing these various countries. San-Francisco State College is sponsoring a Mediterranean night in conjunction with students from other Mediterranean countries.
Financial support for Israel Awareness Week was made available through the Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds in cooperation with the National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council. The North American Jewish Students’ Network is an independent umbrella group and communications link for Jewish student and young adult groups reflecting a wide range of political, cultural and religious perspectives. A number of organizations are providing speakers, films and other resources for the week’s events.
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