Following the horrific attacks on Israel and the Jewish people that occurred on October 7th, Israel’s enemies proceeded to engage in an aggressive campaign of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel activism that has permeated our national discourse. In the face of these attacks, many of our collegiate forum members and alumni answered the call of our current moment. Some turned to campus and national publications, documenting the events unfolding on their campuses. Others organized rallies and spoke in the halls of congress, advocating for Israel and the Jewish people through the halls of America’s democratic institutions. Still others stepped up in their professional lives and shifted their focuses towards the needs of the Jewish community at large, using their recently acquired degrees and skills to fight for Jewish civilization.
In this three-seminar series, we will highlight the stories of courage and leadership of a number of our Tikvah community members. Students will have the opportunity to not only share their experiences and work with their peers but learn strategies and techniques for advocating for and defending Israel within their campuses and communities. We will hear from Alexandra Orbuch of Princeton University and Sahar Tartak, whose writing and activism on the national stage have opened the eyes of the public to the realities of campus life in this moment. We will hear from Zach Kessel and Sabrina Soffer, whose journalism and organizing have rocked the halls of our nation’s capitol and brought to light the scope and extremism of anti-Israel activism. We will hear from Jerome and Lori Marcus, whose legal work has challenged the illegal discrimination at the heart of anti-Israel activity in our nation’s educational institutions.
Zach Kessel
Zach Kessel analyzes the extensiveness of pro-Hamas activism on US college campuses to demonstrate a wider cultural deterioration within America’s institutions of higher education.
Zach Kessel examines the Soviet origins of anti-Zionist ideas in Western Academia, examining decades of Soviet policies and propaganda to highlight the enduring power of these ideas on America’s political left.
Zach Kessel describes the longevity and extent of Jewish Voices for Peace’s anti-Semitic and anti-Israel activism, highlighting the group’s use of Jewish identity to justify anti-Semitism.
Sabrina Soffer
Sabrina Soffer took to the podium at the March for Israel in front of 300,000 people to describe the cancerous spread of anti-Jewish hated across the United States, the important of resilience in our current moment, and the endurance and unity of the Jewish national spirit.
Sabrina Soffer reflects on her appearance as a speaker at the March for Israel, describes the uptick in national Anti-Semitism, and discusses the future of anti-Israel activism and the shift against SJP on campus.
Sabrina Soffer describes and denounces the anti-Semitic messages projected onto George Washington University’s library on the Ingraham Angele. Soffer highlights the rise in radical ideology and the justification of terrorism and anti-Semitism in our nation’s educational institutions.
Sahar Tartak
Sahar Tartak testifies before Congress at the hearing titled, “Confronting the Scourge of Antisemitism on Campus.” Sahar highlights her experience as a Jewish activist on campus, the threats she’s received, and Jews being barred from an event on account of their identity.
Sahar examines the anti-intellectual and anti-Semitic climate on Yale’s campus and prescribes potential solutions to the University’s culture of conformity and ignorance.
Sahar Tartak describes an incident in which the Yale Daily News issued a correction to a piece on the October 7th attacks claiming that reports of rape and beheadings were unsubstantiated, a factually incorrect and politically motivated correction.
Alexandra Orbuch
Alexandra Orbuch calls on her peers to condemn Hamas, given the widespread justification of the October 7th terror attacks and the anti-Israel and anti-Jewish activism on Princeton’s campus.
Alexandra gives an interview with National Review, where she describes her experiences as an activist on campus and how her conservative and Jewish beliefs are essential to her fight for Jews on campus.
This article documents the difficulties and harassment that pro-Israel students and journalists face on campus, as Alexandra Orbuch was stalked and assaulted by pro-Palestinian students at a rally at Princeton.
The Deborah Project
The Deborah Project provides legal assistance on a pro bono basis to those being discriminated against in educational settings, either because they are Jewish and/or pro-Israel. The aim of the Deborah Project is to use legal skills and tools to uncover, publicize and dismantle antisemitic abuses in educational systems, with the aim of bringing wrongdoers to justice and deterring future abuses. Since October 7th, The Deborah Project has worked extensively to defend Jews at our nation’s educational institutions from the increases in anti-Semitic and anti-Israel activity across the country.
