Israel Education and Advocacy, an Interview with Michal Adut of The David Project

April 6, 2011

Michal Adut works on college and university campuses throughout New England and Canada for The David Project, an Israel education and advocacy organization founded in Boston, Massachusetts and which has since grown to cover large sections of the US as well as Canada. In this interview, Ms. Adut describes the work of the organization, as well as some of the challenges faced by pro-Israel student groups.

NVR: For our readers who may not be familiar with The David project, can you give us a brief overview of the kind of work the organization does?

The David Project is an Israel education and advocacy training organization. Our mission is to educate and inspire strong voices for Israel on college campuses. We do this through dynamic curricula and training programs. In order to prepare students for the challenges of advocating for Israel on college campuses, we have developed a middle school curriculum about Israel in Jewish identity and a high school curriculum called Understanding the Arab-Israeli Conflict. Both are taught at Jewish day schools across North America. Since many Jewish students take a gap-year in Israel between high school and college, we teach courses on Israeli history and advocacy in many of these programs. For students about to enter college or already on campus, we have a summer training program at Boston University Hillel called Campus Fellows. We also have a team of six regional campus coordinators who support Israel advocacy on college campuses and work directly with students, faculty, and Hillel professionals.

NVR: Can you tell us a little about your work specifically, and what The David Project is doing on college and university campuses in New England and Canada?

As a campus coordinator for New England and Canada, I support a broad range of Israel related programs on college campuses. Not only do I help train students to be great leaders and advocates for Israel but I support them year round. This means connecting them with training, speakers, and great Israel related programs and campaigns that they can bring to campus. I also help them respond strategically to anti-Israel events. Here are just some of the programs I’ve been involved with recently. The following is fairly typical of my day-to-day work:

On Friday March 25th I arranged for my colleague to train students at Yale. Middle East Analyst Matthew Ackerman presented ARM (Address, Reframe, Message) at Yale University to a group of 15 students. Students learned the advocacy strategy quickly and by the end of the session, each student got up and responded to a tough allegation quickly and effectively. During the Program, I was able to coach students through their responses.

 

On Sunday March 27th my colleague and Middle East Analyst Sean Savage gave a presentation about the peace process at UMass Amherst to a group of 25 students. A former David Project campus fellow also spoke about her experiences as a campus advocate. Professor Jim Wald from Hampshire College talked to students about constructive dialogue with anti-Israel groups or groups leaning against Israel.

 

On Monday March 28th I arranged for a student I work with at Harvard Law School to speak at Yale University. Lee Hiromoto is a Yale graduate of Hawaiian decent who discovered Judaism during college. He made Aliyah shortly after graduating and served as a spokesperson for the IDF. He is now a student at Harvard Law and has written op-eds in support of Israel for the Harvard Crimson. He often talks about his experiences serving as an openly gay male. At Yale, he spoke alongside Katie Miller, who is now at Yale after gaining national attention for leaving West Point for being lesbian. They made an amazing duo, drew a great crowd, and really got people thinking about gays in the military in Israel and the US. The Yale Daily News covered his talk: http://www.yaledailynews.com/news/2011/mar/29/military-yalies-discuss-gays-in-us-israeli-armies/

 

On Tuesday March 29th I had a great meeting with the Israel Campus Roundtable—a group of Israel on campus professionals in Boston from different organizations that meet and work together to support pro-Israel students in the Boston-area.

 

Later that night I attended Boston University Students for Israel meeting. In part I was promoting a partnership with AJC on a Jewish-Latino trip to Israel. The American-Latino constituency is a growing voice in American politics and polls show that a large percentage does not support Israel. This program will bring Jewish and Latino students together for a summit in D.C. and a trip to Israel. When they return to campus, they will run programs that bring together the two communities in support of Israel. We are recruiting Jewish students from BU, UC Irvine, and University of Texas at Austin.  

 

I attended the second ever Jewish Roundtable at Northeastern University on Wednesday March 30th. While the group is just taking shape, it was a great opportunity for Northeastern Hillel, AEPi, Students for Israel, the Jewish Studies Departments and many local Jewish organizations to come together to shape Jewish life at Northeastern.

 

On Sunday, April 3rd I attended the annual New England AIPAC dinner with Lihi Benisty—a student at Hampshire College with whom I work closely and who has been bullied on campus for her pro-Israel beliefs. I recently introduced Lihi to the event co-chair Joanna Jacobson and she was very moved by her story. With her permission, Joanna told Lihi’s story during her opening speech at the dinner and Lihi received a standing ovation for her bravery and commitment to pro-Israel advocacy (I’d be happy to share Lihi’s story but it might warrant its own article).

 

In the next few weeks, I will be making many campus visits.

 

I will be volunteering at The Amazing Israel Race on Sunday April 10th.

 

On April 13th, I will be attending Northeastern’s annual Israel Fest. The David Project is sponsoring the event.

 

I am currently arranging a speaking tour in collaboration with Jews Indigenous to the Middle East and North Africa (JIMENA) with stops at Dartmouth College and Williams College (whose Israel club I helped start). A few years ago, The David Project produced a film called The Forgotten Refugees about Jewish refugees from Arab countries.  During the tour, we will show parts of the film and a Jewish refugee from Iraq will tell her story.

 

I’ve been assisting a David Project trained campus fellow at Brandeis University in organizing a response to Israel Occupation Awareness Week. He is leading an advocacy training session for members of Brandeis Zionist Alliance before the week begins.

 

I’m working with students at Boston University and the David Projects Video and Multimedia Coordinator Matt Cohen to create a YouTube video about the recent third Intifada Facebook page.

NVR: What are some of the biggest challenges that supporters of Israel face within academia? How worried should those outside of the academic world be about what is happening on campuses when it comes to Israel?

One of the toughest challenges for supporters of Israel on college campuses is reaching the middle ground. Unfortunately, there is always going to be a strong anti-Israel voice on many campuses but this group generally makes up less than 10 percent of the student body.  We might make their views less mainstream but we are not going to change their views. Organizations like The David Project work hard to empower another 10 percent of campus which consists of vocal supporters of Israel. The greatest challenge is reaching the middle 80 percent which is largely uneducated and often apathetic. I want to help shape their perceptions of Israel and show them that there is no dichotomy between being a liberal college student and a strong supporter of Israel. The David Project has been training pro-Israel students to engage this larger sector of campus. We particularly strive to influence campus elites like the presidents of cultural and environmental clubs and editors of student newspapers; yet, it is an ongoing struggle.

Our executive director, David Bernstein, recently met with a group of campus Israel advocates at University of Michigan. He asked them if the typical non-Jewish political science student with little prior knowledge of the Arab-Israeli conflict would leave college more or less sympathetic to Israel. The students, despite their hard work promoting Israel on campus, unanimously replied that the typical political science student would graduate University of Michigan a little less sympathetic to Israel than when he/she arrived. This is due in part to academia and professors’ biases seeping into classes; yet, it is also in large part due to a campus culture that my colleagues at The David Project and I are trying to change.

NVR: What are some of the educational resources that The David Project has to offer for the Jewish community? How can interested communities find out more about what is available?

The David Project has a team of Middle East Analysts and educators who are more than happy to speak at synagogues, work with youth groups, and lead community workshops. We also send out weekly Middle East Updates to anyone who subscribes to our e-mails. Interested community members can sign up for our weekly e-mails or learn more about our programs through our website: www.davidproject.org

NVR: Can you tell us a little about your own background and what first inspired you to get involved in Israel advocacy and education?

I was born is Israel and raised in New York City. Both my parents are Israeli and I grew up in a very Zionist home. We traveled to Israel most summers to visit family and I fell in love with the country at a young age. I later attended Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY where I double-majored in Government and Dance. I became an active member of Skidmore Hillel and served as co-President for three semesters. Through this involvement, I organized follow-up programs for students returning from birthright, led a campus Hebrew table, and petitioned the study abroad office to allow students to travel to Israel for credit. I continued to push for study abroad opportunities in Israel after I graduated and it is now an option for Skidmore students but since it was not while I was an undergrad, I Instead spent a summer as a research-intern at the International Institute of Counterterrorism in Herzliya. When I graduated from college, I knew I wanted to work in the Jewish community and preferably in Israel advocacy. I was very fortunate to find a job with The David Project.

NVR: Is there anything else you would like to add?

Thanks for the opportunity to share my story and tell you more about The David Project.

Copyright The New Vilna Review 2011.