October 19, 2011 by Stephen Kuperberg

Now that we are past the frenetic opening of school, the intense focus on international events in September (including the Real Partners. Real Peace. initiative) and, for many of us, the Jewish High Holy Days, the campus atmosphere is starting to regain a semblance of normalcy. For many, midterms are imminent—we are truly in full academic swing. 

For campus Israel activists, a number of questions may arise, either now or later: Now that the year is truly underway, what should my next steps be? Now that I have completed an initial push of campus mapping, programming and activity, where do I turn next? Or, where do I go in my own journey as an activist, to learn more and become more capable?

Supporters of the campus Israel network may well ask themselves the same questions: Where do we go next to help? Where do we turn for assistance? 

Smart members of the campus Israel network are constantly planning ahead and moving forward on a concrete, identified set of goals for the year, both for themselves and for their campus activity. They plan and organize over the summer and early in the academic year, not just for a single program or activity, but for a long-term, sustained plan that guides them throughout the year and beyond. They know that no single program, no matter how effective it might be, changes sentiment and activity overnight.

But the temptation is always there—and here, candidly, I am speaking of well-meaning supporters of the campus Israel network from off-campus as much as those on campus—to look for the next great program, slogan, tagline, or set of talking points. Training programs for Israel advocacy frequently—too frequently—veer into offering programming or messaging, instead of enabling strategies and methodologies for long-term effort and investment. In other words, too often we search for and offer quick-fix “tricks,” instead of seeking out and developing the long-term strategies that are the only hope for ultimate change.

The temptation is not limited to Israel advocacy. How many of us have been tempted by a trendy diet or exercise routine that promises quick results, only to find, belatedly, that no fad can replace long-term discipline and dedication? How many of us have found a proffered “simple” solution to a difficult policy issue appealing—only to discover, unsurprisingly, that difficult issues exist because they elude simple solutions? Get-rich-quick schemes; pills and supplements that promise dubious results; magazines that tout “10 sure-fire tricks” to get the relationships we want— it’s human nature to want to find an easy answer. It’s harder to accept that the only effective answers require work.

Effective campus advocacy begins with human relationships: trust, accommodation, compassion, genuine interest. These elements cannot be relegated to an evening program, or a day of tabling on the quad, or any other single event. They take work; they take time; they take sincerity. They take a conscious decision, day after day, to work at something that is hard, precisely because it is hard, and because it is worthwhile.

Done right, long-term work to build effective campus Israel advocacy makes our network more effective, makes our campuses better, and gives us advocates lifelong skills. 

It’s no trick. But—to borrow from a holiday of the season—long-term work to build effective campus Israel advocacy is a treat.