April 11, 2011 by Steve Kuperberg

In the world of campus affairs, it’s possible to lose focus near the end of the year on anything other than finals and summer plans. But as teams from the recently concluded NCAA men’s basketball tournament can attest—ask Pitt, a presumptive tournament favorite that lost to underdog Butler in an early round, literally in the final second—it is important to stay focused until the finish.

It is April, and “Israel Apartheid Week” is largely behind us—I must say “largely” because, having failed to muster concerted activities during any given week, the web bloggers promoting IAW “week” have resorted to asking any group sponsoring anti-Israel events any time during an entire month to associate with their brand.

Although there are still several weeks left of school on most campuses, and the quarter-system schools on the West Coast will likely have activity well into June, IAW has so far failed to expand beyond the number of campuses in the U.S. that it reached in previous years.

Last week, an African-American student leadership group from historically black colleges and universities whose organizers had previously participated in AIPAC’s annual Policy Conference took out an open letter in several major college newspapers condemning Israel’s campus detractors for misappropriating and misusing the “apartheid” label. This year, in the midst of the “Arab Spring,” with Arab protests for freedom from their tyrannical governments reverberating across the Middle East—while Israel allows full democratic participation in government to all of its citizens, including the 20% of its population that is Arab—the notion of Israel “apartheid” may be sounding hollow indeed.

I have written about the dangers of complacency in this space before. In part, I am urging vigilance again. But I am suggesting a different type of vigilance this time, and for a different purpose. For those who are interested in what transpires and want to know the state of Israel on campus: Pay attention to what’s about to happen.

At schools around the country, campus Israel supporters are preparing celebrations and affirmations of their ties to Israel. Historically, spring has been the time for such events on campus. Not only does it coincide with Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, but it also reflects the culmination of a year’s worth of effort.

Campus Israel supporters will convene Israel festivals and fairs on campus quads. They will organize leadership dinners and “nights to honor Israel.” They will bring a year’s worth of advocacy training and activism to a close with visits to their political leaders. They will publish statements of support for Israel from campus organizational leaders. They will hold Israeli film festivals to share the richness and diversity of Israeli life with their peers. They will run for and win elected office in their student governments and academic senates.

They will crowd into cars, buses, and planes and fly across the country, at their own expense, to attend conferences declaring their commitment to a strong U.S.-Israel alliance; those that cannot make the trip will fill waiting lists hundreds of people long. Still others are making plans to visit Israel this summer on Taglit: Birthright Israel and other programs, or to study abroad or volunteer there next fall through programs supported by Masa Israel Journey.

They will serve blue and white cake. They might even rent a rock wall or moon bounce and tape an Israeli flag to it and play Israeli music. There could even be a camel. Heck, it’s a party; maybe two camels.

But it is important not to lose sight of the strategic purpose behind such celebrations—namely, to connect to peers and to share the joy and passion that leads our campus community to support Israel in the first place. Sharing that joy isn’t an end to itself; it’s an engagement tool.

It is possible to look away from campus after the noise that Israel’s detractors attempt to make has died down, but that would be a mistake. Pay attention to what’s about to happen, here in Israel Campus Beat and on campuses near you. The campus Israel network is surging to the finish. It’s a finish you won’t want to miss.