Hasbara Fellowships, a program spearheaded by Aish International, educates and trains university students to be effective pro-Israel activists on their campuses. Hasbara Fellowships, started in 2001 in conjunction with Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, brings hundreds of students to Israel every summer and winter, giving them the information and tools to return to their campuses as leaders in the fight for Israel's image. So far, Hasbara Fellowships has trained over 10200 students on over 250 campuses. Upon returning from the program, the Hasbara Fellows receive support from our staff, which offers various campaigns, programs, speakers and other materials and tools. The most critical aspects of the Fellowships program is the opportunity for Fellows to network with one another, learning from each other and sharing experiences about Israel activism. The organization focuses on college campuses, but the information and tools offered are applicable to other arenas as well.
Aish HaTorah's campus Israel activism department includes the following programs and activities:
Hasbara Fellowships
"Hasbara Fellowships" is a leadership development seminar in Israel for top Jewish university students from across North America. The program has three main objectives:
- Educating students on Israeli and Middle East history and politics with a specific focus on issues related to the Palestinian conflict. Lectures cover topics including History of the Land of Israel, History of the State of Israel, Media Bias, Palestinian incitement and Occupied or Disputed Territories.
- Training students to be effective campus activists by creating and implementing pro-active, pro-Israel campaigns. This track includes training students to communicate effectively, workshops in building pro-Israel programming on campus and sessions dealing with "Everyday Activism" topics such as working with campus media, promoting events and building coalitions.
- Building students' Jewish identity and knowledge in order to be effective Jewish leaders.
The program runs every winter and summer and is heavily subsidized. Students can apply online at Israelactivism.com.
Activism on Campus
Participants of the Hasbara Fellowships in Israel return to campus part of a student-led, pro-active Israel activism movement. Hasbara Fellowships regional campus coordinators provide students with information, materials, tools and guidance to aid them in being effective pro-Israel activists. Hasbara Fellowships students have run various campaigns which promote Israel on campus while simultaneously educating students about Israel. These campaigns include screenings of “Obsession: Radical Islam’s War Against the West”; ‘Flags for Humanity,’ a set of materials highlighting Israeli aid around the world; and ‘Israel 360,’ a unique multimedia presentation. Also included is "54 Ways You Can Help Israel" which is 54 ideas for how to help Israel at this crucial time, offered by readers at Aish.com. For a calendar of events, a comprehensive list of campaigns and materials available, and further information, check out the Hasbara Fellowships website, www.Israelactivism.com.
HonestReporting.com for Campus
HonestReporting.com (HR.com) and Hasbara Fellowships have teamed up to create HonestReporting.com for Campus. On most universities, the campus newspaper is a source of news and a forum for discussion about the events taking place in Israel. Often, the news and editorials printed contain blatant anti-Israel bias and contribute to the anti-Israel sentiment on campus. HR.com is the world’s leading media watchdog dealing with events surrounding the Middle East and Israel. Over 55,000 subscribers receive HR.com's e-mail each week, detailing examples of media bias, educating about the true facts and giving contact information for the media sources. Hasbara Fellowships has created a network of students on campuses across North America who have taken the responsibility to monitor their campus newspaper everyday and to report any anti-Israel bias. From these reports, e-mail alerts are sent out, educating students about bias on other campuses, giving students effective information and tools to respond to this bias and also allowing students from across the country to respond directly to the offending campus newspaper. Any students who are interested in being their campus representative for HR.com on campus, or anyone interested in receiving the weekly e-mail, should go to HR.com on Campus' Web site or send an e-mail.
For more information:
Natalie Menaged
Managing Director
Phone: (646) 365-0030
Fax: (212) 391-7630
E-mail: nmenaged@aish.com
Elliot MathiasDirector
Hasbara Fellowships
Phone: (646) 365-0030
Fax: (212) 391-7630
E-mail: emathias@aish.com
Click here for our calendar of upcoming events!