This letter, written by Hanna Flesh – Director of Political Affairs, Shira Poliak – Director of Public Relations, and Eric Schorr – President, was sent to the University of Pennsylvania before last weekend as the PennBDS conference was about to begin.

As pro-Israel, pro-peace campus and community leaders from across the Ivy League, we join together to condemn the BDS movement and its conference at the University of Pennsylvania the weekend of February 3, 2012. We salute the pro-Israel organizations and the many Penn students who are spreading awareness about Israel’s religious, political and cultural diversity. Boycotts are an obstacle to peace.  They constrain dialogue by placing all the blame on one side. The BDS Movement fails to recognize Israel’s prior offerings of peace that have been categorically rejected by Palestinian leadership and therefore seeks to vilify Israel.

If the PennBDS organizers were truly interested in a lasting peace, they would have chosen a different path. Boycotting Israel does nothing to help Palestinians improve their own lives, or to help build democratic institutions where few exist.  The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will only be resolved through bilateral negotiations and mutual recognition. To create a strong foundation for peace we must support both economies by buying Israeli and Palestinian products alike. We should be supporting organizations like Hand in Hand, which builds integrated schools for Israeli and Arab children so that they can grow and learn together in the same classroom. If those behind the BDS movement truly believe in a two-state solution, they will support measures to bring the two sides together, not draw them further apart.

We, the undersigned, therefore reaffirm our solidarity with the students of University of Pennsylvania and the greater Philadelphia community. We applaud their efforts to tackle the challenges presented by the BDS movement and other anti-Israel campaigns. Finally, we pledge our continued support in defense of the State of Israel, a democratic state and stalwart ally of the United States, on our college campuses and in our communities across the country.

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Courtesy: Columbia Daily Spectator

This piece was featured in the Columbia Spectator on Friday, March 4, 2011.  It was collaboratively written by Jonathan Huberman, LionPAC Director of Public Relations, and Roxanne Moadel-Attie, President of Columbia Iranian Students Association.

In light of the recent political instability in the Middle East, Iran, like many other countries in the region, has become a centerpiece of American attention and media. However, very few have focused on the spirit and culture of the Iranian people. This week, the Columbia Iranian Students Association and LionPAC are hosting several events that analyze the geopolitical questions surrounding Iran within the context of Iranian culture and nationalism.

Despite Iran’s rich culture, Iranians all over the world are negatively stereotyped based on the actions and behavior of their unpopular government. The word “Iranian” has become a loaded term used only in association with “nuclear weapons,” “Islamic fundamentalism,” and “terrorism.” These media hot topics have overshadowed the long-standing ethnic and religious diversity within Iran, spotlighting overgeneralizations and negativity about Iranians on the whole. Contrary to common misconceptions, Iranians belong to a variety of ethnic groups, including Persians, Kurds, Azeris, Arabs, Armenians, etc., and practice many religions, such as Shi’ite and Sunni Islam, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism, and the Baha’i faith. The beauty of the mainstream Persian culture lies in its ability to interweave many ethnic and religious beliefs and traditions, while also honoring ancient customs and rituals.

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On Friday, Justice Richard Goldstone, Chair of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict, wrote an article in the Washington Post, discussing how recent information that has been released by Israel would have changed the outcome of the Goldstone Report from September of 2009. Below are a couple interesting quotes from the report:

“While the investigations published by the Israeli military and recognized in the U.N. committee’s report have established the validity of some incidents that we investigated in cases involving individual soldiers, they also indicate that civilians were not intentionally targeted as a matter of policy.

“Although the Israeli evidence that has emerged since publication of our report doesn’t negate the tragic loss of civilian life, I regret that our fact-finding mission did not have such evidence explaining the circumstances in which we said civilians in Gaza were targeted, because it probably would have influenced our findings about intentionality and war crimes.”

-Richard Goldstone
Chair of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict

The full text can be read here.

“Egypt is free!” shouted thousands of elated protesters, who took the streets of Cairo upon hearing that President Hosni Mubarak had resigned after 30 years of rule. Protesters hope that Mubarak’s resignation will pave the way to making Egypt into a true democracy.

Will Egypt succeed? The Egyptian military council presently has control over Egypt, and, along with Israel, Egypt has affirmed its support for the Israel-Egyptian peace. However, when the military steps down, who will fill the power void? Moreover, what does this mean for Israel, whose peace with Egypt for the last 30 years was dependent upon Mubarak’s support?

Political pundit Jonathan Schanzer sees three possible outcomes for Egypt’s government: a new dictatorship, the rule of the Muslim Brotherhood, or a successful democracy.

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Courtesy: Amalia Rinehart, Columbia Spectator

This was featured in the Columbia Spectator on Friday, March 4, 2011.  It was written by Jonathan Huberman, LionPAC Director of Public Relations.

During Israeli Apartheid Week, Columbia Students for Justice in Palestinehas once again offensively exploited a historical tragedy. No rational person can deny the plight of the Palestinians, and no moral person can ignore their suffering. However, labeling Israel as an apartheid state grossly distorts the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and belittles the suffering of South African apartheid victims. If Apartheid Week has proven anything, it has shown that C-SJP misrepresents the moderate majority of Palestinians and works against a peaceful two-state solution.

Israel is a democratic, multi-ethnic country that upholds equal rights for all of its citizens. Minorities comprise 20 percent of Israel’s population, and they enjoy the same civil liberties as any Israeli. Israeli-Arabs vote in Israel’s democratic elections and hold seats in Israel’s parliament. An Israeli-Arab, Salim Jubran, is a judge on Israel’s Supreme Court, and other Israeli-Arabs have served as deputy speakers of the Israeli parliament. Not surprisingly, a recent poll showed that 40 percent of Israeli-Arabs living in East Jerusalem would rather relocate their homes and maintain Israeli citizenship than join a Palestinian state. In contrast to citizens of other Middle Eastern nations, Israeli-Arabs enjoy greater political freedom and opportunity in Israel than they would in any other Arab country.

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