Oxford student leader resigns as vote endorses Israel Apartheid Week

‘A large proportion of the student Left at Oxford has a problem with Jews,’ charges Alex Chalmers, quitting as co-chair of Oxford University Labour Club

By Eylon Aslan-Levy for The Times of Israel

A co-chairman of the Oxford University Labour Club (OULC) resigned Monday night in protest over the society’s endorsement of Israel Apartheid Week. In a sharply worded statement, Alex Chalmers claimed that “a large proportion of both OULC and the student Left in Oxford more generally have some kind of problem with Jews.”

Chalmers, a second-year History student at Oxford’s Oriel College, resigned after Oxford’s student Labour club voted by 18-16 to back Israel Apartheid Week. Chalmers described the week as “a movement with a history of targeting and harassing Jewish students and inviting anti-Semitic speakers to campuses.”

Continue reading.

Follow us on   

For Jewish College Students, Knowledge on Israel is Power

From the algemeiner.com

A new Brandeis University study shows that over half of all Birthright candidates do not know how to answer even ‎the most basic questions about the Jewish state, making them functionally illiterate concerning Israel. The ‎study seeks to understand and assess Israel literacy and is a continuing project with participation of ‎researchers from the university’s Schusterman Center for Israel Studies and Cohen Center for ‎Modern Jewish Studies. ‎

The study found that regardless of the students’ background — for example, whether they had attended Jewish ‎day school or not — and the ranking of their university, relatively few Jewish students were Israel literate. ‎This is among students who are interested enough in Israel to apply to go on a Birthright trip; results would most likely be even more depressing among those who were not ‎Birthright candidates.‎

Continue reading.

Follow us on   

Picture Perfect

Rapping director trains lens on other Jewish students

by Rebecca Carrol for Hillel.org

I am, among other things, a rapper, an actor/director, a screenwriter and a photographer/blogger. I grew up in Las Vegas and created my own degree at Brown University — Evolutionary Anthropology.

At Brown, I created and performed a one-woman rap musical about aliens, time travel and DNA. I also wrote my first screenplay, a romantic comedy called “Coffee & Tuna” about a Jewish law student who wears a yarmulke to cover his early bald spot. The story won Brown’s screenplay contest and was made into a movie! Since then, I’ve taken a screenwriting class and have submitted screenplays to the contest every semester.

Continue reading.

Follow us on   

Michael Douglas and Natan Sharansky Make Odd Couple on College Pro-Israel Road Show

By Noel Rubinton for The Jewish Daily Forward   

Talk about your odd couples: actor Michael Douglas, winner of last year’s Genesis Prize, kicked off a three-college speaking tour with Jewish Agency chairman Natan Sharansky on Thursday night at Brown University.

The choice of Douglas for the Genesis Prize, whose stated aim is to recognize excellence and achievement by an individual who can serve as a role model for the Jewish community and as an inspiration for the next generation of Jews, sparked surprise when it was announced in January 2015. The son of a Jewish actor Kirk Douglas a his non-Jewish, British wife, Douglas is himself married to the non-Jewish actress, Catherine Zeta Jones and has long identified as secular.

Continue reading.

Follow us on   

AntiSemitic Experiences of American Jewish College Students Chronicled Online

By: Lori Lowenthal Marcus for The Jewish Press

An organization has set up a webpage which catalogues, by university, testimony by Jewish students who have experienced antisemitism on their campuses.

The AMCHA Initiative, which monitors, investigates and fights against antisemitism at institutions of higher learning in America, set up the webpage a year and a half ago.

Called "Student Voices," the webpage reveals experiences of Jewish students on America's campuses who have been targeted, intimidated and/or frightened because they are Jewish.

AMCHA reports that it has collected testimonials from more than 100 students, located at 47 different schools, in 20 states.

Continue reading.

Follow us on