STAND WITH US

FOR ISRAEL'S ARABS IT IS NOT APARTHEID
BY KHALED ABU TOAMEH

THE HUDSON NEW YORK

An Arab member of the Knesset who goes all the way to the US and Canada to tell university students and professors that Israel is an apartheid state is not only a hypocrite and a liar, but is also causing huge damage to the interests of his own Arab voters and constituents.

If Israel were an apartheid state, what is this Arab doing in the Knesset? Doesn't apartheid mean that someone like this Knesset member would not, in the first place, even be permitted to run in an election?

Read on...

ANTI-ISRAEL ACTIVIST ATTACKS JEWISH GIRL ON CAMPUS
SJP leader Husam Zakharia

BY AVI YELLIN

(IsraelNN.com) University of California at Berkeley was again the site of a clash involving pro-Israel and anti-Israel activists last Friday when Husam Zakharia, leader of the Students for Justice in Palestine, assaulted Jessica Felber (StandWithUs Emerson fellow Alumnus) of the pro-Israel Tikvah group with a shopping cart.

The incident occurred during competing events from the SJP-run "Israel Apartheid Week" and "Israel Peace and Diversity Week" organized by Tikvah. Felber was holding a sign that read "Israel Wants Peace" when Zakharia intentionally slammed her from behind with a shopping cart filled with toys donated for the welfare of Arab children in the Hamas-controlled Gaza region.

Read on...

THE HIDDEN AGENDA BEHIND 'ISRAEL APARTHEID WEEK'
BY DORE GOLD
JPOST.COM

As 'Israel Apartheid Week' heats up, the question must be asked, what - if anything - makes the Israeli case similar to South Africa?

The organizers of "Israel Apartheid Week" (March 1- March 13, 2010) are hoping to replicate what they claim was an unprecedented success for their cause last year when they sponsored events in 40 cities around the world. Yet the arguments against their charge - that Israel is guilty of apartheid - are overwhelming. In fact, given the difficulty in applying the apartheid model to Israel, one wonders what the true hidden agenda is behind this campaign.

To begin with, in apartheid South Africa (1948-1994), blacks were not allowed to vote or to be candidates in the general elections, they could not attend white universities or be treated in white hospitals, and they were forcibly removed from white cities. Anyone who is the least bit familiar with Israel knows that Israeli Arabs vote for the Knesset and that there are Israeli Arab Knesset members, who also serve as deputy speakers of Israel's parliament; an Israeli Arab judge sits on Israel's Supreme Court; Israeli Arabs study in all Israeli universities and there are mixed Arab- Jewish cities, like Haifa, Jaffa, Ramle and Jerusalem.

Read on...

GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS (GAP)
StandWithUs is proud to announce the opening of registration for GaP (Government and Politics) in Israel. GaP is a Menachem Begin Heritage Center initiative in affiliation with MASA. It offers outstanding and highly motivated Jewish post-high school students (18-19) an opportunity to study government, politics and society, with an emphasis on the Israeli context, on a specially tailored program at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem; combined with trips around Israel, volunteering projects and a special public diplomacy seminar. At the heart of the second semester will be a unique public diplomacy course, run by StandWithUs in collaboration with Israel's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and only available to participants of GaP in Israel. Please visit the website for more information and to sign up: www.gapisrael.org.il

UPCOMING EVENT IN NYC
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For more information they should click - www.standwithus.com/chapters/nyc


DID YOU KNOW?


StandWithUs now has offices and chapters in twelve regions, including Los Angeles, Denver, Detroit, Chicago, Milwaukee, New York, Pacific North West, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Orange County California, Manchester UK, and Israel.

StandWithUs Israel Office Activities: Click here

StandWithUs sent 300 speakers and programs to colleges all over North America during the 2008-2009 scholastic year.

StandWithUs sent 100 speakers to programs in Israel and Europe, educating young adults and community activists.

StandWithUs donates materials to libraries across America - Go to www.learnisrael.org and also www.LibrariansforFairness.org

StandWithUs hosted an international student conference in Los Angeles in November 2009 for 150 students. Write to info@standwithus.com for more information about our upcoming events.

StandWithUs offers advocacy training in Israel to international students visiting Israel through wonderful partnerships with the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) in Herzlya, as well as universities across Israel.

StandWithUs works with students around the world by supporting their pro-Israel activism. The students' come from as far away as South Africa, Australia, the UK and Canada.

StandWithUs hosts missions to Israel for adults and students.

StandWithUs now has curriculum for public high schools. Go to www.LearnIsrael.org The lesson plans meet national standards. We will be expanding our materials to reach other age groups.

StandWithUs has produced a movie called "HATE SPEECH ON CAMPUS." Order your own copy of "HATE SPEECH ON CAMPUS" for $15.00, which includes shipping. Write to:
shipping@standwithus.com.

StandWithUs has produced "Israel 101"a fantastic 44-page color booklet that covers hot topics currently being debated about Israel. We have already distributed a million copies. We now also have Israel 101 available in Hebrew and Spanish. Order copies for your synagogue, for your friends or children. Write to shipping@standwithus.com and request a copy for $5.00, which includes shipping. Enjoy tremendous savings by ordering in bulk.

StandWithUs has materials and websites that will help students and community activists challenge misinformation. Go to www.standwithus.com and click on "flyers" and/or "signs", which are divided by theme, and also make sure that you check out www.Stand4Facts.org

NOW MORE THAN EVER, we are dedicated to making sure that Israel's story is told. We educate proactively, and we diligently watch for anti-Israel trends and respond to them quickly, creatively and professionally. But we need your help. We urge you to become our dedicated partner so that we can continue to expand our work and support people who want to stand up for Irael world wide.

We remain your partner,
StandWithUs Board and Staff

www.StandWithUs.com
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STANDWITHUS SIGNS FOR UPCOMING RALLIES
Need jumbo signs for your upcoming rallies/counter- rallies? Our signs print out two feet by three feet. Take our link to your local printer. For a few extra dollars, they can do a thin lamination so that your signs will be reusable.

Go to www.StandWithUs.com and click on "SIGNS". Have you created some great signs or new flyers? SHOW THEM TO US!! Perhaps we will include them on our site! AND If you like our materials but need some modifications, please don't hesitate to ask us. We will always support your efforts to advocate for Israel.

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VISIT OUR BOOKSTORE FOR RECOMMENDED READING
Make yourself a more effective activist with this GREAT booklist. Order the books right from our site. Have you read The Case For Democracy by Natan Sharansky? The Israelis by Donna Rosenthal(now in paperback!)? Ivory Towers on Sand by Martin Kramer? The Middle East by Bernard Lewis?
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NEED HELP TELLING ISRAEL'S STORY?

NEW!! See our flyers, organized by theme, available in multiple languages. These important tools may be used to educate, and they are FREE and downloadable.
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SUPPORT THE NEVER AGAIN INITIATIVE
For 8 years StandWithUs has been supporting people around the world who want to stand up for Israel.

For 8 years we have helped students and community leaders live the promise of Never Again, by encouraging them to respond to lies, half truths and dangerous misinformation about Israel.

Support our efforts and keep us strong so that people around the world can continue to count on us for ready made posters, materials and programs that help to strengthen Israel's image in the world.

Thank you for your continued support of our efforts!

The Board and Staff of StandWithUs


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STANDWITHUS ISRAELI SOLDIERS TOUR CONTINUES!
Lior, an Israeli solider tells Seattle Pacific students about his experience as a solider in the Israel Defense Force and what war is like when the cameras are turned off. Photo credit: CURTIS SIMPSON IV/The Falcon.

BY MICHAEL DUDLEY
THE FALCON

Supporting people over governments

On Monday, I listened to the testimony of two veterans of the Israeli Defense Force, Lior and Inon, concerning their conduct during combat operations in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, refuting many assumptions made about the defense force since the release of the Goldstone Report last year. This report alleges that the Israeli army is guilty of misconduct and possibly war crimes.

I went with preconceived notions. I came away realizing just how little I know.

When it comes to war, there is seldom an easy answer to who is right or who is wrong, and as the tagline to the 1986 Oliver Stone movie Platoon states, "The first casualty of war is innocence."

I will neither justify nor condemn the actions of Israel. But I will say that there is a solidarity and unity of cause expressed in the testimonies of Lior and Inon (who refrained from giving last names) that I greatly admire and respect, and posit that very few of us can grasp or understand their struggle.

In general, I detest and distrust the establishment, power structures and ideologies that drive the modern world and national and international affairs. I believe in people, not governments. I cannot stand seeing the powerful crush the weak.

When one hears reports of a conflict in the Gaza Strip, which results in the death of 13 Israelis compared to the death of over 1,300 Palestinians, it is easy to feel outraged, to feel that Israel responds with violence that is not equal in proportion to the stimulus or that they are Zionist neo-fascists, power hungry warmongers that wipe the opposition off the map. But this would be as ignorant and false as saying all Muslims are terrorists or that all terrorists are Muslims.

When asked about the Gaza Strip conflict that left 1,300 Palestinians dead, Lior said the media often focuses on one aspect, such as the death toll, and fails to mention the eight years of attacks that preceded it.

Lior added that proportionality is not a gauge of right or wrong, that many more Nazis were killed than Americans in World War II, but we do not believe Nazis were any more right because more of them died. We never experienced years of rocket attacks from a neighboring country like Canada, living in constant fear of death on a daily basis, he said.

The media zeros in on instances of Israelis destroying a school, but fails to mention the personal experience of soldiers who, like himself, witness enemy rockets being fired from a school yard, devoid of children, he said.

When asked if Zionism was not simply another form of holy war, such as jihad, Lior said Zionism is not about religion, but about establishing a homeland for the Jewish people and to ensure another Holocaust never happens.

Since the end of the Civil War in 1865, there has not been a threat to our American homeland that can compare to what many have faced in Israel on a daily basis. Unlike the Israelis, we are not required to serve in the military to defend the freedoms we so often take for granted living in a peaceful country. That makes it very easy for many of us to condemn combat that we do not fully understand.

I do not fear that a suicide bomber will explode in a cafe or a restaurant, killing my friend and his family, as Lior experienced. When I walk down the streets, I do not fear rockets coming from neighboring states. While I may question the actions of a government, I will always support the men and women who fight for their freedom, and condemn those who seek to prevent others from enjoying it.

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