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Take Back the Campus!
CIJR's Student
Israel-Advocacy Seminars Program
Our students on college and university campuses are
facing a deepening crisis of antisemitism masquerading as anti-Israelism,
anti-Zionism, and Holocaust revisionism. Through the Student Israel-Advocacy
Seminars (SIAS), the Canadian Institute for Jewish Research seeks
to strengthen students’ knowledge and ability to confront on-campus
delegitimization.
Restrictive speech codes, often intimidating abuse
of professorial authority, and a lack of knowledge of Jewish and Israeli
history and Middle East politics have combined to leave today’s
students ill-prepared to respond to the increasing number and impact of
anti-Israel and anti-Zionist groups.
The SIAS program prepares students to defend Israel,
Jews, and freedom of inquiry and opinion on today’s college and
university campuses. The struggle for Israel on campus is also a struggle
to defend our universities’ moral and intellectual integrity as
unique institutions dedicated to objective analysis and free expression.
DID YOU KNOW…
- Anti-Israel speakers are proliferating
on Campus. Norman Finkelstein has spoken publicly against Israel over
100 times in the past 5 years
- Anti-Israel groups in over 20 major universities
across North America are seeking divestment of endowment funds from
Israel
- Boycott campaigns analogizing Israel to South
African apartheid are increasing
- Antisemitic incidents in Canada have increased
1,484% over the past 25 years
- All but one of the violent antisemitic acts in
Canada in 2005 occurred in either Quebec or Ontario
- Antisemitic acts on Canadian university campuses
increased by 12.5% from 2005-2006
- In the eight American states with the highest
incidents of antisemitism, 15% of all incidents in 2006 were school-based—compared
to 13% in 2005. These incidents included swastikas and hate-message
graffiti, as well as slurs, bullying and assault
What Are the Israel-Advocacy
Seminars?
The core of the SIAS program is a series of voluntary training seminars
and colloquia led by outstanding invited Middle East and Israel advocacy
specialists. They include formal presentations, group discussions and
thematic conferences. The three fundamental elements of the Seminar curriculum
are:
- The History of the Jewish People, Zionism and
Israel, and Middle Eastern Politics;
- The Nature, History, and Contemporary Expressions
of Antisemitism, Anti-Zionism, Anti-Israelism, and Holocaust Revisionism;
- Speaking, Writing and Organizing Skills.
Community Colloquia
To aid in understanding renewed global antisemitism and anti-Zionism,
several thematic Community Colloquia per semester, keyed into the Seminar
topics, will be given by top international speakers and specialists.
To encourage cross-cultural exchanges, leading figures
and groups from other communities affected by racial, religious, and ethnic
prejudice will participate. The Colloquia will shed light on the current
campus reality of ignorance, growing intolerance, and threats of violence.
A Jerusalem Colloquium held in Israel, on an expenses-defrayed
basis for successful student participants, is also planned, as are summer
internship possibilities with Israeli think-tanks.
How To Apply
Students in good standing at recognized colleges and universities should
send their name, address, telephone number, and email, along with their
institution, program of study, and year of degree-candidacy to CIJR at
CIJR
P.O. Box 175, Station H
Montreal, QC
H3G 2K7
or email to cijr@isranet.org.
Please include a short “Statement of Purpose”, describing
in 1-2 pages your background, interests, and why you want to participate
in the Student Israel Advocacy Seminar.
Nous encourageons les étudiants francophones
à s'impliquer.
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