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February 13, 2009
UBC Israel awareness
Emotional issues discussed peacefully at event.
MICHELLE DODEK
Feb. 2-6 was Israel Week at the University of British Columbia. Every year, Hillel students and staff put together a week-long program that highlights Israel in many ways, from technological achievements to culinary experiences.
This year, there was a series of lectures planned, one on every day of the week, to bring about open discussion on Israel. There was a great deal of excellent dialogue, according to Hillel capital campaign/ special events co-ordinator Maggie Yonash. For example, after the Thursday evening lecture by Dr. Michael Elterman, which explained the hypocrisy of the movement advocating the boycott of Israeli academics, students stayed to talk and there was a great discussion between Jewish and Palestinian students, said Yonash.
Not all interactions on campus have been so positive, however. Executive director of Hillel Eyal Lichtmann explained that he could say little about the alleged recent attack of two Jewish UBC students due to the ongoing RCMP investigation. He said that Hillel is reassuring students on campus of their safety.
With the backdrop of apparently violent attacks, the news of which was broadcast and published last week by most news agencies in Vancouver, the mood was surprisingly relaxed at a panel of four residents of Vancouver who were soldiers in the Israel Defence Forces (IDF). The purpose of the panel was to have soldiers explain their personal experiences in the IDF, followed by a question and answer period. The three male panel members are all current students at UBC and the female member is the current Israeli shaliach (emissary) for Hillel, Anat Fuxinboim. Each one had vastly different stories.
The first to speak was Doron Neuman, a reconnaissance specialist who served all over the West Bank and was a strong proponent of the "security wall." Fuxinboim, meanwhile, served as an education commander, which meant part of her duties was to help Israeli soldiers who had a low level of education (as low as Grade 7) to complete their high school diploma while in the army. Noam Gilead was the officer on the panel. His quiet, organized approach to explaining his work as a communications officer seemed to fit his work in the army. The final speaker was the only non-native Israeli. Freeman Poritz decided after a few trips to Israel as a teen that he would enlist in the IDF in order to defend Israel. He colorfully described being part of the disengagement of Gaza in 2005.
The audience of more than 70 people, many of whom wore kaffiyehs around their necks, quietly listened to the vignettes and opinions of the panelists. The questions were dominated by pro-Palestinians but there was remarkably little tension.
The formal program ended on schedule at 1:30, but the discussions between students continued in a heated, but respectful manner. One Hillel student had a video camera and was panning the room. "I'm recording how emotional issues can be discussed peacefully, as they should be," he remarked.
Fuxinboim summed up what was perhaps the goal of this and other lectures at UBC's Israel Week when she suggested that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict could be resolved by starting civil dialogues in politically neutral countries like Canada. "I don't understand why there would be any conflict here in Canada about the Middle East. People here need to get away from slogans and achieve a better reality there by starting dialogue here."
Israel Week also featured a 30-panel display illustrating Israel's nonpolitical contributions to the world. According to Lichtmann, approximately 40,000 people walked past the exhibit in the Student Union Building concourse during the week. Most of the comments were positive. "People don't know much about the great accomplishments in Israel," he said.
Also featured in the week's festivities was a falafel lunch, an Israeli music and social evening, as well as the film Unsettled. Political discussion dominated the events at UBC and, although violence had marred the usually peaceful campus, staff at Hillel said Israel Week achieved the goals of promoting and explaining Israel.
Michelle Dodek is a Vancouver freelance writer. Her full-time job is taking care of two young children.
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