NEW YORK OBSERVER
by Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
November 17, 2014

Nobelist Elie Wiesel Comes to Cooper Union to Stand Up for Israel — Even If NYU’s Jewish Student Groups Won’t

Israel is the great battle of our time. The question all diaspora Jews face is whether Israel’s name and reputation will survive into the next decade. Never before has the world ganged up on the Jewish state like now. We all fear that terrorist organizations, or perhaps an Iranian nuke, will destroy Israel. Those are legitimate fears, seeing how passionate Israel’s enemies are about her annihilation. And yet Israel seems eminently capable of defending itself…..

……Nobody asks young American, Australian, European, and South African Jews to don the olive green uniform, dodge grenades, evade bullets and fight in Gaza. But we do ask them to be warriors for Israel on campus, the very locus of Israel hatred in Western culture. But students need to be led. They need to be inspired with the courage to stand up proudly and resolutely for Israel……

……But if you’re wondering why Israel is being hammered on campus, look no further than this story, which repeats itself at universities worldwide. While the Palestinian students stand up proudly for their side, accusing Israel of all kinds of abuses, Jewish organizational leaders are afraid of being “divisive,” of being marginalized as defenders of an unpopular regime, and of being accused of defending human rights abuses. In their fear, they cede the campus to anti-Israel activists…..

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