Why Advocacy? by David Tsetlin, Hasbara Fellowships High School Intern
Earlier last month, notable Holocaust survivor, educator, and author Max Eisen made a visit to my school. He told us his remarkable life story: at 15 years old, he was deported to concentration camps along with the rest of the roughly 5000 Jews in his town. Against all odds, Max was saved from certain death by getting the attention of the camp physician and being hired as an operating room cleaner. By the end of the war, Max was among the twenty Holocaust survivors from his community. Ever since, Max has dedicated his life to educating others about the Holocaust, across Canada and around the world. After his speech, I went up to privately ask him a question about combatting modern anti-semitism, to which he replied that I ought to get involved in Israel advocacy, because “the Jews need Israel, even more than Israel needs the Jews.” Max was making an important point: there is a clear historical reason to why the existence of Israel is vital.
To me, as a Jew, standing up for Israel means standing up for other Jews around the world as a whole. Throughout history, the fate of the Jewish people has always been at the whim of their rulers, neighbors, and dangerous ideologies. Stories like Max Eisen’s reinforce my view that Jews need a homeland to go to in times of trouble. Today, Israel is facing numerous campaigns that threaten its right to exist as a sovereign, democratic, and Jewish state. Efforts to delegitimize and destroy Israel are more present than ever on college campuses, in professional associations, and on the global political stage. To see examples of this in action, we need to look no further than the recent anti-Israel protests at York University, the activities of the BDS movement, and Hamas’s constant onslaught of terror attacks against innocent Israeli civilians.
In conclusion, this is why I advocate for Israel and affiliate myself with Hasbara Fellowships. Promoting positive messages about Israel as well as standing up to its enemies may at times be challenging, but it is a noble deed. Doing so means upholding the bustling and vibrant country that is Israel, as well as ensuring the future of the Jewish people. I would strongly recommend everyone to join the Israeli advocacy movement.
