AUJS showcases fresh faces of Israel
IN a fresh campaign that broadens the scope of Israeli advocacy, representatives of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) are sticking posters on the walls of universities across Australia and New Zealand, which exhibit nine profiles of inspiring and dynamic Israelis.
IN a fresh campaign that broadens the scope of Israeli advocacy, representatives of the Australasian Union of Jewish Students (AUJS) are sticking posters on the walls of universities across Australia and New Zealand, which exhibit nine profiles of inspiring and dynamic Israelis.
The faces of the campaign are Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Druze Israelis, and each poster includes a quote from the subject in response to the prompt: “My Israel Is …”.
The campaign is designed to shatter prejudices about Israel likely to emerge during possible Israeli Apartheid Week demonstrations.
The campaign was also launched on social media, garnering over 1330 “likes” on Facebook and 430 “followers” on Twitter.
The interactive My Israel website includes detailed profiles of the featured Israelis, alongside video footage of the subjects telling their stories.
A striking face of the campaign is Abdol Abdel Rahman – a Muslim, Zionist Arab, who travelled to Poland as a student to learn about the Holocaust and defied the expectations of both his family and his IDF unit when he enlisted in the Israeli military.
His poster reads: “My Israel is where my friends, Arabs and Jews, live alongside my family. Where I have rights, and where I choose to call home.”
Another poster tells the story of the first every female MK from Ethiopia Pnina Tamano-Shata. The quote from the former human rights activist and journalist reads: “My Israel is fulfilment of the dream of my ancestors in Ethiopia to immigrate to Israel. This is the undisputed home of a beautiful, versatile and unique democratic and Jewish lifestyle.”
Other profiles include bereaved father and chairman of the organisation for terror victims and their families Tzvika Shahak; environmentalist and activist Barak Herscowitz; and the daughter of an Israeli Jewish parent and a Druze parent, and volunteer in a Bedouin school and an absorption centre for new Ethiopian olim, Dana Horesh.
AUJS national political affairs director Dean Sherr said: “Our aim with this campaign is to educate students with a positive message about the real spirit of Israel, that is so evident to anyone who has actually visited the country.
“My Israel will show Israel for what it truly is – a unique nation of diversity and multiculturalism, and the best way to show that is from the mouths of real Israelis with typically Israeli stories.”
For more information, visit www.aujs.com.au/myisrael.
TIMNA JACKS
Posters of AUJS campaign “My Israel” put up Monash University in Clayton.
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