Organizing for Advocacy on Campus

1. Options for advocacy

If you have found this presentation useful, you are probably wondering what you can practically do
now to start advocating for Israel. This document contains some practical suggestions. Bear in mind
that they are only that, and that the unique local situation you face precludes a simple “one size fits
all” template. But it should provide you with some ideas and approaches.

1.1 Work with existing organizations

On many campuses you will find pre-existent groups who are interested in advocacy. They can offer
you experience, resources and access. Wherever possible, work with existing groups.
There are often groups in the larger, off campus, Jewish community that are also mandated to
advocate for Israel. It’s easy to get frustrated with what can look like a record of bureaucracy or
lack of imagination from “establishment” organizations. Almost always you will find that they are
anxious to get something done, but may have been stymied by the community having been
uninterested in the issue of advocacy in the past, and having been happy to leave it to a single
professional. They usually are happy to work with new, willing volunteers, but give them a chance
to change gears!
Don’t fall into the traps of either expecting the local professional to do all the work, or trying to take
over their organization!

1.2 Plan
Don’t go off half-cocked! Use your enthusiasm and inventiveness to come up with many ideas.
Don’t be critical. A “Dozy Do for Israel” barn dance might sound wacky, but it might work, or lead
you on to some other idea (like a folk festival). Don’t be afraid to think “out of the box”, some of
the best ideas have come up that way.
However, make sure that whichever project you want to carryout, you plan it carefully. The devil is
in the details. A great public event might have to be cancelled because no one knew that a particular
piece of paperwork had to be filed with the police department one week in advance. This is another
area where the local professionals can be of enormous help.

2. Setting up a group
Your Israel advocacy group can consist of many people, or few, depending on the numbers of
committed people you have available. It can be part of an existing communal organization, or an
independent group, working in parallel with established organizations.

2.1 Structure
You don’t have to have the classic structure of a Chair, treasurer, and committee heads to function.
All that is essential is that specific individuals be responsible for getting specific things done.

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 Advocacy in Action: Organizing for Advocacy on Campus

2.2 Recruitment
In addition to the “standard” methods of recruiting – tabling, social events, “recruit a friend” – a
neglected approach to recruitment involves asking students to take part in specific tasks.
A petition for an issue that is both “Jewish” and humanitarian, e.g. a petition for Israel MIAs, is not
only important in it’s own right, it also allows you to interact with students, collect names, addresses
and e-mail addresses, and approach them later (see 4.1.3 Personal (“Retail”) Interactions, below).

2.3 Activities
See below (4.Initiating and 5. Responding) for a detailed list of activities that a local advocacy
group might be involved in. It is not exhaustive. You will probably be able to think of other things
you can do.

3. Coalition building
There is strength in numbers; but what if the numbers of Jews are limited? There are many groups
on campus that can be mobilized to support pro-Israel campaigns. It is both practically useful to
have more people you can call on, and psychologically helpful to Jewish students to make them feel
that they are not isolated.

3.1 Potential Partners

There are many groups on campus that are potential partners in a coalition:
1) Christian students: Christian students are in a class of their own in terms of support for Israel.
Not all Christian denominations are supportive of Israel. Episcopalians (Anglicans), Roman
Catholics and Lutherans are not, on the whole, although there are many individual and local
exceptions to these rules. Those that are consistently supportive are what are usually called
“Evangelical” groups.
Jewish students often feel uneasy working with such groups. They are afraid of
missionizing, and secular students are uncomfortable with their religiosity. These are not
issues to dismiss lightly. The liaison with these groups should ideally be delegated to the
most religious members of your group, who are least likely to be influenced by any
missionizing and least likely to “thrown” by the religiosity of the Christian students.

2) Anti-racist groups: Jews have a legitimate interest in anti-racist work on campus, and should
be active in that sphere anyway. If Jews and other ethnic minorities are not involved in anti-
racist groups, they tend to become the exclusive reserve of the extreme, anti-Israel, left. It is not
helpful to have a group with the name “anti-racist” attached to it weighing in on the anti-Israel
side. It is, on the other hand, extremely helpful to have such a group condemn the antisemitism
of anti-Zionism.
3) Other “threatened” groups: Today, the twin motors of anti-Israel activities on campus are
Muslim groups that have adopted the jihadist ideology, and the extreme left. Other groups that
are “threatened” by these tendencies are natural allies for Jewish students. Examples might be
Hindu and Sikh students, gay and lesbian students, conservative and centrist political groups.
4) Other “excluded” groups: In the political world of the campus, there is a fairly small group of
politically active students who dominate discourse and organization. That leaves many organized
groups of students on the outside looking in. Groups such as Chinese students, sports clubs, and
fraternities are the kind of groups who can be mobilized to redress the political balance. These
groups frequently need the catalyst of political leadership, which can often be provided by a
vigorous Jewish student group.

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4. Initiating
Jews seem to take it as a law of nature that advocacy should consist of others making accusations,
and us responding. No matter how well you respond, you are almost always going to lose. The only
way to succeed in the long term is to change the agenda of discussion so that we do not have to keep
answering some version of the question, “Have you stopped beating your Palestinians?”
In general, you want to promote, not only a pro-Israel agenda in the wider community, but to change
an agenda that to often shows Israel as a brutal aggressor against angelic victims. Therefore
initiatives that focus on, for example, terrorism, and human rights issues in the Arab and Muslim
world will also help.
In this area you can coordinate with national and even international campaigns.
Lets look at some of your options for initiating campaigns.

4.1 Events unique to campus

A particular aspect of student life is the self-contained environment that students live in. In such a
context direct human contact is often your first line of contact.

4.1.1 Tabling
Select a well-traveled area on campus, set up a table with literature, and start interacting
with passing students. That’s all well and good, but what else can you?
1) Make sure that your tabling personnel are well briefed, and can engage people on
issues.
2) Consider using other media in addition to flyers and posters. A laptop showing a
PowerPoint presentation, or a VCR showing a suitable video is a center of attraction on
campus.
3) Consider demographics. Different sorts of people frequent different places. Arguments
that work for the art school will not necessarily work outside the gym!
4) Use visuals, dress and humor to stand out from the crowd. Don’t just be there, be
interesting.
5) Don’t be passive. Ask people to do things; sign petitions (see 2.2 Recruitment above),
ask people to wear badges or ribbons or buy things.

4.1.2 Postering and leafleting

Jewish students often produce text heavy print materials. Although fascinating to the
mother of the student who writes it, it may not attract much response from anyone else!
Print materials need to work on one or more of these three levels, starting from one and
working up:
1) Glance: A strong graphic element that will convey a suitable message to students who
are merely passing by.
2) Look: A catchy slogan that can be absorbed in a moment.
3) Read: Some additional text that fleshes out and adds substance to the other messages.

4.1.3 Personal (“Retail”) Interactions

The close knit nature of campus life would allow a modest number of pro-Israel students to
interact with large numbers of other students on a personal level. Selecting a group of

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volunteers who can be trained to deliver brief presentations on Israel in general, and
specific issues such as the security fence or terrorism. If these interactions are combined
with some active deed (see 4.1.1 Tabling, above), and some way of recording the
interaction so that contact can be maintained (phone number, e-mail address, etc.), you are
on the way to build up a pro-Israel constituency.
This is an approach that applies what is called the commitment heuristic. The act of
persuading others persuades the pro-Israel students, and the act of commitment convinces
the target.
Specific targets for these personal interactions would also include campus leaders.

4.1.4 Petitions
Gathering signatures for petitions can be a campaign in itself, or part of a wider campaign.
It allows students to interact with many potential supporters; it allows them to collect
information on supporters; and allows the potential supporter to solidify there support by
doing something – even something as trivial as signing their name. Completed petitions
can be sent to elected officials, campus administrators, or simply exhibited to show the
extent of support for your position.

4.1.5 Structure and institutions

Student government, campus papers and other media are examples of structures and
institutions that are easily influenced, if students work in an organized way.
An anti-Israel speaker, paid for from university funds, sponsored by an academic
department might come as a surprise if the relevant committee does not have a member of
your group on it. The editorial policy of the campus paper will be set by the elected
editorial board; are your members running for it?

4.2 Speakers or other participatory events

Speakers will receive notice from the media, as well as from a physical audience if they are:
1) Prestigious: If someone has a title or is a celebrity, they will draw an audience and the media.
2) Controversial: If the subject matter, or the speaker themselves are contentious, it will draw a
crowd. However, be aware of security issues.
You can find speakers through local and national Jewish organizations, or through the local Israeli
consulate or embassy. University towns often have visiting Israeli academics or other speakers. The
organizations listed in our handout, Advocating for Israel, the Basics may also be a source for
speakers for you.

4.3 Demonstrations or rallies

The typical pro-Israel demonstration usually consists of good-hearted Jews, often indoors, bearing
their national flag and that of Israel. Leaders of the local community, and pro-Israel politicians –
who may not necessarily be great orators – usually address them. This is not a recipe for grabbing
the attention of either fellow students or the media!
Rallies and demonstrations will be covered by the media if they have:
1) Huge numbers of people.
2) Celebrities
3) Visuals

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However, remember; demonstrations don’t need huge crowds. It may be hard to generate
huge crowds, or to involve celebrities, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t run an effective and
commanding demonstration. You can always provide visuals. You do not need to go as far as the
female demonstrators against US intervention against Iraq, who in February 2003 lay down in the
snow in New York’s Central Park to spell out the words “No Bush” with their naked bodies (!).
Costumes, themes, and dramatic re-enactments will draw cameras and interviews.

4.4 Letter writing campaigns

For those less theatrically inclined, organizing letter or e-mail writing campaigns to elected officials
or other public figures. These can be prompted by events, or initiated on your own issues.

5. Responding
If you come across unfair or inaccurate coverage in the various media outlets mentioned above you
should do three things:
1) Define what form of response you need.
2) Inform others members of your group.
3) Monitor what responses are being made.
Let’s look at each of these in turn.

5.1 Form of response

The various forms of responses include:

5.1.1 Letters of complaint:

Decision makers in the organization that hosted or sent the offending message can be
confronted. Be specific in the nature of the complaint (“the headline ‘Israel Guns Down
Palestinians’ is inappropriate for a story on Israeli soldiers foiling a terrorist attack”) and in
the kind of redress sought (“In addition to publishing a correction, can you let me know
what measures you intend to put in place to prevent a recurrence of this sort of thing”).

5.1.2 Response pieces:

It is accepted practice in newspapers to publish either letters or op-ed pieces. It is seldom a
good idea to write an article that is a point-by-point refutation. Unless you can find away to
make it interesting to the reader they will quickly become bored. Try and find one or two
points to clearly refute, and then go on to make your own point.
Don’t be afraid to explore the possibility of a “right of reply” for the electronic media as
well.

5.1.3 Lobbying:
In situations of extreme and persistent bias, it may be necessary to lobby the media outlet
with a community delegation. In such a situation it is important to adopt the right attitude.
You should not be unnecessarily confrontational; the objective is to persuade. You should
show understanding for the problems of covering controversial, international stories on the
local level. You portray yourselves as a concerned segment of the market trying to work
with the media to improve coverage, rather than partisans who are attacking them for
getting it wrong (that makes them defensive). You should offer them practical suggestions

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for improving coverage (sources for op-ed pieces, local people who have made aliya as
sources for interviews, additional sources of information beyond the wire services.
Above all, be firm.

5.1.4 Contacting advertisers

In the western world, almost all commercial media is heavily dependant on advertising. It
has long been an assumption of the economics of newspaper publishing that “reporting is
the space between the advertisements”! If the media outlet does not respond to your
efforts, consider a concerted campaign of contacting advertisers. This is an extreme action,
and should only be used if reasonable efforts have been rebuffed.

5.2 Techniques to inform your members

Given the pace of the modern “news cycle”, you can only effectively mobilize your membership by
using instantaneous methods of contacting them.
• The major vehicle will be e-mail, which has the advantage of allowing you to send the text
of articles, links to websites, and even links to video clips. But you should still assume a
twenty-four hour “turn around” between sending out your messages and any response
arising.

• Where merited (for example, call in shows) even faster responses can be elicited by the use
of instant messaging, or text messaging on cellular phones.1

• For very important, pre-scheduled, events, you can physically congregate in a single venue
(Jewish Community Center, synagogue etc.) so that you can work as a group.

5.3 Monitoring responses

Minimally, you should be keeping track of things like the number of letters submitted as against the
number published. Ideally, you should be tracking media trends and correlating them with your
efforts. This is the only way to know if your actions are effective.

6. Monitoring
One of the most important things any Israel activist can do requires little skill in public speaking,
writing, or physical courage. You can monitor local media and events for pro and anti-Israel
messages.
Unless you are asked to do so specifically, don’t bother monitoring national media; these are
monitored by national organizations. What are often not monitored are local media. These are
influential on a local level, and are more open to influence on a local level. If your community feels
that there are problems with local coverage, they will be in lot stronger position to protest if they
have detailed data to draw on rather than individual examples and general impressions.
Local media is important since in many countries (particularly the United States) more people read,
listen to and watch local media than national media. Jews often overlook this fact, since their
patterns of media consumption differ from the norm.

1
In North America, where most phones do not work on the GSM system, it is difficult to send text
messages from one system to another (e.g. AT&T to Sprint). It is possible to sent a text message to any
cellular phone in North America via www.teleflip.com.

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This is true of local media in general; it is even more true of campus media. Campus papers, radio
and events are the common medium of expression, debate and communication for students.

6.1 General points on media monitoring

• In all cases, try and be as objective as possible.

• For long term monitoring, compile an archive. Keep a running log of statistical data.

• In the case of urgent issues, make sure you know, in advance, whom you need to send it to.

6.1.1 Newspapers
When Jews think of media, they think of newspapers. Papers are important, but often not in
the way we think. They are more important for reasons of who reads them, rather than how
many read them.
Here are some of the things you should be looking for:
1) Where do they get the news from? Campus papers do not have foreign
correspondents. Almost all get their news from wire services (Reuters, AP, New York
Times etc.). Sometimes there may be differences between the original, wire service
story, and the published version. Sometimes a headline might be added that changes the
tenor of a story, sometimes a graphic or photograph.
2) What is the relative balance of pro and anti-Israel stories? Does there seem to be
a pattern of disproportionately publishing the anti-Israel reports from the wire services?
3) Pictures Are pictures relevant to the stories they illustrate? Are captions fair?
4) The editorial pages Are editorials and op-ed pieces fair to Israel? Although editorials
don’t need to be objective in the same way as news reporting, they do need to be
accurate and fair. Do the regular and staff writers ever draw on pro-Israel sources of
information (like MEMRI)? Also, the overall number of pro and anti-Israel should be
(at least) balanced. Do they accept articles from known radicals?
5) The letters page Here again, letters are allowed to express opinion, but the letters
page editors should be responsible in excluding antisemitic and obviously baseless
letters. They should also be at least fair in giving an airing to pro-Israel positions.
(Tip: When compiling your archive, you can do this from online editions of the paper. You
can then send them easily to others, and search for particular words or phrases).

6.1.2 Television news

Be sure to videotape television coverage. You may, or may not, want to transcribe
specific segments, but you need a copy of the original material that aired.
Local TV does not usually cover international stories, unless there is a local angle. They
will cover, for example, local demonstrations (for and against Israel), a “buy Israel
products” fair, and visiting personalities. They might also cover community events, like the
departure and/or arrival of an Israel mission.
Follow the guidelines above for monitoring newspaper coverage.

6.1.3 Talk radio

This is a very important medium. In the US people spend more time getting news from talk
radio than any other, single, medium. It is also one of the easiest media to influence,

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especially call in shows. Public radio stations in many countries have a reputation for
animosity to Israel.
In addition to monitoring and taping shows, try and compile profiles of specific shows and
presenters. Your group will need this information if they want to respond or initiate.

6.1.4 Internet and “alternative media”

“Alternative media” include online radio stations and local newsletters. These, along with
local websites, chat rooms, and e-mail lists are not only platforms for anti-Israel views, but
also sources of information on upcoming events. See the next section.

6.2 Speakers and events

Not all anti-Israel manifestations come through the mass media. Campuses frequently host speakers,
as do off campus civic organizations, political and religious groups. The other media mentioned
above are all sources of information on such events.
If possible, have someone attend these events. If they are open to the public there should be no
problem in doing this. The objective of an observer is not to intervene or disrupt, but rather to
record what would be an otherwise ephemeral event. Take notes, record an audiocassette (if no one
objects), and record your impression of what happens and how people react. Pay attention to points
raised in Q and A, as well as the comments of the speaker.
You are not trying to compile “dossiers” on opponents. You are trying to establish the attitudes of
the public and various organizations to Israel and Jewish issues.

6.3 Media
In addition to the issues mentioned above (6. Responding) you can initiate media campaigns. You
can tie these campaigns together with the other forms of initiated activities to create a new agenda
that will force Israel’s opponents onto the defensive.

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Appendix 1: Media Relations

1. 10 things to remember when calling a talk radio program:

1) Think out your contribution in advance.
2) Keep it simple. Don’t give long convoluted historical explanations (even if they’re correct!). Stick to
one basic message.
3) Use images and analogies to involve emotions.
4) Be authentic, “I was in Israel, and I…”
5) Be authoritative, quote objective sources (but see (2)!).
6) Make the presenter your friend if possible. Try and couch your statement in line with their politics,
style etc.
7) Be inventive. Don’t just call the shows that deal with mid-east issues. Think of pro-Israel things to say
for all kinds of shows.
8) Support and reinforce pro-Israel statements. It’s natural to think of something to say when someone
attacks Israel. Have things to say that are suitable for “pareve” and pro-Israel statements as well.
9) Try and predict possible objections. Have counter statements prepared.
10) Stay on topic. “The real issue here is…”

7. 10 things to remember when writing to a newspaper:

1) Keep it simple. Don’t give long convoluted historical explanations (even if they’re correct!).
2) Be brief.
3) Use images, analogies and involve emotions.
4) Be authentic, “I was in Israel, and I…”
5) Be authoritative, quote objective sources (but see (1)!).
6) Consider your audience. Try and couch your statement in line with their politics, style etc.
7) Be inventive. Don’t just write on mid-east issues. Think of pro-Israel things to say for all kinds of
contexts.
8) Support and reinforce pro-Israel statements. It’s natural to think of something to say when someone
attacks Israel. Have things to say that are suitable for “pareve” and pro-Israel statements as well.
9) In an ongoing correspondence, remember that the readers will not have the original piece that you are
replying to before them. Make sure that your contribution makes sense as a “stand alone” piece.
10) Don’t be insulting (unless you are sure that the readers will like it!).

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8. 10 things to remember at a rally/demonstration:

1) Cultivate media sources. If the first time you contact the media is when you need them… it’s too late!
2) Plan in advance. Make sure that all the practical aspects of the event (permits, security, transport etc.)
are worked out in advance.
3) Prepare a press release.
4) Publicize. If a tree falls in the forest, and CNN doesn’t cover it, has it fallen?
5) Perform. Make sure that the event has some element that the media will be interested in.
6) Consider location. What will look good in the media.
7) Appoint a spokesperson for the event. When questioned by the media, everyone else should defer to
them.
8) Posters and banners should be black on white. (It shows up better in the papers and on TV news).
9) Use personalities if possible.
10) Develop a reputation for being news worthy.

David Olesker is the founder and Director of J•C•C•A•T the Jerusalem Center for
Communications and Advocacy Training. It is a nonpartisan organization specializing in
training advocates for Israel.
(All original materials © JCCAT 2004)

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