About The Campaign
On May 15th, 1948, the world witnessed the establishment of a Jewish state in the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people. Seventy-four years later, the State of Israel stands as the embodiment of Zionism, the global movement supporting Jewish self-determination.
This year, CAMERA on Campus is proud to inaugurate the second iteration of This is What a Zionist Looks Like (TWZLL), a campaign celebrating the history of the Zionist movement and honoring the great minds and communities that contributed to the development and advancement of the State of Israel and the Zionist movement.
“A Zionist is someone who understands that Judaism is not ‘just’ a religion, but the values and ideology of a people. A Zionist is someone who understands that Israel is not ‘just’ a country that is nearly 75 years old, but a love story of the Jewish people in love with the same land for thousands of years.”
—Gil Troy, History Professor at McGill University “This effort is a natural outflow of our unwavering support for Jewish and Zionist students on campus. It combines the best of our research and media monitoring expertise, love for the Jewish state, and a creative team that provides students with the tools to deepen their understanding and educate their peers on what Zionism is all about.” —Aviva Rosenschein, International Campus Director for CAMERA on Campus
CAMERA on Campus will publish carousels and infographics on social media highlighting historic Zionist figures, significant events in Zionism’s history and addressing common myths about the movement.
Our revamped campaign website is also integral to the campaign. It features a historical timeline, comprehensive infographics, and articles published by CAMERA research analysts, campus advisors, and fellows.
Students across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Israel will partner with CAMERA to host speakers on campus, organize events highlighting Israeli cultural heritage, publish articles that debunk anti-Zionist tropes spread on campus, and organize events highlighting Israeli cultural heritage.
The TWZLL campaign also features content that addresses the lies spread by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Solidarity for Palestinian Human Rights (SPHR), and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP). These organizations falsely equate Zionism with racism and oppression, a trope derived from the now repelled UN Resolution 3379.
“The conflation of Zionism with Islamophobia and ‘anti-Palestinian rhetoric’ ostracizes Jewish students, like me, who identify as Zionist. Zionism and Palestinian autonomy can co-exist side by side. You can support Palestinian rights without being anti-Zionist — yet most anti-Zionists never even acknowledge Palestinian terror, violence, and rejection of opportunities for a Palestinian state.”
—Amir Grunhaus, a third-year undergraduate student and CAMERA Fellow at UC Berkeley
“We want to send a clear message: we are unapologetically Zionist. As a religious and ethnic minority, Jews in the Eastern Bloc were targeted and oppressed by the Soviet regime. The State of Israel granted my family freedom and security they would not have found elsewhere. My support for Israel is inseparable from my Jewish identity.”
—Alex Berman, a third-year student at the University of Miami
