Pro-Israel students around the country are fighting a coordinated and sophisticated campaign mounted by Israel’s detractors. Four divestment campaigns were introduced in the last week alone.

DePaul students experienced a major victory against the BDS Movement this week when a divestment proposal was rejected by DePaul’s Fair Business Practices Committee. Metro Chicago Hillel and JUF Israel Education Center interns said, “We urge DePaul – and all other universities – to uphold the principles of nondiscrimination that are at the core of university life. We will continue to work with DePaul to promote the understanding that Israel is invested in peace, continues to work towards peaceful compromise and works to promote educational and economic opportunities for all of its citizens and residents.”

Ten miles north, in yet another attempt to call Israel’s legitimacy into question, Northwestern University’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine announced their intention to introduce a divestment resolution in the university’s Student Government. A resolution calling on the university to divest from companies that do business with Israel and a petition are circulating online; the resolution has not yet been introduced.

In response to this campaign, a group of Northwestern students, advised by JUF’s Israel Education Center, Hillel and other pro-Israel organizations, formed the Northwestern Coalition for Peace, which is actively working against NU Divest. During a program featuring New York Times best-selling author Ari Shavit this week, Shavit thanked a group of student leaders for their dedication to fighting the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement.

The developments of the last two weeks have been both challenging and inspiring to Chicago’s Israel activists on campus. JUF’s Israel Education Center and Hillel continue to stand strongly with students as they stand up for Israel. For more information please contact JUF’s Israel Education Center.