Step Up For Israel
Step Up For Israel was created as an international grassroots campaign to educate individuals and communities about Israel and give them the tools to defend and promote it. It is a project of Jerusalem U and chaired by renowned Middle East experts Professor Alan Dershowitz and Ambassador Dore Gold.[1]
Goals
Step Up For Israel aims to inform and educate people about Israel and its contribution to the world. It also aims to create awareness of the growing movement to delegitimize Israel and to motivate people to learn the facts and step up on Israel's behalf.
Film-based curriculum
Step Up For Israel uses the medium of film to educate and engage, supplementing its visual education with moderator's guides, lesson plans and online resources offering creative ideas, topics for discussion and practical exercises and simulations.
The Step Up For Israel curriculum is based on Jerusalem U's films Israel Inside: How a Small Nation Makes a Big Difference, Beneath the Helmet: From High School to the Home Front, Crossing the Line 2: The New Face of Anti-Semitism on Campus, and other films and clips.
Israel Inside: How a Small Nation Makes a Big Difference
Presenting a side of Israel not so commonly shown in the international media, this unit uses animation, diagrams and original footage to illustrate the power of a people who started with nothing in the aftermath of the Holocaust and transformed a desert land to become one of the world's leading innovators in a whole range of fields.
Beneath the Helmet: From High School to the Home Front
Based on a film presenting the real-life coming-of-age of five young Israeli soldiers, this unit discusses the challenges they face and begs comparisons with their peers in the U.S..
Crossing the Line 2
A unit examining and analyzing the rising trend of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel activities on college campuses. Particular attention is given to BDS and how Jewish students can respond.
A Nation Reborn
This class presents the historical, legal and religious connections between the Jewish people and its national homeland.
Other topics discussed
- Israel's wars, from the 1947–1949 Palestine war in 1948 through to Operation Protective Edge in 2014
- The Palestinian Narrative
- Practical techniques and tools for Israel advocacy
- Gaza: addressing the difficult questions
- The Western values that lie at the root of modern Israel
Educational products
Step Up For Israel offers tailored educational products built on the above films for specific target audiences:
Grades 8–12
- Israel Inside/Out
- Step Up for Israel Teen Course[2]
Organizations
- Step Up for Israel Mini-Series for Organizations
- Host a Screening[3]
Adults
- Step Up for Israel Mini-Series[4]
Featured experts (partial list)
- Ambassador Daniel Ayalon
- Tal Ben-Shahar
- Zeev Ben-Shachar
- Professor Alan Dershowitz
- Bassem Eid
- Jessica Felber
- Sir Martin Gilbert
- Caroline Glick
- Ambassador Dore Gold
- Malcolm Hoenlein
- Professor Mordechai Kedar
- Colonel Richard Kemp
- Alan Levine
- Professor Bernard Lewis
- Professor David Luchins
- Mira Marcus
- Elliot Mathias
- Natalie Menaged
- Jessica Montel
- Professor Sharon Musher
- Fern Oppenheim
- Jackie Retig
- Michelle Rojas-Tal
- Roz Rothstein
- Aviva Slomich
- Chloé Valdary
- Professor Robert S. Wistrich[5]
Campaign Chairs
Professor Alan Dershowitz and Ambassador Dore Gold
Partners
Over 90 organizations are listed as partners with the Step Up For Israel project.[6] Some of the prominent partners listed are: Jewish National Fund, Hillel, Nefesh B'Nefesh and NCSY.
References
- "Step Up For Israel Homepage". Step Up For Israel. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- "Step Up For Israel Teen Course". Step Up For Israel. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- "Step Up For Israel Mini-Series for Organizations". Step Up For Israel. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- "Step Up For Israel For Adults". Step Up For Israel. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- "Featured Experts". Step Up For Israel. Retrieved 28 December 2015.
- "Step Up For Israel - Partner Organizations". Step Up For Israel. Retrieved 28 December 2015.