Apartheid Week is fast approaching

ANTI-SEMITISM: COMING SOON TO A CAMPUS NEAR YOU

Award Winning Documentary Exposes Anti-Israel Incitement Heading for US Campuses This Month

(NEW YORK – February 16, 2012) JerusalemOnlineU.com’s ‘STEP UP FOR ISRAEL’ initiative is countering the activities designed to vilify Israel on college campuses during the 8th annual “Israel Apartheid Week” (Feb. 27-March 3) with an educational campaign to strengthen parents’ and students’ support for Israel. As part of this effort, Crossing the Line: The Intifada Comes to Campus, a powerful, award-winning film, will be available free for a limited time at http://www.stepupforisrael.com/ctl/.

“Israel Apartheid Week” is a well-organized political assault designed to delegitimize and demonize Israel by falsely portraying it as an apartheid state and applying double standards of moral conduct. During this week, events will be held on dozens of college campuses and in cities around the world in an attempt to build support for the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Crossing the Line details shocking hate-filled acts by Apartheid Week activists and identifies actions and resources students can utilize to counter these disturbing anti-Semitic activities.

“Parents assume the universities they send their children to, provide enlightened educational environments that promote honest and open debate,” says Amy Holtz, President of JerusalemOnlineU.com. “Yet students are often confronted with a biased one-sided and hateful perspective on Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East.”
STEP UP FOR ISRAEL is an international, grassroots campaign that connects individuals and communities to Israel by providing a strong foundation in Israel education and activist opportunities. The campaign is chaired by Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz and former Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Dore Gold.

“Parents and students alike must first recognize and understand the nature of this disturbing anti-Israel trend, if we are to strengthen our resolve and ‘Step Up for Israel.’ “We urge individuals, schools, synagogues and communities to watch Crossing the Line, and to engage in the Israel educational initiatives offered by StepUpForIsrael.com.” Holtz added:

“Films like Crossing the Line play a critical role in the information process by spotlighting basic truths about the Arab-Israeli conflict that are often ignored,” says Professor Dershowitz. “When students hear false allegations of apartheid or human rights disasters that don’t exist, they will now have the resources to respond in an informed and effective manner.”

“Propaganda against Israel and its right to exist as a sovereign Jewish state has become the norm on many college campuses, not the exception,” says Eric Schorr from Columbia University and President of LionPAC. “If students don’t have the resources to defend against such hateful rhetoric before they first arrive on campus, the battle for the truth is extremely difficult to win.”

“When applying to schools and choosing a university, the farthest thing from my mind was the idea that I’d constantly have to be on the defensive to stand up for my beliefs and values, Israel among them,” said Barbara Efraim, a UCLA senior. “It’s frustrating to have to sit through class and watch videos calling Israel an apartheid state. JerusalemOnlineU.com has provided me with the information I need to better educate myself and counter the propaganda presented in the classroom.”

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STEP UP FOR ISRAEL is an initiative of JersualemOnlineU.com, an innovative, film-based education portal committed to teaching and inspiring people of all ages about Judaism and Israel. Crossing the Line won an award from the Hudson Institute Film Festival in 2010. CONTACT US FOR A PHONE OR EMAIL INTERVIEW WITH JERUSALEMONLINEU.COM PRESIDENT AMY HOLTZ.