1991-1992 Rothberg Yearbook

Our Power
One weekend at a youth hostel in Jerusalem a group was formed under the direction of Dan Marens.
About fifteen Hebrew University OYP students spent Shabbat together eating , drinking, and above all,
listening to various speakers who shared with us their knowledge about student activism in the U.S.A.
while we shared ours. We discussed the various problems on our campus and came out with one
common denominator: GENERAL APATHY. Students have the power to stand up and attract attention,
but Jewish students rarely get involved in their own cause. An enlightening weekend outlined the
problems for us, and generated ideas for stimulating Jewish student activism when we return from
Israel. We, w ho have taken the initiative and spent a year in Israel, have the capacity to be leaders
when we go home. Do you know that
90% of Jewish children attend
University? This makes the college
campus a prime target for Jewish
activism and it is our intention to make
it so. Our group pledged to form a
national network to work together for
the same cause: Ourselves: The Jewish
People. If we don’t stand up and speak,
who will?
We have begun our activism here in
Jerusalem by focusing on a crucial
problem: Syrian Jews. There are 4500
Jews being held hostage in Syria, and
unless students take immediate action
to pressure the government for their
release, they may live under cruel
dictatorship forever. On April 8,1992
Americans Battling for Syrian Hostages
(AMBUSH) held a demonstration in
front of the American consulate in Jerusalem which demanded President Bush to use his power to
pressure Dictator Hafez-el-Assad to let our people go. The goal was to gain sufficient media attention
to let the leader know that we, the voters of America, want this issue dealt with quickly and efficiently.
We have the power to do this. The time is right. This is an election year and our goal is to make Syrian
Jews an issue in the campaign. Therefore AMBUSH has decided that they will make every effort to get
the attention of the candidates. A full page ad in the New York times calling for the release of our
Jewish brothers from Syria will attract worldwide attention, but we need your help! We want 25,000
signature of Jewish students on this advertisement. We need help on your campuses at home. If each
student can collect signatures from their campuses, if we can all work together as a nationwide
network, then we can make our demands heard. It is our duty to help those Syrian Jews attain
freedom. As we do this, American Jewish students will hopefully step forward and show some pride in
who they are and what they stand for. Israel inspired us, but now we want to somehow inspire them.
The future depends on us. Don’t watch it happen, MAKE IT HAPPEN.
JOIN US FOR THE BATTLE!!
by SS and NL
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