From June 11 to 14, the American Jewish Committee (AJC) held its Global Forum in Israel to celebrate the 75th year of the Jewish State.
Jewish community members Emma Jacobson, Eli Maker and Alexis Greenberg each traveled to Tel Aviv to participate in the conference. The Global Forum included leaders educating attendees about antisemitism, the state of Israel, and more.
“It was incredible that all of the Kansas City representatives at Global Forum were young Jewish advocates that JCRB|AJC has had the pleasure of working with through our Prepare to Respond, Educate to Prevent (PREP) education initiatives aimed at educating and empowering young Jews,” said Sarah Markowitz, director of education and programs at JCRB|AJC. “The students have all dedicated time to learning about antisemitism and Israel and have been trained to stand up against antisemitism and advocate for the Jewish people. Attending the Global Forum allowed them to see that the work they do in their own communities has a global impact.”
Maker got involved when he first participated in JCRB|AJC’s Leaders for Tomorrow (LFT) cohort. Markowitz chose Maker to represent the Kansas City LFT cohort to attend the Global Forum.
Greenberg was invited to attend through AJC global's campus affairs program. She had previously done the LFT cohort in the 2021-2022 school year. Greenberg didn’t know many people going to the trip but was able to meet young Jewish advocates from all over the country through various social media group chats.
Greenberg said there were somewhere between 300 and 400 students on the “campus affairs track” in attendance at the conference.
“I decided to go because it was a great opportunity to learn more about Israel and Jewish advocacy work, make new friends and network, and get to go on a trip to Israel,” she said.
Every participant who attended the Global Forum was able to choose which workshops and sessions they wanted to attend. Most of the sessions took place in Tel Aviv. Greenberg chose her sessions based on the descriptions given, saying she wanted a variety of topics and sessions where there would be a diverse group of people.
“I attended an Israeli diaspora [panel], which was really interesting,” Maker said. “It talked a lot about the Abraham courts, and we heard from people who are representatives from the UAE. They talked a lot about how the [Emirates] is the only country in the world where the government built a synagogue, which felt really interesting.”
Greenberg was able to hear directly from Israeli journalists about their experiences.
“Sunday night I attended the opening plenary,” Greenberg said. “They had a panel of journalists speaking about how reporting on Israel affects them and what they feel their role is in the recent protests about judicial reform and the changes happening around Israel.”
The Global Forum’s offsite events included taking participants to the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem to learn more about various conflicts happening throughout the Israeli government and the Middle East.
“I participated in a Jerusalem one,” Maker said, “where we went to… a big school with Israelis and Palestinian kids. We got to talk with some of the kids. It was really impactful, because you barely ever see that and never in the media.”
He also learned about a lot of the conflicts both inside the government itself, and with other countries.
Jacobson said she appreciated the forum’s coverage of Israeli conflicts.
“The Global Forum did not shy away from highlighting the struggle over the proposed judicial reform by current Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, large-scale protests and more,” Jacobson said.
Greenberg was able to network with peers while learning how to combat antisemitism and tie it into her studies at the University of Kansas.
“I attended my favorite session of the entire conference, an advocacy and action launch about the global reach in the fight against antisemitism,” Greenberg said. “AJC had six or seven special envoys from various countries talk about the plans and efforts they've been implementing in their own countries to combat antisemitism.”
Having this experience as Maker’s first time in Israel was impactful for him; he felt closer to Judaism and helped him gain a new respect for many religious stories that took place in Israel. Following this trip, he plans on staying active in the Jewish community at school and the Kansas City area. He has a new level of knowledge to help advocate and teach about antisemitism.
Greenberg and Jacobson will also continue to advocate and be active using what they’ve learned from the Global Forum.
“I applied for AJC's Campus Global Board, which consists of 20 U.S. Jewish students and 10 international students, and would love to get involved more in AJC's work on campuses and beyond in the coming years,” Greenberg said. “I will continue to advocate for myself and my friends/peers on campus and participate in important discourse.”
