Students Supporting Israel Explained

Students Supporting Israel (also known as SSI) is a Zionist international student activist movement that supports Israel as a Jewish and democratic nation-state. "SSI mission is to be a clear and confident pro-Israel voice, and to support students in grassroots activism". As of June 2024, SSI has more than 130 chapters across campuses in the United States, Canada, and Argentina.^[1] SSI was founded in 2012 in Minnesota, in March of 2014 Indiana University and DePaul University students registered SSI chapters on their campuses turning SSI to a national movement. The first university to open an SSI club in Canada was the Toronto Metropolitan University (previously Ryerson University) on April of 2014. By October of 2014 and the new fall semester, SSI was approved as a 501c3 non-profit organization and operated on 27 campuses. From October 2023 until the end of the 2023/4 academic year, more than 50 schools started an SSI club on their campus. SSI national offices are in Minneapolis. The founders of the organizations are Ilan Sinelnikov, Valeria Chazin, and Naor Bitton.

Campaigns

• Palestinian Apartheid Week: Students Supporting Israel highlights the apartheid policies of the Palestinian government - including the systemic ethnic discrimination against Jews in Palestinian-controlled territories - in a campaign called Palestinian Apartheid Week.
• UNDENIED: The “UNDENIED” project is a unique Holocaust memorial and awareness initiative where during International Holocaust Remembrance Day Students Supporting Israel chapters and activists hand out free books on the Holocaust on college campuses across North America.
• Lt. Col, Eyal Dror Reserves Tour: Chapters of Students Supporting Israel located on various California campuses hosted Lt. Col, Eyal Dror Reserves, the commanding officer of Israel's Operation Good Neighbor that treated thousands of Syrian civilians in hospitals along the border. He presented Israel’s humanitarian efforts, and the story of this important mission.^[2]
• "Never Forget" 09.11.2001: This campaign was established to show solidarity with the families of the victims and remember the attacks on America, Israel's greatest ally, on September 11, 2001, while simultaneously drawing the parallels of America's alliance with Israel against terrorism.^[3]

Awards and achievements

• April 2024, Valeria Chazin was picked as Hadassah's 18 Zionist Women of the year.
• March 2024, Simon Wiesenthal Center Medal of Valor Award.
• In 2015, SSI won the Outstanding Outreach and Pro Israel Activism Award by Israel’s Consulate to the Midwest.^[4]
• In 2014 it won the CAMERA David Bar Ilan award, as well as the Zionist Organization of America Annual Award.^[5]

As a student group, it has demonstrated influence in student government bodies on several occasions including the Israeli Academic Cooperation position statement at the University of Minnesota, which paved the way for a similar Israeli Support Resolution at the University of Georgia followed shortly by Texas A&M University.^{[6] [7] [8] [9] [10]}

Notes and References

1. Web site: List of Chapters. Students Supporting Israel.
2. Web site: Lt. Col, Eyal Dror Reserves Tour .
3. Web site: Never Forget Campaign . SSI Movement . 25 October 2019.
4. Web site: Yom Ha'atzmaut celebration for Israel's 67th Independence Day . embassies.gov.il . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150518091628/http://embassies.gov.il/chicago/NewsAndEvents/Pages/Yom-Ha%27atzmaut-celebration-for-Israel%27s-67th-Independence-Day.aspx . 2015-05-18.
5. Web site: Students Supporting Israel at the University of Minnesota Honored at CAMERA's Annual Gala In Focus. Camera on Campus. 30 April 2015.
6. Tessa%20Veksler&text=On%20March%2024th%2C%20I%20was,have%20taught%20me%20many%20lessons. was elected] as a student body President of the University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB). In 2024 SSI Columbia Board member Maya Platek was elected as a student body President of the Columbia University School of General Studies. web. Ghermezian. Shiryn. 2015′s First Resolution Calling for More Investment in Israel Passed by University of Georgia Students. algemeiner.com. The Algemeiner. 1 May 2015.
7. Web site: Duke. Michael. Anti-Israel divestment defeated at University of Texas. Jewish Herald-Voice. 1 May 2015.
8. Web site: Reid. Kylee. Israeli support finds home at Texas A&M. The Battalion. 1 May 2015.
9. Web site: Jacobs. Michael. Dawgs Pound Home Support for Israel. Atlanta Jewish Times. Southern Israelites. 1 May 2015.
10. Web site: Jakobs. Barry. The Minneapolis model: Innovating Israel advocacy. Times of Israel. The Times of Israel. 1 May 2015.