By Masada Siegel, Special To The Dayton Jewish Observer

Molly Rosen’s first taste of anti-Zionism and antisemitism on campus turned her into an activist.

In 2012, she was a newly-elected student government representative at the University of Michigan. At a student government meeting, an Ann Arbor resident said, “Anyone wearing the Israeli army uniform is a Ku Klux Klansman who does not deserve any place at the table in polite society because they are racist killers trying to break the back of Palestine, and they have succeeded.”

Molly says she felt confused, angry, and frustrated. “I was not prepared to be told that if I cared about human rights, I could not support Israel.”

The Los Angeles native was pro-Israel and felt that what this person said was not grounded in facts.

“But I couldn’t find the words to express my frustrations and defend (the Jewish) state,” she says. “My lack of factual knowledge was frightening. If I wasn’t going to defend Israel in central student government, who would?”

She enrolled in Arab-Israeli political science and history courses to make sense of the political turmoil that grips the Middle East; the more she learned, the more she wanted to know.

Soon, she realized that learning the facts, meeting with experts, and even attending national advocacy conferences wasn’t enough.

“I needed a support system of students on campus who shared my concerns, beliefs and frustrations,” she says.

With four friends, Molly created a dialogue-centered Israel advocacy group on campus, the Israel Leadership Education Advocacy Dialogue (I-LEAD).

Professionals with Hillel, Camera, and StandWithUs helped provide I-LEAD with advice and the resources to meet hate with facts and civil discourse.

“Today, I-LEAD provides an engaging environment where thought-provoking conversation, advocacy training and education regarding the state of Israel can take place,” she says. “I could not stand idly by while my campus was infected with hate and biased information.”

The Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton will bring Molly to town for two programs on May 3: a lunch and discussion about Israel advocacy for teenagers, and to talk about her experiences on campus as part of the Federation’s Presidents Dinner fund-raiser that evening.

When anti-Israel activists attempted to push a Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) agenda at the university, I-LEAD responded with an Invest in Peace campaign.

“From divestment to anti-Israel protests to mock evictions and more, the journey wasn’t easy,” she explains. “I felt proud that instead of yelling and screaming at those who did not share our ideologies, we insisted on building bridges with others and behaving in an honorable fashion.”

A lesson she passes on to Jewish college students is that advocacy requires “awareness, determination, education, passion, and optimism.”

Molly would become vice-speaker of the student government before she graduated in 2014; her activism inspired her to pursue a dual degree in political science and Judaic studies.

She’s now a paralegal specialist with the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York.

“I want to empower current students to stand up for the state of Israel,” she says, “and thank those who gave us the strength to keep fighting for what we believed in.”

Molly Rosen will lead an Israel advocacy program for teenagers on Sunday, May 3 at 12:30 p.m. at the Boonshoft CJCE, 525 Versailles Dr., Centerville. The free program, sponsored by the Jewish Federation, includes a kosher lunch. R.S.V.P. by April 27 to Caryl Segalewitz, at 610-1555 or CSegalewitz@jfgd.net.

Rosen will also talk briefly about her experiences with BDS on campus at the Jewish Federation’s Presidents Dinner on Sunday, May 3 at 6 p.m. at the Dayton Art Institute.

To read the complete April 2015 Dayton Jewish Observer, click here.