Read Our First Camera on Campus Magazine ever!
Twenty three years ago we published the first CAMERA on Campus Magazine, marking the launch of our campus work, with over 50,000 copies sent to 400 different Hillels across the country. We were one of the first organizations to put a focus on pro-Israel activism on the college campus, founded before Hasbara, StandWithUs, David Project and other groups that help defend Israel on campus.
Back then Israel had not yet become a technological hub, we were more worried about inaccuracies in campus radio programs than on the internet, and Borders (on page two), was just a local book store in Ann Arbor busy attacking Israel (since then Borders became a nationwide chain of book stores and in 2011 declared bankruptcy and closed down all of their stores)
In many ways, the situation has improved on many college campuses: for example on page two we write about nearly 100 anti-Israel pieces in the University of Michigan paper over the course of just one year, such a thing has not happened in a while (at CAMERA we believe that no inaccurate article about Israel in the campus paper should go unchallenged). Yet in other ways the situation has become much worse. More inaccuracies and straight out lies about Israel are being perpetuated. Anti-Israel hate groups such as SJP are more organized, and groups such as J Street often spread inaccurate information about Israel.
Another interesting find is on page three, when readers are warned about Hamas. Sadly, 23 years later, and Hamas is still a very real threat to Israel, Palestinians, and all others who care about democracy and human rights.
By Gilad Skolnick