On July 14th, The Iran Nuclear Deal between Iran and the P5+1 countries was released. Congress was given a sixty-day period to review the details and vote on the proposal. Over the next few weeks the deal will be presented in the House.
As the final review approaches, America waits in anticipation of the results. Chief among those concerned with the outcome are Pro-Israel Americans due to the threat of a nuclear Iran to both America and Israel.
Within the Yeshiva University community there is a staunch, vocal opposition against the deal from political student groups. One group, Yeshiva University’s Political Awareness Committee (YUPAC) has been working all summer on connecting with YU students who are worried about the deal and mobilizing them to take action to prevent its enactment.
According to YUPAC’s president, Racheli Weil, this has been more of a challenge than would be expected. While Weil predicts that most people at YU would say they are against the deal when asked, she says that it is another thing to be against the deal and to care enough to take action. Many students may have an opinion, but most students are not necessarily so opinionated as to call their representative–especially during summer vacation.
Similarly, YUPAC’s AIPAC liaison Lizzi Peled, along with other YU students, developed a mobilization plan fit for this situation at AIPAC’s Summer Saban Leadership Seminar. Saban is a three-day seminar for pro-Israel students held in Washington, D.C. every winter and summer. Peled said that this summer, the students participating had one focus only: how to convince their peers on campus why the proposed deal is insufficient, and how to get them to take action.
Peled and the YU students at the conference realized that they had to take advantage of the means available to them while off campus. The most productive way of reaching students while on vacation was via the infamous Facebook groups Stern College: In the Know and Yeshiva University: In the Know. They posted calls for action in both groups, stating that students who are concerned and want to do something to act on their concerns should fill out a document with their email addresses. From there, YUPAC members would be in contact with them regarding which representatives to call and email. Additionally, there was an option to receive informative emails about the details of the deal, and an option to schedule a call with a YUPAC member to learn more.
This call for action generated many responses, and YUPAC has placed many calls to New York representatives over the past few weeks. Peled even said that she saw a survey about schools in the northeast which showed that YU students accounted for the most calls generated for a campus in the northeast.
While this is certainly a feat, YUPAC president Weil feels that Yeshiva can generate even more calls and emails. She is confident that once everyone is back on campus, more people will be responsive toward YUPAC’s calls to action.
Now that school is in session, YUPAC has other plans to advocate for mobilization. Esti Hirt, YUPAC’s director of programming, explained that throughout the three weeks that students are on campus before the holidays YUPAC members will be positioned with phones and computers throughout both the uptown and downtown campuses.
Students will not have to write out an email or even dial a number, On the phone, they will simply have to state their name, school address, and opposition to the deal. For the email, students will only be required to type their name and email address into a pre- existing form.
Hirt also said that Evan Ribot, AIPAC’s northeast campus field organizer, will be visiting both campuses in the first week of September to help out with the mobilization. Ribot will meet with key students and potentially some YU administrators about the importance of rejecting the deal and generating more people to take action.
According to Peled, who has been involved with AIPAC since high school, a visit like this from an AIPAC representative is unusual.
For Weil, the next three weeks are going to be jam-packed. “Although we certainly have a lot more people to mobilize, and hardly three weeks to do it,” she said. “I am confident that YU students will realize the strength of their voices and the urgency of this issue. I am confident that they will respond to the call for action.”