J Street U

J Street U

History

Founded in 2004 by veteran members of the Israeli left and their American supporters – Ameinu, Meretz USA, Habonim Dror North America and Hashomer Hatzair North America – the Union of Progressive Zionists (UPZ) was created to present students on campus with an alternative to the extremist voices from both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian debate. This national network of student activists was active as the UPZ for 5 years and in May 2009, the UPZ became the J Street Education Fund (JSEF) and all UPZ campus activities were incorporated into JSEF as "J Street U".

Mission

The organization's mission statement is found on their website:

"As supporters of Israel, we are firmly committed to protecting the future of the State of Israel as a Jewish democratic homeland. We believe the fates of a secure Israel and a viable Palestinian state are intertwined. The peace and security of both peoples is achievable only through a negotiated, two-state solution. J Street U is committed to creating an alternate approach to Israel advocacy that embraces open dialogue and constructive activism, and that warrants critical analysis of policies – be they Israeli, Palestinian, American or other."

J Street U supports Israel as a democratic home for the Jewish people, the full and equal rights of Arab and other non-Jewish citizens of Israel and the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own.

Personnel

Student Board

2009-2010 board (from left): Lauren Barr, Tal Schecter, Aimee Mayer, Sophia Manuel, (Robert Fares not pictured)

The Student Board is responsible for setting policies, guidelines and statements governing the J Street U student network and is involved in all aspects of the J Street U organization, including campaign design, staff hiring and budgeting.

2009-2010

Members of the 2009-2010 Student Board were:

• Sophia Manuel - President, Junior, Brown University
• Lauren Barr, Junior, American University
• Robert Fares, Senior, Washington University in St. Louis
• Aimee Mayer, Senior, University of Maryland – College Park
• Tal Schechter, Junior, Hampshire College

Staff

As at April 27, 2010, the following served on the staff for the organization:

• Tamara Shapiro, Director, J Street U
• Sarah Beller, Director of Programming and Education, J Street Education Fund
• Andrew Meyerson, Development & Communications Associate, J Street Education Fund
• Kate Press, East Coast Organizer, J Street U
• Elizabet Wendt, West Coast & Midwest Organizer, J Street U

Campus Liasons

Campus liaisons are J Street U's initial point of contact at universities. As at April 27, 2010, the following served as campus liasons:

• Lauren Barr, American University
• Sarah Alexander, Barnard College
• Ryan Simon, Berkeley City College
• Jeremy Sherer, Brandeis University
• Sophie Manuel, Brown University
• Josh Gajer, Cardozo Law School
• Yahel Matalon, Columbia University
• Abby Schiff, Harvard University
• Dina Pomeranz, Harvard University
• Sarah Friedman, Kenyon College
• Daniel Haboucha, McGill University
• Mori Rothman and Mimi Micner, Middlebury College
• David Fisher, Sam Kleinman, West Coast
• Yoni Friedman and Brandon Davis, Princeton University
• Max Berger, Reed College
• Bryan Mann, Temple University
• Laura Kaplan, Tufts University
• Gon Carpel, UCLA
• Sarah Zwickel, University of Denver
• Aimee Mayer, University of Maryland
• Soshi Gottes, University of Miami
• Alex Levy and Marni Falk, University of Michigan
• *Pending, University of Redlands
• Eric Salitsky, University of Wisconsin
• Ben Reiter, Washington University
• Nina Fawaz, Wayne State University
• Micah Weiss and Emily Hoffman, Wesleyan University
• Sasha Parsley, Western Washington University
• Ben Alter, Yale University