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Vanessa Vanderbilt

Israel is an Ally of Young Americans & Canadians

The flags of America, Israel, and Canada.

It’s September 2023 and I was just about to start my new role as President and Founder of the American and Canadian Society at Brunel University London in England.

At the time my university had been ranked as one of the top universities for international outlook in the world, and as such there were numerous cultures at my university representing many different countries, and ideologies. I personally felt it was important to have some American and Canadian cultural representation at Brunel University London in the form of a society where Americans and Canadians could have some fun, and being that both America and Canada share similar cultures, this was an awesome opportunity I was excited to lead.

The only problem was xenophobia. In hindsight, even before the attacks on October 7th 2023 happened in Israel, I could sense a deeply troubling anti-Israel, anti-western movement growing amongst some university students and therefore I quickly learned that being the President of an American and Canadian Society at university was not going to be easy. I was receiving some backlash from students at university for proudly founding an American and Canadian Society and expressing American and Canadian culture and while that backlash was difficult to endure, I knew I was never going to let anybody end my aspirations of seeing American and Canadian culture thrive at Brunel University London, however I also knew that I was going to have to be a pretty tough woman in order to run this university society.

I felt very alone and that was until I met, became friends with and started to partner with Israeli students on campus in September 2023.

I had openly expressed at university my frustrations about the backlash from other students I had received, and it was at that point that Israeli students on campus reached out to me.

After getting to know each other and listening to each other’s stories, it turned out that both myself as well as many Israeli students on campus were having similar experiences regarding facing backlash for proudly expressing the cultures we loved.

Suddenly, for the 1st time since I founded the American and Canadian Society at my university, I didn’t feel alone any longer. Israeli students were the only nationals out of dozens of different countries represented at Brunel University London that reached out to me, and wanted to be partners and friends of the American & Canadian Society for the academic year. And this was in September 2023, before the attacks of October 7th 2023 happened in Israel.

It wasn’t much longer after having this initial contact and becoming friends with Israeli students early in the academic year, that we vowed we would work together and bring together Americans, Canadians, and Israelis to engage in various cultural events throughout the academic year.

Something that was key to building an alliance between Americans, Canadians, and Israelis at university was encouraging and spreading education about each other’s cultures, such as learning the history of Israel and the Jewish people as well as North American culture. I can safely say that after spreading education about Israel and showing American and Canadian students at Brunel University London that the Israelis wanted to be friends and partners, what I found was that the overwhelming number of Americans and Canadians on campus were supportive and happy that these new friends had reached out and become the partners of the American and Canadian Society. This remained the case even after the attacks in Israel on October 7th 2023 and throughout the academic year with the ongoing Israel-Hamas war. I found this huge amount of support from a diverse group of American and Canadian students at my university to be dramatically divergent compared to the actions of thousands of domestic American and Canadian university students who began to protest Israel’s very existence on American and Canadian campuses across North America after the attacks of October 7th 2023 happened in Israel.

If there was anything I learned from such an alliance that Americans, Canadians, and Israelis shared at Brunel University London, it was that receiving proper education about each other’s cultures was paramount to see such an alliance succeed. In light of this, I truly believe that a lot of university campuses in America and Canada would be much more friendly towards Israel if proper education on the history of Israel and the Jewish people was prioritized better.

At every step of the way, the Israeli friends of the American and Canadian Society were there to support American and Canadian students at university, including being there to celebrate American and Canadian holidays such as Thanksgiving. When I began planning Brunel University London’s 1st ever Thanksgiving dinner party on campus in November 2023, I expected a low turnout but to my surprise around 50 people showed up and I completely ran out of food and seats for everybody. The Israeli friends of our society were there to help us plan Thanksgiving as well as attend it.

While the bullying I was experiencing as the President of an American and Canadian Society didn’t end, there was a growing feeling on campus that Americans, Canadians, and Israelis at Brunel University London were staunch allies and thus none of us were going to be shunned from expressing our cultures if there was enough of us to be there for each other. I was also honored to be one of the only non-Israeli or non-Jewish society President’s in the United Kingdom to be invited alongside many Jewish and Israeli student leaders in the country to attend the British Parliament where we spoke with senior parliamentarians about the need to combat the alarming rise in antisemitism occurring at universities globally after the attacks of October 7th 2023 in Israel.

Needless to say, while both American and Canadian university campuses have seen anti-Israel encampment activity, having experienced Israelis at my university come to my rescue when I needed friends as the President of an American and Canadian cultural society, this has shown me that Israel is one of the best friends that America and Canada will ever have, and that Israel is certainly the greatest ally of America and Canada in the Middle East. Israel shares values with America and Canada such as the values of democracy, liberty, and personal freedom which are values that are hard to come by in many other parts of the Middle East.

Today, after engaging with the Jewish community further in my own time, outside of being the President of the American and Canadian Society at my university, I am in the process of converting to Judaism myself, which is something I never thought about doing until I experienced the beauty, warmth, and incredibly vibrant and welcoming culture that the Jewish people have shown me in the past year.

Given my unique experience in representing American and Canadian culture abroad, my message to young Americans and Canadians would be that if they looked past the biases contained in many news outlets and expanded their own personal education, they will find that the people of Israel are one of the best friends and allies they will ever have and certainly are worthwhile partners to have in many different places within this planet, including at university!

About the Author
Vanessa Vanderbilt is a law graduate in the process of converting to Judaism and has served as a Law Review Editor in Chief, Litigation intern, Moot Court Competition Champion & International Competitor, Youth Political Policy Advisor and a University Leader of an American & Canadian cultural society.
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