Evans made his introductory comments before the documentary, “Crossing the Line, The Intafida Comes to Campus,” was viewed by a generationally diverse crowd of some 120 individuals at the Jewish Community Center of Rhode Island’s social hall on the evening of Monday, June 28.

Produced by filmmakers Raphael Shore and Wayne Kopping, “Crossing the Line” portrays professors’ and Muslim student groups’ pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activities on several North American college campuses.

In the film, Roz Rothstein, the founder of Stand With Us, a nonprofit organization that works to tell Israel’s story to community organizations and on college campuses, quotes Natan Sharansky, a former Israeli politician, Soviet refusenik and prisoner, and human rights advocate, in defining anti-Semitism. “It’s the three Ds,” she said. “If someone delegitimizes Israel, applies a double standard and demonizes Israel, that’s anti-Semitism.”

In the film, Jewish students at several campuses whose professors participated in pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel rallies are interviewed. They are uncomfortable in those classrooms, reluctant to discuss Zionism and Israel with those professors and fear grade retaliation if they offer a counter-viewpoint.

The film suggests that Hamas has helped fund the creation or expansion of Muslim student groups that were portrayed as virulently anti-Zionist.

“These college students are next year’s leaders,” said Rothstein. What will happen, she asked, when professors don’t present fair and objective viewpoints?

Follow the money

It’s not just Hamas that’s pouring money into college campuses, the film said. Saudi Arabia and other countries have poured millions of dollars into several prestigious universities, including Harvard, many of the University of California system’s campuses and Columbia, for departments of Middle Eastern or Islamic studies. These programs or departments, said one film speaker, are hostile to both the U.S. and to Israel. Since 1995, North American college campuses have received more than $300 million; as a result, students are growing more hostile to Western society, the film stated. The battle, which affects us all, the film asserted, attacks our precious values of democracy and freedom of speech.

And, although the film’s anti-Israel groups call the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) one of the world’s most violent armies, Israel’s soldiers are shown warning Gaza’s residents against sheltering terrorists. With phone calls and flyers, Israel warned people in Gaza about the planned retaliation with sufficient time to seek safety. Richard Kemp, an official with the British Army, is quoted, “The IDF saved private citizens’ lives.”

Hamas, on the other hand, stated that its goal is to kill as many Israelis as possible. We’re not against Muslims,” said Avi Gordon, the campus coordinator for the New York chapter of Stand With Us. “We’re against Hamas.”

After the 40-minute film, many audience members left the social hall before the question-and-answer session ended. Gordon explained how interested individuals might participate – meeting with local elected officials at the Statehouse, communicating with national politicians and disseminating Stand With Us information to college students and others.
Calling the film “awesome,” one audience member suggested that every Jewish day school be required to include classes in historical and present-day Israel. Then, he said, students would be equipped to counter inaccurate or dishonest assertions about Israel, once they arrive on college campuses.

A teacher at both the Harry Elkin Midrasha Community High School and the Jewish Community Day School uses materials from Stand With Us and The David Project, said the Bureau of Jewish Education’s Shari Weinberger. We have, she said, valuable information for our students here in Rhode Island.

Michael Oren, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, was unable to deliver a speech earlier this year at the University of California at Irvine, due to constant interruptions from students, 11 of whom were arrested. The Muslim Student Union issued a statement strongly opposing Oren’s planned speech. The university banned the Muslim Student Union for one year, beginning Sept. 1, and placed it on disciplinary probation for another year, actions Gordon called “a huge success for us.” It’s OK to disagree with someone, he said, but not while someone else is speaking. “That’s disrespectful.”