Students Celebrate Israel Week at the University of Illinois - UI-7 News
Channel: Illini Public Affairs Committee - IlliniPAC
Date: 30/11/2017

Israel Week is a campus-wide celebration highlighting Israeli culture and seeks to promote diversity and coexistence at the University of Illinois. The theme for Fall 2017 is "Filling our Campus with Love." Israel Week is sponsored by Illini Hillel, Illini Chabad, IlliniPAC, and Illini Students Supporting Israel. UI-7 News' Jane Lee tells the stories of Elan Karoll, IlliniPAC co-President, and Waga Brok, Jewish Agency for Israel Fellow, and learns what Israel Week means to them.

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TRANSCRIPT:

[ANCHOR]: Israel Week kicked off this Monday on the quad as students gathered to recognize the Jewish and pro Israel community. Jane Lee introduces you to one student who is eager to take part in the celebration.

[JANE LEE]: Elan Karoll became involved with the Jewish and pro Israel community right when he started college. Karoll is now a junior and the co-president of the Illini Public Affairs Committee who says Israel Week is a great time to celebrate his identity. 

[ELAN KAROLL]: "I'm a Jewish student on campus and there's 3,500 other Jewish students on campus and for us it really means a lot that we're celebrating our Jewish identity and celebrating Israel and its culture."

[JANE LEE]: Israel week is a collaborative and philanthropic event hosted by the Illini Chabad, IlliniPAC, Illini Hillel and Illini Students Supporting Israel. 

[ELAN KAROLL]: "We come up with plan of events for the week which are fun, engaging, educational, and really focused around themes of inclusion and celebrating diversity."

[JANE LEE]: In light of the celebration of Israel Week, t-shirts are being sold on the quad to raise money for an organization called save a child's heart, which provides money for Israeli doctors to give free heart transplants to middle eastern children.

[JANE LEE]: A U of I fellow, Waga Brok, spoke last night at Israel Week's first event. She says that holding conversations on Jewish and Israeli culture helps eliminate stereotypes.

[WAGA BROK]: "More people need to be able to ask questions and be willing to learn more than assume things about different groups and religions."

[JANE LEE]: Karoll is excited to share the connection between the university and the State of Israel. 

[ELAN KAROLL]: "It is really a celebration of a really important community here on campus that often doesn't get enough of a voice. We're here trying to raise that voice and really spread positive messages because we need that in this time."

[JANE LEE]: Israel Week will reoccur in the spring semester. In Urbana, this is Jane Lee for UI-7 News.
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Video posted with permission of UI-7 News. All rights reserved.

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About Us:
Illini Public Affairs Committee - commonly called IlliniPAC - is a bipartisan, pro Israel student organization at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) dedicated to strengthening the relationship between the United States and Israel, on campus and in Congress. Since 1984, we have been accomplishing this goal by advocating for elected officials to support a strong U.S.-Israel alliance, educating the student body on the importance of supporting Israel, and engaging student leaders across campus to promote a pro-Israel environment at the University. We specifically seeks out individuals who have identified themselves as leaders because they have the distinctive power to impact others. IlliniPAC members build relationships with these leaders to help them create personal and political connections with Israel. We believe these strong relationships will prompt students and elected officials to act in support of the U.S.-Israel relationship now and in the future.