This article appeared in the August 1, 2003 Jewish Advocate.

Buy Israel Campaign a Campus Hit

By Susie Davidson

Advocate Correspondent

Many American Jews are willing to pitch in for Israel during this difficult time in its history. Individuals and organizations have sponsored creative efforts such as Shop Israel and the June 15 Celebrate Israel event at the World Trade Center. But it’s never enough, and as long as the tough times continue and there are potential demographic markets to approach and innovative strategies to employ, pro-Israel mavericks like Jeremy Poock will keep pulling their weight for the cause.

Poock, a 28-year-old attorney, founded CelebrateIsrael.com, a company that works with nonprofits to market Israeli products as fundraising opportunities. In this effort, he sought to stimulate both interest and tourism in Israel by fostering a wider exposure to its most successful and popular products. While he believed in the great value of missions and tour programs, he felt that through his marketing campaigns, he could significantly increase the amount of people experiencing all that Israel has to offer.

His new venture, the “Buy Israel Campaign,” is a joint effort between twenty groups who include USD/Hagshama, the World Zionist Organization, Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, and other nonprofits. Over the past school year, the alliance, called “The Israel on Campus Coalition,” imported and marketed over $15,000 worth of Israeli goods to national college campuses, including Brandeis, Harvard, Boston University and Babson.

“The ‘Buy Israel Campaign’ presented student activists with an opportunity to bring popular Israeli products to their campuses in a positive, non-political setting,” said Poock. “The campaign also sought to support Israel’s economy, which it clearly did,” he added. Featured items have included IDF t-shirts, Steve’s Packs, Elite chocolates, and Dead Sea body care products.

“Thousands of college students were able to showcase, advocate and celebrate Israel on campus,” said Shira Landau, the Campus Israel Affairs Fellow for Hillel, whose Center for Israel Affairs selected the campaign, as used by Duke University during their Yom Hatzmaut, “Israel Day,” as one of the 101 most impressive Israel programs of the year.

At Harvard, the campaign was added to the November, 2002 “Invest in Israel” program of the Harvard Students for Israel. “It was a good opportunity to remind students that there are many dimensions to Israeli culture,” said HIS member Shira Pinnas.

“It’s a simple, nationwide Zionist campaign that student activists can implement without planning a year in advance,” said USD/Hagshama National Director Shachar Yanai. “They can easily add it to pre-existing, exciting events on campus.”

“It meant a lot to me to see so many students excited to both see and buy Israeli products,” added Elyse Schneiderman of the Yale Students for Israel.

For the upcoming school year, USD and CelebrateIsrael.com plan to expand the campaign to the web. New products, such as Israeli pop music, jewelry and merchandise customized to student organizations will be added, with new sponsors and participants anticipated.

“I believe that after this year’s pilot, more organizations will want to help us reach our ultimate goal of reaching $1 million worth of sales of Israeli products on campuses across North America,” said Yanai.

To its advocates, the campaign is a small, but steady step in the right direction. “This is not the solution to the problem of decreased Israeli tourism, but it is helping to fill in the gap in the Israeli economy,” said Central Florida University student Noah Saposnik, where students presented the Campaign at an Israel Teach-in weekend in Orlando in April.

“Bringing Israeli products to 18 campuses across the United States added a new and different dimension to Israel advocacy on campus,” said Poock. “By feeling, touching, and experiencing Israel, students enjoy Israeli products and advocate for Israel outside of the political lens that all too often dominates Israeli programming on campus.”

For information on the Buy Israel campaign, please call 617-285-3325, fax 617-507-8177, e-mail: jpoock@celebrateisrael.com or visit www.CelebrateIsrael.com.