Organizing Principles: Lessons from Berkeley

Berkeley added another item to the list of reasons it’s known as our nation’s most liberal university: the battle over a student government resolution that would divest UCB’s resources from Israel. The resolution was initially vetoed by the student body president and was defeated upon a second round of debate. Forward ran a great article today about the strategies used by pro-Israel activists to win the day:

Adam Naftalin-Kelman, the Hillel’s newly installed executive director, said that the strategy for countering divestment efforts was devised at a roundtable meeting convened by Hillel and attended by representatives of local branches of the Anti-Defamation League, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the Jewish Community Relations Council, J Street, Israel’s consul general in San Francisco and local rabbis.

What should be instantly clear from the above list of organizations is that this is no small-fry effort. A major American university (even an admittedly radical one) divesting from Israel would be a huge blow to Israel education and support efforts. The fact that all of these groups–notably AIPAC and J-Street–came together for this one purpose indicates that this issue was a very, very big deal outside of the university committee.

Now, I need to confess to something: Adam Naftalin-Kelman is more than just a name on a page for me. Before he was working in Berkeley, he was directing Hillel in Boulder, and I worked closely with him when I was a leader in the organization. I credit a lot of my knowledge of organizing to him, which definitely affects my analysis of this situation.

Early on, it appears that Jewish and pro-Israel organizations on Berkeley’s campus either did not know about the divestment bill or did not see it as a serious threat. Either one of these situations is plausible, as a town like Berkeley is often flooded with ultra-liberal rants and suggestions (which, I should add, makes the town a lot like Boulder). The pro-Israel community certainly needs to pick its battles in such places, and this proved to be one such important battle.

Once it became obvious that this was an important fight, the Jewish community displayed a number of good organizing tactics:

1. Partnership with other organizations: it’s easier to get things done with more people on board. This is an issue that unites the pro-Israel movement and brings groups with disparate views on Israel together at the same table. Displaying a unified front against unfair discrimination is really important. Think about how effective this effort would be if it had become a platform for AIPAC and J-Street to squabble about policy principles.
2. Bring in the big guns: a letter from Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel, among others, certainly had a huge impact. Wiesel is well-known inside and outside of the Jewish community, as his autobiographical Night is one of the most vivid and tragically beautiful accounts of being a young boy in the Nazi concentration camps. Using Wiesel to bring both wisdom and emotion to the debate was a particularly bright move.
3. Use education to empower: the distribution of talking points before the debate certainly changed the character of the pro-Israel response. Rather than letting emotion and anger win the day, the Berkeley students used truth as their ultimate weapon.

Pro-Israel organizations all over the world can learn these important lessons. If we’re going to fight the good fight, we need the tools to do so. Thanks to the Jewish community of Berkeley for teaching us something today.