People say that history tends to repeat itself, and one example is student activism on college campuses during wartime.
In this month’s installment of “Remember When,” we look back at our Aug. 14, 1986, issue. A story by Wolf Blitzer titled “AIPAC Grooms Students for Leadership” explored college students’ role in the political realm amid conflicts in the Middle East.
Written before Blitzer became a household name, his story reads, “In the American politics of the Israeli-Arab conflict and the battle for public opinion, young people have a significant role, as the battle is played out across the country on college campuses.”
This phenomenon continues in the present day. Since the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian students have taken to their campuses with signs, flags and messages shouted through bullhorns. A group of students created pro-Palestinian encampments at multiple schools, including at George Washington University in the nation’s capital.
In response to these demonstrations, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee has long offered youth leadership programs to “give the young people the answers” on Israel. Blitzer’s article details AIPAC’s programming in the mid-1980s, which still exists today: AIPAC on Campus.
Next month, the lobbying group is also launching the Family Leadership Initiative, a training course for high school students and their parents or grandparents in the tri-state area. The 10 participating families will “graduate with concrete tools and skills to strengthen the U.S.-Israel relationship” in their communities and on their campuses.
Not much has changed nearly four decades later.
