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End Antisemitism Now and Syracuse University’s Chabad Jewish Student Center hosted Lyana Rotstein, an Israeli tour guide, as part of their “Firsthand Facts: Update on Israel” speaker event Thursday. She discussed the ongoing Israel-Hamas war and how the conflict has impacted her family, community and Israelis.

“We don’t have time to even grieve and mourn because the events are happening all the time,” Rotstein said. “If we don’t take the time to breathe and to regroup, we won’t be able to have the power to sustain ourselves to go on. This is not a battle that’s ending tomorrow.”

Before Syracuse, Rotstein spoke in multiple cities in the United States. and will visit Kansas City and Houston before returning to Israel.

End Antisemitism Now is a nonprofit organization started after the Oct. 7 attack to address antisemitism within the Syracuse community, said Brian Raphael, co-founder and president of the organization. Throughout the talk, Rotstein described the historical context of Jewish ties to Israel, such as the British Mandate, and discussed how advocacy groups are working to support the country.

Raphael said he hoped the speaker event would “inform the community” about the Israel-Hamas war and combat any “misinformation” being spread on social media. He also said he hoped the event would help students feel more comfortable in their Jewish identity and feel a greater sense of unity.

On Oct. 7, the attack on Israel killed around 1,200 people and, according to Agence France-Presse, 101 hostages are still believed to be alive in Gaza. Since Oct. 7, Israel has continuously retaliated, killing over 28,000 people, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

Rotstein is among several speakers the organization has invited to hold lectures across the country through their program, Raphael said. Rotstein’s biggest hope for the lecture was that students took away not only knowledge but also the “power” and “strength” needed to stand up to antisemitism.

“(This talk is) probably the most important thing I’m going to be doing in my entire trip,” Rotstein said, addressing the attendees.

Throughout her lecture, Rotstein highlighted multiple victims of the war — some of them soldiers — who were the same age as most students in the audience.

“They are all your age, and what they’re saying is if we have to die for our country, we will do it gladly because this is our time and we don’t want you to be sad,” Rotstein said. “All we ask of you is to make sure that the society that we have left behind is worthy of the sacrifice that we have made.”

Sofia Vatnik, vice president of Chabad and a sophomore at SU, said that being physically far away from Israel leaves her unsure of how she can address the conflict. Despite the distance, she said she still wants to use her voice and knowledge to create a positive impact and diminish the spread of hate and false information within her communities.

“It made a very weird gut-wrenching feeling because I feel so blessed and privileged to be a student at Syracuse University and to be safe,” Vatnik said about hearing stories Rotstein shared about people her own age. “It’s incredibly terrifying and heartbreaking.”

A funeral procession takes place down the street from Lyana Rotstein’s home in Israel after two soldiers from her city were identified as dead. People in the city could not meet at the cemetery in a congregation larger than 50 people, so they planned the route of the procession through a WhatsApp message, Rotstein said.

Courtesy of Lyana Rotstein

Although Vatnik knew antisemitism existed, she said she had never personally felt threatened for her identity as a Jew before the war started. The vice president said she finds it “difficult” to identify a concrete method to overcome antisemitism, as she said she believes there is no “simple solution” to addressing an entire ideology of hatred.

“I didn’t really see it because luckily I’ve never had to encounter that in my life. And then when I started to realize that, that was very difficult,” Vatnik said. “The biggest thing is any type of hatred … it’s an ‘ism.’ It’s not just a person… it’s an ideology.”

Rotstein said the war has sparked a sense of national pride and unity. Along with the flag of Israel, the phrase “Yachad Nenatzeach,” which translates to English as “together we will win,” has been plastered on grocery items and the sides of buildings in the country.

However, politically, Israel is split with 56% believing that continuing the country’s “military offensive” is the best way to recover hostages. Only 15% of Israelis, according to the January poll, want Benjamin Netanyahu to stay as prime minister after the war.

Rotstein also said everyone who could fight in the army wanted to drop everything and enlist – including her daughter, who is currently based in the north of Israel, and her brother, who left his children, wife and legal business to join the Israeli Defense Force.

“When you come to Israel, you will see that there are 1,400 candles that are lit every day at the Western Wall,” Rotstein said. “They are lit because we are a light unto the nations, and we are resilient.”

Rotstein said the Israel-Hamas war is broadly about “Jewish people’s right to exist,” whether they are in Israel or Syracuse.

“It doesn’t matter where you are politically — anybody who can condone (Hamas) is morally bankrupt,” Rotstein said. “There is no excuse in the world, whether you’re Jewish or not, to condone this kind of behavior.”

She said her peers in Israel believe misinformation in the U.S. creates a “dangerous” environment. She wants students to use what they learned from her talk to combat misinformation and be present in public dialogue.

“We need to find ways in safe spaces to allow our voices to be heard … because at the end of the day, if you don’t, we will lose. We cannot lose anymore.”

Lakey Rapoport, one of the directors of Chabad, said she hoped the event would provide Jewish students with the “tools” to combat antisemitism and create a sense of empowerment and unity on campus. She said there has been an “energy of sadness” throughout Chabad since Oct. 7 as many of its members have family living in Israel.

“A lot of students were coming to us feeling very lonely and not knowing what to say when people are shouting things at them and arguing with them,” Rapoport said, explaining why Chabad decided to host the speaker event. “ It was important that people felt armed with information and facts.”

Rapoport said she hopes Jewish students felt unified and understood the themes of positivity in Rotstein’s lecture. She said she also wanted attendees who weren’t a part of the Jewish community to walk away with an increased understanding of the situation and speak up for “what is right.”

“There has been a cataclysmic shift in paradigm where the world once again has turned on its head,” Rotstein said. “While we were the ones that were persecuted, while we were the ones that were invaded, massacred, butchered, burnt, raped and mutilated, are the ones that are now being blamed for genocidal acts.”

While Rotstein said she acknowledges that pro-Palestinian activists are “allowed” to be heard, she believes their voices are “loud,” silencing Jewish voices out of fear and a lack of desire to engage, among other reasons.

She said she encourages adults to stand with students to create pro-Jewish and pro-Israel rallies, put up banners and posters and cultivate a strong presence against antisemitism. Without support, she said Jewish students can feel like they’re on their own.

“My destiny is intermingled with Israel. It’s inseparable,” Rotstein said. “But when I come here, and I tell you what I felt, what I experienced, you can’t tell me that what I’m feeling is wrong. You can’t tell me that what I experienced is wrong. This is my experience. I think it’s very powerful when you do that because a personal story speaks louder than any other propaganda or any other message.”

Published on February 16, 2024 at 2:34 am