Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Forward 50 2012

Michael Uram

In the lead-up to the first national conference of the movement to boycott, divest from, and implement sanctions (BDS) against Israel on the University of Pennsylvania campus in February, tensions were high. Activists on both sides of the aisle anticipated major protests and a breakdown in campus civility.

But then the campus quieted. For the first time in recent memory, anti-Israel speech was met with a cold shoulder instead of an attack.

The brain behind this response was Rabbi Michael Uram, the 36-year-old director of Penn Hillel. Rather than launch a counterprotest — and call attention to BDS — Penn Hillel hosted a handful of small, student-organized events, such as a fundraiser in a bar for an Israeli family affected by terror attacks and a series of dinnertime chats called “Israel Across Penn.” The only fighting words came from Harvard lawyer and noted Israel defender Alan Dershowitz, who strongly condemned the conference, even as he defended the BDS proponents’ right to gather.

Though it had its early detractors, Uram’s quiet advocacy is now held up as an example of the right type of Israel activism — student run, and positive in tone. Donors impressed with Penn Hillel gave it tens of thousands of dollars after the BDS conference. The David Project, a major pro-Israel campus group once known for its aggressive tactics, now urges its student leaders to ditch the “name and shame” approach and to focus instead on educating college students about Israel.

Whether Israel advocates will turn completely from campus confrontation remains to be seen. But Uram’s shifting of the paradigm is proof that silence is sometimes louder than words.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.