Israel Club Leads Partition Plan Program

By Ethan Rogers, SSLI ‘20

Today is the 70th anniversary of the United Nations Partition Plan for Palestine, and students celebrated with a program led by the Israel Club. At the program, students were split into different groups, and each group represented a different country in the United Nations. Students from each country voted on whether they think Palestine should or should not be split into a Jewish state and an Arab state. At the end of the program, club leaders discussed the actual outcomes of the resolution.

Israel Club members lead today's program (J. Spector).

Junior and club co-president Ariel Wajnrajch helped lead today’s program. She thinks “the program went very well” and was “impressed with the way that the whole student body was engaged in the program and played a role in the activity.” Wajnrajch hopes students learned about the importance of today “in our history as Zionists” and about the “relationships Israel has with various countries.”

According to Wajnrajch, the goal of the Israel Club is “to educate our members and the greater student body with knowledge on Israel’s culture, politics, and more.” The club also works to “prepare our members in going to college and combatting BDS on campus.”

Students discuss the resolution (J. Spector).

Freshman Yehudah Browne thought the program “was a cool and fun way of teaching everyone.” He thought the program was more “interactive” compared to just a “lecture or video.” Browne learned that many countries were “against the state of Israel, but, in the end, pro-Israel won.” Browne hopes for more “interactive programs throughout the year” led by Israel Club.

Sophomore Avi Chesler thought that “the program gave an interesting perspective into the founding of Israel.” Chesler learned that “Venezuela has a bad relationship with Israel, and that if you abstain, it means you stay out of the vote.” Chesler would like Israel Club to create “a fun culture event” in the future.

Senior Ira Kohler “liked how we were split into different countries, and we were able to learn about what each country voted for in 1947.” During the program, Kohler was more focused on “the auditions for the Hebrew play that were during lunch” than the actual program, but still he thought it was all set up nicely and “was a great idea.”

Israel Club meets every A day during lunch.

Ethan Rogers is a writer for Paw Print Now and has been published on the site since October 2017. Ethan is currently in his sophomore year at the Schechter School of Long Island and can be reached at the following email address: erogers20@ssdsnassau.org