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ZOA’s Government Relations department.
At both the Donor Society event and parlor
meeting, Mr. Pollak described how the Government
Relations department helps educate members
of Congress, their staffs, and other government
officials on the relationship between the
U.S. and Israel, as well as on policy issues relating
to the Middle East.
People came away with a much deeper understanding
of the process in Washington, recognizing
the importance of their own role in maintaining
the ground that has been won, as well
as appreciating the tremendous value of ZOA’s
permanent presence in the nation’s capital.
Mr. Pollak provided ZOA New England with
his wealth of information and experience, sharing
fascinating personal stories about situations
and personalities, and leaving the groups with
tremendous insight into the challenges of accomplishing
ZOA goals within the parameters
of Washington, D.C. protocol. Participants
gained a deeper understanding of the opportunities
for national and global impact through
ZOA’s work.
One of our new Herzl Society donors commented,
“ZOA is one of the few pro-Israel organizations
out there with vision, clarity, tenacity,
and courage.”
Many thanks to Linda and Jason Kaufman
and to Drs. Rosaline Barron and Alan Barron
for graciously hosting these events.
NY Metro – West
(Manhattan, Northern NJ,
the Bronx, Westchester and
Rockland County)
This is an exciting time at ZOA, especially
here in metropolitan New York. We’ve taken
all of the ZOA chapters in the New York
metropolitan area and rolled them into one
mega-region, now called NY Metro. This will
enable us to make more programs available to
more people. While we will still be organizing
local programs, members of ZOA’s NY Metro
region will now be able to attend programs
throughout the New York metropolitan area.
New York Metro - West, which includes
Manhattan, the Bronx, Westchester, Rockland
County and Northern New Jersey, will
be under the direction of Alan Jay. New York
Metro - East, comprised of Brooklyn, Queens,
Staten Island and Long Island, will be under
the direction of Deborah Peretz.
We have already sponsored several events attended
by Zionists from all areas in the region
and more events are on the horizon.
NY Metro Kickoff Event
In September we held our NY Metro kickoff
event at ZOA headquarters in Manhattan. The
well-attended event was called Jewish Students
Under Siege: At a Campus Near You! ZOA
Chooses Fight, Not Flight. ZOA Campus
Associate Director Jonathan Ginsburg spoke
about ZOA’s work on campus, educating students
about Israel and giving them the tools
they need to be strong and effective pro-Israel
advocates. Two students – Hendel Seif-Rosenfeld,
ZOA’s Campus Fellow at City College
of New York and the recipient of ZOA’s 2018
Myron Zimmerman Award for Outstanding
Student Activism, and Adela Cojab Moadeb,
a student activist at NYU – shared their personal
experiences with anti-Semitism on their
respective campuses, which included physical
and verbal confrontations by other students.
The two students also explained the lack of
help or support they received from college administrators.
Both of these brave Zionists described
in detail the critical role ZOA played
in helping them navigate the challenges they
faced on campus.
Matthew Tyrmand at ZOA NY Metro
Regional Event
Our second NY Metro Donor Society event
– entitled Eastern, Central and Western Europe
2018, 70+ Years Post-Holocaust: Is it
Safer to be a Jew and/or Zionist in Warsaw
or in Paris? – featured writer, commentator
and ad hoc advisor to the Polish government,
Matthew Tyrmand. Speaking to ZOA Donor
NY Metro