J Street unveils campus organization

By Eric Fingerhut · September 10, 2009

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- J Street has launched a student network on college campuses

J Street U already has groups on 30 campuses throughout the country and has plans to expand to 150 campuses within three years. Earlier this year, the left-wing pro-Israel group joined with the Union of Progresive Zionists to create the new organization.

J Street U will be governed by a national student board and has hired two regional organizers to work directly with campus groups. The organization said in a press release that it would "mobilize support on campus for a negotiated, two-state resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and for vigorous U.S. leadership to achieve it."

“On too many college campuses, students are forced to choose groups on the poles of the debate,” said Tammy Shapiro, J Street U's director. “J Street U is the new address for meaningful dialogue and engagement when it comes to the conflict.”

J Street joins a number of other pro-Israel groups who have campus affiliates. The biggest of those organizations, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, said more than 1,200 students from more than 350 campuses attended its most recent policy conference.

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