Milstein Fellow – Their AIPAC Story: Part 2

April 6, 2018

AIPAC is more than just a conference. To me, AIPAC stands for passion, for life-long friendships, and for leadership. Having attended the conference last year, I was inspired to become a more active pro-Israel advocate on my campus, UC Berkeley. After attending several protests and standing up for Israel in many different ways, I decided to attend the conference again this year in order to learn more- as there is always more to learn about this beautiful country.

Having this incredible opportunity to attend the AIPAC conference this year thanks to the Milstein Foundation made me realize that being pro-Israel is easy only thanks to the many people who care about Israel and incentivize college students to attend. The conference was very enriching for me; I heard beautiful speeches from Nikki Hailey, Chuck Schumer, Marco Rubio, and my role model- Benjamin Netanyahu. I attended eye opening breakout sessions that taught me new affective ways to defend Israel on my campus and convince others to do the same. I even learned about Israel’s innovative technology that is used not only in the Israeli Defense Force, but also throughout the country civilly—such as the desalination project for sea water to drinking water. I learned many remarkable things during the conference, but the most impactful aspect of the conference to me was not the things I learned—but the people I met.

The conference brought together different people from different places with different political views—all thanks to Israel. I met many interesting people from diverse backgrounds, enriching not only my knowledge but also my social network. I met like-minded students from universities all over the U.S., some I could even possibly visit in the future.

To me, AIPAC is more than just a conference—it is a family.

Written by a UC Berkeley Student