|
|
June 28, 2002/Tamuz 18 5762, Vol. 54, No. 41
Join the PR battle for IsraelBILL STRAUSTwo months ago I was asked to participate in a coalition comprised of leaders from a handful of Jewish organizations to discuss and hopefully implement ways we, the Jewish community, might outreach to the non-Jewish community on behalf of Israel.I was delighted. From the very first meeting of this group, we seemed to all be on the same page. We all knew we had to do something. And we all agreed that our message had to be simple. We even agreed on the message: Terror is terror, whether it's in the streets of Jerusalem or Manhattan. Then we had to craft and implement a strategy. This is where it got a little trickier, but our mission was so clear and our commitment to it so galvanized that we did indeed come up with a three-pronged plan. First, we have designed a full-page ad in the Arizona Republic that not only will get our point across, but also will show already existing support within the non-Jewish community. The ad, which we plan to run Sunday, Sept. 8, possibly in a commemorative edition of the paper, will show two pictures. One will be of the burning World Trade Center towers and the other a photo of a demolished Israeli bus. The caption will read simply, "Terror is terror." Below that the ad will read, "Since September 11 we have come to understand clearly the challenges faced by the people of Israel. Israel, you are not alone. We stand with you in our joint war against terrorism." We hope to have the ad signed by 250 of Arizona's most prominent people. A second component of our campaign is to mobilize a group of volunteer speakers to go out into the churches of the Valley to speak about why it's important that they support Israel. I volunteered my own organization, the Anti-Defamation League, to coordinate this activity. We not only want our message to be consistent with that of the newspaper ad, but we want to make an impact. We are preparing meetings to cover both content and presentation. We have already contacted nearly 100 churches and are now broadening that target audience to include civic and business organizations. We will hopefully be ready to launch the speakers' effort within the next month or two. Unfortunately, the issue of terrorism will probably be as timely or even more timely then as it was when we started. A third component of our game plan is a possible radio campaign. I tell you about these plans because, a) you should know about it; and b) we can use your help. Maybe you can help us with financing. Maybe you have friends who would appreciate being included as signatories to our ad. Or maybe you want to be part of our speakers bureau. If you feel you can make any kind of contribution to our efforts, please feel free to contact Cathy Wolf at JCRC, 602-274-1800 ext. 135; or me at ADL, 602-274-0991. We intend to make a difference with this campaign and we feel great about that. No matter what part you play in it, you will too. Bill Straus is the regional director of the Arizona chapter of the Anti-Defamation League. Contact him at 602-274-0991. |
