By Rachel Frommer, one of the Louis D. Brandeis Center’s Legal JIGSAW Fellows

I have recently returned from a two-week educational intensive in Israel, as part of the Louis D. Brandeis Center’s training program for its inaugural class of JIGSAW legal fellows. (JIGSAW stands for Justice Initiative Guiding Student Activists Worldwide.) In that time, six American law students were taught how to aid undergraduates in fighting anti-Semitism on campus through legal strategies, and we came away prepared to give the students practical guidance on responding both to the methods and content of anti-Semitic actors at their universities.

The program challenged the fellows to analyze the intersecting web of law, media, diplomacy, and activism that has birthed modern anti-Semitism. We were guided in this project by experts in lawfare and international law, as well as journalists and politicians.

Eugene Kontorovich, professor at the George Mason Antonin Scalia Law School, gave us a crash course on the legal status of the disputed territories in the Arab-Israeli conflict, providing us with the necessary historical and political background, outlining the underlying moral issues, and presenting the legal arguments – both specious and legitimate – that we, and undergraduates on any campus, are sure to confront. Avi Bell, of the University of San Diego School of Law and Bar Ilan University Faculty of Law, discussed the scope of the formal investigations Israel is facing in international criminal courts, as well as the extra-legal processes run by NGOs that churn against the state, which have critical influence on the public.

LDB’s President Alyza Lewin and Director of Legal Initiatives Aviva Vogelstein led workshops on understanding the federal, state, and university legal landscapes the fellows will be operating on. They also trained us on approaching the hurdles of first often having to educate administrators, faculty, and students on what constitutes anti-Semitism before even beginning the work of implementing policies that can effectuate change.

Undoubtedly, one of the most affecting moments was Alyza sharing her story of fighting for Menachem Zivotofsky’s right to be identified as born in Israel on his American passport in the famous “Jerusalem Passport Case.” The talk was a peek into an elite lawyer’s dedication to advocacy and gave the fellows the necessary perspective to understand the grit and grace required to be a veteran warrior in this crucial contest for the Jewish people’s right to self-determine.

Our lecture sessions were paired with unique experiences of meeting with both those who are prepared to give their lives to protect Israel, and from those who do not recognize any state by that name. We heard from those living under rocket fire on the border with Gaza, as well as a Gazan living under Hamas rule. We spoke with socialists in a kibbutz that overlooks Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, who described what they see as their front line role in defending Israel against existential attack; we then heard from religious Jews living in a trailer complex in Judea who believe a peace predicated on ceding ancient mountaintops is no peace at all. We visited Arab-majority villages where long-time shop owners shared their ongoing economic struggles, and with Palestinians who advocated grassroots efforts to build an infrastructure that could realistically transform that community’s socioeconomic situation.

Through LDB’s partnership on this trip with Hasbara Fellowships, the JIGSAW fellows also had the opportunity to engage directly with the undergraduates who are facing vitriol and bigotry each day on American campuses. It was only by hearing those personal narratives that we could fully comprehend the character and magnitude of the legal confrontations we are tasked with navigating.

After the training, JIGSAW fellows are prepared to help guide and assist undergraduates – at any school – who reach out by completing the JIGSAW Intake Form, built to give students in need of legal guidance a clear and simple method of reaching out to LDB’s fellows.