New York – The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has co-sponsored a college lecture tour by Aryeh Green, senior policy advisor for former Israeli government minister Natan Sharansky. He will speak at New York University, Boston University, University of Pennsylvania, Brandeis University, Oberlin College, Ohio State University, University of Maryland-College Park, George Washington University, Connecticut College, and Queens College.
Green’s lectures, entitled “Sharansky, Human Rights and Democracy in the Middle East,” will explore subjects Green encountered while working for former Minister Sharansky. ZOA Campus Director Julie Sager stated: “Aryeh Green will illuminate Israel’s stellar record on human rights Issues and educate them about the gross violations of human rights in many Arab countries in the Middle East. The purpose of the lecture series is to provide students with a true picture of important issues in the Middle East and to refute the inaccurate claims that are perpetuated by Israel’s detractors.”
ZOA President Morton A. Klein said, “We are pleased to have helped organize and co-sponsor these important lectures at these important college campuses. Mr. Green is one of a series of speakers that we send to colleges around the country. The students are constantly bombarded with propaganda painting a false picture of Israel and Jews by anti-Israel radicals. We will continue to do all we can to disseminate the true facts of the Arab war against Israel and help arm the students with information that will make them proud of Israel and that they can use to defend Israel’s good name.”
A native Californian, Green has lived in Israel for 20 years, where he has held a series of government posts and high-ranking positions in the Israel high-tech industry. He served as a member of the executive staff of Sharansky ‘s Yisrael B ‘Allya party and, as a senior member of Sharansky’s staff in the prime minister’s office, Green was responsible for contacts with Palestinian and other Arab democracy activists. Sharansky resigned from the government in May because of his opposition to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Gaza evacuation plan.
Green worked for seven years in education, including three years as director of Students for Israel, a Jerusalem seminar center that trains visiting students in advocacy skills for their return to campuses abroad in the early 1990s. He worked for 12 years in business, mostly high-tech, including various executive management positions and consulting work for public and private Israeli companies.
The Campus Activism Network of the Zionist Organization of America is organizing the speaking tour and is co-sponsoring the program with Yavneh Olami, Standwithus, and Hasbarah Fellowships. ZOA’s Campus Coordinators, Rachel Glaser and Adi Neuman will accompany Green during his lecture to each university, where they plan to meet with student leaders and to promote Israel.