...While SJP members were yelling into the microphones on campus, AIPAC-trained students were arranging lobbying appointments with local Bay Area congressmen. While SJP was selling anti-Israel bumper stickers on Telegraph Avenue, Hillel continues to provide a wide spectrum of social, religious and secular tools for students to help promote and celebrate Israel. When the SJP students marched to the chancellor's office to demand UC divestment from Israel last week, pro-Israel students calmly and convincingly continued to sit down with campus leaders, newspaper editors, professors and fellow students to explain why they, too, should support Israel.

Despite the coverage of the protest, pro-Israel students are winning the battle for Israel at UC Berkeley and on campuses around this country. This does not mean that anti-Israel sentiment has completely disappeared or that Israel's detractors have given up. Our work to promote a safe Israel and a strong U.S.-Israel alliance will never be finished, particularly at a place like Berkeley. But I and countless other Berkeley students take pride in the quiet, effective and convincing work that we do to ensure that Israel will never stand alone.