BRIEF: Speaker calls for Israeli activism

In the impassioned speech at the introductory meeting of the Penn Israel Affairs Committee in Steinberg-Dietrich Hall, Wolf added that students should always be aware that they are fighting a war against what he called a propaganda machine that distorts the image of Israel. "Let's not delude ourselves," Wolf said. "There are a lot of challenges that face us. People have waged a most ferocious effort to de-legitimize Israel. It's a spill over of anti-Semitism." During his 45-minute speech, Wolf was critical of organizations that he feels are biased against Israel, blasting the media, the United Nations, and religious groups as "by and large, hostile to Israel." He also cited Amnesty International as guilty of the "propaganda war against Israel." While acknowledging that a country's policies can be questioned, he said groups have unfairly scrutinized Israel's legitimacy. He added that he believes there is a double standard when people view Israel. One audience member, College sophomore Andy Baker, said that although the speech was interesting, Wolf did not present any answers to solving Middle-Eastern problems. "He was very consistent with his views," Baker said. "I agreed with most of them but I don't really know if he gave us any solutions as to what should be done. At least he gave us a lot of information." -- Dipak Patel

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