Haverford College hosted Charlotte Korchak, International Senior Educator at StandWithUs, for the Bi-Co Chabad and Club Chai’s, ‘I’m A Zionist: Ask Me Anything’ open dialogue event earlier this month. The first flyers for the event were posted on November 11, but were promptly drawn over or removed by students from various locations across both the Bryn Mawr and Haverford campuses. One of the event flyers in Bryn Mawr’s Campus Center had the words “FREE PALESTINE” written over Korchak’s portrait, and a first-year student of Bryn Mawr College—who chose to remain anonymous in order to protect the privacy of her friends—admitted to taking down the posters with her friends wherever they saw one. In response, Club Chai replaced the missing posters with an updated version that read, “Do you believe in dialogue? Do you believe in every person’s right to define themselves? Come learn about Jews and Zionism from a Zionist Jew” in bold letters across the top of the flyer.
Bi-College students and community members of varying viewpoints filled Stokes Auditorium for the event on Nov 20, which was initially meant to take place between 4:30 and 5:30 in the evening, but did not end until nearly 6:30 as the first hour was spent almost entirely on Korchak’s presentation on the history of Zionism, Israel, and the Jewish people. The Q&A portion did not begin until approximately 5:15 PM.
Korchak, who holds a BA in Middle Eastern History from the University of Southern California and who grew up in both the United States and Israel during the Second Intifada, used her presentation to define Jewish people not just as a religious group, but as a cultural and historical “tribe,” emphasizing their connection to the land of Israel as their ancestral home following centuries of persecution. Korchak recounted her personal experiences with the violence of the Second Intifada, a period of intensified Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and articulated her belief that calls to “globalize the Intifada” promote the murder of Jewish people worldwide. In presenting her argument that modern Zionism is the continuation of an ancient movement aimed at liberating Jews from persecution, she stressed the importance of a Jewish nation-state for the protection of Jews worldwide and asserted that indifference to Jewish safety is akin to antisemitism. Korchak criticized the label of “colonizer” when applied to Jews in Israel, and the characterization of Jewish settlement in Israel as colonialism. She asked, “Today I am being called a colonizer in my own land, so I ask anyone who would call me a colonizer in my own land, where else could I go and not be considered a colonizer?” and contended that both Jews and Palestinians have legitimate claims to the land and have the right to self-determine in the land.
Korchak also expressed disappointment in the Bi-Co community, proclaiming that it “is getting less and less safe for Jews… Jews can’t even say that they are going to a Jewish house for Jewish activities without being completely ostracized.” She addressed pro-Palestine activists, identifying them as “people in keffiyehs,” and claiming that by chanting “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” they are calling for the erasure of her and her right to be in her home.
As Korchak moved from outlining her personal experiences to addressing student questions, the room’s tone began to shift from academic discourse to more contentious debate. Before fielding questions, Korchak stated, “I’m happy to take questions from anyone who wants to challenge me on any of [my] ideas in a respectful manner. I was a child of the nineties and I was taught civil discourse and critical thinking, something some institutions need to learn how to do better,” setting the tone for the rest of her responses throughout the Q&A session. Korchak did not provide direct sources for the majority of her responses, but reminded students that the entire event was recorded so that they could fact-check on their own time. As the Q&A session progressed, it became clear that none of the students asking questions held the same beliefs as Korchak, as many of the questioners did not identify with Zionist values and movements. The majority of those asking questions were Jewish, though several non-Jewish students also voiced their concerns.
One Haverford student asked how Israel should atone for the premeditated transfer of Palestinians out of Palestine by the thousands, referencing David Ben-Gurion’s plans to enact a compulsory transfer of Palestinians during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. Korchak justified these transfers, claiming that population transfers presented a feasible solution for political conflicts, something that was also explored in the Second World War. She continued by saying, “I don’t need to atone for anything, because what you’re asking me to atone for is surviving.” While she did sympathize with Palestinians and wished to atone for massacres of Palestinian people during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, she called them mild and uncommon in comparison to atrocities committed in other wars happening at the same time, likely still referencing the Second World War, though an explicit comparison was not provided. She argued that Jewish people know how to condemn their violent minority, while pro-Palestinian activists justify and praise Hamas, the violent minority among Palestinians. Korchak also claimed that Arabs living in Israel got full equal rights by 1966, to which the crowd responded with audible disagreement. In 1966, former Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol lifted military rule over Palestinians residing in Israel and granted Arab citizens the same legal rights as Jewish citizens, however widespread discrimination and structural disadvantages against Arabs living in Israel are well documented.
A sophomore of Bryn Mawr College, who identified themself as a first-generation American to Israeli parents, criticized the concept of a mono-ethnic Israel that is solely for Jewish people, arguing that immigration patterns have rendered mono-ethnic states virtually impossible. They questioned the morality and ethicality of one ethnic group ruling one piece of land, and how Israel could ever be a mono-ethnic state without persecuting other people. In asking their question, they were repeatedly interrupted by Korchak, who used the examples of Switzerland, France, Germany and Japan as “mono-ethnic states made for their own people” to dispute the claim that there are no longer mono-ethnic states. Nearly a third of Switzerland’s population are immigrants from other parts of Europe, with the largest population demographic being a multi-ethnic cohort of Swiss citizens. France, particularly Paris, is home to immigrant populations from across the globe who collectively make up around a quarter of the French population. Germany’s population is approximately 85% ethnic German, and Japan is around 98% ethnically Japanese. Korchak implied that the public seems to be okay with those countries being “mono-ethnic,” but no one is okay with Israel being mono-ethnic. Several voices in the crowd whispered their disagreement with this statement, murmuring along the lines of, “that’s not true, no one is okay with that.”
Another student questioned Korchak’s thoughts on the numerous scholars of the Holocaust and Genocide Studies who identify the Israeli actions against Palestinians in Gaza as a genocide. Korchak openly disagreed with those scholars and the characterization of the violence in Gaza as genocidal. She criticized scholars, stating, “Professors are biased. And professors today have fallen into a very specific narrative that identifies one people as an oppressor and one people as an oppressed.” She encouraged students to not view the world in such a manner, a position she called “non-binaryism,” arguing that this shouldn’t be an unfathomable concept to students today. This question marked a shift in the overall flow of debate, as more inflammatory discourse began between Korchak and the audience.
When Korchak declared that the ratio of combatant to civilian deaths was the lowest ratio ever set in this type of war—17,000 Hamas terrorist deaths compared with “only 23,000” civilian deaths, figures that are still being disputed— a crowd member interjected by saying, “so you’re okay with 17,000 people dying?” to which Korchak responded “Hamasniks?… It’s not murder, it’s called self-defense… I have no problem with self-defense.” The student retorted by calling Korchak a terrorist herself. Korchak later addressed the crowd, remarking, “Some of you won’t even look at me, yeah, okay roll your eyes,” and criticized the points students brought up by saying, “Let’s stop spreading lies to make yourselves feel better about the side that you’ve chosen to stand on.” She proceeded to proclaim, “I do not function on emotion”, at which point the audience erupted in laughter.
Following a later question, which focused on the abuse and mistreatment of Mizrahi Jews, and the birth control injections forced upon Ethiopian Jews—which Korchak called a “disgusting lie that went around the world”, and argued against using information published by Haaretz in December 2012— a large group of students left the auditorium chanting “Free, free, free Palestine! Intifada, intifada.” Korchak joined in on the chants, but not in agreement. Rather, she chanted, “Fuck Hamas.” When the protesters were escorted out of the room by security, she continued, declaring, “‘Murder Israelis, murder Jews,’ that’s what they’re chanting.”
Another question addressed how Korchak’s advocacy for ethnonationalism has the potential to harm the young Jewish-American community that does not link their Judaism to Israel. A Jewish student in attendance confirmed this viewpoint, explaining that her grandparents were strongly anti-Zionist and raised her on anti-Zionist beliefs, and claiming that it goes against the idea of peace and equality that Judaism advocates for. Korchak responded to this by vocalizing her thoughts that, “The younger generation of Jews in America…are living through an epidemic of loneliness” and that, tragically, “[Jewish students] feel like in an environment like this, on a campus like this, [they] have to disavow [their] Zionism to be accepted.”
During the last few questions, the discussion became less formal. Korchak frequently denied students’ claims students outright, repeating “Stop believing the lies that you are being fed”, and striking down attendees’ sources as the New York Times and the Lancet Journal. She also criticized students using videos as sources documenting the state of Palestinian civilians following attacks, arguing that, “videos are problematic because you’re… choosing to not ask what the context was. Videos do not tell the whole truth”, despite having referenced a video in an earlier argument as evidence for the capture of an Israeli family being held hostage by Hamas.
The event unofficially came to an end when a female student began shouting out the names of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces since October 7, 2023. While she was escorted off the premises by Campus Safety, the audience joined her in support with cheers and applause. Many students who had left the event early remained standing outside Stokes Auditorium, joining the Bi-College Atidna‘s gathering that aimed to offer students a more personal space to engage in dialogue surrounding the topics of Zionism, Israel, Palestine, and how such topics are approached by the Bi-Co community.
By the time the event came to a close, the crowd had diminished to less than half of its original size, and Korchak gave some final words to those who had stayed until the end. Korchak encouraged Jewish students in the Bi-Co community to remain proud and resilient in the face of hate and exclusion, reassuring them that they are supported by StandWithUs, Chabad, and Club Chai, emphasizing that they are not alone.
In the days following the event, Club Chai did not release any official statements. However, the strained relations displayed during the event reflect a larger debate within the Bi-College community about Zionism, pro-Palestinian activism, and the place of such discussions on campus.
CORRECTION: Previously, the article identified all student speakers as “explicitly anti-Zionist” in the fifth paragraph, an identity that was broadly generalizing and incorrect. We apologize for this mistake. Following student feedback, it has been changed.
CORRECTION: The article initially described students as protesting and demonstrating against the event outside of Stokes Auditorium. This was later found to be untrue, as students were rather joining the Bi-Co Atidna’s peaceful gathering for open conversation.
