Oleg Ivanov, a member of the diplomacy and public policy group Jewish Diplomatic Corps (JDCorps), spoke to Arutz Sheva about his organization's struggle against the BDS boycott movement targeting Israel, and about rising anti-Semitism on college campuses.
Ivanov is a student at UCLA, where the BDS movement has a particularly strong presence.
He noted on a rising trend on campus since 2014 Operation Protective Edge, by which Zionist and Jewish students in general have faced an anti-Semitic backlash of having their loyalty questioned.
Ivanov revealed he now has to work to defend from these anti-Semitic accusations in ways that he didn't have to before.
Among the key anti-Israel groups on campus are Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and the Muslim Students Association, which "go out of their way to single out Israel specifically as being the great pariah state, not just in the Middle East but in the world."
"There is a constant barrage of anti-Israeli propaganda" at UCLA, he revealed, noting how the pro-Palestinian groups make clear they are pushing for one Palestinian state and want Israel to cease to exist.
In response, Ivanov said the Zionist community at UCLA reacts by trying to present Israel in a positive light as being a diverse society, and trying to prevent Israel's opponents "from getting away with blatant lies."
JDCorps works on behalf the World Jewish Congress and maintains a worldwide network of young Jewish professionals who voluntarily engage in diplomacy.