This weekend, an IDF soldier named Eli Winning visited Northwestern University. The idea was simple…have dialogue.

For decades, universities have been the birthplace of intellectual movements and political activism. From Vietnam to civil rights to anti apartheid movements, college campuses have served as places where ideas are challenged, debated, and refined, and manifested. What better place to have difficult conversations?

Eli arrived prepared to answer questions. Friends accompanied him, including Ashley, a passionate Christian Zionist and advocate for Israel, and Anna a local activist and fierce Soviet Jewish Bubbie. The goal was not to convince everyone to agree. The goal was to create an opportunity for students who had never met an Israeli soldier to engage with a real human being one-on-one.

Instead, what they often encountered were insults, hostility, and in some cases, threats. But what struck me most was not the anger. It was the repetition.

After reviewing footage from the event, I........

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