‘Joe’s Israel’, a new social media based Israel project, has been launched on the web, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. The project provides a platform to empower college students in North America for a dialogue on Israel. The campaign is significant both in terms of its new media strategy, and because of the message it promotes.

The project uses text, images and video and features our host Joe and his family. The campaign opens with Joe speaking about the connection between the Jewish people and Israel. He does this from his personal perspective as college student recently returned from his first visit to Israel. His sister, Sarah, who is a law student and thinks she knows it all, presents some background to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Chances are the internet going public are about to set her straight, both for what she leaves out and for what she included in her law school presentation. Then there’s Dad who’s upset at the media’s treatment of Israel, indeed the whole family have something to say about double standards, bias and the way Israel is treated in the global community. In this campaign, students are invited into Joe’s world and encouraged to express their opinions, thought and feelings through social media.