{"id":47027,"date":"2025-06-27T01:44:34","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T08:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=47027"},"modified":"2025-06-26T15:55:57","modified_gmt":"2025-06-26T22:55:57","slug":"putting-allyship-into-action","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2025\/06\/27\/putting-allyship-into-action\/","title":{"rendered":"Putting allyship into action"},"content":{"rendered":"

Zara Nybo leads an Israel on Campus meeting at the University of British Columbia. Nybo is the new BC representative for StandWithUs Canada. (photo from Zara Nybo)<\/em><\/p>\n

When Zara Nybo transferred to the University of British Columbia from Camosun College on Vancouver Island, she wasn\u2019t sure if Hillel was a place where she belonged, since she is not Jewish. Her\u00a0partner\u00a0encouraged her to check it out anyway \u2013 and it set her on a course\u00a0to become\u00a0an ally\u00a0for\u00a0Jewish students.<\/p>\n

Recently, Nybo was\u00a0hired\u00a0as\u00a0educational outreach and content manager\u00a0for\u00a0StandWithUs Canada, a nonprofit dedicated to pro-Israel education and advocacy. Though still finishing her degree in sociocultural anthropology and Jewish studies, she works full-time, overseeing the\u00a0Emerson Fellowship\u00a0for university students\u00a0in British Columbia\u00a0and the\u00a0Leventhal Internship\u00a0for high school students\u00a0in Western Canada. She\u2019s also responsible for\u00a0non-Jewish outreach and community partnerships\u00a0across the province.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of people assume this work is just for Jewish students,\u201d Nybo said, \u201cbut education is the pathway to peace, for everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

That idea fuels her days managing fellowships, mentoring students and helping young people navigate what have become among the most emotionally and politically charged issues on campus: Israel and antisemitism. In recent years, as anti-Zionist activism \u2013 and antisemitism \u2013 have surged across Canadian universities, Jewish students have increasingly found themselves isolated and targeted. Nybo has been impacted by what she has seen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat really struck me,\u201d she said, \u201cwas watching Jewish and Israeli students grow afraid to go to class, to speak openly, to walk freely with a Star of David necklace. I wanted them to know \u2013 you\u2019re not alone. There are people who see you, who care, and who are willing to stand with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nybo\u2019s advocacy didn\u2019t come out of nowhere. Raised in a family that prioritized global experience over staying in one place \u2013 she moved 13 times before age 13 \u2013 she learned early how to build bridges. But it was through Hillel and a series of fellowships, including the\u00a0Campus Media Fellowship, a joint initiative of Allied Voices for Israel and Honest Reporting Canada,\u00a0and the\u00a0Israel Leadership Network, which\u00a0consisted of more than 150 of the top Israel-focused student leaders from within the Hillel movement across North America, that she gained the knowledge, tools and confidence to become a leading\u00a0pro-Israel\u00a0advocate at UBC.<\/p>\n

\u201cI used to think of antisemitism as a historic form of hatred,\u201d she said. \u201cBut once you learn to see the\u00a0invisible\u00a0forms of antisemitism, you realize how present and widespread it really is. Once you see it, you can\u2019t unsee it.\u201d<\/p>\n

As a\u00a02024\/25 Canadian\u00a0Emerson Fellow and Campus Media Fellowship alumna, Nybo staffed tables, hosted dialogues and wrote op-eds that challenged misinformation and promoted empathy. She\u2019s continued to write ever since, crediting those programs with awakening her voice.<\/p>\n

Now, in her leadership role, she trains others to do the same \u2013 Jewish and non-Jewish students alike.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Emerson Fellowship isn\u2019t about slogans,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s about education. It\u2019s about staying calm in hard conversations, being grounded in facts and speaking with authenticity \u2013 even when it\u2019s scary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nybo acknowledges she sometimes feeling \u201cshaky\u201d while tabling on campus. But she refuses to let fear stop her and she sees it as an important part of her role to encourage others to stand up even when it is daunting.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur job isn\u2019t to scare students out of advocacy,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s to empower them to do it anyway.\u201d<\/p>\n

As tensions around Israel and antisemitism continue in Canada \u2013 on campus and beyond \u2013 Nybo is one of a small but crucial group of non-Jewish individuals who have stepped up to contest the atmosphere that is making Jews on campus uncomfortable and vulnerable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t just about being pro-Israel,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s about being anti-hate. No student \u2013 Jewish or otherwise \u2013 should walk around feeling like there\u2019s a target on their back.\u201d<\/p>\n

In her new role, Nybo has already filled the\u00a0BC\u00a0positions open next year to Jewish and non-Jewish students seeking to broaden their knowledge and skills by participating in the programs StandWithUs\u00a0Canada\u00a0offers. She will oversee the students as they proceed through the range of learning and experiential projects she herself engaged in last year. These students, like Nybo, will go on to amplify the voices of Jews and allies on campus and, after graduation, take their places as leaders in the fight against antisemitism and anti-Zionism.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Zara Nybo leads an Israel on Campus meeting at the University of British Columbia. Nybo is the new BC representative for StandWithUs Canada. (photo from Zara Nybo) When Zara Nybo transferred to the University of British Columbia from Camosun College on Vancouver Island, she wasn\u2019t sure if Hillel was a place where she belonged, since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47029,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5628,21041,21631,4330,24139,23431,1581],"class_list":["post-47027","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local","tag-advocacy","tag-allyship","tag-anti-hate","tag-israel","tag-standwithus-canada","tag-zara-nybo","tag-zionism"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47027","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47027"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47027\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47029"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47027"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47027"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47027"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}