Col. Richard Kemp speaking to participants at the Club Z National Conference in Miami, Florida. Photo: courtesy
(Article by RICHARD KEMP – January 22, 2023)
They have no use for safe spaces, are never triggered and reject the idea of victim culture. The teenagers of Club Z more closely resemble hardened titanium than the melting snowflakes of so many of their peers and represent a powerful beacon of hope for American values and the Jewish people. This Jewish youth organization—Z is for Zionist—held its national conference last weekend, and I was privileged to be there when 200 energetic young high school students, suited and booted for business, descended on an unsuspecting Miami airport hotel.
During keynote speeches and breakout sessions from some of the finest minds in the Zionist world, the students—aged between 14 and 18—listened intently, took notes, challenged, questioned, conversed, debated and argued, sometimes heatedly. They were quick-witted, intelligent, articulate and confident, yet no self-absorbed nerds—roasting and ragging each other, they made time to party into the night and rampage the hotel corridors as youthful needs must. They were serious people with a serious purpose but that didn’t stop them from plunging fully clothed in jackets, ties and stylish dresses into the hotel pool one evening, led with abandon by their Chief Zionist Officer, the redoubtable Masha Merkulova, founder of Club Z.
Shabbos Kestenbaum is a student activist and the lead plaintiff against Harvard University, alleging pervasive and systemic antisemitism. He is a regular contributor on national media, has testified in front of the United States Congress multiple times, and lectures internationally on Jewish communal issues.
Shahar Azani is a veteran Israeli diplomat, passionate advocate for Israel and a frequent contributor to various media outlets focusing on Israel, Jewish issues and the Middle East.
Rawan Osman is a Syrian-Lebanese/German activist advocating for peace with Israel. Rawan previously served on the executive committee at PeaceComms and as a speaker at SharakaNGO. Currently, she is studying Islamic and Jewish Studies at Heidelberg University and is the founder of ArabsAsk. Additionally, Osman serves as the Chairwoman of PostOctober7 e. V.
Colonel Richard Kemp was a British infantry commander who spent most of his life combating terrorism and insurgency in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and Northern Ireland, where he was wounded in a terrorist attack. His name appeared on an Al Qaida kill list in 2013.
Dalia Ziada is an Egyptian award-winning writer, peace activist, and political analyst specializing in governance, geopolitics, and defense policy in the Middle East and the Eastern Mediterranean. She has been globally recognized for her leading role as a civil rights activist in the Arab Spring revolutions of 2010-2011 and for her uncommon stance as an Arab Muslim intellectual in support of Israel’s war against Hamas in 2023.