Updated at 7:30 a.m., June 14 

Three Jewish students at Berkeley Law received a standing ovation in a Tel Aviv ballroom this week while receiving an award from the American Jewish Committee following a fraught year for pro-Israel students.

“We will not be intimidated. We will not be silenced. And we will not be discouraged,” law student Milton Zerman said Tuesday to rousing applause at the David Intercontinental Hotel.

Law students Charlotte Aaron and Hannah Krutiansky were also recognized at the event. They flanked Zerman as he delivered a speech on behalf of Berkeley Law’s Jewish Students Association.

The three students received the AJC Sharon Greene Award for Campus Advocacy, an honor established by Greene’s family in her memory, the AJC said in a press release. The award is given to “college-based advocates who combat antisemitism while supporting Jewish life on campus.”

The AJC, established in 1906, is a global Jewish advocacy organization headquartered in New York City that also weighs in on policy issues in the U.S. The regional office in San Francisco has been active within the ethnic studies debate in California since 2019.

The awards ceremony, which took place during AJC’s four-day “Global Forum,” represented the culmination of a tumultuous year for on-campus Israel activists and students at Berkeley who support the Jewish state.

It came after more than a dozen student groups at the prestigious and competitive law school, which has an acceptance rate under 15%, approved addenda to their governing bylaws last summer and fall stating they wouldn’t permit outside speakers who support the State of Israel.

The addenda, which were adopted by student ethnic groups including the Berkeley Law Muslim Student Association and the Middle Eastern and North African Law Students Association, were also approved by the Queer Caucus and Women of Berkeley Law, a feminist group. Jewish students who support Israel said the measures made them feel excluded from those and other groups.

“We are grateful to be recognized by AJC for this work,” Zerman said, naming Shabbat dinners and holiday celebrations hosted by the Jewish Students Association, among other events, that fostered a welcoming community. The “elephant in the room,” he added, was that “many Jewish students at Berkeley Law had a particularly tough year.”

He said the anti-Zionist bylaws “left many Jewish students feeling unwelcome” in the organizations that approved them — “communities in which these Jewish students would have otherwise been active members, and even leaders.” For many, he said, a connection to Israel is intrinsic to their Jewish identity.

We are inspired by the vitality of our community and the continued pride of our Jewish peers.

”But setbacks like the ones we faced don’t discourage us,” he added. “We are inspired by the vitality of our community and the continued pride of our Jewish peers.”

The anti-Israel bylaw controversy garnered national headlines, including coverage in the New York Times, serving as a focal point for a national debate over when anti-Israel activism crosses the line into antisemitism. Celebrities weighed in on whether the bylaw changes passed by student groups effectively created what one op-ed writer called “Jewish-free zones.”

J. The Jewish News of Northern California was the first news outlet to report on the Zionist speaker ban in August 2022.

Meanwhile, Erwin Chemerinsky, the law school’s dean and a Jewish, liberal Zionist who represented the family of American pro-Palestinian activist Rachel Corrie, who was killed by an Israeli military bulldozer in 2003, was thrust into the middle of the controversy.

Chemerinsky publicly criticized the students who adopted the bylaws while also defending their right to do so without penalty from the university.

Jewish community organizations, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area, were outraged. After two pro-Israel lawyers filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education, the federal agency said in December that it would investigate whether the law school violated federal anti-discrimination regulations.

In a statement to J. on Tuesday, Chemerinsky commended the three Berkeley Law students recognized by the AJC.

“My enormous congratulations to Charlotte, Milton, and Hannah on this well-deserved award for their tireless advocacy for Jewish students at Berkeley Law and on the Berkeley campus,” Chemerinsky wrote in an email.

At the event, the AJC also recognized two Northwestern University students, Lily Cohen and Ethan Less, for their efforts speaking out against anti-Israel activity on the Evanston, Illinois, campus.

“What these students did is anything but easy,” Meggie Wyschogrod Fredman, AJC senior director of the Alexander Young Leadership Department, said in the press release. “When faced with scorn and ostracism, not only did they refuse to back down from their beliefs, they set the table for impactful change that will make Jewish students feel more welcome.”

UPDATE: A previous version of this story included a description of the award provided by AJC, which revised the description after the article was published. The original said the award recognized “the efforts of college students who fight antisemitism, stand up to the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, and promote a positive image of Israel.” The revised description says the award is “given to college-based advocates who combat antisemitism while supporting Jewish life on campus.”