Since the October 7 Hamas attacks, Israeli Olympian A.J. Edelman has taken his advocacy for Israel from the sports arena to college campuses across North America.
“Within a week after the attack, I went out to Washington Square Park,” Edelman told ILTV News. “I held an eight-hour public debate with people who came by the table.”
Edelman encountered Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil — now facing deportation for supporting Hamas — during one of these early debates.
"He was entirely in the camp of supporting Hamas," Edelman recalled. "It was very memorable."
While foreign funding of universities, including from Qatar, has become a major topic in Washington, Edelman believes the real problem runs deeper.
"At all these universities where there have been pushes to discipline people… the faculty have been the ones who have stopped the disciplinary process," he said. "Universities are magnets for grievance individuals… and Jews are always the subject of people's grievances."
Beyond his activism, Edelman continues to proudly represent Israel through the Israeli bobsled team.
“Everywhere we go, we make sure to be decked head to toe in Israeli gear,” he said.
As the team climbs into the world’s top 25, Edelman sees it as a platform to educate.
“At every single track I go to, every single competition, I make sure to stay an hour afterwards, meeting everyone I can, talking to everyone about Israel,” he said.
Watch the full interview:
