BGU & YOU | Spring 2024

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Jacobo Mekler Waisburd President, Mexican Association of Friends of BGU Ben-Gurion University serves as my anchor, offering me an authentic connection to Israel and the Israeli experience. Despite being thousands of kilometers away, I feel my connection to the Jewish people most strongly through my involvement with Ben-Gurion University. Unfortunately, this connection has recently brought me much pain and sadness, as I share in the loss and suffering of all Israelis, and particularly poignantly through what has happened to the BGU community. My family has been committed to supporting Israel for generations, both in words and deeds. I have taken upon myself to lead the Mexican Friends of BGU because I believe that I can make a difference by introducing the groundbreaking research at the University and its central role in advancing, and now, rebuilding the Negev, to both the Jewish and non Jewish communities in Mexico.

Lionel Halpérin President, Swiss Friends of BGU I often describe Ben-Gurion University as a family legacy. My grandfather, Vladimir Halpérin, played a role in the University’s formative years in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Following in his footsteps, my father established the Swiss Friends of Ben-Gurion University and chaired it for 25 years, achieving remarkable success. For decades, the Swiss Friends have been among the most effective supporters of BGU, particularly considering the size of the region’s population. My decision to become involved with BGU was not only to uphold our family tradition but also because of my personal experience at the University, when I was still a student and my father sent me to attend the Board of Governors meetings, where I gained firsthand insight into the University's impact and potential. Anyone who has visited BGU can attest that the campus’s atmosphere, and the University’s unique role in the region are compelling reasons to get involved.

Danièle Bidermann President, BGU France We are gathered around a lighthouse in the desert. The desert is the Negev. The lighthouse is Ben-Gurion University, named after the man who decided to build an Oxford in the sand. Every day, one could fill a newspaper solely with the scientific discoveries coming out of university laboratories, particularly those of Ben-Gurion University. And the solutions arise from the desert, just like the plants grown among the rocks by the pioneers. As the poet Edmond Jabès, who wrote extensively about the desert, said: " I came from the desert as one comes from beyond memory ." Since October 7, when the war between Hamas and Israel began, BGU has become an exemplar of a new Zionism. It took the University only a few hours to understand that in the face of chaos, knowledge, intelligence, and turning sadness into strength were necessary. BGU embodies the values of the new Zionism of resilience.