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Printed in Protest: How I Am Using My Voice in Fashion School to Stand for My Values
Illustrative: Members of the United Nations Security Council vote against a resolution by Russia and China to delay by six months the reimposition of sanctions on Iran during the 80th UN General Assembly in New York City, US, Sept. 26, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
Trust between students and professors depends on a delicate balance. Professors are responsible for teaching students how to think through complex issues without imposing their own political beliefs. Students trust professors to act with impartiality and neutrality.
In art school, when an assignment is open for interpretation, there are many routes the mind can take. Creative approaches and executions vary wildly. Each artist brings their own perspective and style. Amid the brainstorming, thumbnail sketches, and first drafts, it becomes essential to stay true to your beliefs. Sometimes that means not just creating a pretty picture to please the crowd.
My recent experience at my university illustrates how easily that balance can break down.
Due to the inescapable nature of traffic, I arrived late to my screen printing class. It was the first day and I walked in mid-lecture. On the board was a video explaining the history of the United Nations. Had I walked into the wrong class? My professor explained that the theme for our first assignment was to answer the prompt: “What the United Nations means to you.”
It was announced that we would be presenting our designs and artist statement in front of the United Nations headquarters. My interest was immediately piqued.
The lecture explained that screen printing has a rich history connected to political and social movements, specifically in the creation of commemorative scarves. There have been numerous methods and color techniques used to create messages through what we wear on our clothes as a form of expression. We looked at examples from world fairs, festivals, and the Olympic Games. Visual messages can be heard when words cannot.
I chose to focus my concept on the United Nations’ founding vision of peace and justice. As a pro-Israel Jew, my relationship to the United Nations had been watching the news and witnessing how their decisions affect the lives of my loved ones in Israel.
I wondered if any of my classmates in the room felt as conflicted as I did. It seems that every time we are met with hope of progress within the United Nations, we are met with a rise in terror attacks rather than diplomatic compromise, and even while the resolutions have historically leaned heavily in the Palestinians’ favor, there has been a constant refusal from that side to accept coexistence with Israel.
How can I make a design celebrating the United Nations when there is so much systemic antisemitism within the UN bodies?
I was left with a decision: create a pretty picture depicting peace, or take a critical stance on this problematic institution through my artist statement. I chose the latter.
It has been more than two years since the October 7th massacre — and two years since the public responded through a rise in antisemitism around the world.
As a Jewish student, I feel this shift every day on campus. It has taught me the effects that silence has in times when voices are so desperately needed. It is for this reason that I felt compelled to focus my design on Israel.
My design’s focus was on the skyline of Jerusalem — the heart of a multicultural land where Israelis and Arabs live side by side. To me, that is a perfect emblem of peace. I paired its skyline with a natural landscape, connecting the land’s past, present, and hopeful future to convey the people’s enduring spirit and lifelong pursuit of peace.
Since the establishment of Israel, it has been under attack. The United Nations has played a crucial role in the history of the region. So, as I reflect on their promise of peace and justice, I must also acknowledge their failed efforts that seem to undermine the very ideals they seek to uphold.
This scarf is a response to that dissonance. It recognizes the ongoing struggle for peace while acting as an urge to return to moral clarity. The UN was born from the dream of a world without war, rooted in freedom and better standards of life and human rights. As their 80th anniversary approaches, may those dreams become more than a distant vision, and shape what lies ahead.
It was clear that the project made some people uncomfortable. This felt inevitable and even necessary. Sometimes the role of art is to unsettle, create controversy, and get people to think. My goal was to offer nuance to the assignment. The conversation that followed the critique was engaged and thoughtful, affirming my goal of sparking the dialogue. This design process showed me the power in being authentic to my values even when a task feels uncomfortable. Own your perspective, and create work that is meaningful to you. Because ultimately, standing firmly in your values is its own form of artistry.
CAMERA fellow Kayla Rubin is an artist and designer studying textile design at the Fashion Institute of Technology, whose creative work explores Jewish identity, culture, and tradition.
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Providence voters pass ballot initiative that could lead to divestment of city funds from Israel
(JTA) — Voters in Providence, Rhode Island, have approved a ballot measure that could result in the city divesting public funds from Israel, according to local media, in a major victory for the Israel boycott movement.
In a major victory for the Israel boycott movement, voters in Providence, Rhode Island, have approved a ballot measure that could result in the city divesting public funds from Israel, according to local media.
With 81 of 82 polling locations partially reported, the Rhode Island Board of Elections tallied 75% voting to approve the measure versus 25% rejecting. Both the Rhode Island Current and the Boston Globe report the measure was approved.
“We are overjoyed that the city of Providence has voted — by more than a 3 to 1 margin — to divest our collective dollars from support for genocide and ethnic cleansing,” Lex Rofeberg, who runs the alternative Jewish engagement network Judaism Unbound and was an organizer with the Providence divestment initiative, told JTA. “This historic moment can serve as an example for other cities around the country hoping to align their investments with their values.”
The ordinance calls for the capital city to refrain from investing in “foreign countries conducting ethnic cleansing, apartheid, illegal military occupation, or genocide.” Though the ballot language does not mention Israel by name, it was heavily supported by local pro-Palestinian groups and opposed by some Jewish and pro-Israel groups.
A representative for the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island previously told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the group would explore legal options to challenge the ballot measure in the event that it passed.
The vote makes Providence the largest municipality yet to vote in favor of some form of Israel divestment, following the lead of Somerville, Massachusetts, whose voters approved a nonbinding divestment measure last year. Providence is home to an estimated 15,000 Jews, or around 7% of its population. Progressive Jewish groups, including the local chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, were among the ballot measure’s advocates.
The city’s mayor, Brett Smiley, a pro-Israel Democrat who converted to Judaism while in office, lost his primary to a democratic socialist, an early indicator of which way the divestment vote would go.
Activist initiatives to challenge U.S. financial aid to Israel have picked up steam in the years since the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attacks and ensuing Gaza war. On the morning of Election Day, President Donald Trump, who described aid to Israel as a political liability, announced the U.S. would end nearly $4 billion in annual military aid to Israel by the end of the year.
The post Providence voters pass ballot initiative that could lead to divestment of city funds from Israel appeared first on The Forward.
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Republican Lawler concedes to Democrat Conley in fierce battle for Jewish vote in NYC suburbs
(JTA) — Republican congressman Mike Lawler has conceded to Democratic challenger Cait Conley, a former national security official, after competing fiercely for Jewish voters in the lower Hudson Valley of New York.
Lawler has been a staunchly pro-Israel member since joining Congress in 2023, and was endorsed by the Republican Jewish Coalition and the pro-Israel lobbying group AIPAC.
Conley was endorsed by the pro-Israel group Democratic Majority for Israel, and has said she supports Israel while opposing the Benjamin Netanyahu government.
Lawler, who is Catholic, has deep ties to the district’s large Orthodox Jewish population, and touted their support recently when asked about the neck-and-neck polling.
Both Lawler and Conley have tried tying their opponent to polarizing figures in their respective parties. Lawler has asserted that Conley, a moderate, will not separate herself from the progressive wing of the Democratic Party and particularly New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who has a lower favorability rating outside the city. Conley denounced Mamdani’s statement on the three-year anniversary of the Oct. 7, 2023 attack after Lawler challenged her to do so during a debate.
Conley, meanwhile, has tied Lawler to President Donald Trump, accusing him of being a rubber stamp for Trump’s legislative priorities.
The post Republican Lawler concedes to Democrat Conley in fierce battle for Jewish vote in NYC suburbs appeared first on The Forward.
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In early LA mayoral results, Karen Bass holds slim lead over Nithya Raman, who sparred with DSA on Israel
Early returns in the Los Angeles mayoral election showed incumbent Karen Bass with a slim lead over Councilmember Nithya Raman, whose comments on Israel became a flashpoint in the race.
The first batch of results — totaling about 500,000 votes — showed Bass leading Raman, 50.8% to 49.2%.
The final outcome may not be known until Wednesday or later, a common occurrence in tight California races due to the preponderance of mail-in ballots. Nearly 90% of California voters did so by mail in the June primary.
But if the primary results are any indication, Bass’ lead may evaporate as more votes are counted.
In the June 2 open primary — a system in which the top two vote-getters from any party advance to a runoff — Raman trailed a Republican, Spencer Pratt, by eight points for second place behind Bass. She won the ensuing batches of mail-in ballots, but did not pass Pratt until June 7. She ultimately surpassed him by more than four percentage points.
Raman, a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has clashed with the organization — and frustrated many of her Jewish constituents — while trying to strike a balance on Israel. She has called the war in Gaza a genocide, but declined to adopt the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions platform — a stance that led the DSA to consider expelling her.
Bass, a mainstream Democrat who served six terms in Congress before running for mayor in 2022, entered the race as a historically unpopular incumbent, largely thanks to her response to the 2025 Los Angeles wildfires. Raman endorsed Bass prior to declaring her own candidacy on the last day to enter the race, a move Bass has characterized as a personal betrayal.
The polls swung back and forth in the weeks leading up to the election. Bass, who won most labor endorsements, was leading until September, when one poll sponsored by the Los Angeles Times showed Raman ahead by 11 points with a third of voters still undecided. A follow-up poll by the Times last week showed the two in a dead heat.
Unlike many other DSA candidates up for election across the country on Tuesday, Raman, an urban policy wonk who immigrated to the U.S. from India when she was 6, never made Israel a focal point of her campaign. Instead, she focused more on housing, homelessness and budget policy.
But her membership in the DSA, an interview she granted Hasan Piker during the primary and the genocide comments dogged her anyway, especially among Jewish Angelenos.
Raman, after publicly condemning the DSA’s anti-Israel statements after Oct. 7, sponsored a resolution for a ceasefire and return of hostages in March 2024, disappointing mainstream Jewish groups who called the motion one-sided. Then, during the primary, Raman told Piker she believed the Gaza war was a genocide and that Israel was an apartheid state. She also said she would not seek the endorsement of pro-Israel Democratic party groups as she had in 2024.
Her record on Israel seemed likely to come up when Raman participated in the candidate forum for Jewish voters Sept. 29. But Raman struggled to get through answers about the DSA, Piker and especially genocide and BDS — which she called a “legitimate form of peaceful protest” — leading to loud audience groans. During Bass’ turn on stage, the mayor said she did not support BDS and did not believe the war in Gaza was a genocide.
Mail-in voters historically skew to the left, and the primary vote may offer a preview of the margin Raman might need.
In that election, about 58% of the total votes were tallied election night, when Bass led Raman 36.5% to 21%. Raman got the biggest share of the ensuing ballot batches, beating Bass by about five percentage points.
The post In early LA mayoral results, Karen Bass holds slim lead over Nithya Raman, who sparred with DSA on Israel appeared first on The Forward.
