StandWithUs (SWU) is an American organization which is known to enjoy close ties with the Israeli government. It was established in Los Angeles in 2001 by Roz Rothstein. Until 2016, it had 18 branches across the world, even though its focus is on US college campuses.
The SWU seeks to encourage its mostly Jewish student audience to disseminate pro-Israeli propaganda. It claims to fight “antisemitism”, a vague label usually used to silence and crack down against anti-Israeli dissent.
SWU supports Israeli settlements in the West Bank while simultaneously rejecting claims that the West Bank is occupied by Tel Aviv. The SWU has also used Israel’s liberal policy on LGBT rights to promote and “pinkwash” Israel.
The Creative Community for Peace (CCFP)
In 2011, the SWU formed the Creative Community for Peace (CCFP), a workgroup seeking to counter the Boycott, Divest and Sanction campaign’s calls for celebrities to boycott Israel. David Renzer, a founding member of the CCFP, asserts that the CCFP’s work is independent from the SWU, a claim that is largely disputed. Current charge filings show that the CCFP is legally a front business name for the SWU. The CCFP -like the SWU – doesn’t accept that Israeli settlements are an obstruction to peace nor that the West Bank is occupied by Israel. The CCFP also emphatically goes against the case that Israel takes part in apartheid.1
1.https://forward.com/news/israel/185825/hollywood-insiders-form-group-to-counter-celebrity/