Inaugural ‘Protect Our House’ session features instruction in Krav Maga
A group of young people learned the Israeli self-defense art of Krav Maga at the inaugural session of Protect Our House, an organization that teaches high school and college students how to recognize threats and dangers on campus and how to handle possible hostile actions. The August 12 program was at the Kaplen JCC on the Palisades in Tenafly.
“Especially in this current campus environment, which threatens our Jewish students, I realized that this skill set is needed now,” Dr. Jonathan Mangot of Alpine, founder of Protect Our House, said.
Tim Torell, the director of community security at the Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey, led the first part of the session with an interactive video presentation, “Run, Hide, Fight.” More than 20 participants were taught these basic skills in handling a dangerous situation, either alone or as part of a group.
Ron Allen, a Krav Maga master instructor, ran an introductory course; participants paired up to practice basic defense moves.
Protect Our House co-chair Eddie Quvus, a sophomore at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, was instrumental in reaching out to the program’s target audience. “It is so disappointing and disheartening that the university administration ignores the severity of the issues of antisemitism and hate toward Jews and Israel,” Mr. Quvus said.
Evan Block, a senior at SUNY at Albany, said, “This is so important for schools with small Jewish populations, like mine.”
Dr. Mangot said his goal is to offer this program to high schools in the area and college campuses in New Jersey and beyond. “These types of skills and training need to be made available to all campuses. Sadly, I only see things getting worse for our youth. It is our collective responsibility to make Protect Our House accessible to this generation.”
For information, email Dr. Mangot at protectoh18@gmail.com.
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