Why We Should and Shouldn’t Be Mourning Joan Rivers

By Amram Altzman September 8, 2014

I had an opportunity to meet Joan Rivers at the tail end of my senior year of high school. She told me I was a nice Jewish boy. She then moved along and continued to make some joke which was probably far too inappropriate to quote, then proceeded to flip off the photographer. What I…

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Mourning the American-Jewish Political Middle

By Amram Altzman August 18, 2014

  If nothing else, the over-discussed Pew Report from almost a year ago (almost a year ago — and here we are, still quoting it like it’s the Bible itself!) heralded the death of the American-Jewish religious middle. This summer’s Operation Protective Edge seems to have heralded the death of the American-Jewish political middle, as…

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Why I Couldn’t Work for Hillel

By Jesse Baum August 4, 2014

Recently while killing time at work, I saw an email regarding a position I had applied for at my university’s Hillel. Expecting a rejection, I clicked, and realized that I was not being consoled- they were offering me a job. I’d applied for the job almost accidentally – working an event for my bike repair…

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Why Palestinian Advocacy Groups Don’t Partner With Hillel

By Tom Pessah July 2, 2014

In his post on New Voices last week, Tomer Kornfeld recounts how he worked with his campus Hillel to set up “a debate, or ‘mock peace talk’ with Students for Justice in Palestine.” But “instead of reciprocating our goodwill, sitting down with us and working things out, S.J.P. sent out an email to club members…

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Jewish Students to AMCHA: Leave Us Alone.

By Zev Hurwitz April 10, 2014

With the release of the University of California’s campus climate survey results, the Anti-Defamation League and the regional pro-Israel watchdog AMCHA Institute pounced on the results, which indicated that life for Jewish students on UC campuses is less than perfect. The results, announced last month, show Jewish students self-describe as some of the most uncomfortable…

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‘Ambiguous Hillel’ Movement Breaks Out at West Virginia International University

By Derek M. Kwait March 5, 2014

Feeling caught up in the pressure to align themselves with either the liberal Open Hillel movement or the nascent reactionary Safe Hillel movement, Jewish students at West Virginia International University met and decided to start a new movement in response: Ambiguous Hillel. “We really had no other option,” explained WVIU Hillel president Jason Scheingross. “Our…

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In Praise of Al Jazeera America – Israeli Media Can Take a Lesson

By Sam Hantverk February 6, 2014

Al Jazeera. Simply hearing the name would bother me two years ago, like nails on a chalkboard. In my ethnocentric view, I believed Al Jazeera existed for the sole purpose of promoting anti-Israel propaganda with the utmost criticism of the nation. How could I trust any of their other journalism with their articles containing blatant…

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No, I Will Not Stop Criticizing Israel on Facebook

By Jonathan Katz January 28, 2014

I post a lot of things about the Holy Land on Facebook. I mean, I post about a lot of things – South Africa, migration politics, tasty coconut-based desserts – but also a lot about Israel and Palestine. And many of the things I post are not terribly adulatory of Israel. In fact, they’re starkly…

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Pew Survey Conversation (Part 3)

By Derek M. Kwait October 30, 2013

Part 3 in a 3 part series. Part 1 is here. Part 2 is here. 7.      What are your reactions to survey respondents’ answers to “What does it mean to be Jewish”? What creates Jewish meaning for you? Dr. Steven M. Cohen, sociologist: These questions pertain to areas of great ambiguity. I wouldn’t…

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Perspectives on Israeli Independence: Celebrate, Commemorate or Mourn?

By New Voices April 15, 2013

Our generation of Jews is torn on the subject of Israel. While intense discomfort grows in some corners, beaming pride grows in others. As our way of observing Yom Ha’atzmaut, Israeli Independence Day, which begins tonight and continues tomorrow, we asked four Jewish college students with very different takes on Israeli independence, the Palestinian observance…

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The Surprisingly Sunny Story of Israel on Campus

By Editorial Board November 10, 2012

In a stunning twist, a national organization just invested a great deal of time and effort into researching the nature of Israel’s reputation on college campuses. The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise, a non-profit established to spread knowledge of “the values our nations share” (America and Israel), has produced the latest report on anti-Israel and anti-Semitic sentiment…

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ZOA’s personal attack on New Voices editor

By David A.M. Wilensky May 2, 2012

Not to get too overwrought, but here’s my blog post in response to a Zionist Organization of America press release in response to my JTA op-ed in response to their JTA op-ed. Throughout the press release, notice how many of my points are avoided by going on an ad hominem rampage against me. NEW YORK,…

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Silent Face-Palms Do No Good [Israel]

By Gabriel T. Erbs April 30, 2012

Listening to a classmate yell at another student about Queer Studies was the most boisterous experience of my academic career. Looking back, I’m a little surprised it remains the single most emotional exchange of my Ivory Tower. As I made my way through classes titled, “The Literature of Palestine,” “The Arab-Israeli Conflict in Film” and…

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Atheist billboard controversy; Jewish all along; and more. [Required Reading]

By John Propper March 5, 2012

Atheist organizations unveil controversial series of billboards [Jewish Press] “You know it’s a myth… and you have a choice” reads a new series of billboards by the organization American Atheists. These billboards, placed in Paterson, New Jersey, and Williamsburg, Brooklyn (where heavy Muslim and Jewish populations reside, respectively) evoke the name of God: in Arabic…

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Barnard College and the Case on Racism

By Carly Silver February 2, 2012

Barnard College the subject of controversy after an alleged slight to a professor with negative views on Israel | photo by Flickr user walkinggeek (CC BY 2.0) Last fall, a Barnard College professor was accused of discrimination when she allegedly steered  an Orthodox Jewish student away from taking a class taught by controversial professor Joseph…

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