Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
Sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning at Brandeis University, someone drew a swastika in condensation on the window of a house where the college’s AEPi chapter was hosting a party. Brandeis’ student population is 47 percent Jewish, according to Hillel International, and it was founded in 1948 as a non-sectarian, Jewish-sponsored university. “That a…
A few years ago, while I was working as a staff member at Brandeis High School Programs, someone asked me what could be done for LGBTQ people who were still in the closet. At first, I had no response. The only real way to give someone the direct help that they need is for them…
As the rift between J Street U and Hillel continues to widen, J Street U members remain dissatisfied with Hillel’s efforts to close the gap. On Aug. 17, Hillel International CEO and president Eric Fingerhut addressed J Street U in D.C. to apologize for declining to speak at the J Street U conference in March….
Though J Street U and Hillel moved closer to working together in June, progress is still slow. At the meeting, which took place on June 10, J Street U made several requests of Hillel, and Hillel asked for time before committing to any of them. The meeting came after Hillel International CEO Eric Fingerhut’s decision…
WASHINGTON – Hundreds of students stormed Hillel International’s headquarters Monday, the second day of the 5th annual J Street conference, demanding the organization show tangible support for them and their pro-two states agenda. The march was organized by J Street U, the lobbying group’s campus affiliate, in protest of Hillel International CEO Eric Fingerhut…
This past June, Boston University junior Raphael Fils decided he was fed up with the stances Jewish organizations take on the conflict in the Middle East. Whether Hillel, Jewish Voice for Peace, or J Street, all organizations seemed to have a bias. To change that, Fils launched Justice and Unity in Mideast Policy, or JUMP…
Recent occurrences on campuses have greatly undermined freedom of expression and should serve as a forewarning of what will happen in the future. While the hardliners of any ideological camp will seldom admit it, the perpetrators and victims have been people on both the left and right; both Zionists and anti-Zionists. In a…
Though If Not Now, When? An Open Hillel Conference began at Harvard Saturday night, I wasn’t able to arrive until Sunday afternoon. When I got there, the swarm of familiar black t-shirts seemed to indicate my worst suspicions would be confirmed: This is basically a student JVP conference in disguise with some Jewish SJP activists…
If you are reading this, you have almost certainly been affected by the life and philanthropy of Edgar Bronfman, who passed away Saturday. An heir to the Seagram’s beverage fortune, Bronfman used much of his wealth to contribute positively to Jewish students of all stripes, including creating the Bronfman Israel Fellowships, which has sent over…
It used to be, said a speaker at J Street U’s plenary session during the national J Street Conference, that students were expected to listen to learn from others. Now, he said, with the success of the fights for civil rights, marriage equality, unionizing, and women’s rights—all of which were led by student movements—the world…
I have a confession to make: I’ve been cynical. While I love Israel deeply, studied abroad in Haifa, and study the Middle East academically, for the bulk of my college career I would not get involved with campus Israel-related activity. It was too polarized, too entrenched, and too disconnected from the nuanced and intellectual conversations…
Justice Antonin Scalia came to speak at Wesleyan a few weeks ago. Cool, right? Isn’t it great that the University chose to bring a Supreme Court Justice and highly educated Constitutional scholar to campus in order to engage in discussion with the students? Well, not quite. I respect the University’s choice to bring to campus…
Brandeis Students protest Israeli Parliament Members [Brandeis SJP] On Monday, a Brandeis student group calling themselves Students for Justice in Palestine disrupted a town hall meeting in Newton, Mass where 5 members of the Israeli Parliament intended to speak. This activism comes on the heels of a similar effort by SJP last year. After the…
In New Voices’s first installation of the new Bloggers’ Round Table feature (props to Ben and David for this, I think it’s a great idea), I and several other NV bloggers offered our thoughts on the propriety of Brandeis Hillel’s rejection of the campus JVP chapter. You should read it – check out the comments…