Welcome to the Conversation: A Guide to Left-Wing Israel Organizations on Campus

By Sarah Asch January 18, 2018

The first time I encountered a progressive view about Israel was when I went on my first college tour at the age of 16. On UC Berkley’s campus, across the Bay from my house, I noticed small black flags planted in the grass. A sign informed passersby that these flags represented the movement for justice…

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Cyber Bullies Made Life Lonely on the Jewish Left

By Hailey Levien December 18, 2017

“Oh Allah, liberate the Al Aqsa Mosque from the filth of the Jews… Oh Allah, count them one by one and annihilate them down to the very last one.” In July, Imam Ammar Shahin said these words in a sermon to his congregation at the Islamic Center of Davis. The sermon was delivered shortly after…

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Ari Shavit’s Sexual Harassment Spurs Ongoing Discussion Among Campus Jews

By Nicole Zelniker January 3, 2017

For the last two years, Israeli author and journalist Ari Shavit spoke at dozens of college campuses around the country and for Hillel International. This was before American journalist Danielle Berrin accused Shavit of sexual misconduct, igniting ongoing discussions about sexual harassment in Jewish campus communities. To recap, soon after the accusation, J Street disinvited Shavit from…

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Why doesn’t Emory University have a J Street U?

By Nicole Zelniker May 3, 2016

When Emory University first-year Zoe Robbin got to college, she was upset by the lack of left-wing Jewish organizations on campus. With four other students, she founded a campus chapter of J Street U and set out to become a chartered organization. “We wrote a constitution … according to the college’s charter rules exactly,” said…

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Emory J Street U: Student government failed us

By Chloe Sobel March 23, 2016

The J Street U chapter at Emory University has released an op-ed in The Emory Wheel describing the events that led to their charter being revoked due to what they say was lack of professionalism on the student government’s end. Emory J Street U received a charter in November 2015 after a hearing and an additional request from…

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New J Street U president will work to hold Jewish organizations accountable

By Chloe Sobel September 1, 2015

For Amna Farooqi, the newly elected president of the J Street U student board, what was once the elephant in the room has now become her job. Farooqi, a first-generation Pakistani-American, has been making headlines across the Jewish world as the board’s first Muslim president. She was elected to the position at the Aug. 17 J Street…

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Fingerhut’s apology to J Street U meets mixed reactions

By Nicole Zelniker August 31, 2015

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….

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J Street U sees little progress months after march on Hillel

By Nicole Zelniker July 8, 2015

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…

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Progressive Hillel Director Speaks Out

By Derek M. Kwait April 2, 2015

After reading my coverage of last week’s J Street Conference, a campus Hillel director reached out to me to confess their thoughts on Eric Fingerhut’s withdrawal from the conference and what the new Israeli government means for Hillel and its standards of partnership. To protect themselves and their Hillel, they would only let me publish…

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On the Ground at J Street U’s March to Hillel

By Derek M. Kwait March 27, 2015

  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…

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J Street Unchained: Inside #JSt2015

By Derek M. Kwait March 26, 2015

I came to the J Street Conference earlier this week with a question in mind for students: How do you advocate for Israel and for peace on campus after last week’s elections? In true Jewish fashion, their answers went beyond the question to address other important points about Israel advocacy and Jewish life on campus….

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Hillel Can’t Afford to Burn More Bridges

By Derek M. Kwait March 18, 2015

Even after following the situation so closely for the past two years, the news that Hillel CEO Eric Fingerhut withdrew his commitment to speak to 1,000 J Street U students at the upcoming J Street conference in Washington, D.C. shocked me in its ineptitude. Though Hillel credited the presence at the conference of Saeb Erekat,…

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Will Students Take the ‘JUMP’ for Human Rights in the Middle East?

By Nicole Zelniker February 18, 2015

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…

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The Real Scandal of Open Hillel

By Rachel Sandalow-Ash January 22, 2015

In the fall of 2011, Yeshiva University demanded that The Beacon, a student-run publication, remove a ‘scandalous’ story about premarital sex from its website. The student editors fought back, but the administrators threatened them with sanctions if they did not comply with the Orthodox university’s perceptions of modesty. Ultimately, the editors decided to sever ties…

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Interview with Open Hillel Defector Holly Bicerano

By Derek M. Kwait December 18, 2014

Holly Bicerano, a student at Boston University and the former Campus Outreach Co-Coordinator for Open Hillel, made waves in the Jewish world after publishing an op-ed in the Times of Israel called “Standing athwart lies,” explaining why she decided to leave the organization. Chief among her complaints are that, far from promoting true open dialogue…

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