Journalism by Jewish college students, for Jewish college students.
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…
Every year, even if I celebrate it differently and even as my perceptions of Zionism and the Jewish State become evermore complicated, Yom HaAtzmaut always evokes in me a certain special nostalgia. It was only once I was no longer forced to celebrate the holiday like I did in elementary and high school—with Israeli dancing,…
We’re usually pretty hard on Israel here at New Voices, and though more forgiving than some, I’m no exception. Yet, I find that in the midst of all my anxiety over the results of the last election or railing against the settlements, Yom HaAtzmaut provides the ideal opportunity to step back and remember why I…
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…
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…
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….
It is no great surprise that Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu was reelected last week. He is a skillful politician and an astute campaigner. What did surprise some, however, including many American Jews and American Jewish communal institutions, were the various statements Netanyahu made during the last days and hours of his campaign. The day…
Israel advocacy started out for me as the “unconditional” support for the State of Israel and its policies because they, broadly, were in agreement with my Western, liberal values. For the most part, the Israeli government—in lip service, if not at all in action—supported the idea of a two-state solution, of a government that would…
“We’re done apologizing; we love Israel; we’re joining Jewish Home!” So goes the smart-alecky, unavoidable, possibly un-Jewish, and certainly controversial video released by Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home (HaBeit HaYehudi) party in preparation for the upcoming Israeli elections. The party – and Bennett, of course – advocates a right-wing, ultra-nationalist agenda: annexing 60% of the West…
The context in which the force-feeding bill is passing through the Israeli Knesset is clear. Ziva Miral, a spokesperson from the Israeli Medical Association said that the practice “goes against the DNA of the doctors to force treatment on a patient…force-feeding is torture, and we can’t have doctors participating in torture.” The bill has…
David Harris-Gershon is a Jewish educator, author, speaker, and regular blogger for Tikkun Magazine. He was recently asked by the Israel Committee of Santa Barbara to be a keynote speaker at its annual event, which was to be housed in the Santa Barbara Hillel building. He was going to speak about his book, What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist…
Last Saturday night in Jerusalem, protesters rallied against a bill that prohibits women from sitting in the front of certain buses. These buses (which are already in operation) separate men and women in the name of religious purity. Although few buses are segregated, this has become a hot topic in Israel. Women argue that they…