Gay Christian Palestinian looks for salvation in Canada

By Jackson Richman June 12, 2015

In the 16th century, Protestant theologian John Calvin fled France amidst violence against Protestant reformers. Now, in 2015, the life of his gay Christian Palestinian namesake is in danger. Born under a different name into a West Bank pro-Hamas family, John Calvin is the grandson of former Muslim Brotherhood leader Said Bilal, who oversaw Hamas…

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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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The Reform Movement Must Express its Support for a Two-State Solution in Youth Education

By Hannah Silverfine May 2, 2014

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of hearing Rabbi Rick Jacobs, the President of the Union for Reform Judaism (URJ), speak at the J Street U Student Town Hall in Baltimore. As a J Street U leader at Clark University in Worcester, MA, I was very excited to hear him speak passionately about…

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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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I Violate Hillel’s Israel Guidelines: A Non-Apology

By Anonymous January 13, 2014

In a rebuttal to last month’s New York Times article profiling college students who question Hillel guidelines on Israel, Hillel International President and CEO Eric Fingerhut wrote that an “unwavering line” existed on cosponsoring events or welcoming students who “delegitimize, demonize or apply a double standard to Israel; support boycotts, divestment or sanctions against Israel;…

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The Other Israel: The Garden of Eden

By Derek M. Kwait November 21, 2013

The 7th Annual Other Israel Film Festival, ending today at the JCC of Manhattan, presents films focused on the stories of the other 20% of Israel’s population such as Palestinians and other Arabs and Druze. The message of these films is powerful: There’s a whole other Israel out there than the one you see on…

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Chasids do the Dougie; wigless photo controversy; and more. [Required Reading]

By John Propper February 17, 2012

Video mashes up Chasidic celebration with “Teach Me How to Dougie” [Youtube] A hilarious YouTube video featuring a clip from what appears to be a Chasidic wedding dance paired up with Cali Swag District’s meme-tastic song has hit the web. Hey, they’re better than the Black Eyed Peas. Curlier too. Wigless photo of former chief…

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Campus Dialogue ?

By lcuen May 8, 2011

“There’s a lot of dialogue and but it’s the silent minority. The loud majority doesn’t want dialogue,” said Gila Hashkes, Israel Fellow at UC Berkley Hillel. “We (at Berkeley) had a whole week during apartheid week, we had a big tent with a sign that said: “Let’s Talk.” And it was really interesting.” The tent…

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The Reading List: Why Do Pro-Palestinian Students Oppose Dialogue?

By Ben Sales December 17, 2010

According to Philip Weiss, pro-Palestinian students at Brooklyn College don’t want dialogue with the pro-Israel group. Here’s a telling quote from a student there: “We hold an anti-normalization stance on dialogue,” said Eeman Abuasi, 21, a co-founder of the Palestinian Club who grew up in Brooklyn, east Jerusalem and the West Bank city of Ramallah….

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Israeli Apartheid Week: Part of the Problem

By Ben Sales March 8, 2010

The Israeli occupation of the West Bank is a problem we cannot ignore. Sam Melamed agrees with me. He also says that Israel isn’t an apartheid state: on that we agree as well. Where we differ is in how we choose to approach Israeli Apartheid Week, which purports to strive to bring peace to the Palestinians…

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The Problems with Israeli Apartheid Week

By Ben Sales March 1, 2010

It’s not often that I take to the New Voices blog to disagree with one of our writers, but I’d like to respond to Sam Melamed’s post from earlier today. Sam defends Israeli Apartheid Week as an effort “to louden international calls for the BDS movement – that is, the boycott of Israeli goods, the…

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“Avatar” Meets the West Bank

By Ben Sales February 14, 2010

I don’t have much to say about this, but check out some Palestinian protesters in the West Bank utilizing the latest 3-D movie hit/best picture nominee for their own ends. Pretty impressive, at the very least, that they were able to get all that blue paint: It seems dubious to compare the message of “Avatar”…

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From East of the Bank: Map, Mapa, Charita

By miriamberger July 23, 2009

As a child a tale was told to me of the Halutzim, the pioneers who came from the diaspora to the land of Israel and cultivated the parched, barren earth into the beginnings of a fruitful nation. I did not doubt this tale, or the image drawn for me of the proud pioneers as they…

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