Hillel International, Don’t Define “Pro-Israel” For Us

By Sonya Levine August 30, 2017

When I was a student at Wesleyan University, the Jewish community was my home. It was a safe space to question, to deepen and nuance my connection to Israel/Palestine, and to learn to articulate my own beliefs about Judaism through hearing a variety of others’. Essentially, it was a place where discomfort was valued as…

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Will Trump’s Presidency Help Israel?

By Jackson Richman November 10, 2016

In an election between two of the most unpopular candidates in U.S. electoral history, real estate and media mogul Donald Trump accomplished the unthinkable – winning the presidency. His transition from the Trump Organization to political business in the Oval Office will entail a lot of challenges domestically and abroad. His domestic challenges will include handling…

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U of M Students React to Campus Apartheid Wall on Rosh Hashana

By Nicole Zelniker November 1, 2016

At the University of Michigan, many Jewish students spent the morning of Oct. 4 attending Rosh Hashanah services. That same morning, students in Students Allied for Freedom and Equality (SAFE) were getting ready to protest. “I just saw these two huge walls,” said first-year student Juliet Wishner. She also saw signs supporting BDS. SAFE, a…

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HaaretzQ addresses some questions; raises more

By Chloe Sobel December 16, 2015

Perhaps nothing characterizes the divisions I see in American and world Jewry better than the list of opening and closing keynote speakers at HaaretzQ, a conference on Israel hosted by Haaretz and the New Israel Fund in New York Sunday. The day kicked off with speeches from Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, MK Tzipi Livni of…

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Is there a Jewish Agenda on campus?

By Zev Hurwitz December 10, 2015

When a UC Santa Cruz student leader is instructed to abstain from a BDS vote due to his allegiance to a “Jewish Agenda,” the proper response from the Jewish community is very simple: Such activities are anti-Semitic, and do not belong on diverse, pluralistic campuses. This is only the latest case of anti-Semitism that has…

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Will Trudeau be good for the Jews?

By Jenna Zucker November 27, 2015

Many are questioning the future of the Israel-Canada relationship following Justin Trudeau’s Oct. 21 inauguration as Prime Minister of Canada, but Benjamin Netanyahu’s congratulatory phone call to Trudeau suggests a continuing friendly relationship between the two countries. While Canada’s previous Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, was seen as a loyal and vocal supporter of Israeli policy…

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AMCHA releases web page collecting testimonies of anti-Semitism on campus

By Jackson Richman July 24, 2015

The AMCHA Initiative, a watchdog organization that works to investigate and combat anti-Semitism in American universities, launched a new web page last month to collect testimonies from students of on-campus incidents. Director and co-founder Tammi Rossman-Benjamin said AMCHA created the page because of concern over a rise in campus anti-Semitism. “We hear regularly from Jewish…

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New Voices and the ZOA: Working Together to Command Support for Israel on Campus

By Derek M. Kwait March 5, 2015

  It’s no secret that the war for Israel currently has two fronts: the Middle East and American university campuses. Jewish students feel increasingly threatened and intimidated by anti-Israel activity on campus that too often crosses the line into anti-Semitism, as seen recently in incidents at UC Davis and UCLA. All people concerned with the…

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The ‘Two-Station Solution’ for Campus Conflict

By Zev Hurwitz March 3, 2015

If we are to believe that there is truly a growing anti-Semitic presence on all college campuses these days, then what you’re about to read won’t make sense. Last May, I walked in front of the Israel “Apartheid” Wall at my campus during Justice in Palestine Week, wearing my yarmulke, and a member of Students…

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Fallacies and Follies of Open Hillel

By Holly Bicerano January 14, 2015

John Adams famously remarked that “facts are stubborn things.” Maybe that is why Open Hillel leaders have closed their eyes to them. Open Hillel is an organization committed to abolishing Hillel International’s Standards of Partnership. These standards preclude Hillel branches from partnering with groups supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. Besides…

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Getting to NO on Campus: Israel and Palestine Edition

By Derek M. Kwait January 13, 2015

  “Middle ground is just another word for failure. I do NOT want to make a deal! We deserve it all!” That’s the philosophy of the “NO-gotiatior,” a man who wants to teach you how to make the power of “No” work in your life. It got me to thinking: What advice might the NO-Gotiator…

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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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Is there an Open AEPi in the Works?

By Jackson Richman November 12, 2014

On April 30, 2014 the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, an umbrella organization, rejected the liberal lobbying group J Street’s bid for membership by a vote of 22-17. Leon Wieseltier, the literary editor of The New Republic, wrote an editorial shortly afterward denouncing the vote, saying “The question of ‘what could be…

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Why I’m Tired of Hearing About Chickenshitgate (And Can We Please Not Make That a Thing?)

By Amram Altzman November 3, 2014

I’ll be the first in line to comment on the policies of the Israeli government, and the first in line to criticize those policies, be they negotiations or the stronghold that the religious right holds on social policies in Israel. I’ve openly stated that I believe that the Netanyahu government’s policies are working against the…

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The ‘Blood Bucket Challenge’ Controversy and the Days of Awe

By Derek M. Kwait October 3, 2014

By now, the controversy over the Ohio University “Blood Bucket Challenge” video is relatively old news: About a month ago, Megan Marzec, president of the OU student senate, was challenged by the university president to dump a bucket of ice water over her head in support of ALS research. She responded by making a video…

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