Dear Freshmen, Don’t Fear a Community That Challenges Your Beliefs

By Sonya Levine June 13, 2017

Dear freshmen, Last month, I helped facilitate an info session at Wesleyan University for 70 rising seniors from the Solomon Schechter School of Westchester, where I attended elementary school. These students sat before me in the admissions office, looking slightly perplexed about why their Jewish day school had taken them to visit a liberal, off-the-beaten…

Read More...

No Love for the Film “Hate Spaces”

By Berakha Guggenheim May 30, 2017

“Hate Spaces,” a documentary film released in 2016 and written and directed by Avi Goldwasser, aims to shine a light on campus anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism. But, alas, “Hate Spaces” didn’t earn my love. Ultimately, while it starts out strong, it soon devolves into a conspiracy-laden diatribe about Muslims, social justice warriors, and Palestinians. “Hate Spaces”…

Read More...

UC Irvine students protest IDF presence on campus

By Nicole Zelniker June 1, 2016

On May 18, students at the University of California, Irvine, protested a screening of the documentary “Beneath the Helmet,” an Israeli film about the Israeli Defense Forces. “They were screaming. They tried to push open the door, but we were holding the door from the inside,” said President of Students Supporting Israel Katrin Gendova in…

Read More...

Does the anti-Semitism debate at CUNY pose a threat to academic freedom?

By Chloe Sobel April 1, 2016

What exactly is going on at CUNY? The public university has recently come under fire from the Zionist Organization of America for alleged anti-Semitic incidents on some of its campuses, which ZOA is blaming on chapters of Students for Justice in Palestine. ZOA is so convinced of SJP’s responsibility that it has explicitly called for…

Read More...

The Kvetch-Up: Why are people still surprised that anti-BDS campaigns don’t work?

By Chloe Sobel March 14, 2016

Welcome back to our weekly news round-up, where we try our long-winded best to summarize the Jewish news of the week. If you read something here that you want to say something about, get in touch: editor@newvoices.org. Jay Sanderson, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Greater Los Angeles, told Haaretz that Israeli government officials need…

Read More...

UChicago dealing with aftermath of AEPi’s racist emails

By Nicole Zelniker March 11, 2016

Jewish fraternity Alpha Epsilon Pi rocked the University of Chicago’s campus last month when BuzzFeed News obtained emails that referred to Muslim student activists as “terrorists” and mocked Martin Luther King Day, calling it “Marathon Luther King Day” and saying to celebrate by eating fried chicken. AEPi International spokesperson AEPi Jonathan Pierce told New Voices that…

Read More...

N.C. Students Build Bridges After Shooting

By Nicole Zelniker April 1, 2015

Just over a month ago, students Deah Shaddy Barakat, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, and Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha were shot outside their home in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. “Tragedies touch everyone in a community, especially in a [small] community … like Chapel Hill,” said University of North Carolina Chapel Hill sophomore and North Carolina native Leah Johnson….

Read More...

Dealing with Anti-Semitism, and It’s Not About Israel

By Jonathan Katz March 16, 2015

Introduction  Anti-Semitism is everywhere, and it is nowhere. It is claimed to be behind every critique of Israel voiced by progressive youth, yet is said to have been vanquished as American Jews have found themselves increasingly present among the fringes of the establishment. Of course, anti-Semitism still exists. The attacks on Jews in Paris and…

Read More...

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…

Read More...

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…

Read More...

Beware of the Thought Police on Campus

By Holly Bicerano December 31, 2014

    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…

Read More...

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…

Read More...

Why Palestinian Advocacy Groups Don’t Partner With Hillel

By Tom Pessah July 2, 2014

In his post on New Voices last week, Tomer Kornfeld recounts how he worked with his campus Hillel to set up “a debate, or ‘mock peace talk’ with Students for Justice in Palestine.” But “instead of reciprocating our goodwill, sitting down with us and working things out, S.J.P. sent out an email to club members…

Read More...

Together We Can: A Call for Unity in Peacemaking

By Tomer Kornfeld June 27, 2014

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is one of the most divisive issues in modern politics. For years, the world—as much as Israeli and Palestinian leadership—has been trying to reconcile their differences, and, though there has been some progress, sadly, a full peace has yet to be achieved. To tell you the truth, there are times when this…

Read More...

What Does it Mean to Be a Zionist on a College Campus?

By Amram Altzman May 5, 2014

I have alluded before to (what I see as) the somewhat sorry state of Israel education and advocacy today, especially on college campuses. I spoke about the fact that simply greeting people who claim that Israel is an apartheid state with some falafel and a blue-and-white cupcake is not an effective tool for advocacy in…

Read More...