An op-ed in defense of Hillel’s policy
Last week, Ben Sales criticized Hillel for excluding Jewish Voice for Peace from its campus branches. What Ben’s article misses, however, is that JVP has excluded itself from Jewish organizations—including Hillel—through its antagonistic actions.
The most striking of these actions occurred when JVP members disrupted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly last month. This protest was not productive. Rather, it wasted time and caused a disturbance. The five protestors, one at a time, stood up to shout slogans and continued heckling Netanyahu as they were escorted out. This disrespected Netanyahu, the audience and the Jewish organizations attending the speech. At this event, JVP showed that it was more interested in interfering with events than integrating into and strengthening the Jewish community.
This is not the only time that JVP members have disrespected a speaker at a Jewish event by shouting him down. In July 2009, JVP sponsored an anti-Israel event consisting of a film and speaker at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival. In an attempt to balance the event, the festival’s board invited Michael Harris, of Jewish Voice for Israel, to introduce the film. JVP activists, however, interrupted and heckled him throughout the speech. At one point, audience members cheered at the mention of “hosting a dinner for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,” the Iranian president who has called repeatedly for the murder of Jews. A group that hosts such events and welcomes such disrespectful jeering should not be allowed in the Jewish community.
JVP also affiliates and works with groups that are explicitly anti-Israel, such as Students for Justice in Palestine—a student group that advocates the end of Israel as a Jewish state, and the International Solidarity Movement—an organization that hinders Israeli counterterrorism efforts and that helped organize the Gaza flotilla mission last year. These are groups that anathematize the Jewish community through their opposition to Israel and its defense. They also play a key role in creating a hostile campus climate that makes many Jewish students feel uncomfortable and targeted. SJP, for example, has set up mock checkpoints or “apartheid walls”—mimicking Israel’s separation barrier—on multiple campuses. Although it is important to connect with student groups from diverse cultures, JVP has built ties based around a hatred of Israel. A group that maintains these ties should not be welcome in Hillel. These associations raise questions about the direction in which JVP would like to pull the Jewish community.
Hillel’s new guidelines on the inclusion of groups are a reasonable way to ensure that Hillel’s hospitality does not end up creating a forum for anti-Semitic views. The guidelines require groups to act civilly and to pass Jewish Agency President Natan Sharansky’s “3D test” (which bans groups that demonize, delegitimize, or apply a double standard to Israel). The 3D test distinguishes criticism of Israel from anti-Semitism. The only issue that is not open for discussion is divestment, as it is often a cloak for anti-Semitism—recalling past boycotts of Jewish businesses. All other issues, such as the legitimacy of Israel’s proposed loyalty oath or the Gaza blockade, are open for debate.
Hillel does not exclude JVP because of its critical perspective on Israel. My Hillel, at the University of California, Berkeley, welcomes organizations with viewpoints that are both supportive and critical of Israel. Hearing the negative viewpoints has helped me form a more comprehensive opinion about the conflict. JVP, however, lacks a positive vision for Israel and the Palestinians, focusing instead on belligerent tactics and actions. A group like this does not belong in Hillel.
At this time, as pro-Israel students face “apartheid walls,” divestment, and an uncomfortable atmosphere on campus, it is important for Hillel to provide a safe space for Jewish students. Hillel can put its students first by making sure not to partner with groups that will detract from the Jewish community by weakening and disrespecting its support of the Jewish state.
Jonathan Horovitz is a sophomore at the University of California, Berkeley.
