On May 11, more than 70 students from Brown University came together to commemorate the Nakba by watching three films produced by the Israeli NGO Zochrot.
Nakba is the term for the 1948 expulsion and displacement of over 700,000 Palestinians, and Nakba Day is observed on May 15, the day after Israeli Independence Day.
“Within the Jewish community, these sorts of discussions do not happen often enough,” said event organizer Ben Williams, a senior at Brown. “[Ignorance] leads to a certain complicity in continuing systems of oppression.”
The two groups hosting the event were Brown Students for Israel and Brown RISD Hillel — until Brown Students for Israel decided against co-hosting the event.
“The campus atmosphere around Israel/Palestine is so repressive that most Zionist students do not feel able to voice their ideas openly, to stand up to biased professors or even to discuss Israel in public spaces,” said Brown Students for Israel in a statement on the event.
Soon after, Brown’s Hillel withdrew their support for the event, as not everyone could agree on whether or not they should host it.
Although the organizers, including Williams, junior Sophie Kasakove, and junior Eital Schattner-Elmaleh, no longer had organizational support, they decided the event was too important to cancel.
“I wanted to see what it would look like to do this here, to get a sense of how much that actually would push people,” Kasakove said. “It’s really important for people to see these films.”
The students got together at 5 p.m., earlier than planned, because of safety concerns that led to the building being closed early.
In a statement provided to New Voices by Hillel International, they wrote, “Hillel International strongly supported Brown RISD Hillel’s decision to cancel the May 11 event, ‘Jews Facing the Nakba,’ because it was inconsistent with Hillel’s mission and values and guidelines.
“We are aware that students entered a public meeting room at Hillel on Wednesday and commenced with their program. We object to any Hillel building being used to host programs that do not recognize Israel’s right to exist as a democratic Jewish state, even if the program is not sponsored by Hillel.”
Although Hillel International’s “Standards of Partnership” do not allow campus Hillel groups to partner with anti-Israel or pro-Palestinian organizations, Kasakove said Brown RISD Hillel was very supportive.
The organizers hope to host more discussion-provoking events at Brown in the future, including inviting Israeli and Palestinian activists as speakers, holding conversations about BDS, as well as screening more films.
“There’s something really powerful about using things like film and art to talk about these issues,” Kasakove said.
Short films, specifically, are a medium the organizers hope to continue using.
“These short films are particularly powerful,” Williams said. “The director has to say something in a very short period of time, [and] it makes people more comfortable having these conversations.”
The organizers want to center these conversations around Palestinian voices.
“It’s important to acknowledge where these stories came from and who’s been telling this history,” Williams said.
“People are more willing to listen to me and believe me [as a Jew]. If you’re Palestinian … people instantly kind of paint you as non-objective and potentially questionable.”
Open Hillel, a group of students who hope to abolish Hillel’s standards of partnership, look forward to seeing more events like this in the future.
“Students across the country are looking to do something similar,” said Open Hillel National Organizer Rachel Sandalow-Ash.
“What the 70 Brown students did is inspiring. I think it sets a precedent.”
Nicole Zelniker is a New Voices fellow and a student at Guilford College.
This article has been updated with a statement from Hillel International.
