JVP: Student Activism Gone Wrong

By Ben Sales November 9, 2010

Protest movements, to gain legitimacy, often relate their cause to another, more established one from the past. Thus we see that gay rights advocates cite the Civil Rights movement of the fifties and sixties, and advocates against the Iraq War find common cause with antiwar protesters from the Vietnam era. Not all protests are the…

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The Reading List: BDS Meets Lady Gaga

By Ben Sales November 9, 2010

Say what you will about the wisdom of BDS, but everyone should agree that these protesters find their inner pop star in their protest of Aroma Cafe. Check out the video here and above. [CGulkin] At Birzeit University, how the occupation impedes the academic progress of Palestinian students. [Chronicle of Higher Ed.] At Cambridge, one…

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Quality Conduct II: Dealing With Bullies

By jcohen November 9, 2010

Bullies. We’ve all experienced them — in the lunchroom, on the playground, and even in the workplace. Though they may not all fit the stereotypical image of a tyrant, they are still pretty easy to identify because of the confident way in which they carry themselves. That’s why I didn’t see this one for who…

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On India

By mmoncaster November 9, 2010

While watching an online TED talk delivered by Shashi Tharoor, I encountered an interesting bit of information. I do not remember the details of the segue, but he mentioned that India is the only country in which the Jews have not experienced anti-Semitism (a brief, yet informative article on the history of Jews in India…

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JVP Protests Netanyahu’s GA Speech

By admin November 8, 2010

This article was reported from the Jewish Federation General Assembly in New Orleans by Caroline Kessler and written by Ben Sales. Five activists from Jewish Voice for Peace disrupted Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech at the Jewish Federation General Assembly in New Orleans today. The activists stood in five separate locations near the front of the room and shouted slogans saying…

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The Reading List: “Easy A,” Jewish Style

By Ben Sales November 8, 2010

The headline couldn’t have said it better: “The fine art of being a slut” [Frum Satire] So I’m not really sure what happened in this story, but it seems like this Palestinian student claimed to be God, got violent on some people and was shot by a masked gunman before his court trial. Crazy. [JPost]…

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Have Faith

By Carly Silver November 5, 2010

When my classmates were out at Halloween parties, eating candy and dancing in their costumes, I sat in my basement, studying the history of the Jewish people. Boring, right? This Halloween was rather blasé by most people’s standards. Since it fell during fall break and was a few days before my midterm, I went home…

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Jews Doing, um…

By yschwartz November 5, 2010

A common phrase that used to be heard in Campus Hillel mission statements was: “To maximize the number of Jews doing Jewish with other Jews.” Yet, as familiar as many of us may be with this formulation, it has today disappeared from nearly all Hillel websites and promotional materials (with a few exceptions). Why? In…

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A Bunch of Cool Events in NYC This Week

By Ben Sales November 5, 2010

Students who are in New York City this week should check out a few cool events coming from a range of organizations. Some are free and some cost money, but in my opinion all are worth it: On Sunday at 3 p.m. in Park Slope, Meretz USA is commemorating the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin with…

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The Reading List: Student Anger in the West Bank

By Ben Sales November 5, 2010

As students and the rabbinate try to reconcile in Israel proper, violent followers of a Chabad rabbi in the West Bank are attacking military and security personnel. [Failed Messiah] Meanwhile, here’s a guide to how Chabad does its kiruv, or religious outreach, on campus — the final installment of a three-part guide to kiruv. [Frum Satire] A student…

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Tradition

By bbarer November 5, 2010

What value does tradition have? What is added to an action, ritual, or practice from it being something that has been done for 500 years as opposed to 50 years or five years, or compared to starting a new ‘tradition’ altogether? As anyone who has watched Fiddler on the Roof knows – and judging by…

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An Open Thank-You Note to President Clinton

By Ben Sales November 4, 2010

Dear Mr. President, I want to thank you for your column in the New York Times today, on the anniversary of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination. Your exhortation to “take up the cause for which Yitzhak Rabin gave his life” is as pressing now as it was in 1995, and your grounded determination for peace…

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The Reading List: Jewish Students Have Civil Rights

By Ben Sales November 4, 2010

Jewish students are now protected under a law banning racial or ethnic harassment on campus. But will this serve to lessen anti-Semitism, or will it gag speech critical of Israel? [Forward] In the Israeli secular university students’ protests over  stipends for Haredi yeshiva students, the country’s chief rabbi sides with… the secular students. [JTA] [JPost] Not all…

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How’d the Jews Fare on Election Day?

By bspringer November 4, 2010

The Dems may be licking their wounds after Tuesday, but the Jews (with the exception of Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold and a few others) fared very well during the midterm elections. Senator Barbara Boxer trounced challenger and Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina in California and Chuck Schumer overwhelmingly reclaimed his Senate seat in New York. Feingold…

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Breaking news: Brandeis groups to co-host “Israeli Occupation Awareness Week”

By Ben Sales November 3, 2010

Two Brandeis University student groups, one of them Jewish, will be hosting the school’s first “Israeli Occupation Awareness Week” next week. One of the week’s events will be a speech by Professor Noam Chomsky. Brandeis Students for Justice in Palestine, along with the school’s recently founded chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace, organized the series…

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