Article Archive

Jews of my parents’ generation were broadly involved in the protests of their youth: marching in Selma, Ala; riding for freedom; marching on Washington. Given that, the attempt by the establishment and by politically conservative Jews to discredit the association between Jewish ritual and the Occupy Wall Street protests is shockingly misguided. The claim that the protesters are anti-Semites is as specious as any attempt to paint an entire group of contemporary Americans as such. And the reliance of those making that claim on the presence of pro-Palestinian sentiments among the protesters shows how out of touch establishment Jews are with the younger generation of American Jews that turned out in staggering numbers (as few as 700, according to some; as many as 1,000, according to others) for a Kol Nidre service in a plaza across the street from Occupy Wall Street’s home base. This is not a group of Jews with much sympathy for the old “You’re either pro-Israel or anti-Israel” line of the Jewish establishment.

I had no idea what I was in for. The apartment was nice, for Allston. It had hardwood floors, two bathrooms, a working dishwasher, a porch and quite a bit of floor space, all for $600 dollars a month. Plus, laundry in the basement. I moved in three days after Irene didn’t hit and had my mezuzot up by the second day. The first week there was cool. Then the problems started. Let me introduce you to my fifth roommate–let’s call her Tiffani. Pink blotches in her hair, stomach bulging out from under her crop-top, omnipresent smell of stale cigarette smoke. Straight out of the trailer park, you feel me? I let her sign the lease thinking I shouldn’t be a snob, people need to co-exist, there’s enough room for everyone.

Anyone accepting Columbia International Relations Council and Association’s invitation to sit down for an intimate dinner with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad next week should take a look at a photo taken at a public square in Iran, and distributed by the Associated Press on July 23, 2005. The image depicts two blindfolded boys, around 16 years of age, with nooses being affixed to their necks moments before they were publicly hanged by Ahmadinejad’s regime because they were accused of “raping boys,” or, as we call it, being gay.
I recall this photo not because it shocks–though it does–or because it will tell you anything new about the man who approved those hangings–it won’t. I bring it up because the moral burden of our Columbia University education and human dignity require us to examine whether it is right for us to sit down to dinner with a man who facilitates, even encourages, such executions.

Students across the country protests Israel’s actions in the name of liberalism. But while some of Israel’s policies and decisions deserve criticism, students should remember that supporting Israel’s right to exist is a liberal cause. Here’s why.

Is every negative protrayal of a Jew in the entertainment industry an indicator of hatred? If someone with Jewish friends also has a shirt with an SS logo, is he an anti-Semite? Probably not. Jordan Freiman on why the Jewish community needs to calm down and stop crying wolf when it comes to anti-Semitism.

Egyptians are celebrating in the streets, but Israel is worried. Here’s why Israel should support the democratic revolution in Cairo–and follow the example of Syria in 1979.

Birthright says that it doesn’t “deal in politics,” but that’s impossible given how politicized Israel has become. So what’s stopping Birthright from allowing J Street U to facilitate a trip? Here’s why that trip should happen.

JVP has excluded itself from Jewish organizations–including Hillel–through its antagonistic actions and its affiliation with anti-Israel groups. Such an organization should not be welcome in Hillel.

Hillel recently banned Jewish Voice for Peace from its facilities nationwide. Such a ban betrays Hillel’s mission and divides the Jewish campus community that Hillel purports to serve.

Excluding non-Orthodox speakers from the school hurts students and betrays Jewish tradition.