Hillel

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seen speaking with fellow Likud parliament member Tzipi Hotovely during a plenum session in the Israeli parliament on October 15, 2012. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

Some things should be broken, not fixed

Our reflexive response tells us to fix the problems we see in Israel, but we must do precisely the opposite. After all, the problem is not with the current government — it goes far deeper. By Yuli Novak On the slopes of the mountains of northern Catalonia are giant homes that date back hundreds of years.…

By +972 Magazine December 16, 2017

Education Minister Naftali Bennett, MK David Bitan, Culture Minister Miri Regev and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attend a Knesset plenum session, December 5, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

American Jews have the power to oppose Israel’s gov’t. Will they use it?

Jewish American leaders are slowly beginning to understand just how vast the gap is between their values and those represented by the Israeli government. Princeton University Hillel sparked controversy earlier this week after announcing it would indefinitely postpone a scheduled speech by Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely. The decision came after protests by students from…

By Joshua Leifer November 9, 2017

Jewish students with Open Hillel protest the expulsion of an LGBTQ Jewish group from Ohio State Hillel, New York, April 16, 2017. (Gili Getz)

Hillel must put Jewish diversity and social justice above Israel allegiance

Just as Israel has banned BDS supporters from entering the country and demonizes those who show dissent, Hillel has sent a message to Jewish students that it only recognizes a certain type of Jew, and sees the rest of us as disposable. By Ally Fernandez I am exactly the kind of Jew whom Naftali Bennett…

By +972 Magazine April 25, 2017

Latest

Ari Shavit on the Charlie Rose Show (photo: YouTube screenshot)

Ari Shavit’s non-apology

Haaretz columnist Ari Shavit apologizes for sexually assaulting an American journalist. Well, kind of. Eight days after American journalist Danielle Berrin published allegations of sexual assault against an Israeli journalist who she refused to name, Haaretz columnist and author Ari Shavit identified himself on Thursday and issued an apology “from the bottom of his heart…

By Mairav Zonszein October 28, 2016

IfNotNow activists seen in a police van following an anti-occupation demonstration inside the Anti-Defamation League's offices. (photo: Gili Getz)

23 young Jews arrested in anti-occupation protests across U.S.

Hundreds hold ‘Liberation Seders’ outside (and inside) major Jewish American institutions in five major cities, demanding that the Jewish community take a stand against Israel’s occupation. ‘The history of Jewish oppression is not an excuse to oppress Palestinians, but rather an imperative to fight for freedom for all people,’ one arrestee tells +972. BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA…

By Edo Konrad April 24, 2016

Members of IfNotNow hold a Liberation Seder in front of Hillel’s headquarters in Washington D.C., April 19, 2016. (Courtesy photo)

A new era of anti-occupation Judaism

American Jews have long overwhelmingly supported an end to the occupation, but increasingly, we are building an organized critical mass who are also willing to push our institutions and politicians in the same direction. IfNotNow takes its Passover message of liberation to Hillel and AIPAC. By Leanne Gale We gathered early in the morning, before…

By +972 Magazine April 20, 2016

Young American Jews take part in the Jewish People's Assembly outside the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America, Washington, D.C., November 8, 2015. (photo: Gili Getz)

The American Jews prying open the conversation on the occupation

The Jewish American establishment has been trying to dictate the confines of the conversation on Israel and Palestine on college campuses in the United States. One group of young Jews is trying to ensure their voices are being heard, despite the red lines being drawn around them, by leveraging communal pursestrings. By Tom Pessah On…

By +972 Magazine December 18, 2015

J Street Executive Director Jeremy Ben-Ami speaks at the 5th J Street Conference, March 21, 2015. (Photo courtesy of J Street)

J Street, turn your focus homeward

Notes from the J Street conference. Since Netanyahu’s resounding election win last week, there’s been a deluge of coverage in the American media of a deepening disillusionment among U.S. Jews over Israel. Whether in the New York Times, the Associated Press, or Bloomberg, the thesis is more or less what you’d expect: Netanyahu rode to victory on a…

By Noa Yachot March 24, 2015

Participants in the Open Hillel Conference, Harvard University. (photo: Gili Getz)

Just how open should Hillel be?

It is sad, though not surprising, that some want to open Hillel just enough to let their own excluded group in. ‘Just let J Street U in,’ they say to the gatekeepers. By Jeremiah Haber Several years ago, when Richard Joel was the president of Hillel International, the goal of Hillel was formulated as “maximizing…

By +972 Magazine December 8, 2014

Toronto protests against Israeli assault on Gaza (Photo: Tania Liu/Flickr CC BY-ND 2.0)

‘Open Hillel’ seeks to redefine U.S. Jewish debate on Israel-Palestine

A student-led movement is seeking to ‘open’ a prominent U.S. Jewish campus group to a broader range of voices, and it’s gaining ground. This weekend, Open Hillel will seek to model an inclusive Jewish community that embraces marginalized voices. By Naomi Dann “What’s wrong with conflict?” A professor once challenged me, a student of peace…

By +972 Magazine October 8, 2014

Jeremy Ben Ami speaks at a J Street conference. (Jstreet CC BY NC SA 2.0)

First do no harm, J Street

With nothing left to offer except hollow pep talks about the peace process, the liberal lobby is fighting BDS – together with the pro-Netanyahu, pro-occupation American Zionist right. Next stop: the Presbyterian Church USA’s General Assembly. What is J Street doing? Why is it acting in concert with right-wing Zionist organizations like AIPAC and StandWithUs…

By Larry Derfner June 10, 2014

JVP Boston activists protest the Veolia transportation company for operating bus lines serving settlements in the West Bank. November 14, 2012. (Tess Scheflan/ Activestills.org)

BDS’s Jewish roots: A lesson for Hillel

In all other contexts, the Jewish people have demonstrated that we understand boycotts, divestments, and sanctions to be effective, non-violent tools for political change. So why do we deem them violent and illegitimate when it comes to Israel? By Alice Mishkin My introduction to divestment as a tool for activism came in 2005. I was…

By +972 Magazine April 4, 2014

SJP member holds Palestinian flag in front of make-shift coffins at Sproul Plaza on Jan. 21, 2009. SJP was protesting the Israeli attacks on Gaza, Palestine which took place on December 2008 through January 2009. (photo: Ramsey Al-qare)

How a Jewish Agency fellow becomes a one-state activist

When Gila Hashkes arrived at UC Berkeley as a Jewish Agency Israel Fellow, she felt like she was jumping into the heart of pro-Palestinian activism. Her job was to organize Jewish students on campus, strengthen their connection to Israel and give them tools to justify its policies. But after a year-long journey of digging deeper…

By +972 Magazine September 7, 2013