Open Hillel

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

IfNotNow activists form a human chain outside the Washington Convention Center to protest the annual AIPAC Policy Conference, Washington D.C., March 26, 2017. (Gili Getz)

AIPAC protests showed American-Jewish activism at a crossroads

Recent American Jewish protests marked an important step in interconnected, cross-border resistance to occupation and oppression. But in order to grow, the organizers must reach out to Palestinians — and to their elders. By Samuel Molnar On the last Sunday of March, 1,000 Jews, led by Jewish-American anti-occupation group IfNotNow, marched to the annual conference…

By +972 Magazine March 31, 2017

American Jews from IfNotNow march at an anti-occupation protest, San Francisco, October 9, 2016.)

It’s time for American Jewish institutions to embrace dissent

In the age of Trump, American Jewish institutions need to include the majority of U.S. Jews who rejected his divisive rhetoric and give a platform to dissenting voices — whether they are speaking out against U.S. or Israeli government policy. By Ben Pakman The Jewish American people are entering what promises to be a tumultuous time…

By +972 Magazine February 11, 2017

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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

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attend the Washington Peace Conference, September 2, 2010. (photo: Moshe Milner/GPO)

Hey Hillary Clinton, Palestinian lives matter too

You claim to support peace, but your words imply that Palestinian lives are less valuable to you than Israeli lives. I implore you: please do better. By Leanne Gale Dear Secretary Clinton, I have faith that you want to stand with the Jewish people as we work toward peace with the Palestinians. But your recent article…

By +972 Magazine November 15, 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

An action by If Not Now, When, for Tisha B’Av in New York City, where participants read the names of Israelis and Palestinians who died in this summer’s Gaza war. (Photo by Gili Getz)

‘As U.S. Jews, we need to figure out what leverage we have in ending the occupation’

Amid the Gaza war this summer a group of young American Jews formed a new group, ‘If Not Now, When?’, which aims to challenge the American Jewish establishment’s unquestioning support for the occupation. +972 sits down with one of its founding members to find out who the group is and what they hope to accomplish.…

By +972 Magazine October 25, 2014

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

At Open Hillel conference, Jews demand their spot at the communal table

By demanding their voices be heard, Open Hillel students are making dissent within the Jewish community impossible to deny. By Sarah Anne Minkin Hillel is the Jewish home for college students. With more than 550 Hillels worldwide, mainly in North America, it is one of the primary sites where young Jews express, explore, and cultivate…

By +972 Magazine October 17, 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

Israeli and American flags (Shutterstock.com)

Fight intensifies over what can, can’t be said about Israel in the U.S.

Events are being cancelled and Jews are being ‘blacklisted’ at a troubling rate, even by pluralistic and non-denominational organizations. By David Harris-Gershon Several months ago, American journalist Sharon Jacobs received a message from the Washington D.C. Jewish Community Center that her ticket to my book event had been curiously refunded. The JCC had invited me…

By +972 Magazine May 11, 2014

Israeli and American flags (photo: flickr / hoyasmeg CC BY 2.0)

A house divided: Campus divestment reveals cracks within the American Jewish establishment

How can a community which so highly regards deliberation and dissent demand such unwavering unity on what is, perhaps, American Jewry’s most controversial issue? By Roi Bachmutsky Uproar recently broke out regarding world-renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking’s recent decision to cancel his headline appearance at the fifth annual Facing Tomorrow Presidential Conference hosted by Israeli President…

By +972 Magazine May 16, 2013