Princeton Jewish Center Bans Breaking The Silence Exhibit
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — The Center for Jewish Life at Princeton University denied the local chapter of J Street U space to hold an exhibition created by the left-wing Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence.
The J Street U chapter decided to go forward with the exhibit, to be held Tuesday and Wednesday, in another campus space, despite the possibility of causing a rift with the Center for Jewish Life, or CJL, which is affiliated with Hillel International, the student newspaper the Daily Princetonian reported.
Following a meeting with Rabbi Julie Roth, the CJL’s executive director, J Street U Princeton President Dylan Mittag told the Daily that their “relationship is intact.”
Roth asserted that the CJL did not oppose J Street bringing the organization to speak on campus, but did not want to host the event over Israel’s memorial and independence days.
Breaking the Silence is an Israeli military veterans’ group that alleges the Israeli army abuses Palestinians. The photo exhibition it plans to bring to the Princeton campus includes soldiers’ testimonials
“We specifically wanted to bring Breaking the Silence to the CJL because of these issues’ deep relevance to the Jewish and pro-Israel communities at Princeton,” the J Street U statement said.
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