AJC Fires Boston Staffer for Open Hillel Snooping Offer

Hillel International CEO Eric Fingerhut has found himself in the firing line over Israel. Image by getty images
The American Jewish Committee fired a staffer who offered to share with Open Hillel activists an off-the-record recording of a conference call with the director of Hillel.
Danny Blinderman, who works in AJC’s Boston office, said in an email exchange with members of Open Hillel that he would join the call led by Hillel International CEO Eric Fingerhut on “Israel on Campus,” the Free Beacon reported Tuesday, and offered to share “all things of relevance” with an Open Hillel listserv.
Open Hillel is a network of Jewish student campus groups that reject Hillel International’s precepts banning events with speakers who advocate boycotting Israel and working with groups that are seen as hypercritical of Israel.
Ken Bandler, the AJC spokesman, said in a statement that the organization learned after the fact that the call “was shared with unauthorized outsiders.”
“This constituted a serious breach of trust,” Bandler said. “Accordingly, the individual who shared the information is no longer employed by AJC.”
Why I became the Forward’s Editor-in-Chief
You are surely a friend of the Forward if you’re reading this. And so it’s with excitement and awe — of all that the Forward is, was, and will be — that I introduce myself to you as the Forward’s newest editor-in-chief.
And what a time to step into the leadership of this storied Jewish institution! For 129 years, the Forward has shaped and told the American Jewish story. I’m stepping in at an intense time for Jews the world over. We urgently need the Forward’s courageous, unflinching journalism — not only as a source of reliable information, but to provide inspiration, healing and hope.
