This past March at the second annual “Ambassadors Against BDS” conference at the UN, South Carolina State Representative Alan Clemmons called me anti-Semitic. I was there with ten other J Street U students to discuss progressive, pro-Israel and anti-occupation alternatives to BDS. Hundreds of people in attendance stood up and applauded Clemmons’ accusation, and then…
Several weeks ago, the Hillel House at Ohio State University banned from its facilities and its funding an organization of GLBTQ students — B’nai Keshet. Why? B’nai Keshet had taken part in a coalition of student organizations working to support LGBTQ immigrants — a coalition that included Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), a group that…
(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…
Growing up in a tight-knit Modern Orthodox community, I rarely encountered people whose backgrounds, perspectives, or life experiences were very different from my own. I went to college at Yeshiva University, a Modern Orthodox University in New York.Though I learned from brilliant professors and formed lasting friendships, I regretted the fact that I had placed…
As an organizer on college campuses for J Street U, the campus wing of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement, I meet a lot of passionate students determined to stand up for a better future for Israelis and Palestinians alike. But I also see how much of the American Jewish and pro-Israel establishment places far-right, extremist voices…
For the past several years, I’ve had the honor of being hosted by Hillels on college campuses throughout the United States, invited to speak with Jewish and non-Jewish students about the state of Israel in the eyes of a political and social activist fighting for LGBTQ rights, as well as an environmental expert on the…
In 2017, our minds have succumbed to thinking in antonyms. There are two of everything these days, be it political affiliations or moral positions. We are drowning in a form of dualism that pits each of us against the other and aggravates every form of difference. This is a lonely way to live and a…
A version of this article originally appeared in New Voices. I came out to myself, and my wider community, during my sophomore year of college. Hillel was the first organization I was involved in on campus, and before I ever entered queer spaces, I came out at my Hillel. The reactions made me reflect on…
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