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…
This is the season of conferences and commencements, which means it’s time for the inevitable verbal boxing match over who is an acceptable speaker and who is not. Up next is whether Linda Sarsour, a Palestinian-American activist and one of the organizers of the Women’s March On Washington, should — or should not — speak…
This week in Chicago, like Jews everywhere, you’ll be stocking up on your Passover supplies. It’s not quite time to panic over seder preparations yet, so here’s a list of a few things that are going on, if you’re not tempted by the smell of bacon that will be emanating from the University of Illinois-Chicago…
In recent weeks, I have been paying particular attention to the arguments in favor of Zionism from those who call themselves progressive Zionists and call for a two-state solution, support Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state, and express criticism of some of Israel’s policies and actions. More precisely, I have been paying attention…
Jewish Voice for Peace, a group already controversial among establishment Jews for its support of an Israel boycott, attracted extra attention this month thanks to a featured speaker at its upcoming biennial conference here. Rasmea Odeh, who was convicted in 1970 for a 1969 bombing at a Jerusalem supermarket that left two dead, was scheduled…
Israel’s new law barring supporters of boycott from entering the country, has roiled members of the American Jewish left, many of whom fear the ban will leave critics of the Israeli government’s policies unable to enter the Jewish state. For some, the concern is real and immediate, as is the uncertainty regarding the restrictions posed…
American Jews who love Israel and see boycott as a tool to change the country for the better are anguished over a new Israeli law that could ban them from visiting the country they cherish. Israel’s parliament passed a law February 6 to ban advocates of the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel,…
Worries have evaporated among organizers about how to follow up on the January 21 Chicago Women’s March, which drew 250,000 protesters. Contrary to widespread concern about losing the energy that coalesced around the massive outpouring that took place in Chicago and other cities nationwide that day, said Donna Gutman, president of the North Shore chapter…
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