The rebellion against Hillel International led by a growing batch of student dissenters operating under the banner of Open Hillel may be morphing into an official schism. The Hillel chapter at Swarthmore College, a liberal arts college in Pennsylvania sometimes grouped among the “Little Ivies,” announced yesterday that it would no longer use the name…
Swarthmore Hillel students It was 5:25pm when I walked into the room full of murmuring college students. Swarthmore Hillel’s first event addressing the conflict in Israel and Palestine was about to begin. I took my seat among the 60 other students, who were all chatting amiably and nervously, waiting for the event to start. I…
Hillel International has given its stamp of approval to a Harvard event that included a speaker who supports the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel — arguing that, in this case, the Jewish campus group’s own ban on such events doesn’t apply. Harvard University’s Hillel center for Jewish students co-sponsored last night’s panel…
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…
Over the past year, Rachel Sandalow-Ash reports being called an anti-Semite, a kapo, and a self-hating Jew. But the hate has deterred neither Sandalow-Ash, 21, nor Open Hillel, the organization she leads, from their mission: opening the conversation about Israel at Hillel, the Jewish campus organization, to more critical voices. The group protests Hillel International’s…
(JTA) — Harvard senior Rachel Sandalow-Ash scanned the exuberant crowd that packed a campus auditorium on Saturday night. “Wow,” she said, speaking to an audience of some 350 composed primarily of American college students. “This is amazing. This is really cool.” Sandalow-Ash, 21, went on to discuss the importance of nurturing a pluralistic and intellectually…
Rebecca Vilkomerson speaking at the Open Hillel conference / Gili Getz “I bought my ticket right after my rabbi’s Rosh Hashanah sermon. I knew I needed this community,” a student participant at the Open Hillel conference told me today. The student went on to thank Open Hillel for providing a long overdue space for young…
Open Hillel, which has sparked considerable controversy for refusing to abide by Hillel International’s pro-Israel guidelines, has announced today that it will be holding its first national conference this October. The event, which will be hosted at Harvard University, will feature panels and discussions related to the Israel-Palestine conflict and hot-button issues facing the American…
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