Open Hillel

[blake 3:17]

A positive step forward.

Vassar Jewish Union declares itself an 'Open Hillel’
The union repudiates Hillel guidelines that 'delegitimatize' groups critical of Israel.

Vassar College’s Jewish Union declared itself an “Open Hillel,” in an announcement made Tuesday on its website. The Vassar Jewish Union, a Hillel-affiliated student group, stands out against the international Hillel guidelines rejecting partnerships with groups deemed hostile toward Israel.

It is the second campus Hillel organization to designate itself an Open Hillel. Swarthmore College Hillel voted to reject the Hillel guidelines for campus Israel activities in December.

The guidelines forbid individual Hillel chapters from hosting groups or speakers that among other things deny Israel’s right to exist or support boycott or divestment from the Jewish state.

“We believe that this policy censors and delegitimizes the diverse range of personal and political opinions held by Jewish students,” the Vassar Jewish Union said in its statement. ”We believe that fostering a pluralistic community and supporting all Jewish life on campus cannot be achieved with Hillel International’s Israel Guidelines in place,” the statement also said.

The college is located in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. According to the Hillel College guide, about 500 of the college’s 2,400 undergraduates are Jewish.

“As an Open Hillel, the Vassar Jewish Union will not endorse any particular political view. The Vassar Jewish Union will not exclude organizations, groups, speakers, individuals, or events on the basis of political opinion. Rather, we seek to represent the diverse views held by our members and to provide a space for meaningful and respectful debate and discussion. This position is in accordance with our desire to enrich our political, spiritual, and cultural lives at Vassar through free and open discourse,” the statement concluded.

Following the Swarthmore announcement, Hillel International President Eric Fingerhut responded with a letter declaring the position unacceptable.

“I hope you will inform your colleagues on the Student Board of Swarthmore Hillel that Hillel International expects all campus organizations that use the Hillel name to adhere to these guidelines,” Fingerhut wrote. “No organization that uses the Hillel name may choose to do otherwise.”

http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-news/1.575163

[blake 3:17]

Students at Harvard University began the Open Hillel movement in November of 2012 in response the Hillel International’s guidelines, which were adopted in 2010. In addition to banning partnerships with groups supporting the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement, Hillel-affiliated groups are not allowed to partner with, house, or host organizations, groups, or speakers” that “Deny the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish and democratic state with secure and recognized borders; Delegitimize, demonize, or apply a double standard to Israel … [or] Exhibit a pattern of disruptive behavior towards campus events or guest speakers or foster an atmosphere of incivility.”
Harvard student Rachel Sandalow-Ash said she helped start the Open Hillel movement because the guidelines are “counterproductive.”
“Every campus Palestinian group supports BDS. What that means is there can’t be any dialogues with Palestinian groups,” she said in a telephone interview.
She said has been in contact with students from several Hillel-affiliated groups that are considering joining the movement, and that the organization has a core group of a few dozen organizers around the country and a mailing list of several thousand.

Hillel International President Eric Fingerhut responded to Vassar’s announcement by saying in a written statement that while his group agrees “that Hillel should and will always provide students with an open and pluralistic forum where they can explore issues and opinions related to their Jewish identity,” Hillel “will not, however, give a platform to groups or individuals to attack the Jewish people, Jewish values or the Jewish state’s right to exist.”

Sandalow-Ash doesn’t contest Hillel’s right to create guidelines for the groups that use its name or receive funding.

“We’re not challenging what Hillel has a right to do. It can do whatever it wants,” she said. “The question is what it should do. Hillel as the Foundation of Jewish Life on Campus should be a space that nurtures the fostering of Jewish identities. … I think that is the more important value.”

“Cosponsoring something with another group doesn’t mean that you agree with the other group,” she added. “Groups cosponsor events with each other all the time. The Democrats and the Republicans cosponsor events.”
Fingerhut has reached out to Dann and other VJU leaders asking to discuss the issue in person, and Dann said she has agreed.

Meanwhile, a group of Boston University students have started “Safe Hillel” in opposition to the “Open Hillel” movement.

“Hillel should not have to change its mission in order to accommodate those who don’t agree with it,” co-founder Raphael Fils told The Jewish Press.

http://www.jta.org/2014/02/19/news-opinion/united-states/vassar-jewish-union-declares-itself-an-open-hillel

[Prometeo liberado]

Vassar, Swarthmore and Harvard huh. Now all you need is what Bennington and Yale and you've wrapped up a coup of eastern elitist schools that will.. "Hillel should and will always provide students with an open and pluralistic forum where they can explore issues and opinions related to their Jewish identity", yet with the caveat that..“will not, however, give a platform to groups or individuals to attack the Jewish people, Jewish values or the Jewish state’s right to exist.”