“What’s wrong with conflict?” A professor once challenged me, a student of peace and justice studies and non-confrontational by nature. “Points of tension and moments of debate are productive, we learn from them.” This weekend, a student movement known as Open Hillel will host a historic conference that promises vibrant debate and plenty of conflict over the relationship between the American Jewish community and the State of Israel. The tensions produced by uncensored conversations about the Israel-Palestine conflict promise to offer a moment of growth for our community. Hillel International, the umbrella organization that houses Jewish life on American college campuses, imposes a set of guidelines delimiting the parameters of the conversation about the State of Israel within its community. Those redlines prohibit Hillel chapters from hosting or partnering with organizations or individuals that support the movement to boycott, divest from and sanction Israel, as well as those who “demonize” or “delegitimize” the State of Israel. These red lines and blanket characterizations have been used to silence debate and exclude prominent scholars, leaders, activists and organizations from mainstream Jewish life in American universities and institutions.
Posted on: Fri, 10 Oct 2014 08:20:28 +0000
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