As a campus organization committed to a thriving Jewish community and the free exchange of ideas, Hillel at Stanford wrestles with and ultimately supports free speech. That comes into sharp focus when our university hosts a national conference of Students for Justice in Palestine, as it did last weekend.
We disagree with the strategies and tactics of this anti-Israel group. But given our passionate support of free speech, our issue this fall was how to respond without elevating SJP’s message and expanding their visibility.
The SJP conference, titled “From Margin to Center: Connecting Struggles, Forging a National Movement,” drew a few hundred students. It was framed as an opportunity for Palestinian activists to build greater solidarity with other human rights movements, such as migrant, LGBTQ and environmental justice struggles.
The themes and rhetoric of the conference’s closed workshops and one public plenary, however, revealed an extreme agenda. Instead of calling for a solution that will realize the aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians, conference leaders focused on a liberation framework that precludes any recognition of Israel.
Instead of promoting open and vigorous debate, the conference promoted an echo chamber of polarization. Workshops included, “Deadly Economies: Israel’s Role in Worldwide Repression and Against Popular Movements” and “Dealing with Opposition and Normalization” (One of the lines in the workshop description: “How do you appropriately deal with campus administrators pushing for ‘dialogue’?”)
At the closing plenary on Oct. 27, only about 100 people, mostly non-Stanford students, gathered on a Sunday afternoon in a 600-seat auditorium. “We don’t recognize Israel as a state,” panelists declared. “We reject any framework of normalization,” they said. “They [Zionists] want to do ethnic cleansing in Palestine as the U.S. did in America.” Audience members, other than conference participants, were not permitted to ask questions.
“The plenary was remarkable for its relative lack of focus and limited attendance,” a general community member observed. “While we must remain vigilant in our monitoring of these groups, it is reassuring to see that they are very much operating at the fringe, and uninterested in participating in dialogue or civil discourse.”
Stanford University is host to hundreds of conferences each year, some of which raise concerns about free speech. As a university-based organization, Hillel at Stanford is a strong supporter of free speech on campus, even by those with whom we vehemently disagree on core principles. Open debate becomes offensive when the discussion moves from civil discourse to hateful slogans and distorted messages that demonize Israel and its supporters. Promoting rhetoric designed only to incite antagonism and sensationalism subverts our most cherished academic standards of tolerance and civility, and creates a hostile environment for many students and other members of the campus community.
And still, our student leaders faced a dilemma about how to respond. Organizing a public outcry would likely amplify the conference’s anti-Israel message and its impact on the Stanford community, and perhaps draw far more attention than it would have otherwise received.
Our approach — programming a variety of pro-Israel events and lectures in the weeks leading up to and after the conference — was developed in consultation with more than a dozen local and national advocacy organizations, and was designed to provide an educational framework and context without over-blowing the activities of a small group
of students, most of whom were not from our own campus.
Last month, in order to provide students and the Stanford community with multiple positive, high level, thoughtful perspectives on Israel, Hillel intensified the array of positive Israel educational programs we already offer throughout the year. We held a lecture series, “A Wide Angle: Perspectives on a Democratic Israel,” featuring ambassador Dennis Ross, professor Larry Diamond and other prominent scholars. We hosted the AIPAC Northern California Campus Summit, drawing more than 100 participants, including 81 students and 20 campus professionals from 17 colleges and universities in the area. We also began recruiting students for Israel travel opportunities, including a winter Birthright trip and the prestigious George and Charlotte Shultz Israel Fellowship, created under Hillel’s auspices.
Our efforts foster informed community conversation about Israel by promoting and teaching the Jewish values and skills of civil and vigorous debate.
We cannot yet determine the impact, if any, the Students for Justice in Palestine conference had on Stanford’s campus and beyond. It garnered little attention at the time.
But given the efforts of the BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) movement, and its victories last year at a number of California universities, there is and will continue to be an urgent need to devote significant resources to countering delegitimization efforts and to expand proactive efforts to reach different key constituencies on campus.
While opinions among Stanford students and faculty regarding the optimal resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict differ, there is a common dedication among all who are associated with Hillel at Stanford to provide opportunities for open and vigorous debate, with proactive, high-level, thoughtful analyses of complex issues, and positive Israel educational programs throughout the year.
Our Jewish values call us to dignify campus discussions with programs that recognize the humanity of all, and inspire our distinctive students to seek productive solutions.
Rabbi Serena Eisenberg is the executive director of Hillel at Stanford.