The Jewish community has long prided itself on its advocacy for human and civil rights. Our tradition and our tragic history of oppression tell us that to be Jewish means to speak out against prejudice and bigotry. Given our longstanding commitment to these values, the fact that most major American Jewish organizations have remained silent around the recent Israeli government order to effectively segregate buses in the West Bank is highly disappointing and discouraging.
It is clear that this directive is not about security — the Israel Defense Forces has stated that Palestinians on buses in the West Bank pose no threat to Israelis. Instead, the orders reflect Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon’s acquiescence to the racist and discriminatory demands of an extremist group of settlers. Israel’s attorney general has already demanded an official explanation for the order; Justice Minister Tzipi Livni said “this was the result of pressure by settlers who don’t want to travel with Arabs on the bus … This is apartheid.”This is a blatant challenge to the values of our community, as Jews and as Americans. It runs counter to a U.S.-Israel alliance based on shared democratic principles. Why, then, do many of the groups that claim to represent our community remain silent? As members of J Street U, the largest pro-Israel organization at Berkeley Hillel, we appreciate the
platform Hillel has given us to take political action on campus. With its extensive presence at schools across the country and its status “as the center for Jewish life on campus,” Hillel Inter-national can be a powerful voice speaking for young American Jews.That’s why, when Hillel CEO and President Eric Fingerhut recently visited U.C. Berkeley, members of our chapter asked if Hillel plans to act in response to a recent letter from Young Israeli Labor imploring it and other Jewish communal institutions to speak out against the bus policy in the West Bank. Fingerhut replied that Hillel is an apolitical organization that chooses not to align itself with any political views for fear of alienating students uncomfortable with discussing Israeli politics. Asked again directly by J Street U students at the Jewish Federations of North America General Assembly held Nov. 9-11 in Washington, he gave the same response.
The claim that Hillel is “apolitical” is puzzling and inconsistent. Hillel International’s Israel Guidelines state its commitment to “Israel as a Jewish and democratic state with secure and recognized borders.” Commitment to that vision of Israel — which J Street and most American Jews share — is fundamentally political. It is a commitment that is constantly under attack, now more than ever, by opponents on the right and the left. And while Hillel speaks out often about pro-Palestinian one-state advocates who seek to undermine Israel from the left, it has been ignoring the dangerous threat from the right.
Extremely powerful forces inside Israel have expressed nothing but disregard and contempt for the civil and human rights of Palestinians inside and outside the Green Line. Their actions consistently undermine Israel’s democratic character. Pushing their expansionist and ultranationalistic agenda, they deliberately seek to prevent Israel from having “secure and recognized borders.” When these forces are not adequately opposed by proponents of democracy, they triumph — as with the busing decision.
“Politics” should not be a dirty word. It means advocating and acting in the service of your interests and principles. Advocating for Israel to our elected political leaders has long been a central priority for the American Jewish community — and those leaders look to our community for political guidance.
When Hillel works on campus to showcase Israel’s many achievements, it is being proudly political. When Hillel sends thousands of students to Israel each year on Birthright to grow their connection to Israel as a Jewish state, it is being proudly political. When Eric Fingerhut last November announced a formal partnership between Hillel and AIPAC — an organization that, like J Street, advocates on legislation in Congress and puts out policy papers on virtually every aspect of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — he was being proudly political. So what is different about this issue? Is it only when asked by young Israelis and young American Jews to uphold its commitment to democracy that Hillel suddenly becomes apolitical?
By consistently ignoring the occupation of the West Bank and by deciding not to speak out against anti-democratic actions in Israel, Hillel has been making a clear political choice. This choice contradicts its stated principles, and represents an ineffective and inadequate leadership strategy on campus. In the wake of Israel’s summer of violence that has left universities more polarized than ever, how can Hillel successfully empower student activists if their model of pro-Israel advocacy stays silent on such important issues?
At last weekend’s JFNA G.A., pro-Israel, pro-peace students repeatedly asked leading community officials to speak out about the dangers to Israel’s democracy. We hope that Hillel International and their fellow major Jewish organizations will join the Union for Reform Judaism and J Street in demonstrating that their stated commitment to Israeli democracy is more than just empty words. We will continue to voice our concerns and ask for answers so long as silence persists.
Editor’s note: Hillel Inter-national declined J.’s request to offer an op-ed in response to this piece, writing that the students “are entitled to their opinion, which we listen to and welcome and is a sacred part of the tradition of American higher education. Some student groups, which are affiliated with political organizations, select to take political stands. That is their choice and their right. Other Jewish organizations may choose to take political stands, which is also their choice and their right. Hillel is a pro-Israel educational campus organization. Its mission does not include taking political positions.”
Sonia Brin, Tiana Cherbosque and Aron Egelko are students at U.C. Berkeley and members of J Street U, the campus arm of J Street.