Hillel International currently publishes "Guidelines for Campus Israel Activities". Under the section "standards for partnership," they state:

"Hillel will not partner with, house, or host organizations, groups, or speakers that as a matter of policy or practice:

• 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;
• Support boycott of, divestment from, or sanctions against the State of Israel;
• Exhibit a pattern of disruptive behavior towards campus events or guest speakers or foster an atmosphere of incivility."

The full text of Hillel International's "Guidelines for Campus Israel Activities" can be found here.

The current guidelines have two main effects: limiting the Jewish groups that can become affiliated with campus Hillels, and limiting the outside groups with which Hillel-affiliated groups are permitted to co-sponsor events.

At Brandeis, for example, students founded a local chapter of the organization Jewish Voice for Peace, which, among other things, advocates for targeted divestment from companies that profit off the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories. This group, as a Jewish organization, sought affiliation with Brandeis Hillel, but was denied on the basis of its political views.

Recently at Harvard, the Progressive Jewish Alliance, an affiliated group of Harvard Hillel, was prevented from holding one of its events in the Hillel building. This decision was not due to the event's content, which was Jewish in nature, relevant to the Hillel community, and had previously been approved by Hillel staff. Rather, it was due to the fact that the event was co-sponsored with the Palestine Solidarity Committee, a Harvard student group that supports the International Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement.

Most recently, at Binghamton University, a Hillel student leader was asked to resign because, as a leader in a separate, non-Hillel-affiliated group, he had brought a pro-BDS speaker to campus. Thus, these policies have been used not only to restrict the politics of the groups that can work with or be included in Hillel, but also to restrict Hillel students' activities outside of Hillel.

At universities across the country, these rules are excluding people from the Hillel community, shutting down open discourse on Israel within Hillel, and discouraging dialogue between Jewish and Palestinian groups on campus.

Individual campus Hillels are not required to strictly follow Hillel International's guidelines, and may develop their own guidelines for partnership and affiliation. However, Hillel International does put pressure on local Hillels not to stray too far outside their guidelines. We believe that it is essential to counter this pressure from Hillel International with our own pressure for more inclusive policies at our own campus Hillels.

Boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS), is a political strategy to pressure Israel to end the occupation of the Palestinian territories and change certain policies. This strategy first became widespread in 2005, with the founding of the International Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement. This movement has three stated goals:

1. Ending its occupation and colonization of all Arab lands occupied in June 1967 and dismantling the Wall;
2. Recognizing the fundamental rights of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel to full equality; and
3. Respecting, protecting and promoting the rights of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and properties as stipulated in UN Resolution 194.

In order to achieve these goals, the International BDS movement advocates for boycotts of Israeli products and cultural institutions, divestment from companies that profit from the occupation and from violations of Palestinian rights, and international sanctions against Israel.

Although the International BDS movement is the largest organized supporter of boycott, divestment, and sanctions, other organizations and individuals also advocate for the use of these tactics in various different ways. The organization Jewish Voice for Peace, for example, advocates for more targeted divestment, specifically from those companies that directly profit off the occupation. More information about Jewish Voice for peace and their position on BDS can be found here.

Many others advocate only for a boycott of products produced in the Jewish settlements in the West Bank. Liberal Zionist Peter Beinart recently advocated for such a boycott as a means of achieving a two-state solution and protecting the future of the Jewish state. He argues that the settlements are an obstacle to a two-state solution and create an undemocratic situation in which Jews and Palestinians in the West Bank are not treated equally under the law. He, and others, use a boycott of the settlements as a means of pressuring Israel to end settlement activity.

The Open Hillel campaign does not advocate for BDS, or for any other political position on Israel-Palestine. The campaign simply advocates for inclusion of all Jewish groups within Hillel regardless of their political views, and for the freedom for Hillel-affiliated groups to co-sponsor events with whomever they choose. The goal is not to support any one political position but to encourage an atmosphere in which a plurality of political views can be openly expressed, discussed, and debated.

The most common argument we have heard against the Open Hillel campaign is that Hillel cannot hold events in its building without implying that it supports the political views expressed in the event or by the event's sponsors. However, Hillel, as a pluralistic community, commonly contains affiliated groups with directly contradictory political views. For example, many Hillels contain both an Orthodox minyan, which advocates against same-sex marriage, and an LGBTQ Jewish group, which advocates for same-sex marriage. Both these groups could hold events in Hillel without it implying that Hillel necessarily supports either of these political stances. Similarly, we believe that groups with a diverse set of views on Israel should be able to hold events in Hillel without this implying that Hillel endorses the views expressed by one particular group or event. In such a situation, Hillel is simply expressing its support of the values of pluralism and free discourse.

If, however, this continues to be a serious concern to some people, we would support policies and/or statements making it explicitly clear that Hillel does not necessarily endorse the political views expressed by of any of its affiliated groups, events, or event co-sponsors.

Signing the petition shows your support for an inclusive, pluralistic Hillel that encourages free discourse and open debate. Right now, local Hillels and Hillel International face a huge amount of pressure from donors and others who want to limit dialogue on Israel within the Jewish community to that which they consider "acceptable." We, the students, need to raise our voices and demonstrate that we believe in a Hillel that welcomes everyone and encourages respectful discussion and exchange of ideas. Whatever your political views, you should support the right of others to express their own views freely. The signatures on these petitions — to Hillel International and to our own campus Hillels — will demonstrate that there is broad student support for an Open Hillel and push Hillel leadership to change these destructive policies.

In addition to gathering petition signatures from everyone who supports the Open Hillel campaign, we are also inviting people to write longer testimonials expressing why the campaign and its underlying values are important to them. We want to give individual students the opportunity to have their voices heard, and we believe that personal accounts and statements of support are a particularly meaningful way of conveying the importance of an inclusive, dialogue-friendly Hillel. When we go to Hillel staff and leadership to present our case for an Open Hillel, we will bring these student testimonials in order to fully express why students care about these issues.

We invite all students who believe in an Open Hillel — whatever your Jewish involvement or connection to Hillel — to submit testimonials. We would especially like to hear about why you support the values of inclusivity and free discourse, whether you feel excluded from Hillel under its current policies, and how it would improve your Jewish campus experience to have a more open Hillel. We will review all the testimonials that are submitted, but we will not make any edits to your testimonial without contacting you first.

If you are interested in organizing an Open Hillel campaign on your campus, please contact progressivejewishalliance [at] gmail.com. We hope to spread this campaign to as many campuses as possible, and will provide you with all the support, assistance, and advice that you may need to start a campaign at your school.