Petition to Hillel International

Background

Hillel, the Foundation for Jewish Campus Life, has chapters and affiliates on university campuses across the US and abroad. Hillel International currently publishes "Guidelines for Campus Israel Activities" which declare, "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."

These guidelines are counterproductive to creating real conversations about Israel on campus. They prevent campus Hillels from inviting co-sponsorship or dialogue with Palestinians, as almost all Palestinian campus groups support the boycott of, divestment from, and sanctions against Israel. They also exclude certain Jewish groups because of their political views. Although individual campus Hillels are not obligated to follow the guidelines, they have been used to pressure Hillels into shutting down open discourse on Israel. For example, these rules led Harvard Hillel to exclude an event co-sponsored by the Hillel-affiliated group Harvard College Progressive Jewish Alliance and the Harvard College Palestine Solidarity Committee from the Harvard Hillel building. At Brandeis, these rules were used to deny Hillel affiliation to the student group Brandeis Jewish Voice for Peace. This petition seeks to change this policy in order to allow Hillels to be more inclusive and to encourage free discourse.

Petition

As members of the Hillel community, Jewish students, and alums, we believe that campus Hillels should acknowledge and engage with a full spectrum of political views on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We see cooperation with Palestinian groups on and off campus as an essential step towards peace. Furthermore, if Hillel truly wants to be "The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life," it cannot exclude Jewish groups simply for their political beliefs.

Therefore, we ask Hillel International to remove its guidelines for Standards of Partnership for campus Israel activities, which currently exclude groups and individuals with particular political views from campus Hillels.

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Signatures