“Pro-Israel” does not mean “anti-Palestine,” nor should “pro-Palestine” connote “anti-Israel.”
Brown/RISD Hillel hosted Sgt. Benjamin Anthony for an invite-only dinner and lecture April 2, sparking criticism of the event’s form and content. Anthony opposes a two-state solution, instead favoring Israeli annexation of the West Bank and Gaza. Such an action would not only flout international law, but would deprive Palestinians of the right to self-determination and threaten Israel’s ability to maintain its identity as a Jewish, democratic state.
In the midst of the controversy, it is far too easy to overlook the protests that came from within the Jewish community. Many students at the event asked tough questions, and other Jewish students chose to participate in the protest outside Hillel. The mainstream American Jewish community privileges Anthony’s right-wing voice, but we at J Street U Brown, along with many other Brown students, are actively combating this myopic and militaristic view of Israel and working to broaden the conversation. We are pro-Israel and pro-Palestine. We denounce the occupation and demand a self-determined Palestinian state alongside a Jewish and democratic Israel.
Anthony does not speak for us.
But neither does the inflammatory rhetoric of the protest’s Facebook event description. The protest’s organizers wrote, “Let’s all come together to make sure the Israeli army knows that they are not welcome anywhere, not at Brown and not on Palestinian land!” Stifling every voice from this organization undercuts the protest’s exercise of free speech and creates a shallow dialogue on this complicated issue. We have seen a similarly inflexible, though more subtle, stance creep into our Hillel’s programming, despite its willingness to host challenging events in the past. Delegitimization of the Israel Defense Forces is just as counterproductive as delegitimization of the Palestinians.
JSUB is committed to engaging with speakers offering varying and challenging perspectives to foster open conversation and meaningful debates. To be sure, this includes voices from the right as well as the left.
Last fall, we arranged to bring Palestinian Liberation Organization Ambassador Maen Areikat to campus and faced significant opposition from the Hillel Board of Trustees. After weeks of negotiations, Hillel allowed Ambassador Areikat to speak, but on the condition that he be balanced by a panel of five Brown students because the Board was uncomfortable with his voice standing alone. When the ambassador canceled at the last minute to attend a meeting with the Arab League in Washington and we tried to reschedule the talk, we were no longer allowed to proceed with the event as previously planned. Hillel staff told us that without a traditional “pro-Israel” speaker on stage, Ambassador Areikat would not be permitted to speak.
Ambassador Areikat is the highest-ranking Palestinian official in the United States. He meets regularly with senior U.S. and Israeli diplomats, as well as important Jewish community leaders. He supports the two-state solution, believes in direct negotiations and represents a government that has rejected violence. Yet Hillel seems to believe that he is less deserving of a platform than Anthony and that his views require balance from five college students, whereas Anthony’s do not.
Anthony’s vision of one state predicated on the oppression of a rapidly growing Palestinian population does not uphold Hillel’s commitment to Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. In response to Anthony’s visit, JSUB has reinitiated contact with Ambassador Areikat’s staff to invite him to speak at the beginning of the fall semester. Given Hillel’s expressed commitment to open conversation, we fully expect this program — and other progressive events — to not only be approved but also welcomed.
Our Hillel is relatively accepting compared to others across the country and includes JSUB under its ‘big tent.’ Hillel regularly hosts innovative and potentially controversial events on other issues, both Jewish and non-Jewish. As a Hillel member group, JSUB has experienced first-hand the support and thoughtfulness of this organization. It is particularly because of this demonstrated commitment to free speech that we intend to hold Hillel accountable to its principles. We encourage Hillel to adhere to its stated values and apply them evenly across the political spectrum of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
In doing so, we move forward in J Street U’s national campaign to hold our political and communal leaders accountable to their values. As part of this campaign, seven JSUB leaders joined over 300 students from more than 60 college campuses at the J Street U Student Town Hall in Baltimore earlier this month. At this gathering, we engaged with politicians and activists including Ambassador Areikat, President of the Union for Reform Judaism Rabbi Rick Jacobs, State Department representative Sarah Yerkes, renowned Israeli reporter for Haaretz and author of “My Promised Land” Ari Shavit and J Street PAC endorsee U.S. Rep. Donna Edwards, D-Md. Each of these guests made concrete and public commitments to substantively address the difficult but necessary compromises for peace. If Palestinian, Jewish and American leaders can all agree to work toward a two-state solution despite differences of opinion, it is time for students and Hillel to do the same.
The events on campus this month highlight a growing interest in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and a desire to engage in dialogue and action toward a solution. We at JSUB call on Hillel to uphold its commitment to participating in an earnest Israel conversation on campus. We are fortunate that Hillel has consistently been welcoming to various affiliated student groups, and we hope to see this commitment translated into event organization that represents a broad spectrum of opinions. Coming to terms with different perspectives does not threaten the veracity of our own beliefs, but rather paves the way for acceptance of the difficult compromises necessary for a resolution to the conflict.
Shelby Centofanti ’15 and Liz Resnick ’14 are two writers for two peoples, grappling with the realities in Israel-Palestine. They can be reached at shelby_centofanti@brown.edu and elizabeth_resnick@brown.edu.
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