Open Hillel Plans First National Conference
Open Hillel, which has sparked considerable controversy for refusing to abide by Hillel International’s pro-Israel guidelines, has announced today that it will be holding its first national conference this October. The event, which will be hosted at Harvard University, will feature panels and discussions related to the Israel-Palestine conflict and hot-button issues facing the American Jewish community.
“We are inviting all who are interested to attend a communal event that will deepen and broaden our knowledge of crucially important issues facing our world,” Lex Rofes, a member of Open Hillel’s steering committee said.
A statement sent out by the organization said that it hopes the event will feature controversial speakers including Judith Butler, David Harris-Gershon and Rashid Khalidi, who have been barred from speaking at Jewish institutions in recent months due to their critical stances toward Israeli policies.
Open Hillel launched in early 2013 to challenge Hillel International’s guidelines that forbid partnering with groups or inviting speakers who are excessively critical of Israel or support boycott of the state.
Since it launched last year, the group has amassed considerable media attention and claims to now have over a thousand supporters. Hillel International, which represents more than 500 campus chapters, has responded by condemning the Open Hillel movement.
Conference organizers have launched their own crowd-sourcing fundraiser to cover conference expenses.
This article was amended on May 15 to reflect the fact that none of the speakers named in the press release have yet been confirmed for the conference.
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.
If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.
Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
