Statement Regarding Presentation of J Street at Steinhardt Hall
Issued January 24, 2010
Not long ago, the J Street organization requested to rent space in Steinhardt Hall for a regional meeting and nationwide Webcast on February 4th. The Hillel of Greater Philadelphia Executive Staff and board leadership considered J Street’s request and applied to it the same criteria we would apply to other Jewish communal organizations making the same request: that they accept and subscribe to the Hillel International statement that “Hillel is steadfastly committed to the support of Israel as the Jewish state with secure and recognized borders and as a member of the family of free nations”; that they do not advocate actions that will materially harm Israel or its representatives such as boycotts, sanctions or judicial action; and that present their views with civility.
Consistent with its academic orientation and location on the university campus, Hillel of Greater Philadelphia provides a platform for speakers with different points of view on Israel. As examples, last year we hosted Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren, Jewish Agency for Israel Chairman Natan Sharansky, Knesset member Effi Eitam, former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer, Prof. Daniel Pipes, Prof. Ken Stein, Israeli Vice Counsel Ishmael Khalidi, media trainer Neil Lazarus, Jerusalem Post journalist Khaled Abu Toameh, and writer Nonie Darwish, among others. Individually, these speakers represent a diverse set of views, experiences, and perspectives on Israel; together they represent an exciting conversation of the meaning and direction of Zionism.
It is important to emphasize that, as with all of our speakers, J Street’s use of our facility does not constitute an endorsement by Hillel of the policies of the group or of the opinions expressed during its meeting. Moreover, the J Street program under question is not part of our ongoing Israel education activities and Hillel is not sponsoring this particular event. Nevertheless, we believe it is important that all voices that abide by our principles regarding Israel’s right to exist as the nation-state of the Jewish People have an opportunity to express their opinions in our building as long as they commit to maintaining civility in their presentations.
We at Hillel view our education mission as being one of enriching the lives of Jewish college students and providing them with exposure to points of view regarding Israel consistent with our mission so that they may have all of the information they desire to understand the complexity of the world in which we live. We take pride in both the role we play in engaging Jewish students in the issues of the day and the way we model an inclusive Jewish community that will keep them engaged as they mature into adulthood. Please feel free to contact me if you would like to discuss this matter further.
Jeremy Brochin
Director
Penn Hillel
jbrochin@pennhillel.org |
