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American anti-Zionist advocacy group
Open Hillel is an anti-Zionist version of Hillel International created on a small number of college campuses.[1][2] The first Open Hillel was created at Swarthmore College from Jewish students who wanted pro-Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions speakers to come to their local chapter of Hillel. Due to Hillel International's officially Zionist stance, it has rejected these "Open Hillels" as not part of their organization. Hillel International has stated that while it encourages debate on issues relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Israeli settlements and the occupation of the West Bank, it has thoroughly dneounced anti-Zionism as rejecting the Jewish people's right of self-determination.[3] The organization's stated goals is to change Hillel International's rules on legitimate speakers for Hillel campus events.[4] Others have seen this as a crackdown on free speech.[5] This movement has spread to a couple of other colleges and universities, most notably Wesleyan University and San Francisco State University, and has cooperated with other Jewish anti-Zionist organizations, such as Jewish Voice for Peace.[6][7] Many have critiqued the Open Hillel movement as disrupting apolitical Jewish activities on campus, such as weekly Shabbat or celebration of Jewish holidays, arguably what most Jewish students go to Hillel for.[8] In April 2019, Open Hillel merged into Judaism On Our Own Terms.[9]
