My campus involvements continually force me to reexamine my understanding of the relationship between Judaism and Zionism. Friday night services and dinner at Hillel are probably the most quintessential encounter your average Jewish student at the University of Michigan will have with the organized Jewish community in Ann Arbor. It is no surprise, then, that one of the thirty-nine Hillel affiliated student groups is invited to “sponsor” the evening through meretricious decorations and a short presentation about their group.

The largest pro-Israel student group on campus seized this very opportunity only a few weeks ago. Blue and white ornaments bedizened the otherwise austere basement, where the masses of Jewish students on campus congregate to enjoy a scrumptious Shabbat dinner. A giant Israeli flag was posted in the middle of the room and small Israeli flags lay dispersed across the tables. “Fun facts” about Israel were also placed on the tables for Jewish students to read. Examples ranged from technological (e.g. “did you know that AOL instant messenger was created by Israeli scientists?) to political (e.g. did you know that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East?) half-truths. The leadership of the organization even delivered a somewhat lengthy and seemingly well-prepared ballad, romanticizing the connection between American Jews and the glorious Jewish state. The students who came for an evening of prayer and yummy Kosher food were encouraged to join the effort in safeguarding the status quo position of political and economic power enjoyed by Israelis and loathed by Palestinians.

Asking around, I seemed to be the only student uncomfortable with the Zionist symbols plastered around the fundamentally Jewish function (there is a Jewish commandment to make three Seudot, or meals, on Shabbat). Indeed, for many of my Palestinian peers, the Israeli flag is a symbol of state-sponsored violence, subjugation and occupation. The students I talked to at dinner were utterly oblivious to this reality. But I’m pluralistic. I support the freedom of the other students to express their political viewpoints even at religious events. I simply ask that my political viewpoints be treated with the same respect.

So I met with three Hillel professionals to see if Hillel would sponsor a new student organization called “Jews Against Zionism.” Then I could “sponsor” a Shabbat, post Palestinian flags around the room and warn students of Zionism’s consequences. How would Jewish students on campus react to the intrusion of politics (only this time, politics with which they disagree) into a Shabbat dinner? How would they react to symbols through which they see suicide bombings and a “culture of hatred?”

I guess I will never know. The very Hillel professionals paid to serve the needs and interests of Jewish students on campus informed me that I was misguided. They kindly notified me that Hillel is a Zionist organization and that anti-Zionism has no place in this so-called pluralistic “home away from home” for Jewish students on campus.

Anti-Zionism is all-too-often regarded by the organized Jewish community as anti-Semitism. Just read Alan Dershowitz’s Case for Israel or the recent article by the American Jewish Committee called “’Progressive’ Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism.” So why is it that opposition to Zionism is regarding as opposition to Judaism? Maybe because it is.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 25th, 2007 at 4:58 pm and is filed under the Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.