President of Hillel Speaks Out on Durban University Issue

As we reported this week, the student government at the Durban University of Technology in South Africa passed a resolution calling on Jewish students to be expelled. (The administration rejected it out of hand.) In response, the current president of Hillel International, Eric Fingerhut, has spoken out and promised support for Jewish students under fire anywhere.

http://www.algemeiner.com/2015/02/12/hillel-president-vows-to-stop-hatred-against-jewish-students-after-call-to-expel-jews-from-south-africa-university/

I applaud Mr Fingerhut for his response. Hillel, a national Jewish organization that supports Jewish university students, has many chapters serving universities in the US. Unfortunately, some of these chapters prefer to take a low profile when it comes to Israel and anti-Semitism on campus. I have previously described the issues with the Orange County chapter of Hillel, which serves UC Irvine. When it comes to countering anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric on campus, they have left a lot to be desired in my view. Mr Fingerhut maintains that Hillel chapters should support Israel while many chapters want to admit Jewish students who may be actually be opposed to Israel.

I wish Mr Fingerhut well in his endeavors. He has a big challenge on his hands.