In summer 2024, I watched with horror as violence by Jewish settlers in the West Bank, backed by the Israeli military and police, continued to escalate. Palestinians in the village of Umm al-Khair called on anyone opposed to the forced dispossession of their land to join them on the ground.
I felt like in order to be in solidarity with Palestinians, I had to go to Umm al-Khair and provide “protective presence,” which is when international and Israeli activists accompany Palestinians to help deter violence from settlers and soldiers through witnessing and documentation. Through the Center for Jewish Nonviolence, I joined a cohort for a 10-day solidarity shift in Umm al-Khair.
In the village, I met Awdah Hathaleen, an activist and school teacher devoted to resisting Israel’s attempts to force Palestinians out of Umm al-Khair. I witnessed teenage settlers cutting the village’s water supply pipe, settlement security harassing Palestinians daily and the Israeli military confiscating tools from Palestinians rebuilding homes Israel had demolished.
When I returned and started my junior year at Northwestern, I wanted to share what I had seen with my Jewish community through an event about my experience. NU Hillel, which calls itself the “foundation for Jewish life on campus” on its website, seemed like the obvious place to go.
I spoke with the Executive Director of NU Hillel, Michael Simon, who redirected me to Hillel Rabbi Jessica Lott. I met with her, and she said she was interested in holding the event and promised to follow up. She never did.
About a year after my visit, Yinon Levi, an Israeli settler, brought his bulldozer to Umm al-Khair and started destroying the village’s olive trees. In response, Palestinians, including Hathaleen, tried to convince Levi to leave.
During the encounter, Levi shot his gun, killing Hathaleen. Levi was placed under house arrest for three days and released. Israeli authorities refused to return Hathaleen’s body for 10 days, and Levi is still showing up at Umm al-Khair and harassing Hathaleen’s family.
After Hathaleen’s murder, I felt compelled to honor his memory by doing what he asked of all visitors: tell the story of Umm al-Khair.
In August 2025, I met with Simon again, trying to get this event to happen. I offered to review my presentation with him and modify any prohibited terminology. I figured I would be allowed to share my experience because Hillel held events in March and April 2024 where members of the Israeli military who had just returned from serving shared their experiences.
I finally got my answer from Simon at the meeting: I would not be allowed to host my proposed event at Hillel, even with modifications.
The only conclusion I can draw is that Hillel values supporting Israel over true dialogue. Hillel doesn’t want the NU Jewish community to know that an innocent man was murdered by a country it sends people on free Birthright trips to.
Hillel forbade a Jewish student from holding a civil, respectful event about his experiences in the West Bank. Meanwhile, Hillel organizes Israel Shabbat, celebrates an apartheid state during its “Israel Week” programming and uses its platform to let Israeli soldiers glorify their time in combat.
This is not accidental. It is baked into the very heart of this organization through the Hillel Israel Guidelines, which state that the organization “advance(s) students’ personal relationships with Israel,” and Hillel’s Standards of Partnership, which exclude Jews like me, who refuse to fuse our Judaism with Zionism — no matter what we say or how we say it.
To Jewish students looking for their place at NU: I know the feeling of wanting to find community. I know that Hillel might be a space to study, grab a coffee or get a free Shabbat dinner before going out, but your involvement further monopolizes Hillel’s claim to being the foundation for Jewish life, even if you personally don’t agree with their politics.
To me, Hillel is not a neutral space. It might claim it welcomes all, but it exiles Jewish folks like me who oppose inequality, seek true dialogue and ask hard questions.
It is time to build a new Jewish community, one that doesn’t fuse ugly ethnonationalism with our Jewish tradition. And it’s time to be honest about what NU Hillel is: the foundation for Zionist Jewish life.
Evgeny Stolyarov is a Weinberg senior. He can be contacted at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this op-ed, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected]. The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect the views of all staff members of The Daily Northwestern.
