News

eJP: Are We Talking About 1948, 1967 or Oct. 7, 2023: Understanding Campus Conversations About Israel

Author

Jonathan Falk

Date

July 29, 2025

Originally published on July 25, 2025 in eJewish Philanthropy, “Are We Talking About 1948, 1967 or Oct. 7, 2023: Understanding Campus Conversations About Israel,” sorts Israel-related conversation on campus into three distinct types. Written by Vice President of Hillel International’s Israel Action and Addressing Antisemitism Program Jon Falk, this piece offers a new framework for understanding dialogues about Israel. Read on for selected excerpts:

“On college campuses across the country, conversations about Israel are louder and more emotionally charged than ever. And amid the protests, student government resolutions and classroom disputes, it may be easy to miss a fundamental disconnect: Not everyone is having the same conversation.

In fact, I believe there are three different conversations about Israel playing out in parallel and unless we name them clearly, we risk misunderstanding each other entirely.

The first is what I call ‘the 1948 conversation.’ This is not a debate about borders or policies; it’s a debate about Israel’s existence. It centers on the very legitimacy of a Jewish state, and whether Israel should have been created in the first place. This discussion is rooted in the events surrounding Israel’s founding and it’s where many of the most hostile anti-Israel and antisemitic rhetoric manifests. Here, false and offensive terms like ‘settler-colonialism,’ ‘globalize the intifada,’ and ‘genocide’ replace facts and nuance. The conversation is not about how to achieve peace; it’s about denying the right of the Jewish people to self-determination 

The second is ‘the 1967 conversation.’ This is where most American Jews and most people committed to peace tend to focus. It’s a conversation about what a lasting resolution to today’s conflict could look like, acknowledging the Jewish people’s right to a homeland and affirming the Palestinian people’s right to one too. Students and faculty engaged in this topic ask hard questions about borders, security, and coexistence. This conversation is informed by decades of peace negotiations, from the Oslo Accords to Annapolis. It’s a conversation about how to move forward, not whether Israel should exist…

For much of the last two decades, the debate on campus oscillated between 1967 and 1948, between questions of policy and questions of legitimacy. But since Oct. 7, 2023, a third conversation has emerged. I call this one ‘the 10/7 conversation.’

This is not a conversation about Israel’s borders or even its existence. It is about American Jews being targeted because of their real or perceived connection to Israel. It’s a conversation rooted in blame, in guilt by association, in the dangerous idea that Jews anywhere are responsible for the actions of Israel’s government or military. And it has led to an alarming rise in hate: Jewish students blocked from going to class, faculty using classroom power to shame Jewish identity and synagogues and Jewish institutions under threat…

Naming the 1948, 1967 and now 10/7 conversations for what they are can help all of us better support college students and ensure we’re equipping them with the insight and resilience they need.

Not every discussion about Israel is the same. Some are about how to build a better future. Others are about the existence of the Jewish state. And some are about whether Jews anywhere are safe at all. As we prepare to support students navigating these questions in the new school year, let’s be clear about which conversation we’re having, and why it matters.”

Jon Falk is the vice president of Hillel International’s Israel Action and Addressing Antisemitism Program. He leads teams that support campus Hillels in navigating and responding to antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel activity as well as celebrating, advocating for, and educating about Israel.

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News

Times of Israel: Campus Insider: The Resilient Rise of Jewish Campus Leaders

Author

Jonathan Falk

Date

April 9, 2025

Originally published on April 9, 2025 in The Times of Israel, “Campus Insider: The Resilient Rise of Jewish Campus Leaders,” written by Hillel International’s Vice President for Israel Engagement and Confronting Antisemitism Jon Falk, explores how Jewish student leaders have responded to exclusion and hostility on campus with resilience and a recommitment to Jewish leadership. You can find excerpts from the piece below and read the full essay on Times of Israel.  

“Since October 7, 2023, Jewish college students across the U.S. have faced increasing hostility on their campuses. Once active in diverse student organizations, many now find themselves excluded from spaces they used to call home. In response, these students are leaning into Hillel and the Jewish community, emerging as a new generation of resilient leaders. 

Students like Sammi and Adam [Jewish student leaders at Lewis & Clark College and Case Western Reserve University, respectively], once integral to campus leadership, are being pushed out of spaces where they used to feel welcome simply because of their Jewish and Israeli identities. Talented and driven, they might have led an a cappella group, the environmental science club, or the legal society. Instead, they are turning to their Hillels — often the only places on campus that fully welcome them — and channeling their leadership into the Jewish community.

Today, Sammi and Adam serve in leadership roles at their campus Hillels and are members of Hillel International’s prestigious Israel Leadership Network (ILN), which connects North America’s top Jewish and Zionist student leaders into a united cohort empowered to lead their generation and future generations in support of Israel and the Jewish community through education, advocacy, and engagement.

Following October 7 and the dramatic increase in antisemitism in the world and on college campuses, Jewish students turned to Hillel as their refuge. Some came for a Shabbat dinner or a social event. But they stayed for the safety and belonging they found.

And then they stepped up. They took on leadership roles. They ran for office. And they became the strongest generation of young Jewish leaders in decades.”

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News

Campus Insider: Pro-Israel Students are Showing Up to Learn and Lead

Author

Jonathan Falk and Liora Knizhnik

Date

March 4, 2024

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in The Times of Israel on March 1, 2024.

There’s a perpetual fear in the Jewish community that we’re losing our young. That our youth are no longer connected to the values we seek to instill in them, including a love for Israel. This fear is expressed in headlines about small groups of vocal young Jews who protest against Israel and about individuals who reject the paths their parents and grandparents forged.

But in my role at Hillel International, I speak with thousands of Jewish college students every semester and I can tell you, without a doubt, that this is a generation of engaged, passionate, connected, and dedicated Jews and Zionists. And they are leading their peers toward a vibrant future.

This week, I moderated the “Zionist Heroes” panel discussion, with Sarah Hurwitz, Amanda Berman, and Jacki Karsh on the main stage of the Hillel Israel Summit, the seventh annual gathering of Israel-focused student leaders within the Hillel movement. As I looked around the room at over 800 young people who had flown to Atlanta from more than 200 campuses across North America, I saw the truth: Jewish students know that the way forward is through education, and they are showing up to learn.

Over 800 of the Hillel movement’s top student leaders showed up to the largest gathering of Jewish college students since before the COVID pandemic in 2020 to learn from world-class community leaders and subject matter experts. The student leaders showed up to broaden their horizons on Israel by hearing from diverse speakers, including Israeli government ministers, a former negotiator for the Palestinian Authority, a US Ambassador, a former leader of the Israeli left, civil society leaders focused on the intersection of Zionism and progressive spaces as well as Black-Jewish allyship, university presidents, award-winning journalists, influencers, and entrepreneurs. And the student leaders showed up to participate in high-level workshops and masterclasses, and to incubate ideas in a highly collaborative environment so they are prepared to lead in the ever-changing campus climate for Jewish students.

Accompanied by over 70 Jewish Agency for Israel Fellows — young Israelis who live and work with American students on a campus — students came from all of the Ivy League universities, from community colleges, from state universities and Big Ten schools, and from small liberal arts colleges. They came with different understandings about what it means to be a Zionist, and they brought as many perspectives as could fit in one hotel ballroom. There was so much interest in the Israel Summit that we had to cut off applications after a record-1,500 students applied to attend. Because students are demanding opportunities to learn — to delve deep into the complexities of the Middle East and grapple with the realities facing Israelis and Palestinians. And Hillel gives them the space to have these honest, nuanced, and intellectually rigorous conversations that no other campus organization, Jewish or otherwise, is willing or able to provide.

Jewish college students are seeking opportunities to be in community and to feel part of the Jewish people in this challenging academic year. The student leaders who came to the Hillel Israel Summit know that they joined a community much bigger than the one they found in Atlanta. For the first time, students from smaller campuses connected with a Jewish Agency for Israel Fellow. And Georgia Tech student Talia Segal (‘24) shared that, “Sharing a space with students who have all dealt with antisemitism on their campuses was like coming up for air after months of being trapped underwater.”

Israelis also recognize the important role of engaged Jewish students in North America. Former Israeli Minister Tzipi Livni and the Honorable Natan Sharansky traveled to the US to support North American Jewish students, even while their own country is at war. Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy told attendees, “I know it’s a difficult time to be a Jew on campus… But at times like these, we remember who our family are, who our friends are, who our people are. And it’s you, so that’s why I wanted to come all the way across the sea to be with you.” And Israeli Eurovision winner Netta Barzilai performed for students because as she explained, she “wanted them to dance again.”

University of California San Diego student Shani Menna (‘25) reflected, “For the first time since October 7, my new friends from campuses across the country and I no longer felt alone and isolated. We could finally wear our Zionism on our sleeves and be celebrated for it rather than ostracized.” 

The Jewish student leaders at Hillel Israel Summit 2024 express a broad range of characteristics, priorities, and opinions. But they all care about Israel and choose to engage, collaborate, and be part of the conversation, together. They choose to lead.

Jon Falk is the Vice President of Hillel International’s Israel Action and Addressing Antisemitism Program. Jon oversees the teams that support campus Hillels in navigating and responding to antisemitic incidents, anti-Israel activity, and BDS, as well as celebrating, advocating, and educating about Israel.

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