No Room for Israel: How the “Drop Hillel” Movement Misses the Mark on Judaism

Since 1923, Hillel has been a safe haven for Jewish students where they can worship, learn, grow, and have a Jewish space away from home. As the largest Jewish organization serving college campuses, Hillel has been there for Jews throughout generations. The October 7 terrorist attacks brought shockwaves of antisemitism to college campuses. As Jewish students faced physical threats and calls for their death, they found solace in the Jewish community offered by Hillel. However, no good deed goes unpunished. As Hillel has taught students to stand strong in their Judaism, an insidious movement aims to destroy this Jewish space. “Drop Hillel” communicates the express goal of removing Hillel in favor of a “new Jewish spaces rooted in collective liberation.”

While this movement has only been officially launched since early October 2024, it has existed as a disparate ideology since anti-Israel encampments and protests sprang up on college campuses in April and May 2024. However, this opposition was not originally portrayed as being rooted in the Jewish community. During the Undergraduate Student Government elections at UCLA, the Students for Justice in Palestine posted an image on its Instagram Story instructing its supporters to not vote for Hillel’s student board-endorsed candidates and “instead vote for (our endorsed candidates].”

Screenshot of the Students for Justice in Palestine at UCLA’s Instagram Story showing their call for students to vote for their endorsed candidates over Hillel’s

Similarly, some chapters of the Students for Justice in Palestine, a prominent anti-Israel student group at universities throughout the US, added to the demands of their encampments to “Cut ties with Zionist institutions” including Hillel International.

This sentiment has culminated in the creation of the Drop Hillel Movement, which was launched on Instagram in early October. The launch was announced at the same time as the “Sukkah + Encampments” that sprang up at more than 20 universities, including UCLA. The Drop Hillel movement officially used the clearing of these “Sukkah + Encampment(s)” to justify the need for an alternative Jewish community with the reasoning being that only Hillel’s view on Zionism in relation to Judaism is considered acceptable by universities. At UCLA, the structures were officially taken down due to violations of the Time, Place, and Manner policy, not because of Hillel’s views.

Image showing the “Sukkah + Encampment” at UCLA’s Dickson Court North on October 21, 2024 [Photo credit: Hudson Roddy]

It is important to note that the Drop Hillel movement and the “Sukkah + Encampment(s)” were likely not started by predominantly Jewish organizations, despite the movement’s claims to the contrary. For example, the “Sukkah + Encampment” established at UCLA was announced on Instagram by the Graduate Students for Justice in Palestine (though the Jewish Voice for Peace at UCLA, the main Jewish pro-Palestinian group on campus, would be added as a collaborator on the post a couple of hours after it was published). In addition, the main posts establishing the goals of the Drop Hillel Movement on Instagram were posted by both the Drop Hillel Movement’s main Instagram account and the National Students for Justice in Palestine Instagram account.

The supporters of the Drop Hillel Movement tend to focus on the perceived Zionist aspect of Hillel International. Hillel considers itself to be a Jewish-serving institution, with the organization stating on their website that, “Hillel was, is, and will always be a space for all kinds of Jewish students — a place where they feel welcomed and included.”. On the About page explaining Hillel’s mission statement and goals as an organization, the word “Israel” is only used twice while the word “Jew” or “Jewish” is used 21 times.

What this demonstrates is that Hillel International exists for Jewish students regardless of their views on Israel or Zionism. It combines religious and cultural experiences for Jews of all opinions and beliefs. While it is true that Hillel facilitates experiences such as Birthright trips to Israel and maintains an anti-Boycott, Divest, and Sanction against Israel (BDS) stance, these do not represent Hillel’s primary goal of establishing a Jewish community.

This is the fundamental disparity between the perception of the Drop Hillel Movement and the reality of Hillel. The Drop Hillel movement sees Hillel as a perpetrator of Zionism, discrimination, and militarism against anyone who disagrees with Israel. However, Hillel isn’t that. It never was, and it never will be. Some students who consider themselves part of the Hillel community have significant disagreements with the Israeli government’s actions in the Middle East, and many go further to disagree on what Zionism means to them, and how they want to see it implemented in our world.

The intentions of the Drop Hillel Movement and the groups who are likely behind it do not, in fact, have the interests of the majority of the Jewish community at heart. They are rooted in the same thinly veiled antisemitism that has been present since October 7, 2023. The only question now is whether Jews who disagree with the State of Israel in part or in its entirety will take to this new movement, or if they will continue developing the more pluralistic and inclusive future that Hillel has already committed itself to.