For the past two years, Tzedek has been affiliated with Berkeley Hillel and the Jewish Student Union at U.C. Berkeley. We have recently decided to end this relationship, for the reasons outlined in the statement below. We look forward continuing our work in the context of our new independent status, and hope to see many of your at our upcoming events; programs in the works for the rest of the semester include more films and a Passover seder. We are also looking for people interested in joining our planning committee—email caltzedek@hotmail.com if you are interested.

Tzedek has decided to disaffiliate from Berkeley Hillel and the Jewish Student Union, for two main reasons: First, throughout our two years here, we have been subject to unfair and inconsistent regulations, which have proven increasingly incompatible with our purpose as a political organization. Second, it has become clear to us that although Berkeley Hillel publicly prides itself on its theoretical inclusiveness of a wide range of views on Judaism and Israel, in practice the organization is laden with mechanisms designed to stifle dissent from what it perceives as "mainstream" (Jewish) views about Israel. Not only do we refuse to conform our programming to these so-called "mainstream" views, we reject the notion that such conformity should be a requirement of affiliation with Berkeley Hillel and the JSU. Tzedek will remain an active ASUC group; fortunately the University supports freedom of speech and the free exchange of ideas.

While we have attempted to bring challenging and under-represented viewpoints to Berkeley Hillel and the JSU, and to help publicize other events that the Jewish community may not have otherwise been aware of, we have frequently been denied the right to do so. For example, Berkeley Hillel has refused to endorse a panel of Israeli Refuseniks, and refused to allow us to publicize another panel, consisting of two Jewish Zionist Israelis and two Palestinians, on the future of the Occupied Territories. The reasons are numerous and varied: "We are uncomfortable with some of the co-sponsors," and "We weren’t sure if the speakers would be sufficiently supportive of Israel," to name just two. While Tzedek has attempted, in good faith, to abide by the policies concerning Israel programming adopted by the JSU in the Fall of 2003, it has become increasingly apparent that rather than serving as guidelines within which student groups may act, these bylaws instead serve to give the Hillel staff veto power over all programming of groups such as Tzedek which dare to "challenge mainstream opinion." As Adam Weisberg explained to us, the true determinant of what is and what is not acceptable at Berkeley Hillel is the opinion of the "mainstream" Jewish community, which has the power to give or withhold financial support. We urge the JSU, which claims to act as the representative of the Jewish community at Cal, to consider whether "mainstream" beliefs are the proper method for determining acceptable programming, and, further, to reconsider whether the views labeled "mainstream" by Hillel are truly in line with the values and beliefs of Cal’s Jewish community at large.

The JSU’s reaction to our public dissent over its invitation of Daniel Pipes (a formal censure, along with a proposal to formally limit the ways in which JSU affiliated groups may speak out in dissent) tells us that for all that has been said about a "big tent" of inclusiveness, a group such as Tzedek is not welcome. If the JSU truly desires to foster an inclusive Jewish community on campus, it must consider the consequences of forcing a group that supports human rights and Israel’s right to exist to choose between presenting a unified Jewish front to the campus community, and standing in solidarity with human rights and social justice, against racism and bigotry. Were Daniel Pipes, or someone comparably offensive, invited again, Tzedek would not hesitate to again make public the fact that many in the Jewish community disagree with his views, and we would hope that a truly inclusive Jewish community would recognize the legitimacy of such a disagreement. If at some point in the future it is realized that such dissent is not only welcome, but healthy, in the Jewish community, a group such as Tzedek may be able to be a part of it.

We urge the JSU to examine its relationship with Berkeley Hillel, and do everything in its power to maximize inclusiveness and freedom to make democratic decisions without the imposition of arbitrary and undefined outside rules. While we feel strongly about this issue, we can no longer fight that battle—our activist time will be spent promoting views of and solutions to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict respectful of Jews and Palestinians, justice, and human rights.