The New School Student Union Freezes Hillel Funding Amid Rising American Anger Over the War on Gaza

Washington Message

Washington – Said Arikat – 5/2/2026

In an unprecedented move within an American university, the Student Union at The New School in New York City voted to place the Hillel student organization branch in a state of “ineligibility,” meaning it will be deprived of funding, logistical support, and joint activities provided by the Student Union. This decision comes amidst accusations related to supporting programs linked to the Israeli army during the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.

The decision, approved by a majority vote on May 1st, followed a lengthy investigation by the Student Union's compliance committee, which concluded that Hillel had violated university principles that oblige student organizations to respect and adhere to international law.

According to the report on which the vote was based, the Hillel branch at The New School and its affiliated Baruch College branch participated in promoting programs that send students to Israel for volunteer work at military bases and to provide logistical support to the Israeli army. Among these programs are: "Hillel on Peace," "Onward Israel," and "Volunteers for Israel."

The student committee considered these programs to represent direct support for a military institution accused of committing widespread violations against Palestinians in Gaza, at a time when international criticism of the Israeli war and its widespread destruction and significant human casualties is increasing.

The report also pointed to direct financial partnerships worth millions of dollars between “Hillel International” and the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which it said were aimed at “promoting pro-war propaganda” within American university campuses.

This decision is a significant development in the context of escalating student protests within American universities against the Israeli war on Gaza, where universities have, in recent months, become arenas of political and moral confrontation between students supporting Palestinian rights and groups supporting Israel.

Hillel International is considered one of the largest Jewish Zionist student networks in the United States and the world, active in hundreds of universities by offering cultural, political, and religious programs for Jewish students. However, the organization has faced increasing criticism for years due to its close ties to official Israeli institutions and its continuous defense of Tel Aviv's policies, including military operations against Palestinians. Student and human rights movements also accuse it of promoting the Israeli narrative within American universities and funding visit programs and activities aimed at strengthening political and moral support for Israel and justifying its aggressive policies against Palestinians historically.

It is worth noting that The New School was founded in 1919 as a progressive academic institution dedicated to freedom of thought and research, and includes several prominent colleges, including "Parsons" School of Design, "Eugene Lang" College of Liberal Arts, the College of Performing Arts, in addition to the College of Social Sciences.

The Student Union's decision comes at a time when the United States is witnessing a remarkable expansion of popular criticism of Israel, especially among youth and students, many of whom believe that the war on Gaza has exposed the limits of traditional American discourse on human rights and democracy.

The widening scope of protests within American universities indicates a profound shift in public sentiment, especially among young people who now view unconditional support for Israel as complicity in violence against Palestinians. After months of images of destruction and killing in Gaza, the official American narrative is no longer able to convince large segments of students and academics. Anger increases when university funds are used to support institutions linked to programs serving the Israeli army. This shift does not reflect fleeting sympathy for Palestinians, but rather a deepening crisis of confidence in political and media elites who have ignored the extent of suffering under decades of continuous military occupation.

Increasing criticism within American circles of Israel is no longer limited to traditional activists or human rights groups, but has extended to students, professors, artists, and even Jewish figures who oppose occupation policies. Many believe that successive American governments have granted Israel political immunity, encouraging it to continue using excessive force against Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank. A wide segment of Americans also feel resentment at attempts to silence voices critical of Israel through ready-made accusations of antisemitism. Therefore, universities today appear to be an arena of political and moral confrontation reflecting a growing American division over the limits of support provided to Tel Aviv domestically.

Decisions by student bodies in some American universities reflect a growing feeling that pro-Israel institutions ignore human rights principles when it comes to Palestinians. Many students believe that the continuation of the war on Gaza, and the accompanying killing, starvation, and widespread destruction, has exposed the double standards in Western discourse on freedom and democracy. Moreover, American political and media support for Israel has aroused increasing resentment among young people who see their country spending billions on foreign wars while social crises worsen domestically. For this reason, boycott and protest campaigns are expanding within universities as a means of moral and political pressure against the Israeli occupation in the current phase.

Observers believe that the escalating anger within American universities towards Israel reflects a clear generational shift in understanding the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. While previous American generations adopted the Israeli narrative as an almost absolute truth, students today rely on independent media and digital platforms that transmit images of Palestinian victims directly from Gaza and the West Bank. This daily influx of bloody scenes has made many question the unconditional pro-Israel American political discourse. It has also led youth segments to consider the defense of Palestinians a matter of human justice, and not merely a political stance related to the Middle East alone in the United States over the years.