NEW YORK — The student senate at Manhattan’s New School announced its “landmark decision” to defund its Jewish students’ club earlier this month. Ironically, the decision came down shortly before Shabbat.

“Hillel at the New School is ineligible for funding from or collaboration with the [student senate] in any capacity,” the announcement said, accusing the Jewish club of “extensive ties to violations of international law.”

The vote — rejected by the university administration — marked the first time a US university’s student government had cut off its Hillel, long seen as the main address for Jewish life on most American campuses.

The announcement surprised the campus Hillel director, but the student senate had been quietly working toward the move for months, basing its decision on an anti-Israel base built in forums from the United Nations and human rights groups to medical journals and City Hall.

The process illustrated how a global network can come to bear on individual Jews, sparking fear in students and setting a precedent that could be used against Jewish clubs on other campuses.

“I saw all of my classmates posting, reposting and cheering,” an Israeli New School student said of the announcement against Hillel. “I thought, I’m not going to have a Jewish club anymore, which for me, is really home away from home and they supported me.”

“That’s the only place I felt safe as a Jewish student on campus,” she said.

Hillel is the leading international Jewish student organization, with around 850 chapters. The New School’s chapter is part of a network centered at the nearby Baruch College that serves students at nine colleges. Following the war in Gaza, launched by the Hamas onslaught on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, anti-Zionist activists have targeted that network due to its ties to Israel.

The New School is a private university in Manhattan, known for its progressive politics, with around 9,000 students. The student senate in 2024 attempted to block funding to all student groups, demanding “divestment from industries implicated in military and police violence in Gaza and the West Bank,” but the university’s administration circumvented that vote. Weeks later, the senate attempted to cut off Hillel, but was blocked by the administration, a Jewish student said.

Those campaigns unnerved Jewish students, but failed to produce any concrete effects, such as banning Hillel or stripping its funds.

In January, the student senate posted a declaration including a commitment to “international law.” A week later, the student senate established a committee tasked with ensuring that student organizations were in “compliance with international law.”

In April, the committee put Hillel under review, saying the club “potentially collaborates with foreign militaries to violate international law.”

That months-long process ended on Friday with the statement from the senate and a 38-page report, condemning Hillel for activities such as preparing a barbecue for IDF soldiers and packing food for troops. The report reused some of the evidence and language from the failed 2024 resolution against Hillel.

“To continue to fund Hillel at the New School would mean that your student fees would be used to support violations of international law,” the report said, implicating the student body in Hillel’s alleged crimes. “Our shared values require us to enforce our policies until Hillel agrees to affirm and abide by international law.”

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© The Times of Israel