Hillel's Policy on Campus Speakers In "Members of Jewish Student Group Test Permissible Discussion on Israel" (news article, Dec. 30), you state: "Hillel, whose core mission is to keep the next generation of Jews in the fold, says that under its auspices one thing is not open to debate: Those who reject or repudiate Israel have no place." First, Hillel's "core mission," clearly expressed on our website, is to build an enduring "commitment to Jewish life, learning and Israel." Second, all Jewish students have a place at Hillel. Hillel's guidelines on Israel refer explicitly to rejecting partnerships with organizations and speakers who seek to harm or destroy Israel. Hillel will continue to reach out to all college students who have questions about Israel and will work sincerely to provide knowledge and foster discussion. But there are some who are simply not interested in any such thing. We will still welcome them for Shabbat dinner and other events, but we cannot and will not let them guide our programming. And we will not, consistent with our guidelines, welcome anti-Zionist speakers or partner with anti-Zionist organizations. The seven Swarthmore students who passed the Open Hillel resolution indicated that they wished to invite such speakers or partnerships in Hillel's name and under our roof. Hillel International has made clear that they cannot do so. ERIC FINGERHUT President and Chief Executive Hillel International Washington, Dec. 30, 2013 You should be commended for exposing Hillel's censorship of criticism of Israel within its ranks. The bigger picture on American college campuses has gone largely unreported, however. Diverse proponents of Palestinian rights have long been targeted by university administrations, right-wing pro-Israel groups and the United States government. They are increasingly subjected to smear campaigns, disciplinary actions, lawsuits and criminal prosecution for airing their views. Palestine Solidarity Legal Support, in partnership with the Center for Constitutional Rights, responded to more than 100 such incidents in 2013. Legal and physical threats against the American Studies Association and its members for their academic boycott resolution are the latest example. Silencing criticism of Israeli policies and equating it with anti-Semitism infringe on First Amendment rights, and work to chill speech. As long as advocates for Israel stifle discussion on campus - the arena most apt for rigorous debate on this vital issue - there is little chance for lasting peace based on freedom, equality and human rights for all. DIMA KHALIDI Director Palestine Solidarity Legal Support Chicago, Dec. 30, 2013 As a Swarthmore alumna, I remember the anti-Zionist bias that permeated student groups in the late 1980s. Israeli speakers were heckled and Zionist students harassed. But I am disheartened by the national Hillel organization's decision to distance itself from events at which Israel's policies are questioned. When Abram Sachar, my grandfather, built Hillel, it was as a place where all Jewish students would feel welcome. My father, the historian Howard Sachar, continued this tradition of inclusion during his years of service to American Jewish campus life. For centuries, the strongest communities of the diaspora have been those that encouraged discussion and debate. Our willingness to engage dissenters rested on logic and morality. I fear that the trend to stifle legitimate criticism of Israel comes from a collective fear: that the occupation of the West Bank has forced Israel and those who unquestioningly support it to cede the moral high ground. For Israel's sake and our own, we must re-embrace the tradition of open discussion of any topic with intellectual rigor. I'm neither an "Israel right or wrong" person nor a supporter of what has come to be called "the Palestinian cause." But one question keeps coming back to me when I read about objections to decisions by Jewish campus groups not to invite speakers hostile to Israel: Where is the push for Arab campus groups to roll out their red carpets to unabashed defenders of the Jewish state? The writer is director of public affairs for Agudath Israel of America.