Photo Caption: Goucher Hillel’s announcement of Israel trip on their Instagram account.
On January 16th, 2024, the Goucher Hillel posted on their Instagram that they’re registering a Birthright summer trip to Israel from June 16th-26th 2024. It’s a ten day trip that encourages the Goucher Jewish community to register on January 16th to February 15th., 2024. Since the Goucher Hillel made that post, a lot of students posted outraged comments, saying that it is an insensitive decision to allow students to travel to a land that is responsible for committing genocide on Palestine.
Due to the pressure of students in the comment section, the Goucher Hillel blocked all comments. This action expresses the negligence of freedom of speech and right to protest that Goucher students have been expressing across campus since the start of the ethnic cleansing conflict in October 2023. Since the rise of conflict that surrounded Gaza last year, students have been posting posters and signs all over campus (See: Visual Storytelling: Campus Response to Escalations in the Israel-Palestine Conflict (Part 1) – The Quindecim) to spread their support for Palestine across campus.
The Travel Advisory updated the security situation for travelling to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza on January 17, 2025. The department advised travelers to reconsider traveling to Israel and the West Bank because of activity of terrorism and civil unrest. Despite the warnings that were given to the U.S. Department of Travel Advisory, Hillel International continues to support Goucher College in moving forward with the birthright trip.
According to the Taglit Birthright Israel website, Goucher College plans to travel to Israel from June 5 to June 17. There has not been an Instagram post from Goucher Hillel about this announcement. The students who have protested in solidarity for Palestine feel like they have been slapped in the face because of the continued agreement to send students to a land that is rooted in colonialism and genocide.
It has been noted that the Hillel International and Birthright Israel are aware of the war in Gaza, however they are still determined to continue with the summer trip. I have talked to Goucher Hillel’s Rabbi, Josh Snyder in the spring semester of 2024 to talk about the Birthright Israel and security safety concerns for students. “Following the outbreak of the current conflict, Birthright Israel canceled December 2023 trips,” Rabbi Josh explained, “But resumed trips in January, and is currently taking applications for trips this summer. Ultimately, it is up to each individual student whether they are willing to assume the risk of travel to the region, just as students consider security as a factor when considering other study abroad destinations.”
It has been over a year since Goucher Hillel approved of the birthright trip. I have asked the assistant director Barak Stockler about updates on the summer 2025 birthright trip. He explained that Goucher is currently not sending any students on the trip.
“We advertised our trip through our usual channels – in-person at events, via our email list, and on social media,” Stockler mentioned the continuous conflict. “I understand that many students might be hesitant to go to Israel at the moment due to the ongoing war, so I’m not surprised that we don’t have any participants.” Stockler did not comment on Gaza’s struggles, nor Israel’s involvement of ethnic cleansing and genocide in Palestine.
I have also asked intern Rebecca Van Wagner about the trip. I haven’t received any word from either of them.
By Kristen Wheeler ’25
Correction: The start of the conflict was originally listed as October 2024, not October 2023. The spelling of Hillel assistant director Barak Stockler’s name was amended.
