A rabbi at Emory University’s Hillel student organisation in the US state of Georgia was dismissed just a month into her job because of her relationship with a pro-Palestinian activist.
"There was zero previous indication that Nikki’s job was at risk," Sam Stein said of his fiancé Rabbi Nikki Golomb’s dismissal by Hillels of Georgia, the nonprofit that operates the campus organisation.
Stein said Golomb had expected a scheduled meeting with her chief executive to be a welcome to her new position. Instead, he said, she was told she was being dismissed because of her "relationship with people who speak despairingly of Israel". When she asked who was being referred to, an engagement photograph of the couple was shown, according to his account.
Stein, a journalist and protective-presence activist who has documented settler violence in the occupied West Bank, described the decision as "a cruel act of financial violence".
Her employer, Hillels of Georgia, says the decision was made for "legitimate, work-related reasons and in accordance with our policies".
A wider divide over Israel and Palestine
Stein argued that the dismissal reflected a widening disconnect between established Jewish institutions and members of the communities they represent over Israel, Palestine and Zionism.
"This is a broader issue bubbling up that the mainstream Jewish institutions in the US are totally out of touch with where the Jewish population is at in terms of Israel, Palestine and Zionism," he told The New Arab.
"Other people have been fired over dissent around Zionism – this is the most egregious case because it’s about someone’s partner, not even about anything they said or did," he said.
Emory Hillel provides religious, cultural and social programming for Jewish students. Its stated mission includes fostering a commitment to Jewish life, learning and Israel.
Hillel International’s Israel guidelines also restrict partnerships with groups and speakers that support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement (BDS) against Israel. It placed under the same category individuals who "Deny the right of Israel to exist as a Jewish and democratic state with secure and recognized borders” as well as "Delegitimize, demonize, or apply a double standard to Israel".
Those published guidelines, however, do not explicitly address an employee’s partner’s political speech or activism.
Stein called on Hillel International, the wider umbrella organisation, to compensate Golomb and introduce protections against similar dismissals.
"Hillel International has a moral obligation to pay out Nikki’s contract […] and on top of that, to put in writing a statement preventing this from happening again – adopt an official national policy that you cannot fire people over their partner’s social media presence or activism", he said.
He also called for those responsible for the decision to be fired.