Ben Gladstone, at The Blogs

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Dec 7, 2015, 9:35 AM

The campus needs to hear voices like Sha’anan Streett’s

In the past couple of years, I have noticed that a crucial element of the anti-Zionist strategy is the erasure of Israeli diversity. In order to make the case for sweeping boycotts and general condemnations of an entire country,...

Sep 5, 2015, 4:01 PM

Zionism, time to take back the left

I am both a proud leftist and a proud Zionist. Those two positions should appear contradictory to no one – I support the only country in the Middle East that offers protections instead of punishments to its sexual minority...

Aug 31, 2015, 4:14 PM

Four tips for Jewish first-years on campus

College offers great opportunities to find community and engage meaningfully with Judaism

Aug 20, 2015, 5:22 AM

In Yemen, civilian life must be a priority

Denouncing rivals is easy. The true challenge is critiquing a friend. While the larger enemy in the ongoing Yemeni civil war is certainly Iran and its proxies, the air campaign of the Saudi-led coalition has been devastating in its own...

Jul 9, 2015, 3:26 PM

Fellow leftists: oppose a bad deal with Iran

I, as someone who identifies firmly on the left, am opposed to the deal currently on the table in negotiations between the P5+1 powers (the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China, and Germany) and Iran. Others who share my...

May 22, 2015, 11:49 AM

The “queer subtext”: LGBTQIA+ issues in 20th century Jewish literature

The following is a paper that I wrote for my Brown University class on Yiddish Language and Culture with Professor Rachel Rojanski. I know that it is long, but I hope that some will be interested enough to at...

Apr 27, 2015, 12:12 AM

The Zionist movement should never depend on the Christian right

This Yom HaShoah, as every year, I was deeply moved by a recitation of Pastor Martin Niemöller’s famed quote: First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out – Because I was not a Socialist. Then they came for...

Mar 4, 2015, 6:12 PM

A “good deal” can be negotiated behind the scenes

Without delving into my own opinions regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to the United States Congress yesterday, I would like to ponder the possibility that there is more to the negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 powers...

Feb 24, 2015, 8:45 AM

Taking a stand for a better future

When I visited Israel a few years ago, I had the opportunity to spend time in a high school and was surprised to find that its entire student body was Jewish. I was likewise surprised to learn that, although...

Feb 5, 2015, 4:05 AM

Hatred in any form is unacceptable

I had an experience earlier today that shocked me and left me extremely unsettled, and that reinforced for me an important lesson that I would like to communicate. Another student asked me what classes I was taking this semester, and...

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About Me

Benjamin Gladstone is a junior at Brown University, where he is pursuing degrees in Middle East Studies and Judaic Studies and where he serves as president of Brown Students for Israel, the Brown University Coalition for Syria, and Students for Responsible Policies in Yemen. In addition to blogging with the Times of Israel, Benjamin is a Scribe Contributor at The Forward, and his work has been published in the Tower Magazine, the Jewish Advocate, the Brand Of Milk And Honey, the Hill, the Brown Daily Herald, the Brown Political Review, and the New York Times. He is a founder and editor of ProgressME, a student publication that highlights underrepresented voices on Southwest Asian issues.