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By Eve Balensi, Co-President of Northwestern University’s Jewish Law Students Association

One of the things that matters most to me about Jewish student leadership is the ability to bring people together and create opportunities for conversations that might not otherwise happen. As co-president of Northwestern Law’s Jewish Law Students Association (JLSA), I wanted to help bring those conversations to campus, particularly around issues that are important to our Jewish community.

That is why I was excited to bring Hillel Neuer, an international human rights attorney and Executive Director of UN Watch, to Northwestern Law. With the support of the Jewish Grad Organization (JGO), the Decalogue Society of Lawyers, and Israel Policy Forum, we organized Inside the UN with Hillel Neuer, a moderated discussion on September 15 that drew approximately 90 student registrations.

During the discussion, we explored issues I believe deserve greater attention, including human rights violations, anti-Israel bias within the United Nations, institutional antisemitism, and the legal, diplomatic, and political strategies Neuer has used throughout his advocacy. I am especially grateful to JGO for its support in making this event possible and helping JLSA give students the opportunity to engage with issues that are often difficult to discuss openly.

But for me, bringing Neuer to Northwestern was about more than organizing a speaker event. It was personal.

I had followed Neuer's work for many years and always admired his eloquence and unwavering commitment to human rights advocacy. I first discovered him through his 2017 speech before the United Nations Human Rights Council, widely known as "Algeria, Where Are Your Jews?"

In that speech, Neuer challenged countries condemning Israel for its alleged treatment of minorities to confront their own histories of persecution and the disappearance of Jewish communities.

His words resonated with me because my own family was part of that history.

My family is originally from Algeria, and during the country's decolonization from France in the early 1960s, they, like thousands of other Jewish families, were compelled to leave behind their home and resettle in France amid hostility and antisemitic violence.

Growing up in France, I was reminded constantly that antisemitism was not merely a relic of the past, but an enduring reality. Hearing Neuer confront representatives of countries from which Jewish communities had all but disappeared, while those same governments condemned the world's only Jewish state, struck a particularly profound chord with me.

His speech also demonstrated something I have carried into my legal education: diplomacy, much like law, can be a powerful instrument for exposing hypocrisy, challenging prevailing narratives, and pursuing truth and justice, even in the face of overwhelming political opposition.

In the aftermath of October 7, 2023, I continued following Neuer's work through UN Watch and admired his tenacity in challenging powerful institutions and advocating for the consistent application of international human rights standards, regardless of political considerations.

I wanted to bring that perspective to Northwestern Law because I believed students would benefit from hearing directly from an international human rights attorney  and gaining a deeper understanding of how diplomacy and politics are inherently intertwined with international law. As such, this event offered an opportunity to examine the inner workings of the United Nations, the political realities of international human rights advocacy, and the institutional shortcomings that can undermine accountability. Above all, I hoped that Neuer's visit would encourage students to reflect on a principle I consider fundamental to the legal profession: the pursuit of truth and justice must be guided by evidence, reason, and the courage to challenge prevailing opinion, rather than determined by political consensus or popular sentiment.

Bringing an event of this significance to campus also reinforced for me the importance of having a strong Jewish community that actively supports and empowers its student leaders. With JGO's support and the collaboration of our partner organizations, we were able to bring this conversation to Northwestern Law and create an opportunity for students to examine the relationship between law, human rights, and Jewish identity. JGO has become an invaluable pillar for Northwestern JLSA, not only by providing the resources necessary to bring meaningful programming to campus, but also by connecting with the broader Jewish professional community and helping us create an array of opportunities for students to engage with the issues that matter deeply to them. More importantly, this partnership has shown me what becomes possible when Jewish organizations work together, share their resources, and invest in the next generation of Jewish leaders. 

Ultimately, organizing this event and working alongside JGO have helped shape my understanding of Jewish student leadership, and leadership more broadly. To me, leadership means more than representing a community; it means actively building and strengthening it. It also means recognizing the opportunities that are missing and taking the initiative to create them, bringing people together around shared values and concerns, and ensuring that Jewish students have the resources, connections, and support they need to turn their ideas into reality. That is the kind of leadership I hope to continue fostering at Northwestern Law.

About JGO...

The Jewish Grad Organization is the national movement for Jewish grad students and alumni. Our mission is to foster Jewish community on grad school campuses and to cultivate Jewish identity and leadership among young adults at this critical life stage. Since 2011, JGO has built a network of grassroots Jewish affinity clubs at over 170 graduate campuses across North America, impacting 14,000 unique students a year through more than 948 annual programs. We have empowered a generation of young Jewish leaders and touched the lives of more than 50,000 individuals.

To support JGO's work across campuses in North America, visit https://www.rayze.it/JGO.