Many in the Jewish community have rallied around J Street after the University of California at Berkeley’s Jewish Student Union decided to deny the organization’s college branch, J Street U, membership last November.

Most recently, the directors of Berkeley Hillel are now calling for the Jewish Student Union to change its mind and admit the organization.

"We respect the right of the Jewish Student Union, an organization sponsored by UC Berkeley student government, to make its own decisions, but we encourage JSU to reconsider its vote and include J Street U as a member," wrote the Hillel’s leaders in a letter.

J Street U was founded two years ago and has 32 chapters across the country. Much like its parent organization, J Street U says on its website that it works to ensure “peace, security and social justice in Israel, the future state of Palestine and across the Middle East.”

However, many of J Street's activities often draw the ire of those who views the organization as anti-Israel, with some even saying that it works to undermine the Jewish state.

Still, the Jewish Student Union vote on November 16 was the first time J Street U had ever been denied membership by a student organization.

J Street U Director Daniel May spoke with Jspace News about the recent show of support for his organization, which includes articles written by notable Jewish columnists Jeffrey Goldberg and Bradley Burston.

“I think it shows that there is broad understanding within the Jewish American community that if the only acceptable way to support Israel is to support every policy of the Israeli government then significant numbers of young people are simply not going to engage,” May said.

He added, “It just shows that even among those who don’t agree with the policies of J Street, there is an understanding that there has to be place within the Jewish community for people who are concerned about what’s happening to Palestinians. If there isn’t, then we’re just narrowing the support for Israel on college campuses. That’s not in the Jewish community’s interests and that’s not in Israel’s interests.”

When asked about a quote from a Berkeley student who voted against J Street U’s membership and then called J Street anti-Israel, May said that such claims are “preposterous.”

“We are an organization dedicated to the democratic Jewish homeland that is Israel. We advocate on behalf of Israel against those that are attacking its core existence … The people who make that argument are trying to define what it means to be pro-Israel in a way that’s not in the interest of Israel or the pro-Israel community,” he said. “You may not agree with J Street, but to somehow paint us as anti-Israel is factually inaccurate, and frankly I think it just shows a kind of intellectually laziness that is apparent on the extremes on both sides. Given that such slander reflects an unwillingness to engage on actual substance, such an accusation does not cast a favorable light on those that spread it.”

May believes that one only needs to have a conversation with J Street U’s student participants to see where the organization’s focus truly is.

“The majority of J Street U leaders are day school kids deeply immersed in the Jewish community. They simply cannot, with a straight face, be described as anything other than deeply committed to Israel and its future,” May said. “The first thing I would ask of someone who makes such a claim is that they simply have a conversation with any of the hundreds of students organizing with J Street U.”