Hen Mazzig

Hen Mazzig is a speaker, writer, and activist who was formerly an officer for the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) where he served in the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) unit. His family has North African, Jewish-Berber roots, with his grandparents immigrating to Israel from Tunisia in the 1950s. Thus, he has advocated for Jews from the East, writing "The rich history of Eastern Jews should not be nullified by the superficial biases of Western scholars."

Mazzig has spoken on college campuses about his experiences as an openly gay soldier in the IDF. In his speeches Mazzig names his life's most significant event - and inspiration for joining the IDF - as a 12-year-old witnessing a Palestinian suicide bombing of a grandmother and granddaughter. Mazzig also discusses coming out as gay and receiving "nothing but support" from his fellow soldiers. Based on his college speeches Mazzig was paid to advise the Israeli government. In an interview with The Forward, he described his advice as, "The consulting that I gave to the [government] was about fighting anti-Semitism... I gave information about being attacked for being LGBT, being a Jew of color. That gives me the understanding of how to combat anti-Semitism, racism and LGBT phobia. And that was the consulting I gave to the agency.”

Mazzig's speeches have drawn opposition, with one lecture at University College in London, England, October 2016 inspiring 100 protesters. The protesters accused Mazzig of engaging in war crimes. Mazzig returned to speak at the college in January of 2018 under stronger security and a rule only permitting UCL students to attend.

Mazzig's writings have received criticism from both the right and the left. An August 20 column in The Forward titled "What the Left – and the Right – get wrong about the settlements” drew opposition from each side on the subject of Israeli settlements.