While an increasing number of student governments, particularly in California, have demanded their universities divest from companies doing business with Israel, pushback has come from many corners.
The strongest reaction has come from pro-Israel activists and organizations, as might be expected. But now pushback is coming from a wider swath, as emotions surrounding the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement threaten to overheat.
It is true that a string of divestment victories has sparked concern on the part of Israel supporters. Student senates at U.C. Davis, UCLA and Stanford, as well as the systemwide U.C. Student Association and UAW Local 2865, which represents U.C. graduate student workers, recently have passed divestment measures.
These resolutions have no teeth, as university administrations and union leaders have emphasized they will not be divesting. Still, they cause concern because of what they portend.
Last month, as our article on page 3 details, Rachel Beyda, a Jewish student at UCLA seeking a spot on the school’s undergraduate students judicial board, was grilled by student council members who suspected her ability to be impartial. Why? The presumption being that she would rule in favor of fellow Jews and be favorable toward Israel.
What is the latter but the old canard of dual loyalty?
The students involved have apologized. Beyda was ultimately confirmed. Whether or not anti-Semitism was at work in this case, it’s clear there is a growing atmosphere on college campuses that casts Jewish students in a dark light, the inevitable fallout of the poison spread by the BDS campaign.
This is outrageous and dangerous. And it’s time for the college community, as well as the broader Jewish community, to speak out more forcefully against it.
It’s already happening. At Stanford, more than 150 current and former faculty members have signed a statement blasting the school’s student association for passing a divestment resolution, calling it a “one-sided condemnation of Israel.” More than a few signatories are known critics of Israeli policy, but they correctly understand that BDS is not just about that.
At U.C. Davis, a divestment resolution passed last month was overturned after a student petitioned the student judiciary. The justices agreed with the student, who felt the divestment bill was too political in nature and had little to do with student welfare.
We applaud these examples, and encourage faculty and students elsewhere to take similar stands.