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May 20th, 2013
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UC Santa Barbara, in Marathon Hearing, Becomes Latest School to Reject Israel Divestment

UC Santa Barbara, in Marathon Hearing, Becomes Latest School to Reject Israel Divestment

Тhe student government at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) has rejected an Israel divestment resolution in the latest victory for pro-Israel students in the University of California (UC) system.

After a 14-hour hearing—most of which was devoted to the Israel divestment resolution—that lasted from Wednesday night until 8 a.m. Thursday, the resolution was narrowly defeated, 11-10-1, before the Associated Students of the University of California, Santa Barbara (ASUCSB). The debate lasted so long because ASUCSB opened up the discussion for public comment to every person who wished to speak, with each commenter getting five minutes of airtime, explained Max Samarov, a UCSB graduate and a research assistant for the pro-Israel education group StandWithUs.

The resolution, titled “A Resolution To Divest From Companies that Profit From Apartheid,” called for UCSB to divest its holdings in American companies that supply to the Israeli military.

“The most recent UC Annual Endowment Report shows University of California, Santa Barbara holding in Caterpillar, General Electric, Northrop Grumman, Hewlett Packard, and Raytheon, whose military technology is used by the Israeli Defense Forces to maintain Israel’s military occupation and siege of the Palestinian territories,” the resolution stated, according to the UCSB student newspaper The Bottom Line.

Samarov told JNS.org that the resolution’s language marginalized “if not every Jew on campus, a vast majority,” in addition to singling out and marginalizing Israel. Since the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement—which supporters and organizers of the resolution tied to the measure to—calls for the end of Jewish self-determination through its demand for the return of Palestinian refugees to Israel, Samarov said ASUCSB would have been “contributing to a movement that calls for the violation of Jewish rights” by passing the measure.

“The argument against the bill was pretty multi-faceted, but essentially rested on the fact that there were a bunch of claims in the resolution that were either false, taken out of context, or disputed by independent experts, and so the effect of passing the resolution would be to declare Israel guilty of all these accusations despite all the conflicting evidence,” Samarov said.

The UCSB vote comes on the heels of last week’s vote to overturn a student government Israel divestment resolution at nearby University of California, Riverside, by a 10-2-1 margin. Student governments at UC Berkeley and Stanford University have also rejected Israel divestment resolutions.

Roz Rothstein, CEO of StandWithUs, said in a statement, “StandWithUs congratulates the pro-Israel students at UC Santa Barbara for their victory this morning over the BDS movement. UCSB student leaders worked tirelessly to defeat a divestment resolution that unfairly singled out and condemned Israel. Their courage and determination paid off.”

 

ADL Downplays Сontroversy Over Anti-Israel Texts in Curriculum of Newton, Mass

ADL Downplays Сontroversy Over Anti-Israel Texts in Curriculum of Newton, Mass

The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and Americans for Peace and Tolerance (APT) are at odds over the presence of anti-Israel materials in the public school system of Newton,...

‘Jews Are Evil’ Assigned to NY High School Students

In a New York State classroom, Albany High School students were assigned last week to write a composition persuading the reader that “Jews are evil,” for the problems of ...

CUNY Report Faults Bklyn College for Ejection of Jewish Students at BDS Event

CUNY Report Faults Bklyn College for Ejection of Jewish Students at BDS Event

An investigative report by the City University of New York has unambiguously criticized Brooklyn College’s administration for forcibly ejecting four Jewish students two m...

Killer of Brooklyn Shopkeepers Claims Innocence

Killer of Brooklyn Shopkeepers Claims Innocence

An accused serial killer from Staten Island is claiming that video surveillance footage will clear him of wrongdoing for at least one of the murders he is convicted of.

Sa...

Justin Bieber Controversy at Anne Frank House

Justin Bieber Controversy at Anne Frank House

During a layaway stop on his European tour last Friday, April 12, Justin Bieber and his entourage of friends and bodyguards chose to stop by the Anne Frank House for an a...

Last Updated ( Thursday, 18 April 2013 08:43 )

3 Dead, 170 Injured as Twin Bombings Hit Boston Marathon

3 Dead, 170 Injured as Twin Bombings Hit Boston Marathon

Terror filled the air at the iconic Boston Marathon on Monday afternoon when two explosive devices went off at 2:50 pm near the finish line in the city’s Copley Square. A...

A Yom HaZikaron Tribute Our Soldiers - The idealism and faith of Israel’s Army

A Yom HaZikaron Tribute Our Soldiers - The idealism and faith of Israel’s Army

During the war in Lebanon last summer, while walking in my Jerusalem neighborhood, I ran into a friend whose 20-year-old daughter had been killed in a terrorist attack. T...

Murdered at Auschwitz – Part Two

Murdered at Auschwitz – Part Two

My name is Yechiel Michoel Friedman. I was murdered in Auschwitz and don’t you ever forget me.

This speech was delivered by Benjamin Brafman, Esq. on Yom HaShoah.

I am stan...

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