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UC-Davis judicial council SHUTS DOWN pro-BDS resolution

Updated: Jun 8, 2019

Campus Reform

Adam Sabes

June 4, 2019


A student-run judicial council at a California school unanimously ruled in May that a pro-Boycott, Divest, Sanction (BDS) resolution passed by its student government was unconstitutional.


The University of California-Davis judicial council cited that the bill prompted harassment of Jewish students in its decision, according to The California Aggie.


This ruling nullifies a 2015 pro-BDS resolution passed by the UC-Davis student government, which encouraged the university to divest from companies that do business with ā€œcorporations that aid in the Israeli occupation of Palestine and illegal settlements in Palestinian territories, violating both international humanitarian law and international human rights.ā€


The judicial council voted to nullify the resolution, claiming that it is ā€œinconsistent with the [student government] constitution.ā€


ā€œThe [student government] senate must promote student welfare, meaning it cannot hinder the welfare of any student,ā€ the council said in its decision. ā€œWhile this Resolution caters to the welfare of a group of students, it does so at the expense of the welfare of other students.ā€


Additionally, the council found that the resolution caused discrimination and harassment.


ā€œThe passing of this Resolution has led to the discrimination and harassment of students whose ethnicity, national origin or political beliefs are in opposition to the content of the Resolution,ā€ the body stated. ā€œAs discussed during the hearing, the verbiage within the Resolution has caused harassment against many students.ā€


While the Judicial Council branded the resolution as unconstitutional, the current student government president and vice president both disagree with the ruling.


ā€œMy understanding of the resolution is that it was specifically targeted against the actions of the Israeli government, not the individuals of Israel,ā€ UC-Davis student government President Justin Hurst said, according to the Aggie. ā€œAnother comparison is with the importance of similar legislation of the U.S. government during apartheid in South Africa. The point of it was to change the government’s actions — it had nothing to do with the people of the country.ā€


He called the resolution an ā€œopinionā€ and claimed that ā€œsilencingā€ it amounted to ā€œa violation of free speech.ā€


Roz Rothstein, co-founder and CEO of StandWithUs, an international Israel education organization, told Campus Reform that the UC-Davis judicial council did the right thing by nullifying the BDS resolution.


ā€œStandWithUs applauds the UC-Davis Judicial Council for recognizing that this bigoted pro-BDS measure does not promote the welfare of all students and is, in fact, divisive, as it ostracizes students who support Israel,ā€ Rothstein said. ā€œIncreased incidents of anti-Semitism such as the displaying of Nazi imagery, harassment and discriminatory treatment of Jewish and pro-Israel students are often evidenced during these pro-BDS campaigns, regardless of the outcome.


Read the full article HERE

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