UC Santa Barbara, Cornell reject BDS efforts

San Diego Jewish World

4/16/2019

LOS ANGELES (Press Release) — StandWithUs congratulates students at UC Santa Barbara and at Cornell University for defeating discriminatory divestment resolutions on April 11.

The Associated Students of UC Santa Barbara (ASUCSB) rejected the legislation with a vote of 10 in favor, 14 against, and 0 abstaining.

At Cornell, the Student Assembly rejected the legislation with a vote of 14 in favor, 15 against, and 1 abstaining. Two of the votes against were “community votes” based on the fact that the majority of students who attended the meeting opposed divestment.

“We are incredibly proud of the students at UC Santa Barbara who defeated this campaign of hatred and propaganda for the sixth time in seven years,” said Max Samarov, a UCSB alum and the Executive Director of Research & Strategy at StandWithUs. “Resolutions like this one have only served to harm students and hinder efforts to bring Israelis and Palestinians together.”

Rena Nasar, Managing Director of Campus Affairs at StandWithUs and Tri-State Campus Director, commented on the Cornell vote: “With this vote, the Student Assembly ensured that it would not further divide students for an unjust cause.”

Among students who spoke out at Cornell was an Israeli who had her home destroyed by a rocket fired from Gaza. Prior to the vote she wrote an article telling her story, but was smeared by supporters of divestment who dismissed her experience and justified the terrorism her family faced. The failure of divestment also represents a rejection of this extremism. See https://jewishjournal.com/news/nation/296682/israeli-cornell-student-told-to-quit-complaining-by-pro-palestinian-campus-group/

The votes at both universities ensured that the voices of students would not be used to promote the global boycott movement, which seeks to eliminate Israel and violate the rights of the Jewish people to self-determination.

Read the article here.