(Santa Barbara, CA, May 27, 2021) -- StandWithUs congratulates students at UC Santa Barbara for defeating a discriminatory divestment resolution. The resolution was part of the global Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, which seeks the elimination of Israel. On the the morning of May 27, 2021, the Associated Students of UC Santa Barbara (ASUCSB) Senate defeated the legislation with a vote of 12 in favor, 13 against, and 0 abstaining.
“We are incredibly proud of all the UCSB students who came together and defeated divestment for the seventh time since 2013,” said Max Samarov, a UCSB alum and the Executive Director of Research & Strategy at StandWithUs. “With comments such as 'Israel is an illegitimate state,' supporters of BDS at UCSB made clear that they are part of the problem. We commend the majority of senators who stood on the right side of history and rejected this campaign of hate."
This vote ensured that the voices of UCSB students would not be used to promote the BDS movement. The purpose of BDS is not to protest Israeli policy, but to isolate Israel until it collapses as a Jewish and democratic state. Furthermore, BDS dehumanizes Israelis and actively harms peace efforts by opposing Israeli-Palestinian cooperation. This was evident in multiple comments made by BDS supporters during the ASUCSB Senate meeting, including "Israel is an illegitimate state," and "Israel is not a real state... F*** Israel."
StandWithUs applauds Santa Barbara Hillel, Students Supporting Israel, and all UCSB students who stood up for their community in the face of hate. We will continue to work with ICC, Hillel International, and all of our partners to empower student activism at UCSB and beyond.
About StandWithUs
StandWithUs (SWU) is an international, non-profit and non-partisan Israel education organization that works to inspire and educate people of all ages about Israel, as well as challenge misinformation and fight against antisemitism.
Through university fellowships, high school internships, middle school curricula, conferences, materials, social media, educational films and missions to Israel, StandWithUs supports people around the world who want to educate their schools and communities about Israel.
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in Los Angeles, the organization has chapters and programs on 5 continents, including the U.S., Israel, UK, Canada, South Africa and Brazil.
For the last 8 years, SWU has consistently received the highest possible ratings from Charity Navigator (4 stars) and Guidestar (Platinum).
