Student Govt. at Georgetown to Hold Vote on Israel Divestment During Passover
“[S]cheduling the vote on a Jewish holiday is not only insensitive from the start, but sets a troubling tone that only descends from there.”
Do you think the timing of this is a coincidence? I would bet money that it isn’t.
The College Fix reports:
Georgetown student government to hold vote on Israel divestment during Passover
After sidestepping standard procedures, Georgetown University’s student government is putting forth a referendum to divest from companies tied to Israel. The campuswide vote is set to occur during the Jewish Passover next week.
The student government representatives voted to break their own rules “to advance the referendum without the approval of the senate’s Policy and Advocacy Committee (PAC), which determines whether to send legislation before the full senate,” The Hoya student newspaper reported.
Sixteen out of 28 Georgetown University Student Association members broke typical protocols and voted “without public attribution” to support the resolution, allowing students to vote on the divestment issue from April 14 to 16, the newspaper reported. The vote will coincide with Passover, which runs from April 12 to April 20, and with the week of Easter.
Rabbi Menachem Shemtov, who leads a Jewish group at Georgetown, criticized the timing.
“[S]cheduling the vote on a Jewish holiday is not only insensitive from the start, but sets a troubling tone that only descends from there. Many Jewish students are out of town and observing the holiday at the time of the vote, effectively excluding them from the process,” he told Jewish Insider.
To pass the proposal, at least 25 percent of the student body must participate in the vote, and a simple majority of those voting must support it.
The resolution states the school “has repeatedly acknowledged that its investments are objects of moral concern.”
“Building on these precedents, and in the spirit of continuing and deepening Georgetown’s legacy of moral leadership, we as students insist that Georgetown disclose its private investments in the interest of transparency and, thereafter, divest from companies involved in gross violations of human rights in the drive towards a more just future,” it states.
It asks voters to “support Georgetown University … upholding its Socially Responsible Investment Policy, through divesting from companies arming Israel and ending university partnerships with Israeli institutions.”
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Comments
That’s fine. Let them divest. However, the US should end it’s partnership with Georgetown University. No federal monies in any form. Oh, and as they’ve inserted themselves into politics they lose all their tax exemption. That means they pay real estate taxes. The pay income tax on all monies they receive from students. They pay income tax on all donations. etc…
Does the student government have investments of its own? They can do anything with them they like. They have no power over the college’s own investments.
Student government really should not exist. If the Dean of Students is not handling student life the position should be axed.
Students who wish to practice for politics should be taking up low positions in an actual politicians campaign.
Student Government is a very expensive larp that increases expenses for hard working Americans trying to become engineers/doctors/biologists/chemists etc and really has to be axed.
That it is being used for anti-Semitic ends only reinforces that.
It is one thing for high schools to have student government larps that have a budget of 25 dollars a year to perform popularity contests that rarely if ever get to the persons head.
Colleges on the other hand do actual damage by having student government.
Are you training the next generation of engineers or politicians? If it is the latter it will be inferior to just applying to a position on an actual campaign.
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