U. Maryland SGA Passes Anti-Israel BDS Resolution on Yom Kippur
“Holding a vote that seeks to demonize the Jewish homeland on a day when Jewish students will not be able to participate is exclusionary, biased and flat-out wrong”
This was not a coincidence. The date was chosen deliberately to be offensive.
The Diamondback reports:
UMD SGA passes boycott, divestment and sanctions resolution on Yom Kippur
The University of Maryland SGA passed a boycott, divestment and sanctions resolution Wednesday that urges this university and its charitable foundation to disassociate from companies, institutions and academic entities that “support or profit from Israel’s regime of apartheid and occupation.”
The Student Government Association is now set to call on this university and the University of Maryland College Park Foundation to implement boycott, divestment and sanctions policies against all companies that supply weapons, surveillance technologies or infrastructure “supporting Israeli occupation, apartheid, and settler-colonialism.”
The final vote, which passed 29-0-1, on the resolution took place on the night of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur. Many Jewish community members said the scheduling restricted them from participating in the SGA’s democratic process.
“Holding a vote that seeks to demonize the Jewish homeland on a day when Jewish students will not be able to participate is exclusionary, biased and flat-out wrong,” read a statement from Ari Israel, executive director of Maryland Hillel, posted on the Campus for All Instagram page ahead of the vote.
Under the resolution, SGA will also demand that the university create a student oversight committee to prevent complicity in human rights violations.
The resolution was originally scheduled to be introduced at the Sept. 17 SGA meeting and voted on last week, during the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah. SGA held two committee meetings on Monday and Tuesday where students could voice their concerns.
More than a dozen Jewish student organizations at this university posted a joint statement on Instagram on Sept. 18 that said they would boycott all future SGA meetings on the issue.
This week, Jewish Insider, a news publication, and advocacy organization Jewish on Campus posted on social media about the significance of the date of Wednesday’s vote.
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Comments
The UM SGA? Hey, Hitler Youth gotta Hitler Youth. It’s how they roll.