UCSB Student Government Votes Against Divestment from Israel
This was a very close vote at 13 to 12 but it’s still good news for supporters of Israel.
The College Fix reported.
Another close divestment vote ends in victory for pro-Israel students
The University of California-Santa Barbara student government voted 13-12 against an Israel divestment resolution, with the senate president breaking the tie, The Daily Nexus reported early Thursday morning.
It was contentious night, the Nexus reported before the vote:
Dozens of students signed up to speak during public forum, giving passionate arguments both in support and in opposition of the resolution. UCSB and UC Merced remain the only UC undergraduate campuses whose student governments have not yet passed divestment resolutions, with UC Irvine being the first campus to pass divestment in November 2012.
Pro-Israel group StandWithUs said the debate lasted eight hours, carrying over from Wednesday night into early Thursday. It faulted Students for Justice in Palestine for its “vicious demonization of Israel” during the debate:
Slanderous claims of “genocide” and “sterilization” were left unchecked by the student senate. It is deeply disturbing that just two weeks after they passed a resolution condemning anti-Semitism, including the demonization of Israel, that the senate allowed blatant demonization to be expressed without saying a word of objection. This negligence underlines how important it is for university leaders to clearly and actively define the line between legitimate criticism and hate speech when it comes to Israel. It is clear that it will take more than just resolutions to properly address the issue of bigotry against Jews and Israelis at UCSB and elsewhere.
Another close divestment vote ends in victory for pro-Israel students (The College Fix)
Comments
Given the sad state of American education, the ignorance of the youth, it seems a lamentable want of good sense to have students involved in any decision that requires both knowledge and critical thought. Get rid of student governments.
That the divestment resolutions are taken seriously is itself a serious indictment that anti-Semitism is alive and well in the U.S. Israel is the only modern, democratic, state in the middle east. But, this administration is basically hostile, to the point of snubbing the elected leader of Israel. This breeds a climate in which far out, inaccurate, claims of genocide and sterilization are taken as true. The message is a chilling one, that it can happen here as it has so many times in history. As living memory of Nazi genocide fade, we must not forget where this can lead.