By Roz Rothstein
LOS ANGELES –Although the UC San Diego student government voted last week for divestment from corporations doing business with Israel, the UC regents, who set investment policy, will not even consider the divestment resolution. After the student bill passed, UC San Diego Chancellor Pradeep K. Khosla reiterated that “divestment is not the policy of the University of California and…a divestment resolution will not be brought before the Regents.” He further underscored that UC San Diego engages “in collaborations and programs with leading scholars from around the world, including Israel” and would continue to do so.
The March 13 resolution, a collection of misinformation and false accusations, called for divestment from 17 multinational corporations that do business with Israel. The bill was introduced by a campus group that is part of the larger boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel movement (BDS), whose goal is to spread defamations of Israel on campuses and beyond. The intense opposition to the resolution by UCSD students, faculty, donors, and community members highlighted the fact that divestment proponents do not represent the views of the wider campus community, just as divestment activists elsewhere do not represent the views of their campus communities. The positive views of Israel reflect wider American opinion. A recent Gallup poll found that 64% of Americans sympathize more with Israel while only 12% sympathize more with the Palestinians, and 24% were neutral or had no answer.
The UCSD senators were clearly aware of this strong opposition and, in an unprecedented move, used secret ballots to avoid transparency and responsibility for their votes. Divestment activists frequently use or encourage use of undemocratic processes and violate normal procedures to get their resolutions debated and accepted
UCSD, like many universities throughout America, has relationships with Israel’s world-class centers to advance research in science, technology, environmentalism and other fields. These universities oppose measures to cut ties with Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, a staunch U.S. ally, and an equal partner in developments that benefit the world. Like the UCSD resolution, student divestment bills against Israel are simply symbolic gestures of hostility that are rejected by many campus leaders, faculty, and administrators who wish to fulfill their mission of creating an inclusive environment and advance education and research.
We applaud the Jewish student groups UCSD Tritons for Israel and the Union of Jewish Students, whose official statement declared, “The student government has failed us as our representatives, but their weakness contrasts with our unity. We will not be intimidated by these radical statements.”
We especially applaud the UC regents for their sound investment principles and their commitment to continue their mutually beneficial partnerships with Israel and Israeli universities and research centers.
StandWithUs remains firmly committed to continue our work, empowering students who want to stand up for Israel, for fairness, and for responsible, informed debate, as we have for the past 12 years.
*
Rothstein is CEO and co-founder of Stand With Us, an Israel advocacy group.
Rothstein is CEO and co-founder of Stand With Us, an Israel advocacy group.