UCSD Graduate Students Choose Harmony Over BDS

/ 1 Comment

SAN DIEGO — StandWithUs commends the Graduate & Professional Student Association (GPSA) of the University of California San Diego (UCSD) for rejecting a destructive and one-sided resolution calling for an academic boycott against Israel on Monday, June 7, 2021. GPSA representatives instead voted to form a committee that will include Israeli, Jewish, and Palestinian students who will work together to develop an unbiased resolution that supports both Israeli and Palestinian student communities.

“We are so proud of the Jewish and Israeli students who spoke out against this malicious resolution and succeeded. Because of their efforts, the GPSA chose cooperation, dialogue, and academic freedom over harmful and discriminatory boycotts,” said Rena Nasar​ First​, Executive Director of Campus Affairs.

This BDS resolution called for an academic boycott, aiming to sever UCSD’s ties with the University of Haifa. This included cutting off a joint marine archeology research project focused on studying, “how humans have adapted to climate and environmental change over the past 11,000 years.” It also included numerous examples of misleading and hateful rhetoric, contradicting a previous GPSA resolution “Acknowledging, Defining, and Condemning Anti-Semitism.” We are thankful to members of the GPSA for listening to their constituents and recognizing that an academic boycott would harm UCSD, while doing nothing to advance justice and peace between Israelis and Palestinians.

StandWithUs congratulates Jewish and pro-Israel students for standing up to this campaign of hate and educating their peers. We will continue to work with our partners at the Israel on Campus Coalition (ICC), Hillel International, and Hillel San Diego to empower students going forward.

*
Preceding provided by StandWithUs

 

1 thought on “UCSD Graduate Students Choose Harmony Over BDS”

  1. Malka Littman

    I applaud the Jewish and Israeli students who spoke out against this hateful resolution and succeeded. The moral leadership demonstrated by these students is one which all Jewish students, indeed all students, should emulate.
    How much more so, during a time in which we are all witnessing the horrific rise of anti-Israel and antisemitism on our campuses, in our streets and on the floor of the U.S. Congress.
    Kol Ha’kavod,
    Malka L.

Comments are closed.