metro
Soundly Defeated from page 8
Dr. Steven Wolf along with
wife Ilene, kids Matthew,
Scott & Megan would like to send
a sincere THANK YOU to
Sheldon Yellen of Tam-O-Shanter
Country Club in West Bloomfield,
Michigan for everything he has
done to make Tam the most
amazing Country Club in
Southeast Michigan.
41
"This recent (failed) attempt in our own backyard is an important
reminder that even in a university such as U-M, which has a long, proud
history of strong collaboration with Israeli universities, numerous
Israeli scholars and professors, an incredibly vibrant Jewish life and an
administration actively involved in expanding ties with Israel, we must
remain vigilant to make sure that our voices, and, most importantly, the
voices of our Jewish students are clearly represented."
– Hannan Lis, president, Michigan Israel Business Bridge
Thank you, Thank you,
Thank you!!
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"1 reached out to U-M President Mary Sue Colman before
the latest BDS resolution came up for a vote. I asked
President Coleman to continue to expand the strong
academic ties between U-M and Israel's leading universities
... these close, consistent partnerships with Israel's leading
universities are the best approach to combat such divisive
and negative efforts.
of safety and comfort"
Levin is concerned that many stu-
dents who supported the resolution did
not understand its true implications or
view it as a potential roadblock to peace
in the Middle East.
"It was framed as a human rights
issue — if you don't support this, you
don't support human rights:' she said.
"The BDS founders say the situation
harms workers, but some of these com-
panies employ Palestinians."
Not every Jewish student was in favor
of the action taken by the CSG. In an
editorial published in the Michigan
Daily, David Snider, an Orthodox Jew,
said he believed the issue should have
been permanently tabled because of the
divisiveness, mutual blame, and lack of
productive and respectful dialogue that
has resulted.
"Lately, I have been getting what I
can only describe as 'hate stares;' Snider
wrote. "I am being judged, not for what
I believe or for who I am, but simply
because of the religion I am a part of"
He wrote that he attended the March
25 meeting but chose not to sit with
the group opposing the divestment
resolution.
"I did not think I needed to join in
with a group to support what I believe
in," he wrote. "I sat surrounded by
people standing up and passionately
chanting and, by the end, I honestly did
not feel safe
Outside Support Offered
Support for the U-M Hillel students'
efforts was provided by other organiza-
tions on campus and in Metro Detroit.
A joint letter from Robert Cohen, exec-
utive director of the Jewish Community
Relations Council (JCRC), and Scott
Kaufman, CEO of the Jewish Federation
of Metropolitan Detroit, commended
U-M Hillel students and staff, as well as
the surrounding community, for their
cooperation and hard work.
"U-M Hillel and the Jewish students
there showed that with good prepara-
tion, cool heads and respectful presen-
tations, Israel's advocates can prevail:'
said Sharon Lipton, JCRC president.
"We're proud of them and of the stu-
dent government leaders who voted to
do the right thing rather than cave to
intimidation from BDS proponents."
Tilly Shames, U-M Hillel executive
director, said some of the organizations
offered to attend the meeting to support
the cause, but she felt it was important
for the meeting and preparatory work
to be done primarily by students.
"We kept our Federation and orga-
nizational partners regularly informed
of what was happening on campus:'
she said. "What was most important
was that the students had their space
to be able to address their own campus
issues. I am grateful for the support our
partners provided, but also the space
they allowed for the students to exhibit
their own leadership and advocacy"
Shames said the students have fol-
lowed up with other student groups that
supported the divestment resolution.
They hope to meet with group leaders to
learn about their position and to share
why Hillel does not support BDS.
"We hope this will help our campus
move forward and see there are many
sides to this issue she said. "Our stu-
dents are committed to dialogue and
building a more peaceful campus cli-
mate moving forward. My hope is that
they will be met halfway and will find
partners to improve campus relations
together."
Junior Elana Graf of Minneapolis,
U-M Hillel vice chair, agrees that the
recent vote is a step toward an ongoing
dialogue between the opposing factions.
She and others hope the university
administration will take steps to resolve
the conflict and dissipate the tension.
"Our whole campus is very divided,
and it's time to move forward:' Graf
said. "We did a good job getting people
together, now it's important that we're
still there to continue the work."
❑
For an editorial and op-ed pieces, see
pages 28-29.