views editorial U-M Must Speak Out Against Substance Of Student BDS Vote I t took 10 attempts over 15 years and an eight-hour meeting for the Central Student Government at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor to finally pass a resolution supporting divestment from several companies doing business in Israel. The resolu- tion, calling for a committee to discuss whether the university should divest from Boeing, Hewlett-Packard and United Technologies passed by a vote of 23 in favor, 17 against with 5 absten- tions. The largely symbolic resolution was quickly rejected by the university, which issued a statement saying “the university’s longstanding policy is to shield the endowment from political pressures and to base our investment decisions solely on financial factors such as risk and return.” It added, “We do not anticipate a change in this approach nor the creation of a committee.” The BDS (boycott divestment, sanc- tions) campaign is a pernicious effort to delegitimize the State of Israel, brand- ing it an apartheid state and a prime violator of human rights. The toothless resolution seeks to establish a universi- ty-sanctioned committee to ostensibly discuss university investments, but the core reason is to castigate, isolate and punish Israel for its policies seen as vio- lating the human rights of Palestinians. We support the human rights of Palestinians and all people, but not in isolation from the realities of the Middle East and the policies of the Palestinian leaders — elected and not- so-elected — who still deny Jewish his- torical ties to any of the land of Israel, and promote and applaud “armed struggle” to destroy it. And certainly not at the expense of the human rights of the Jewish people. We resolutely support the right — the moral and internationally sanctioned right — of Israel to defend itself. BDS proponents argue that Israel is illegal and illegitimate, so in their reading Israel’s efforts to secure its nation and people — Arabs included — are never OK. Such denial of Jewish peoplehood and nationhood are rightly seen as anti- Semitic. We don’t see the conflict as a zero-sum game; there is room for both sides to be winners if the goal is peace- ful co-existence and mutual respect. Because not one American university has divested from companies doing business with Israel, BDS has failed in its stated goals. But there is more at stake. Even a symbolic resolution, likely not supported by anything close to a majority of U-M students means some- thing. We can’t ignore that the con- tinued demonization of Israel, and it’s Jewish and non-Jewish supporters, can poison the minds of future leaders and intimidate or silence those who would speak up for Israel. The University of Michigan should speak out against this bait and switch, and not simply assert the specious argu- ment that politics is irrelevant to invest- ment decisions. If Israel was even half the villain its detractors say it is, it would be wrong to provide support. But it isn’t. Even students must sometimes be told they are wrong. And the pro-Israel community, and advocates of human rights and justice, must educate youth and others about the reality of Israel, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the realities of the Middle East and the world. Unlike BDS proponents, we must seek out and engage in meaningful ways to dialogue, seek solutions and affirm and protect the human rights of all. • commentary Anti-Semitism at U-M: Different Excuse, Same Result O Kobi Erez 8 n Nov. 14, the anti-Semitic BDS movement succeeded when the Central Student Government at University of Michigan voted for a resolution to divest the university’s holdings in companies that do business with Israel and pass that recommenda- tion on to the university. The results of the vote were disap- pointing to be sure, but the passing of the resolution should come as no surprise in a world bursting with anti-Semitic rhetoric. Looking more closely at the BDS movement, it becomes clear that it’s just another chapter in a book of many who have failed in the past to destroy the Jewish State through violence and terrorism, except the BDS move- ment aims to do so through eco- nomic warfare and isolation. Nazi SS officers stood outside Jewish stores in Germany, boycot- ting them simply because the own- ers were Jewish. Similarly, the BDS movement is boycotting a state because it’s Jewish, not in spite of November 23 • 2017 jn the fact. The Nazi movement had the goal to destroy the Jewish peo- ple, and the BDS movement has the goal to destroy the Jewish state. While BDS representatives may claim their movement is about equality, the fact remains that the movement has nothing to do with human rights and everything to do with anti-Semitism, otherwise the BDS movement would target coun- tries such as Iran, Syria and Saudi Arabia, three countries with a long history of appalling human rights violations. What is even more alarming than the movement’s goals, however, is the fact that more and more young Jews are identifying with different elements of the BDS movement. Speaking with a number of Jewish students from the University of Michigan, some of whom are sup- porters of JStreet, I found that while they don’t support divesting from Jewish companies inside the green line, they do see merit in boycot- ting Jews who live outside the green line. After I offered Israeli snacks to a student, his response was, “I don’t support products that were created in the settlements.” The Jewish community needs to ask itself how more than 70 years after the Nuremberg Laws, Jewish young adults, although still a minor- ity, albeit a growing one, can believe it is right to boycott other Jews. The situation is bad, but it will only get worse if we continue to ignore it. If Jewish students think it’s OK to boy- cott other Jews based on where they live, why should we expect anything different from the BDS movement? Typically on campus, when Jews oppose BDS, they will start their argument by saying that Israel is not perfect, but BDS is not the solution, as we saw when some of the Jewish students spoke against the resolu- tion. We need to stop apologizing for ourselves. No country is perfect, but Israel has a higher regard for human rights than any other country on the planet. No other nation endangers its own soldiers and citizens just to make sure that enemy civilians remain safe. Israel does. The pro-Israel community must adjust its strategy from defense to offense. The conversation should shift from whether Israel deserves to be boycotted to the actual human rights violations that Palestinians create and commit. Daily attempts by Palestinians to murder Jews, teaching their children to glorify the killing of Jews and paying murdering terrorists should be the main topic when discussing the conflict or the BDS movement. Before convincing others about the case against BDS, we first must convince our own people to be proud advocates for Israel. Time to stop being on the defense and take the initiative to change the conver- sation on campus, so similar resolu- tions like this don’t pass again. • Kobi Erez is executive director of ZOA- Michigan.