The body’s ‘constant targeting of Jewish students clearly shows their efforts to marginalize and silence us,’ one student says
The University of Maryland Student Government Association passed a Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) resolution on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year.
The student government voted 29-1 Wednesday night in favor of the resolution, which urges the university to sever ties with companies and institutions that “support or profit from Israel’s regime of apartheid and occupation,” according to the Diamondback, the student newspaper. The resolution is symbolic and can’t change university policy.
The decision to set the vote at the beginning of Yom Kippur rips an anti-Semitic page out of the United Nations’ playbook. Under pressure from Islamic states, the UN Security Council scheduled a critical meeting on the Gaza war during the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah in late September, the Washington Free Beacon reported. The Security Council also refused Israel’s requests to change the date, ultimately preventing the Jewish state from partaking in any debate.
The University of Maryland Student Government Association likewise originally scheduled the vote for Rosh Hashanah, but later changed it to Yom Kippur, according to the Diamondback. Planning the vote for the high holidays prompted 18 Jewish student groups to boycott future meetings regarding BDS, saying they would “not legitimize the efforts of any SGA members’ one-sided, anti-Israel, and antisemitic agenda.”
As the student government discussed the resolution, a senior justified the decision to schedule the vote during the holy day.
“Today is the beginning of Yom Kippur. You know who does not care that it’s a holiday? The Israeli occupation forces,” the senior said, a recording of the meeting shows. “The Zionists’ goals is [sic] nothing but complete genocide and elimination. So the Zionists have no problem doing the evil work of genocide on the high holiday.”
While the student government describes itself as a “voice for all” 31,000 undergraduates, Jewish students and groups condemned both the body’s vote and its decision to hold the vote during Yom Kippur.
“Unfortunately, the bill passed as Jewish students were forced to choose between religious observance and defending their place on campus,” Lucy Schneider, a junior, told the Free Beacon. The student government’s “constant targeting of Jewish students clearly shows their efforts to marginalize and silence us, but we will not let their hateful actions stop us from proudly showing our identity and celebrating our faith.”
Maryland Hillel executive director Ari Israel, in a statement, described the vote as an attempt “to demonize the Jewish homeland” and said scheduling it for Yom Kippur was “exclusionary, biased, and flat-out wrong.”
A University of Maryland spokeswoman stressed that the student government’s resolution was non-binding.
“Resolutions voted on by the Student Government Association are student-led and reflect perspectives of voting members of the SGA,” she told the Free Beacon. “They have no bearing on university policy or practice.”
This isn’t the first time the student government has passed anti-Israel items. In September, the body passed two emergency resolutions, one demanding the University of Maryland acknowledge the “genocide” in Gaza and call for a ceasefire, and the other condemning former House speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to campus over her support for Israel.
