Here’s Just Some of the Boycott and Protest Activity Being Aimed at Israel

Blair Arch at Princeton University. Photo: Ken Lund/Flickr.

As has been widely reported, activists with the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeted their efforts on college campuses this year. The connections between campus protests organized by Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), Jewish Voice for Peace, far-left extremists, and communist organizations are now inescapable:

• Documents indicate that Columbia University protest organizers were in contact with counterparts at Princeton University regarding strategy and tactics. Princeton organizers also received legal advice from the National Lawyers Guild.
• An organizing guide was issued by the National SJP, and instructed students on occupying and fortifying campus buildings and made reference to the 1968 Columbia riots.
• Reports indicate that a number of SJP members who received paid training by the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights (USCPR) were responsible for organizing encampments. The USCPR is funded by the Open Society Foundation and other far left foundations.

Anecdotal reports continue to indicate that more Jewish students are shunning elite universities in favor of institutions in the south. A letter from the heads of Israeli universities also decried the rise in antisemitism at American institutions, and offered assistance to Jewish students and faculty who wished to join their institutions. Brandeis University also extended its deadline for students to apply to transfer, specifically in order to allow as many Jewish students as necessary to relocate.

Student governments and other groups also continue efforts to remove Jewish members, including at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where a senator and the president were targeted. At Vanderbilt University the Multicultural Leadership Council also denied membership to Students Supporting Israel.  Israeli or Jewish events have also been disrupted or shut down by protestors.

Student BDS resolutions and referendums greatly accelerated in April. Only a selection are presented here:

• Student governments at the Harvard Divinity School, School of Design, and Harvard Law School passed BDS resolutions. The Harvard Undergraduate Association halted consideration of all referendums after a BDS petition was put forward, which then prompted satirical petitions including “should Harvard remove Jews from its faculty?”
• At Rutgers University, a divestment referendum and another calling on the university to end its relationship with Tel Aviv University were approved by the student body.
• At Vassar College, a BDS bill was blocked from consideration by the student government after the administration warned that the group’s bylaws and state regulations opened it to lawsuits.
• The Columbia University undergraduate student government shelved a resolution that would have required the organization to divest its funds from Israel, but the law school senate and graduate student association approved resolutions.
• Cornell University undergraduates approved a divestment referendum.
• The University of Maryland student government voted down a divestment resolution.

An important student government resolution was approved at Rutgers University that made Palestinians’ alleged victimization at the hands of the Jews an official doctrine.

Student demands for divestment have been mostly rejected by university administrators and trustees, including at the University of California. At Yale University, the university announced that it would not divest from military industries, but would liquidate holdings in companies retailing “assault weapons” to the public.

Ongoing “negotiations” between administrations and protest organizers, however, produced concessions on divestment or ties to Israel to restore calm, particularly at smaller institutions like Bryn Mawr College. At Portland State University, the university decided to “temporarily” halt donations from aerospace giant Boeing as a concession to students.

Other examples of appeasement emerged at Northwestern University, where the administration negotiated an agreement with protestors to disperse most of their encampment in exchange for an “advisory committee on investment responsibility,” which includes students and faculty. Additional concessions include advising employers not to rescind job offers and to support two Palestinian faculty and five students at university expense. At Brown University, the administration agreed that the university corporation would hold a vote on divestment in October in return for students ending their encampment.

Faculty remain at the forefront of promoting campus anti-Israel bias and antisemitism. Only a sample are presented here:

• A group of Princeton University faculty signed a letter vowing to boycott Columbia and Barnard until that university reversed the suspension of pro-Hamas students and organizations. A similar open letter was signed by 1,400 academics including faculty and graduate students from around the world.
• A Princeton University faculty member temporarily occupied a building but withdrew before a university deadline.
• A number of faculty members attempted to physically defend pro-Hamas occupiers, which resulted in a number of arrests including at Columbia, Emory University, and New York University.

In one incident, the York University Department of Politics proposed that any defense of Israel be regarded as “anti-Palestinian, Islamophobic, and anti-Arab.” The report called for “a departmental definition of anti-Palestinian racism,” since, “The struggle for Palestinian self-determination will support the liberation of all humans and non-humans from colonial oppression” and since “Zionism is a settler colonial project and ethno-religious ideology in service of a system of Western imperialism that upholds global white supremacy.”

Similarly, the City University of New York faculty union announced a special meeting to consider five demands for the administration:

1. Divest! Immediately divest from ALL companies complicit in the imperialist- zionist genocide, including weapons, tech and surveillance, and construction companies. Commit to full financial transparency regarding CUNY’s institutional investments.
2. Boycott! Ban all academic trips to the Zionist state, encompassing birthright, Fulbright, and perspective trips. Cancel all forms of cooperation with Israeli academic institutions, including events, activities, agreements, and research collaborations.
3. Solidarity! Release a statement affirming the right of the Palestinian people to national liberation and the right of return. Protect CUNY students and workers who are attacked for speaking out against the genocide in Gaza and in solidarity with Palestinian liberation. Reinstate professors who have been fired for showing solidarity with Palestine.
4. Demilitarize! Demilitarize CUNY, Demilitarize Harlem! Get IOF and NYPD officers off all CUNY campuses, and end all collaboration, trainings and recruitment by imperialist institutions, including the CIA, Homeland Security and ROTC. Remove all symbols of US imperialism from our campuses: Rename the Colin Powell School of Global and Civic Leadership at CCNY and reinstate The Guillermo Morales and Assata Shakur Community and Student Center!
5. A People’s CUNY! We demand a fully-funded, free CUNY that is not beholden to zionist and imperialist private donors! Restore CUNY’s tuition-free status, protect the union, and adopt a fair contract for staff and faculty.

In the international sphere, reports continue regarding growing informal boycotts of Israeli academics and universities. One report details how European and American counterparts have ceased collaborations with Israelis, accused them of “genocide,” and succumbed to student pressure to disinvite Israeli speakers and collaborators.

Attention also continues to be paid to antisemitism and anti-Israel bias in K-12 education, especially “ethnic studies”:

• Minnesota adopted a K-12 social studies curriculum emphasizing “decolonization,” which requires students to “describe how individuals and communities have fought” for “liberation against systemic and coordinated exercises of power.”
• The Massachusetts Teachers Association is considering resolutions to divest pension funds from companies working in Israel, and to support the “liberation for Palestinians and a peaceful solution to the conflict in Palestine” through “Critical Race Theory” and “Critical Social Justice Ideology.”
• Britain’s National Education Union issued a statement blaming Israel for the Gaza War and calling on its members to circulate “educational materials” with that message.

Outside of campus, protests earlier in April included the disruption of an Easter Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, a New York City fundraiser attended by President Joe Biden, and former presidents Clinton and Obama (at which Jewish women were chased and called “murderous f****g kikes”), a sit-in outside the headquarters of Britain’s National Health Service, a sit-in at the US Senate cafeteria at which 50 participants were arrested, and an attack on an Israel-Norway soccer match in Skien, which included fireworks and rocks aimed at police.

Anti-Israel protests in Britain continue every weekend, with infrequent arrests of protestors displaying swastikas and other proscribed symbols.

In heavily Jewish Teaneck, New Jersey, car caravans of Palestinians from nearby Patterson have become a regular occurrence. In one case, an event featuring Israeli first responders turned into a face-off between pro-Israel and pro-Hamas crowds.

Efforts to isolate Israel economically were the focus of the A15 global protests. Overall, except for the tourism sector, Israel’s economy appears to be weathering the Gaza war, including in the high tech and defense sectors. International ratings agencies were split regarding the economic outlook, with S&P following Moody’s in downgrading Israel’s credit rating. Long-term issues such as war risks, budget deficits, and government expenditures remain the main concerns rather than BDS.

International companies have also been targeted by the BDS movement. Some, like Starbucks, have no presence in Israel, and the boycott was driven purely by rumors and by the perception of support from the company’s CEO. One real casualty has been McDonald’s, which has been targeted after its Israeli franchisee offered soldiers free meals, leading to widespread boycotts in Asia and a decline in revenue. In April, the conglomerate bought back the franchise after the retirement of its Israeli owner, leading to speculation that the company would withdraw entirely from the Israeli market.

The tech industry was also the focus of protests, including from Google employees who occupied several New York and California offices, including that of the Google Cloud president to demand the company cease all work in Israel, especially a cloud computing project for the government. Several were arrested, and several dozens were fired.

Ireland’s sovereign wealth fund divested its holdings of Israeli companies, including banks and supermarket chains, for their operations in the West Bank. The stated rationale was the “risk profile” of the companies rather than an explicit political statement. The Irish Communications Workers Union also passed a motion demanding the right for postal workers to not handle mail from Israel.

The author is a contributor to SPME, where a version of this article was originally published.

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