ON CAMPUS New website “outs” Israeli profs who promote anti-Israel activity
UC Davis student gov’t president vetoes boycott Israel resolution
A new website launched by the pro-Israel watchdog group Im Tirtzu lists dozens of Israeli academics who promote BDS and other anti-Israel activity in Israel and abroad. The website, “Know the Anti-Israel Israeli Professor” (knowbdsinisrael.com) contains a listing of 150 Israeli professors who are involved in anti-Israel activity such as promoting BDS, encouraging international pressure on Israel, accusing the IDF of war crimes, and calling to refuse service in the IDF. In May 2019, Im Tirtzu launched a similar website in Hebrew listing dozens of Israeli academics who teach in Israeli universities. The new English website also includes Israeli professors who teach outside of Israel. “The international BDS and delegitimization phenomenon against Israel does not exist in a vacuum; rather, it is often created, bolstered, and spearheaded by Israelis themselves,” says a statement on the group’s website. “By virtue of being Israeli, these radical professors are viewed by the outside observer as neutral and credible authorities on matters concerning Israel. Im Tirtzu lists 10 guidelines that warrant inclusion in the website, including voicing support for BDS, promoting international pressure on Israel, and accusing the IDF of war crimes and purposefully murdering innocent people.’
(JTA) — The president of the student government at the University of California, Davis, vetoed a resolution supporting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel. The day after the measure passed last week, Kyle Krueger said he acted “because it included minimal to no input from the Jewish community beforehand,” and the resolution “has been widely condemned by Jewish students of many different sects/beliefs who feel marginalized by ASUCD and its actions.” The Associated Students, University of California Davis, or ASUCD, had passed the measure in a 5-4 vote with one abstention. It was the third time the student senate had passed such resolutions in the past several years, but the others were overturned — once by a student court and once by the campus Judicial Council. Krueger said in a statement defending his decision that he has “been humbled by (the) overall nuance and complexity” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “As a 20-year old who has not finished a college degree and who is not from Palestinian or Jewish descent, I do not feel qualified to make a decision about one of the most complex international conflicts in the world on my own,” he said. Krueger said the student government has failed the
campus Jewish community, pointing to a history of antisemitism on campus, and acknowledged that ASUCD must be an ally to Palestinian students as well. “But our respect for the Palestinian community cannot come at the expense of the respect for the Jewish community,” his statement also said.
U of Wisconsin Hillel finds ‘Free Palestine’ spray-painted on building (JNS) The outside of the Hillel building at the University of Wisconsin in Madison was vandalized on July 7, according to the organization. The words “Free Palestine” appeared on the concrete structure that welcomes people to the building, also known as the Barbara Hochberg Center for Jewish Student Life. “We view this act of vandalism as targeting the Jewish community and as an incident of bias,” said UW Hillel president and CEO Greg Steinberger in a Facebook post on the UW Hillel Foundation page. Steinberger said Hillel has contacted the Madison Metropolitan Police Department and the University of Wisconsin Police Department, in addition to notifying UW Hillel’s student leaders and board of directors. Around 12 percent of the U of Wisconsin student body is Jewish.
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