Activism

Butler students win BDS victory amid attacks from pro-Israel critics

Two resolutions designed to crack down on pro-Palestine activism at Butler University failed to pass the Student Government Association.

A big victory at Butler University. The Student Government Association was recently pushed to vote on two Student Senate Resolutions designed to crack down on pro-Palestine activism. The resolutions condemned the BDS movement and embrace the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, a definition that includes some criticisms of Israel. Last night they both failed to pass, with sponsors pulling their support for the measures after hearing Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace members speak before the vote.

After the resolutions were shot down, SJP Butler emailed me this statement:

Measures which vilify the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, as well as those which equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism, must be resisted however and whenever they manifest. Such resistance combats the continued disenfranchisement and silencing of Palestinians. The vicious attempt to stifle Palestinian speech at Butler University is not an isolated event; rather, it is a well-coordinated and heavily-funded disinformation strategy. It is a strategy which denies Palestinian students agency, and prevents the diffusion of critical knowledge on Palestine in order to misrepresent Students for Justice in Palestine’s purpose and goals. Students for Justice in Palestine chapters challenge the racist, popular narrative surrounding Palestinians in academia, and are therefore invaluable resources both for the student bodies of the campuses they inhabit, and also for Palestinian students as vehicles of empowerment. Despite these deliberate attempts to censor the work of Students for Justice in Palestine at Butler University, we remain steadfast in our commitment to educating our campus on the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice, and equality. 

In short, resolutions that oppose BDS and equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism not only harm Palestinians, but also uphold systems which have historically been used as weapons to silence marginalized voices across the Global South. We must reject and actively oppose such measures, while also reaffirming our commitment to freedom, justice, and equality for all peoples through mass action and popular education, in our communities and throughout our campuses.

The resolution push coincided with a campaign (launched by pro-Israel students and right-wing personalities) to attack an early October event that was sponsored by the Student Government Association and organized by SJP Butler. Boycott and Safe Protesting 101 was set up to inform students about their right to protest and how to safely do it during the COVID crisis. One of the speakers on the webinar was Dalit Baum, director of economic activism at the American Friends Service Committee. Baum briefly discussed the BDS movement and pointed out that it wasn’t antisemitic.

These assertions were picked up by right-wing podcaster Eric Metheny, who posted a video on Twitter condemning the event and claiming that “your tax dollars are going to effectively indoctrinate students and guide them towards antisemitism.” This narrative was then embraced by Ryan Fournier, who is the founder and “co-chairman” of something called Students for Trump. He told his many followers that their
“hard-earned taxpayer dollars are going to a university that wants to indoctrinate students to hate Israel.”

Brooke Beloso, an associate professor and faculty advisor of SJP, told The Butler Collegian that she was “deeply concerned” about the backlash as it “places the lives and well-being of our students in jeopardy.” She also dismissed the ridiculous idea that BDS is somehow antisemitic. “This is a nonsensical notion,” she said. “Somehow, we are all mostly capable of differentiating between a nation-state and a religion in every other circumstance.” 

This was an excerpt from our weekly politics newsletter, The Shift, where Michael Arria takes you to the front lines in the battle over Palestine in the United States.

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The attempt to equate anti-Zionism with anti-Semitism (and Zionism with Judaism) is SO absurd that it shows vividly the dishonesty behind that claim. It’s wrong both logically and factually. Logically, anti-Semitism pertains to ALL Jews. Anti-Zionism pertains to SOME Jews. These are OBVIOUSLY different. Factually, many educated, intelligent, thoughtful Jews are anti-Zionist. But they are not anti-Semitic simply because no sane person condemns themselves. So their anti-Zionism must be based on something else. And they are quite clear about what that is, Zionist policies and actions.

My deep thanks to these students for manning the barricades against this criminal assault on justice and reason itself. Colleges and universities are the front lines where intellectual integrity must be defended. This glaring dishonesty, with its false face and powerful backing, must be decisively defeated.

A couple of great references on this deception are by Israeli-born, Jewish therapist Avigail Abarbanel and Jewish Israeli professor Israel Shahak.

“It’s time for American Jews to recognize they have been duped”
http://mondoweiss.net/2015/07/american-recognize-duped

“Jewish History, Jewish Religion: The Weight of Three Thousand Years”
https://ifamericaknew.org/cur_sit/shahak.html

“a university that wants to indoctrinate students to hate Israel.”

It this were true, it would be reprehensible. Students should hate Israel on the basis of Israel’s evil conduct, not as a result of indoctrination.