California Student Council Votes 13-0 To Dump Sabra Hummus from Dining Service
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
(JTA) — The student government at University of California at Riverside voted to approve a resolution calling for the removal of Sabra brand hummus from campus dining services.
The resolution passed last week by a vote of 13 to 0 with one abstention. The removal was requested because the Sabra company’s joint owner is the Israel-based Strauss Group, which allegedly supports the Israeli military.
The resolution was supported by the campus organization Students for Justice in Palestine.
The resolution is not enforceable, and the UC Riverside administration says it has no plans to remove the hummus.
“Sabra Dipping Company is owned by two independent global food companies- PepsiCo, based in the U.S. and Strauss Group, which is headquartered in Israel,” Sabra Spokeswoman Ilya Welfeld said in a statement issued to local NBC affiliate NBC4.
“Each company is a separate entity and independent company,” she said, adding that Sabra has “no political positions or affiliations.”
In 2015, the campus dining service removed Sabra hummus after it was approached by the Students for Justice in Palestine chapter on campus. Sabra hummus was restored after the university realized there was an underlying political position taken by removing it.
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