Image by University of Wisconsin

Student government representatives were ordered to apologize after they held meetings during Passover to discuss divestment from Israel.

The decision came from the Student Judiciary arm of the Associated Students of Madison, the university student government. It demanded that the ASM chairwoman write a letter to apologize and explain “why Passover is important to the Jewish community,” and advised the former chairwoman to attend religious tolerance training.

The controversy began in late March, when ASM members — at the urging of Madison’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter — proposed a resolution calling for the university to divest from corporations linked to the “Military-Industrial Complex, Private Prisons, [and] Fossil Fuel Companies.”

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

Most of the document focused on Israel, referring to the Jewish state as an “Apartheid Regime” and tying it to the American “alt-right” – a racist movement that has targeted American Jews for special censure. It also criticized programs in which American police officer receive training in Israel, tying those activities to cases of domestic police brutality.

Jewish students succeeded in having the measure tabled, only to see a version of it resurrected at a meeting held on the second day of Passover, when many Jewish students were tending to religious obligations.

The student judiciary ruled that this was wrong. “Excluding students from meetings due to their religious beliefs, particularly when said students have expressed interest in a committee’s activities, violates ASM’s Constitution,” it held.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’re near the end of our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we have a very ambitious goal of $127,000 by April 21.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Make a Passover Gift Today!

$90 $180

$360

Other amount