Swarthmore College Offers ‘Alternative Hummus Brand’ After SJP Targets Sabra
Sabra Hummus and other products on display in a grocery store in New York City. Image by Getty
(JTA) — Swarthmore College will not discontinue the sale of Sabra hummus on campus, its president announced.
Instead, campus dining halls and convenience stores will provide an “alternate hummus brand” on campus.
The Swarthmore Students for Justice in Palestine had presented College President Valerie Smith with a petition signed by hundreds of students requesting that the hummus, owned by the Israel-headquartered multinational corporation Strauss Group, no longer be sold on campus.
The petition called it “morally unacceptable” for the college to allow Sabra to be sold on campus, and called the college an “accessory to the occupation of Palestine,” according to the Campus Reform website. It also noted that Strauss financially supports and sends care packages to the Israeli military’s Golani Brigade, a unit it called “particularly brutal.”
In a letter to the Swarthmore campus community, Smith wrote that the hummus issue “has revived difficult debates pertaining to Israel and Palestine. Members of our community have been deeply affected by these conversations — some in ways that have led to greater understanding, others in ways that have led to distress.”
“Our community is passionate about addressing issues of public concern. While that passion is commendable, we must continue to value the importance of remaining in dialogue with each other, especially those whose views and experiences differ from our own,” she also wrote.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
