U. Of Maryland Student Government Won’t Change BDS Vote Scheduled For Passover
(JTA) — The University of Maryland “regrets” that a student government vote on an Israel divestment resolution will be held on Passover — but the student government said the date could not be changed.
On Wednesday, the Student Government Association is set to vote on a bill that calls on the university to divest from companies doing business in Israel that “are contributing to and/or exacerbating egregious human rights violations in occupied Palestine.”
The student government told Fox News that it was not possible to move the vote since Wednesday is the last day of the association’s legislative session when bills are heard.
A university representative told The Jewish Journal that it “regrets” the date of the vote because “[i]t limits the full participation by all students in voting on the measure — itself inconsistent with the free exchange of ideas.” The representative also said that it “respects our students’ right to debate and act on the question of Boycotts, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) of the nation of Israel.”
Elan Burman, capital campaign director at the university’s Hillel, criticized the vote’s scheduling in an email to the community, according to the Algemeiner.
“The timing of this resolution is particularly insensitive given that many Jewish students will be away from campus this weekend for Passover, and will be celebrating the intermediary days of the holiday when the vote takes place,” Burman wrote.
In 2017, the university’s student government scrapped a BDS bill before it came to a vote.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!