The University of Maryland just faced its fourth fight over “Divestment” in two years. As an experienced senior in the battle against BDS, here is everything you need to know:
BDS has been outlawed in the state of Maryland since 2017 by then-governor Larry Hogan. Additionally, UMD stated that regardless of the outcome of any given vote, it will not alter its policies in any way. Passing a Divestment/BDS resolution will simply amount to a student statement and will not accomplish anything beyond that. According to Hillel International, antisemitism has increased by over 700% compared to the 2022-2023 school year. The data is precise: university campuses are now much more hostile than they used to be.
To be eligible to vote in an SGA committee, students must have been present in at least one previous committee of the corresponding type, such as the DEI or Student Affairs committees. And in many cases, until the week of, students would not know which committee would present the resolution, which meant that if students wanted to secure their voting rights, they were required to attend several committees before the real vote.
Before committee members discuss the bill, students have the opportunity to voice their concerns. During this period, many students from both sides of the issue presented their arguments for or against the bill. Oftentimes these speeches became emotional, be it Eitan Pomper’s speech about his cousin Hersh Goldberg-Polin z”l, who was still held captive at the time. In some instances, students who supported the bill would spout complete blood libels, such as the forced sterilization and mistreatment of Ethiopian immigrants in Israel. The truth is that Ethiopian women were offered a contraceptive shot with a duration of three months. I was raised in Israel and went to a very prestigious school. My Ethiopian classmates were never treated differently from the rest of us either.
The first resolution of the four took place in April of 2024. The bill called for Divestment (no mention of BDS) of the University of Maryland from “companies engaged in human rights violations,” and as mentioned in the bill, “especially in Palestine,” among a long filler list that was used to justify targeting Israel in particular, while largely ignoring every other countries in the proposed bill such as the Philippines. Meanwhile, the bill failed to include countries such as China, Russia, and Iran. The bill was scheduled to be read during Passover, but after the Jewish community voiced its concern, the date was pushed back. The Jewish community mobilized against this bill, and it was shut down through communal efforts.
The second instance occurred in November of 2024, when SJP members reintroduced the Divestment (still no BDS) resolution with specific changes. The resolution still used the suffering of other countries, such as the Philippines, as a facade for their disproportionate nitpicking against Israel, mentioning it more than twice compared to any other country in the bill. Additionally, the resolution included an outrageous point to divest from organizations within the United States, such as prisons, jails, deportation services, bond services, and many other services required to run a country. Once again, the Jewish community united and defeated the second attempt at Divestment.
The third time was different. Since a resolution can only be voted upon once a year, and it had already been voted down in the fall, SJP members of the SGA resorted to underhanded tactics. They employed an emergency vote to implement a ballot referendum during the upcoming SGA elections. This is equivalent to ballot laws that are put up for the public vote aside from which candidate during the 2024 elections. That means that any student voting for SGA will have a say in the matter, regardless of whether they attend any meetings. And so, the referendum sponsors deceived voters with the language of the referendum:
“Do you demand that the USM Foundation and UMCP Foundation divest from companies that consistently, knowingly, and directly facilitate and enable state violence and repression, war and occupation, or severe violations of international law and human rights in Palestine, Sudan, Guatemala, Myanmar, Yemen, the Philippines, the United States–Mexico border, or anywhere in the world?”
The language of the referendum is highly deceptive. It leaves no room to defend Israel’s actions and simply demonizes it. Simultaneously, this referendum does not specify which companies they plan to divest from at all, and gives them retroactive power to decide after the votes are cast how to define such a ridiculous statement. This gives SGA total power to demand divestment from anything connected to Israel financially in any capacity. This range includes Google, Amazon, Disney, Teva, Apple, and many other essential countries for the American lifestyle. The referendum results were released on Passover eve, and it passed. Nonetheless, the Jewish community still celebrated at the Seder table how in every generation our enemies try and fail to destroy us. These results will not deter us.
And now, we are back for a fourth round in the ring. Many of the student leaders who led the fight on campus at the beginning of the conflict have graduated, and the then-sophomores and freshmen are here to continue the fight. For the first time, the name of BDS was mentioned. Additionally, the bill sponsors are petitioning to sever any ties with the state of Israel. The closing segment of the bill reads as follows:
“…This includes: boycotting goods, services, and academic partnerships linked to complicit institutions; divesting financial assets from companies involved in oppression or militarization; and sanctioning academic relationships with individuals and institutions not fulfilling their obligation to end support for Israeli apartheid as a matter of moral responsibility and alignment with international solidarity against apartheid and systemic oppression.”
This radical bill falls in line with groups such as BDS, which support full divestments from anything that is remotely connected to Israel. This includes academic institutions and professors, businesses, and medical companies.
Given this information, the Jewish community must fight its harassment once again. However, this time, a group called JusticeUMD, a campaign endorsed by SJP and JVP, is controlling approximately 75% of the legislation, meaning they can even overturn a presidential veto against their decision.
So what now? What can you do as a freshman in the Jewish community to make our lives better? Take away their validity. SGA this year is dedicated to condemning Israel, instead of actually representing the students at UMD. So pay no mind to them. Ve’gam Zeh Ya’avor. And this too shall pass. The Jewish people have faced worse than the Maryland SGA. We survived the Egyptians, Romans, and Ottomans. We survived the assaults of Jordan, Syria, and Sadat’s Egypt. This too shall pass.
