The following statement was issued by Rabbi Seth
Winberg, executive director of Metro Chicago Hillel, and Nicole Constantine, Loyola
student and JUF’s Israel Education Center intern.
On Sunday, March 8, students
at Loyola University announced a new BDS campaign, demanding the university
divest from companies that do business with Israel. Since last year’s similar
campaign, tensions have run high at Loyola.
BDS is on the agenda
of Loyola’s student government because the student government includes a number
of BDS activists. This same student government spent thousands of dollars
to support the legal defense of Rasmea Odeh, a terrorist
convicted in the US and Israel who was responsible for the murder of two
Israeli college students in 1969.
BDS supporters are
today’s radicals; the students most likely to run and vote in student
government elections. They use student government to gain a voice, but their
BDS agenda still lacks institutional support. The president of Loyola
University, Father Michael Garanzini, has made it clear that “[Loyola] would
not be interested in taking up this issue” because the BDS movement “is
one-sided, it is focused on one party in a complex multinational situation.” We
are confident that regardless of how the student government votes, Loyola is
not going to divest from Israel. Loyola further stands out as one of the only
universities in the country to put the pro-BDS group Students for Justice in
Palestine (SJP) on probation (after they disrupted a Hillel event).
We are vigorously
fighting this campaign through education and dialogue on campus. We also
believe that “winning” and “beating” a BDS campaign is about much more than
student government votes. We win when we strengthen students’ connections to
Israel and their Jewish identities. This is where Hillel excels. We are
registering students to go on Birthright, to study, and to intern in Israel.
Starting next fall we will be taking a special group of Chicago student leaders
— Jews and non-Jews — to visit Israel.
The BDS proposal was
announced hours before Loyola Hillel’s first “Jewish Awareness Week.” Loyola
Jewish students, who are few in number, decided not to let BDS derail their week
of rich educational and cultural events. We are proud of their leadership.
BDS campaigns are
increasing and frequent; if it doesn’t pass this year, it’s likely to rear its
head next year. This is why we are committed to increasing programming that
inspires students and makes them feel proud to be Jewish and committed to
Israel.
