California University Joins BDS Movement Against Israel

The University of California, Santa Cruz student government has passed a resolution calling for divestment from American companies involved in accusations of alleged ‘human rights’ abuse against Palestinians in the West Bank.

The Santa Cruz Committee for Justice in Palestine brought the resolution to the UC Santa Cruz Student Union Assembly.

The non-binding resolution, passed on May 28, calls on the University to divest from companies including Lockheed Martin, Caterpillar, Hewlett Packard and General Electric which they say profit from alleged violations of international law and human rights abuses against the Palestinians on part of the Israeli government.

Since the American Studies Association passed a boycott of Israel resolution in November, several American universities have since distanced themselves from the organization, with many other student bodies at other universities voting against the BDS movement, including Chicago’s Loyola University and the University of Michigan.

Sadly, the University of California students did not feel the same way. However, a student activist opposed to the measure said he felt joining the boycott was not a student-led effort.

“The notable difference I saw was that people speaking against the resolution were, with one exception, current students,” Jesse Barush told j. Weekly. “On the other side, there was a large number of [former] students. This is an undergraduate student assembly supposed to represent undergrads at Santa Cruz. It’s not a place for somebody who graduated 40 years ago.”

The 22-14 vote came weeks after a similar resolution was narrowly defeated at UC Davis.