{"id":55485,"date":"2020-06-12T18:37:11","date_gmt":"2020-06-13T00:37:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=55485"},"modified":"2020-06-12T18:37:11","modified_gmt":"2020-06-13T00:37:11","slug":"op-ed-when-hatred-of-israel-is-stronger-than-the-coronavirus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/op-ed-when-hatred-of-israel-is-stronger-than-the-coronavirus\/","title":{"rendered":"OP-ED: When hatred of Israel is stronger than the coronavirus"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By MITCHELL BARD<\/p>\n

Last month, I wrote about how Israel\u2019s campus detractors were sidelined by the closure of the nation\u2019s colleges.<\/p>\n

Well, for some, hatred of Israel is stronger than the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

The Associated Students of the University of California Davis (ASUCD) passed a resolution on June 4 supporting the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS<\/a>) by calling on the University of California\u2019s board of regents to divest \u201cfrom corporations that aid in the Israeli occupation of Palestine and illegal settlements in Palestinian territories, violating both international humanitarian law and international human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

As in the case of the only other divestment vote this year (at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), the student government president vetoed the resolution. In an all-too-rare display of maturity, common sense, and sensitivity, Kyle Krueger acknowledged the complexity of the conflict, the divisiveness of the resolution, and the pain it caused to Jewish students who had \u201cminimal to no input.\u201d<\/p>\n

As I\u2019ve noted before, one of the ways the \u201csuccess\u201d of the BDS movement has been exaggerated is in equating student government resolutions with the views of the student body. In the UC Davis case, for example, divestment was approved by a 5-4 majority. That\u2019s right, just five students out of an enrollment of nearly 40,000 \u2014 1% \u2014 had the power to call for the entire UC system to punish companies that do business in Israel.<\/p>\n

Understanding the unpopularity of their movement, BDS supporters have over the years placed a priority on winning seats in student government so they can impose their views on the overwhelming majority of students. Still, they have lost more than two-thirds of the votes that have been held and largely given up on introducing resolutions, which reached a high of 27 in 2014-15, and fell to 10 last year and two this year.<\/p>\n

BDS advocates insist they are not antisemitic, do not support terror, and do not deny Israel\u2019s right to exist. When they are asked their views, however, they typically obfuscate, dissemble, lie, or refuse to answer.<\/p>\n

At UC Davis, ASUCD President Emeritus Michael Gofman said he challenged the supporters of the BDS resolution. \u201cI can commit to supporting a Jewish and democratic state of Israel peacefully coexisting with its Palestinian neighbor,\u201d he said. \u201cCan you do the same?\u201d<\/p>\n

Gofman said, \u201cNot one expressed any recognition of Israel, sinking to accusing Jews of blood libel, genocide, and a whole host of factual and historical inaccuracies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jewish students should directly challenge Students for Justice in Palestine, Jewish Voice for Peace, and other BDS advocates as Gofman did, in order to expose them as antisemites and hypocrites whose claim to progressivism is a charade. They should be asked the same question Gofman asked and others, such as:<\/p>\n