|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
By Joel B. Pollak (Breitbart)
A trustee of Brown University, in the Ivy League, has resigned over the board’s decision to hold a vote on divesting from Israel, which was part of a deal made with pro-Palestinian students who had disrupted campus in the spring.
As Breitbart News reported at the time, Brown capitulated to the protesters’ demands, agreeing to hold a vote on divestment in October in exchange for the students agreeing to dismantle their “encampment” voluntarily.
It was the first case of a university agreeing to consider divesting from companies that do business with Israel — a core demand of the antisemitic “boycott, divestment, sanctions” (BDS) movement, which only targets the Jewish state.
Breitbart News noted:
In December, 41 anti-Israel activists were arrested after occupying an administration building. In April, activists took over an area of campus known as the Main Green, prompting concern from local Jewish leaders and clergy, who noted that some chants used by activists on and off campus were antisemitic, calling for the elimination of Israel.
Instead of enforcing university policies, Brown — like Northwestern University — decided to capitulate to the mob.
…
While campus rabbis expressed relief that the encampment was being dismantled, other local Jewish groups reacted in alarm. Rabbi Ron Fish of the Anti-Defamation League’s New England chapter accused Brown of “validating a movement rife with antisemitism and hate.” Noting that Brown had opposed divestment in the past, he said that Brown’s deal would simply create incentives for more radical protest and “antisemitic harassment” of Jews.
On Monday, portions of a resignation letter by Brown trustee Joseph Edelman were published as an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal.
He wrote:
Some universities refused to give in to protesters’ demands, and the protesters agreed to disband their encampments anyway; others confronted the protesters.
A few, like Brown, gave in to the antisemitic mob.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of The Agenda: What Trump Should Do in His First 100 Days, available for pre-order on Amazon. He is also the author of The Trumpian Virtues: The Lessons and Legacy of Donald Trump’s Presidency, now available on Audible. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
