Campus BDS Fail: UCSD votes down divestment attempt

From the University of California San Diego Guardian:

After nearly eight hours of discussion, council takes a stance on the divestment resolution for the first time, and fails it 13-20-0.

After more than two years of hesitation, A.S. Council made UCSD history last night by voting 13-20-0 to fail the divestment resolution proposed by Students for Justice in Palestine.

The resolution called for the UC system to divest, or withdraw its investments, from General Electric and Northrop Grumman. Both companies have contracts with the Israeli Defense Forces; they create the Apache helicopter engines and radar technology, respectively, used by the IDF. SJP’s legislation, originally titled “Resolution in Support of UC San Diego Corporate Accountability Through Divestments From Corporations Profiting from Violent Conflict” argued that since the UC endowment fund — which does not draw from student fees or tuition — is not invested in companies supporting the Palestinian military, divesting from GE and Northrop Grumman promotes neutrality and corporate responsibility. But members of Tritons for Israel stated that the resolution used biased language to specifically target Israel and create a hostile and divisive campus community.

This is the third year that SJP has introduced a divestment resolution to council. In 2010, the A.S. Campus Affairs Committee voted 7-8 to table the measure indefinitely. In 2011, council voted 13-10-4 to postpone voting on divestment until members of SJP and Tritons for Israel could produce a joint resolution agreeable to both sides. The two groups were unable to do so. Both years, council ultimately tabled the resolution without taking a stance. As of the Feb. 29 decision, UCSD is the second UC campus to fail the resolution. In 2010, UC Berkeley’s then-A.S. President Will Smelko vetoed a similar divestment resolution after it passed in Berkeley Senate. According to a Daily Californian article dated April 16, 2010, the Senate was unable to garner the 2/3 majority required to overturn Smelko’s veto.

But here's the problem with always playing defense:

According to the A.S. Bylaws, failed resolutions can be brought back before council as early as the next meeting.

Members of both Students for Justice in Palestine and Tritons for Israel have stated that — though they will continue to engage in dialogue — the two groups have mutually exclusive interests when it comes to divestment.

Friedman said he hopes that, if the divestment resolution is reintroduced next year, Tritons for Israel would continue to oppose it.

Kamil and Abu-Gheida said that SJP will reintroduce the legislation next year.

It is obvious that the SJP is motivated by nothing more than pure hate for Israel. And that hate is so all-consuming that they will spend hundreds of man-hours - and waste the time of many others - just to try to gain, one time out of a hundred, a symbolic victory that ultimately means nothing.

You can read the resolution at the SJP UCSD site. You can also learn fascinating lies like Hamas never targeted any civilians and only attacks Israeli troops in occupied territories:

Hamas (the Movement of Islamic Resistance) was founded in 1987 during the first Palestinian intifada along religious-nationalist ideological lines. A vast social organization, Hamas provides schools, medical care, and day care for a number of Palestinians who otherwise live difficult lives. Hamas also has a militia established to fight Israeli troops in the occupied territories, and has turned out to be a counterweight to Fatah, given its long record of opposition to the Oslo Accords and its clean record as far as domestic corruption in governance was concerned. Democratically elected, Hamas officials have often stated that they are ready for a long-term truce with Israel during which time final status negotiations can occur.