Duke University is at a moral crossroads, and your voice is needed to ensure it makes the right choice.
Recently, the university’s Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility (ACIR) agreed to consider a petition from the Duke Divest Coalition (DDC) to divest from companies that “profit from Israeli apartheid.”
This inflammatory language, echoing the antisemitic Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, should have been rejected outright. Instead, Duke has chosen to legitimize a petition rooted in hate.
The implications of adopting such a petition are staggering.
Legally, it risks violating North Carolina’s anti-BDS law and threatening Duke’s federal and state funding, which totaled over $649 million in FY21.
Financially, it would compromise the university’s endowment, thus harming scholarships, research, and academic initiatives.
Morally, it enables the spread of false accusations that delegitimize the world’s only Jewish state while ignoring actual human rights crises worldwide.
The BDS movement claims to champion Palestinian rights, but its actions do more harm than good.
Palestinian leaders like Bassem Eid have condemned the campaign, saying it causes financial harm to Palestinians while promoting antisemitic rhetoric. Moreover, Duke’s failure to outright reject the petition emboldens campus antisemitism, jeopardizing the safety and inclusion of Jewish students and faculty.
It’s time for Duke to uphold its values of inclusivity and intellectual freedom. Divesting from Israel is not only discriminatory but contradicts the university’s mission to foster diverse perspectives and collaboration.
Let Duke’s administration know that antisemitism and hate have no place in higher education.
Click to send an email to president@duke.edu:
SAMPLE EMAIL
Subject: Reject Antisemitic BDS Petition
Dear President Price and ACIR Members,
I urge you to reject the Duke Divest Coalition’s antisemitic petition. Supporting such discriminatory rhetoric contradicts Duke’s values, violates North Carolina’s anti-BDS law, and endangers Jewish students on campus.
Stand for truth and justice by upholding Duke’s commitment to inclusivity and academic freedom.
Sincerely,